Center for Community Development

Abstract

Vehari being the district to Mailsi, Burewala and Vehari which is 100 km away from the famous city Multan and is central junction to the 8 cities. Benefited from the location, enormous growth has been recorded in the last 10 years and the foundation of development initiated in 1954 when the enormous area of 11.8 acre (94.3 Kanal) is allocated for the foundation of library within the vicinity of Vehari. Presently, the area of 1 kanal is being occupied with the constructed area of library which is mostly deserted despite of being situated in center providing accessibility to the multiple Universities in the area, thus not fulfilling the purpose. Also the rest of the allocated area is of no use. The main aim of this study is the development of community center which is designed to address multiple functionalities taking the residents needs under consideration while making the site alive. The center for community development proposed in this thesis for the site of Municipal Library, Vehari is comprised of three main functional blocks which encloses Library, Culture Center, and Contemporary Knowledge Center. Each functional block accompanied unique attributes while contributing in making it iconic community junction. Library is modified to attract the user interest by integrating e-learning concept with other variety of media including audio and video, work stations, discussion and interactive spaces for users. The culture center proposed, introduce activity area, workshops, storytelling area, theater, cinema and communal areas are included to enhance the user experience by considering the perspective of user interest and needs. Contemporary Knowledge center aims to increase knowledge by allocating space for seminars, art & craft, amphitheaters, formal and informal sitting areas, meeting points etc. The overlapping of these functional blocks demonstrate a center for community development perfectly befits in the provided location while addressing the needs of community and embedding modern architectural concept of smart spacing and communalism.