URBAN DOMAIN CHOSEN: WHITE TOWN, PONDICHERRY

STREETS AS A SOCIAL SPACE: The Pondicherry beach and promenade have

sparsely spread shops, and hotels on one side and the actual space of the
promenade on the other side, thus mixing activities and also evoking a
great sense of safety in this public space.

PROMENADE STREET

IMAGEABLITY:
Aayi mandapam is a very well-known but very well-hidden landmark
for the town’s new flock.
The statue of Dupleix and the War memorial is in the promenade’s
line. The Gandhi Mandapam is the most famous landmark of
Pondicherry’s promenade.
All these landmarks are just commemorative demarcations in this
stretch. The spaces around these monuments operate a large volume
of crowd (Bharati park around the Aayi mandapam, and the Dupleix
Statue acts as a buffer to enter the pier sands from the road.)

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MIND MAP:
Navigation is mainly needed on the roads of the white town. The Bharati
Park around the Aayi Mandapam is the heart of the white town, whose
spread acts as a roundabout to most of the functional governing zones in
the area, like the GH, Assembly, the Governor’s mansion, and Museum.

Another main landmark to be considered is the Notre Dame des Anges

Cathedral, the fourth oldest church in the town built by the French
capuchins.

PLANNING:
The stretch is entirely planned in a grid fashion. The Old part of the town
has administrative buildings, while the relatively new patch (surrounding
the Cathedral) is an entirely commercial district with very very few old
buildings of functional and historical significance in comparison. ( Like the
Petit Seminar School, Hospice home for the Old, The Cathedral, and Cluny
Sister’s Convent)

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 SERIAL VISION:
The White town consists of homogeneously designed buildings,
with minimally used ornamentations, taking after curves, used to
mildly contrast the cuboidal entirety. The government buildings are
color coded with yellow & white, the Ashram buildings are grey and
white, and private buildings either take after yellow
( considered to be the color of Pondicherry) or any color of their
choice.

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