A LIMINAL PERMANENCE: Exploring Architecture for Urban Diaspora

Abstract

Cities tend to be chronicled by impressions of individual and collective identities that birthed them. Often lost in the immutable urban scape, however, are the manifold narratives of transient lives, of immigrants and the displaced. While the ownership of a house is a significant part of assimilation and integration in a society, the reception of a diasporic subject within an urban realm is a site that runs counter to the accepted narrative of ‘belonging’. Therefore, it becomes crucial to entertain diaspora as not just a physical change from a place of origin to a non-place but as a state of limbo that can be choreographed as a constant internal and external dialogue, challenging notions of ‘identity’ and ‘home’. To address the paradox of a space that caters to diaspora, it must appropriate a displaced and transient way of living i.e., at a threshold of liminality. This research paper explores architectural manifestation of transitional spaces that mediate between the self and the collective and attempts at identity formation through real experience and narrative. It delves into the critical role played by such spaces in addressing the disorientation and loss of identity associated with displacement within a concrete urban realm. ‘A Liminal Permanence’ is an envisioning of speculative threshold spaces of functionality that are also mediatory spaces between times and cultures. It rethinks urban space beyond the backdrop of segregation, towards an inhabited and relational construct that blurs boundaries and grants meaning to urban residual spaces. A parallel screen emerges that transforms the ‘in-between’ through varied and overlapping inscriptions of new and adapted rituals. The project addresses the permanent/transient relationship of a pronounced diasporic setting adjacent to Peshawar Morr, Islamabad. Permanence begins, initially as a framework or ‘ground’, and transience completes and defines. The spatial experience shall address the sites’ current dynamics of a hybrid diasporic identity and culture through different performative meeting types. It becomes a plugin for people to explore their personal identities, collective memories, and to interact with ‘other’, turning the liminal tensions of the street into a productive socio-cultural act. Ultimately, the thesis aims to shift our gaze to center on how Islamabad’s diasporic communities through their active occupation of the spaces in-between – can help to construct a supportive framework for contemporary life of the city. It celebrates the dichotomy of urban diasporic settings while anchoring them in the city's collective memory. The design becomes radical in its advocacy for these diasporic pastimes to be afforded the same honor as the more formalized urban infrastructure. Instead of the rites of the diasporic in the region taking temporary shelter in make-shift arrangements and tiny ghettos perennially at risk of closure, or otherwise resorting to the street, the project envisions them valued, housed, and cherished.