Revitalization of Kinnison Jute Mill at Titagarh, West Bengal : creative economy hub

Abstract

As cities move away from industrial centric development, the changing cityscape, (especially in the Indian context) hardly ever takes into account the notion of industrial remains as monuments of the industrial past- to be preserved, to be explored, to be re-imagined. The slate is wiped clean and what could have been a rich palimpsest is lost to the (often short-sighted) monetary games of realestate development. Such is the case of Kolkata, or as it was then known Calcutta, the old capital of the British Empire. Their steam ships landed on its harbors and gradually the agrarian landscapes along the banks of the Hooghly were teeming with mills, warehouses and factories spewing smoke and soot. As the centuries and the colonial era passed, the city has grown and developed immensely and yet the nostalgia of the past rings loud and clear in its streets and its people. Amongst the several colonial atmospheres of the city, one less valued and perhaps easily forgotten are these industrial banks of the Hooghly. Today these areas have become odd areas in the city, some demolished and new gleaming towers now sitting in their place, some abandoned, some in derelict, some as shanty-towns, some shut-down while some still operating in whatever little capacity their old machinery permits. These fragments of the industrial past hold narratives and imageries, which can be meaningfully woven together and made relevant in the current urban-scape of Kolkata as a contemporary metropolis. The abandoned Kinnison Jute Mill at Titagarh in Kolkata sits at the banks of Hooghly is one such case in point. This report is a culmination of an undergraduate architecture thesis project on the revitalisation of Kinnison Jute Mill at Titagarh, West Bengal. It investigates what elements in the old mill complex contribute to its unique environment and experience and how it could be translated into a new design proposal based on the revitalization of the mill estate into a hub for the new economy- the creative economy