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THESIS STATEMENT

The thesis stems from the realisation that courts are the keystones that hold our modern
democracies in place. Court is the destination of our modern citizenry to realise the rule
of written law. The proposed architectural design of new integrated district court complex
in Amethi strives to reimagines the physical form, and functionality of district courts as
per the values of the 21st century India. Unfortunately, new court buildings are bad copies
that reminisces the old colonial design; and the old buildings are indeed tumbling down
Thesis Report V-SPARC VIT
colonial buildings. Hence my aim is to demonstrate ‘a holistic design prototype’ of new-
age district court campus. Contemplating on the seemingly complementing as well as
repulsive relationship between physical and psychological accessibility; somatic and
social inclusivity; culture and gender; symbolism and semiotics; tradition and technology,
the thesis tries to set new standards of judicial infrastructure. The architectural design will
synthesis architectural theories, sustainability principles, and universal design, human-
centred design approaches, to propose a holistic design solution. The envisioned district
court complex will embody embodies principles of universality and inclusivity from point
of view of physical (architecture), symbolic as wells as semiotic accessibility,
transparency, and functionality.

The proposed site for integrated district court complex is in Amethi. The city is part of the
Ayodhya division in the historic significant Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh. The historic
princely state of Amethi was established a thousand years ago by Raja Sodh Dev Singh.
Apart from troubled war ridden history, the most notable point of Modern Amethi was the
introduction of the railways by the British. Today Uttar Pradesh is the largest state in India.
The state government has proposed to set up integrated court campuses across the state to
facilitate easy access to the legal system within one compound. The initiative will help
speeding up the judicial process and reduce the time taken to travel from one court to
another. The state government has proposed four hundred crore honouring the Supreme
Court's instruction to setup new judicial campuses in 10 districts.

According to the vision of the government, the integrated building will house courts-
rooms, judges’ chambers, a meeting hall, a video court, a parking area, a food plaza, and
a canteen. Relevant residential buildings will also be constructed on the campus. The
campus will have district, subordinate, commercial, miscellaneous and tribunal courts, fast
track courts, as well as Lok Adalat courts. This architectural thesis aspires to present model
judicial complex that not only addresses the immediate infrastructural deficiencies but also
sets a precedent for equitable, human-centered design and technologically adept judicial
spaces across India's diverse legal landscape.

KEY WORDS

Architectural Design, District Court, Social Justice, Model Judicial Complex, Universal
design, Inclusivity, Sustainability, Holistic Design

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