The Reclaimed Mahal by Avleen Hunjan reimagines Crystal Palace Subway as an Indian cultural centre for craft, food, art and community dialogue.
The project is useful because it works with a strong heritage setting and asks how a forgotten Victorian passage can become a living cultural space.
Project images
What the project proposes
Avleen is a BA Interior Architecture graduate from the University of Westminster. Her project transforms Crystal Palace Subway into a cultural centre that celebrates Indian heritage while opening a historic London space to new forms of public use.
The proposal is structured around three connected spaces: Mandi for craft and commerce, Khaana for food and hospitality, and Kala for art, workshops and creative exchange.
Why the cultural programme works
- It gives the heritage site a clear public purpose.
- Craft, food and art create different ways for visitors to participate.
- The project treats Indian culture as lived experience, not surface decoration.
- The interior proposal connects identity, memory and contemporary community use.
Portfolio lesson
Cultural interiors need programme clarity. If a project is about identity, show what people do in the space, how they move through it and how material, light and threshold support the cultural story.
Showcase a cultural interiors project
Architecture Social Showcase is useful for student work that deals with heritage, culture, food, craft, art or community gathering.
- Explain the cultural programme clearly.
- Show how heritage is adapted rather than hidden.
- Use drawings that make visitor experience visible.
Architecture Social view
Stephen’s recruiter view is that cultural projects are strongest when they avoid vague identity language and show real use. The reader should understand what happens there and why the place matters.
Connect with Avleen
Avleen’s public profile routes give more context for the project and wider interior architecture work.
If this project has made you rethink your own portfolio or next move, browse current architecture jobs or contact Architecture Social for a recruiter’s view.
Add a comment