The capital of a country is its image. Thimphu is the mirror of Bhutan. It must be the best of what the country can be. It is a reflection of the hopes, aspirations and dreams of the people. The capital of a country is not just an object or a thing, or an artifact. It is a message of what the future can be. It is a media that transfers ideas! If a capital declines and decays, so does the nation! If one looks at the history of countries and their capitals, numerous images emerge. When the capital of Russia shifted to St. Petersburg it foretold of a golden age. Washington, D.C. was the harbinger of modern America. There are the plans for Brasilia and for Chandigarh, which we can learn from, but not follow.

Prayer Flages protected the city Below.

Urban designs for Paris and Rome focused on monuments reflecting histories of strength and of cultural expansion. The way we build Thimphu is the way we build the image of the country…. it defines the cultural underpinnings of the Bhutanese Dream.

Thus, the underpinning theme of the capital is its role as the fountainhead of Bhutanese culture, and more over the abiding image of the Kingdom’s strength and grace.

National dreams are essential to the way people define themselves.

Consider the defeated Jews from ravaged Europe and diverse cultural backgrounds who were transplanted into the desert of the Middle East. It is the dream in their heads that forges a garden out of the desert, and forges a regional power out of a band of refugees. It is the mental “computer chip” which the leadership sticks into the national imagery, which makes things happen. Just as iconography carries religious images, so the image of the capital is the iconography of the national dream. The vision and the shape of the capital city are deeply rooted with the definition of the nation. These images are the stuff of the dream we are creating.

Prayer Walls Mark out Auspicious Precincts

Memorial Chorten Acts as a Portal to the Urban Core

The ‘Image of the Capital’ must be underpinned with several sub-themes.

The Government Complex and its environs are the essential theme of the city, and the main asset of the nation. The setting of the Tashichho Dzong is crucial to the success of the plan

The Environment of the city with its Wang Chhu, its stunning Hills, its three Streams and the diverse Biomass is surely a major theme.

The Religious and Cultural Meaning of the city must also be major themes. The city is surrounded by a system of Monasteries, Temples, Chortens, and Prayer Flags that preside over our every thought and act.

One Hundred and Eight Steps to the Memorial Chorten. accentuate the cultural and heritage precincts, through the inclusion of traditional elements in design, thus, underpinning the inherent value systems of the place

The City Core is where the King’s subjects will reside during their visits to the capital. It is where the convivial and commercial transactions of the city are carried out. It must be the human side of the formal capital. It must be attractive to the international visitor and Bhutanese citizen alike.

Chortens are Containers of Relics and Prayers

The capital is like an organism made up of cells, which must be lively and healthy. If the city’s neighborhoods are not supportive of the national capital image and theme, our efforts come to naught. We should see that these neighborhoods, which give cohesiveness to communities and families, become ideal Urban Villages.

These clear-cut themes bring certain elements into the forefront. They must have centrality in the plan. These elements are the:
• Tashichho Dzong
•Wang Chhu and the Streams
• Green Hills and their Forest Cover
•Monasteries, Temples, Chortens and Prayer Flags
• Urban Core
• Urban Villages
• Urban Corridor

These thematic elements must be consecrated. They must be held sacred and the “inalienable” aspects of the city. Around each of these central Thematic Elements arise certain principles and guidelines. These principles and guidelines are the essence of the planning process. Through consultations with the people of Thimphu we would arrive at both physical representations of these principles as well as written rules and guidelines. After a review by the Town Committee Members these have been enshrined as a vision for the future. Throughout this consultative process it must be understood that there are aspects of the capital region, which the state must protect and preserve, and that we as guides and subjects are participants in that process.

Simtokha Dzong: Plan

Simtokha Dzong Acts as a Visual Pivot Connecting the Ola Rong Chhu Valley with the Northern and Western Expanses of the Wang Chhu Valley

As leaders, administrators and professionals we have to use our skills and sensitivities to design and structure the Theme and the related Elements. If we hold these elements to be central we must make them so through the alignment of streets, through the design and landscaping of these areas, and by linking them into an open space system and network of footpaths that bring them all into a united and holistic fabric.