Craft Village is the urban re-imagination of traditional craft markets which bring food, music, craft, art, culture in one place. Pokhara is a dense urban town nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas overlooking the Phewa Lake. It is an important base for trekkers and a resting spot for tourists on the way to Annapurna Range in Nepal. Capitalizing on the prime location and proximity to key attractions in town, a diverse yet public project has been imagined; an urban village of shopping, food, retail, craft, culture, learning and leisure. Spaces are kept flexible with small, medium and large configurations to suit the expanding and contracting needs of retail and hospitality.Different sizes and configurations of the layout generates new possibilities of programmatic resolution.

A public plaza, an extension of the existing footpath is provided bringing people in from all over the city and creating essential breakout spaces for the young and old. Considering the climate and the dense fabric around, ample semi-covered spaces create platforms and pavilions for spending a hot day on the rooftop bar sipping wine or drinking a coffee on the bridge coffee lounge. Shops spill over in the corridors and create internal streets and chowk like spaces with displays on both sides. The main service core is kept towards the east façade with openings on the south and west streets.

A completely dismantable modular steel structure is designed which is sustainable, flexible and easily fabricated with different locally available materials enveloping it. The building in itself becomes an exhibition of the traditional and local crafts of Pokhara. A pedestrian friendly ground floor creates a lively atmosphere making the Craft Village an important cultural project in the Urbanity of Pokhara.