Abstract
M.Tech. (Architectural Technology)
A pilgrim (from the Latin ‘peregrinus’) is a traveller, a person who has come from afar,
and is typically (though not always) on a journey to a holy place. This is often
a physical journey (often on foot) to a place of special significance. In the spiritual
literature of Christianity, the concept of pilgrim and pilgrimage refers to the
experience of life in the world (exile) to a state of beatitude (the after-life).
This proposal began by considering the Silk Road, a network of trade and cultural
transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the
Asian continent, connecting East and West by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims,
monks, soldiers, nomads and (latterly) urban dwellers from China and India to parts
of the East African coast (Somalia/Lamu/Oman/Zanzibar) and the Mediterranean Sea.
Travel along this route was primarily via caravans (hence the term ‘caravanserai: a
resting place or place of exchange for travellers). The Spice Route, which involved
more than simply trade (growth, agriculture, farming) profoundly influenced the
culture and peoples of the East African coast, bringing with it the components
that make up contemporary Zanzibari culture: mixed ethnicities, architecture,
religions and language. In contemporary terms, tourism makes up almost 80%
of Zanzibar’s economy. In some senses, tourists can be seen as modern-day pilgrims
and traders, bringing with them all manner of goods: sensibilities, influences,
conventions and modes of behavior, not all of which may be welcome. This
proposal aims to provide a ‘waystation’ (resting place, accommodation and
facilities) for modern-day pilgrims (tourists or travellers), with a view to exposing,
Wexploiting and subverting these often-unseen influences...