Ahmedabad is known for blurring the boundaries between public and private, religions and identities. When one goes to Lucky Tea Stall, the cemetery aspect is there but it’s not ‘the’ aspect of the place. Similarly, at Rani no Hajiro – a popular market for trinkets – and Manek Chowk – with the samadhi of Baba Manek Nath – no one feels the pressure of religious identities, as the area is assimilated in nearby commercial spaces. 

Can this be the way forward for ‘secular spaces’ in Ahmedabad and elsewhere? What if an architect is tasked with designing a space right at the imaginary boundary between Vejalpur and Juhapura with its strong communal identities? What architecture style should it be? 

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