Dutch architect Anne Feenstra talks about the restoration of over 165-year-old hammam in Afghanistan, that was destroyed during the flood in 2010. He shares how community participation helped them rebuild the public bath house that also served as an important socialising point
The year 2010 was particularly bad for Khist-i-Khopruk hammam in Afghanistan. Over 165-year-old hammam or public bathhouse, which was a major meeting point for people, was ruined during the flood in the Kholm river.
The loss was a major one for the villagers as the hammam was their only source of warm water. Therefore they requested the government to restore the historical spot, which was unique in many ways. At a short distance from Khist-i-Khopruk, there’s a 120-year-old palace called Bagh-e-Jahan Nama. And there were plans to restore the palace and turn it into a museum.
The AFRI team (the design and architectural firm with local architects from Kabul), led by Dutch architect Anne Feenstra, was assigned the task to restore the palace. The same team was assigned the task to restore the hammam. The funds were collected from the Cultural Emergency Response Fund maintained for cultural artefacts. AFIR architects and planners worked closely together with the local community in Kholm and the Ministry of Information and Culture for the renovation of hammam.
Anne taught at the university in Kabul and had established an office that was working on the restoration of Bagh-e-Jahan Nama. But after the calamity that resulted in the destruction of hammam, it was important to restore it before winters. “It was important to restore the hammam before winter, as temperature drops massively and to majority of Kholm village residents, the hammam was the only source of hot water. But after we worked on the hammam, it turned out to be a better spot than it was before the floods,” said Anne, as he started to talk about his project. He added, “We involved the community people in the building of thehammam. It was their building after all. We gave our skills but we knew that people who belonged to the place would work on it whole-heartedly and we could achieve results fast.” Working closely with the local community and utilising their craft helped in the completion of the project in just six months.
He began the presentation with the visuals of north Afghanistan where Anne and his team had been working since 2008.
He informed, “We did not tamper with the material or architecture, because we knew what existed originally was time-tested. Bricks of a certain size were used and we got a local kiln to manufacture the same bricks. We were using lime plaster and were told by a local artist that adding ash to it would be helpful. We confirmed this from government officials who told us that architecture in Afghanistan uses ash mixed with lime plaster. So you will notice a little grey shade to the hammam.” Hammams are an important part of Islamic countries and each country has different architecture.
Most Afghan hammams were inspired by Uzbeki architecture. Most hammams have an underground heating system. And in Afghanistan, they don’t have a pool, but water tanks heated by fire. The smoke travels to different rooms and areas lending heat. So hammams emerge as community centres, as they’re warmer than outside temperature.
Anne is known for working and designing with the communities to redefine contemporary architecture. His design philosophy is based on innovative techniques and contemporary architecture, while respecting traditional skills and using local building materials.
With his extensive research, community workshops and what he calls an ‘open design process’, a fine and subtle sustainable architecture is created that is based on a greater local ownership.