Tuesday, 22 September 2009
coexistance as survival_text
COEXISTENCE AS SURVIVAL
Enhancing informal synergies in the communities of Dharavi, Mumbai
"Parallel Cases" exhibition, International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, 2009
a project by:
First School of Architecture, Politecnico di Torino + HINDUSTRY urban research
Students:
Marco Boella, Alberto Bottero, Manuela Martorelli, Francesco Stassi, Francesco Strocchio
Tutors:
Michele Bonino, Pierre-Alain Croset (Politecnico di Torino)
Tomà Berlanda, Subhash Mukerjee (HINDUSTRY)
Acknowledgements:
Pukar – Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action & Research, Mumbai
Urbz – user-generated cities
Dharavi, one of the oldest and largest slums in Asia, might disappear.
The long-lasting indifference that allowed its uncontrolled growth came to an end, as the ever-expanding Mumbai swallowed it: from being a forgotten peripheral slum it became a potential real estate goldmine in the heart of the city, to be erased and redeveloped.
But Dharavi is resisting: the imperfect but deep-rooted Indian democracy manifested in a resistance of unexpected sturdiness. Dharavi is stating that any renewal is impossible without understanding.
It is easy to misunderstand, though.
Its extreme density, the striking poverty and the chaos, conceal the precision of the mechanisms that it managed to develop through the decades, in order to continue its existence. Some times informally, some times even illegally, Dharavi was able to create its own economy, a specific ecology, a somewhat turbulent but organized society. It works.
But observing such mechanisms is impossible if we don't find a way to look deeper. For our group, understanding Dharavi means trying to acquire neutral eyes, abandoning the inevitable exoticist gaze caused by the place's stunning “extremes”.
Our project seeks to build those neutral eyes, able to investigate and “unveil” the logics behind the slum's apparent confusion.
An intentionally narrow sectional model of Koliwada - the oldest settlement within Dharavi - is used to show how even the tiniest “slice” of the village hosts an impressive number of activities and functions, inextricably overlapped and tied together.
A series of thematic “masks” can be scrolled in front of the model, masking parts of the section and focusing specific events, activities or stories hidden in the generic urban intensity otherwise visible. Suddenly isolated, these stories can be observed in their synergic strength, they make sense.
They are for us the starting point for any reasonable urban design project, the next step that our group is currently working on.
Enhancing informal synergies in the communities of Dharavi, Mumbai
"Parallel Cases" exhibition, International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, 2009
a project by:
First School of Architecture, Politecnico di Torino + HINDUSTRY urban research
Students:
Marco Boella, Alberto Bottero, Manuela Martorelli, Francesco Stassi, Francesco Strocchio
Tutors:
Michele Bonino, Pierre-Alain Croset (Politecnico di Torino)
Tomà Berlanda, Subhash Mukerjee (HINDUSTRY)
Acknowledgements:
Pukar – Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action & Research, Mumbai
Urbz – user-generated cities
Dharavi, one of the oldest and largest slums in Asia, might disappear.
The long-lasting indifference that allowed its uncontrolled growth came to an end, as the ever-expanding Mumbai swallowed it: from being a forgotten peripheral slum it became a potential real estate goldmine in the heart of the city, to be erased and redeveloped.
But Dharavi is resisting: the imperfect but deep-rooted Indian democracy manifested in a resistance of unexpected sturdiness. Dharavi is stating that any renewal is impossible without understanding.
It is easy to misunderstand, though.
Its extreme density, the striking poverty and the chaos, conceal the precision of the mechanisms that it managed to develop through the decades, in order to continue its existence. Some times informally, some times even illegally, Dharavi was able to create its own economy, a specific ecology, a somewhat turbulent but organized society. It works.
But observing such mechanisms is impossible if we don't find a way to look deeper. For our group, understanding Dharavi means trying to acquire neutral eyes, abandoning the inevitable exoticist gaze caused by the place's stunning “extremes”.
Our project seeks to build those neutral eyes, able to investigate and “unveil” the logics behind the slum's apparent confusion.
An intentionally narrow sectional model of Koliwada - the oldest settlement within Dharavi - is used to show how even the tiniest “slice” of the village hosts an impressive number of activities and functions, inextricably overlapped and tied together.
A series of thematic “masks” can be scrolled in front of the model, masking parts of the section and focusing specific events, activities or stories hidden in the generic urban intensity otherwise visible. Suddenly isolated, these stories can be observed in their synergic strength, they make sense.
They are for us the starting point for any reasonable urban design project, the next step that our group is currently working on.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
koalition or the fishnet
Urban Typhoon Workshop Koliwada-Dharavi
Dharavi, Mumbai, March 16-24, 2008
Organiser: Pukar, Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action and Research
tutor: Subhash Mukerjee
students: Tomà Berlanda, Marco Boella, Dhaval Malesha, Manuela Martorelli, Shaira Sequeria Shetty, Sanjay Pratap Singh
This workshop is being organized together with the residents of Dharavi Koliwada and PUKAR and will bring together local and international participants including architects & artists from India, Chile, Mexico, Barcelona, New York and Tokyo. The objective is to produce creative designs for Koliwada as well as a multimedia testimony to the unique spirit of the community. The workshop will be organized in about 10 different teams composed of local and international participants. The Urban Typhoon workshop invites students of the city and practitioners from India and abroad to brainstorm on the future of Koliwada and through it, alternative communities around the world.
The Kolis are interested in opening the design process to more creative ideas, which could integrate aspiration to a modern comfort with a deeper sensibility to the activities, culture and history of their community, while paying attention to the larger contexts of Dharavi, Mumbai, India and rest of the world. The material produced during the workshop, as well as the innovative participatory practices experimented with, will be of use to any redevelopment scheme, whether it ends up being lead by the community, NGOs, the government or a combination of the three. The workshop’s outcome will help local community groups and progressive governments to elaborate new strategies, mobilize broad constituencies, and put participatory planning into practice.
Dharavi, Mumbai, March 16-24, 2008
Organiser: Pukar, Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action and Research
tutor: Subhash Mukerjee
students: Tomà Berlanda, Marco Boella, Dhaval Malesha, Manuela Martorelli, Shaira Sequeria Shetty, Sanjay Pratap Singh
This workshop is being organized together with the residents of Dharavi Koliwada and PUKAR and will bring together local and international participants including architects & artists from India, Chile, Mexico, Barcelona, New York and Tokyo. The objective is to produce creative designs for Koliwada as well as a multimedia testimony to the unique spirit of the community. The workshop will be organized in about 10 different teams composed of local and international participants. The Urban Typhoon workshop invites students of the city and practitioners from India and abroad to brainstorm on the future of Koliwada and through it, alternative communities around the world.
The Kolis are interested in opening the design process to more creative ideas, which could integrate aspiration to a modern comfort with a deeper sensibility to the activities, culture and history of their community, while paying attention to the larger contexts of Dharavi, Mumbai, India and rest of the world. The material produced during the workshop, as well as the innovative participatory practices experimented with, will be of use to any redevelopment scheme, whether it ends up being lead by the community, NGOs, the government or a combination of the three. The workshop’s outcome will help local community groups and progressive governments to elaborate new strategies, mobilize broad constituencies, and put participatory planning into practice.
cutting edge bombay_the statement
Learnig from cities workshop, 10th Architecture Biennale, Venice, 2006
SPECIAL AWARD FOR SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE
I Facoltà di Architettura Politecnico di Torino
coordinator: Pierre-Alain Croset
tutors: Michele Bonino, Subhash Mukerjee
consultant: Rahul Mehrotra, Bombay
special thanks to: Massimo Fantini
students: Tomà Berlanda, Marco Boella, Rita D’Attorre, Valeriano Foti, Manuela Martorelli, Rachele Michinelli, Marianna Nigra, Caterina Pagliara, Federica Patti, Paolo Remogna, Francesco Stassi
Bombay has always had a problematic relationship with water. Since the 18th century the city’s growth has gone through several land reclamations, that finally joined the original seven islands together.
As land was added, Bombay’s form was defined as a single compact body, thus losing the characteristic fragmentation of its coastline. Islands dissolved, the coastline moved West, homogeneous and compact. Backbay is the only area where the filling in has not completely happened. Around the big water void diverse social groups are near and divided, struggling every day to conquer square metres of free space.
The project states the need of maintaining this water void, redefining it in its geometry to give it a form: cutting its edges to reveal its potential as a public space. Respecting local differences, as an alternative to the banalizing process of the land reclamations. Water becomes the public space, the space for the negotiation of the needs and the interests of every part of society, place for communication, for social activities and of intermodal exchange.
SPECIAL AWARD FOR SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE
I Facoltà di Architettura Politecnico di Torino
coordinator: Pierre-Alain Croset
tutors: Michele Bonino, Subhash Mukerjee
consultant: Rahul Mehrotra, Bombay
special thanks to: Massimo Fantini
students: Tomà Berlanda, Marco Boella, Rita D’Attorre, Valeriano Foti, Manuela Martorelli, Rachele Michinelli, Marianna Nigra, Caterina Pagliara, Federica Patti, Paolo Remogna, Francesco Stassi
Bombay has always had a problematic relationship with water. Since the 18th century the city’s growth has gone through several land reclamations, that finally joined the original seven islands together.
As land was added, Bombay’s form was defined as a single compact body, thus losing the characteristic fragmentation of its coastline. Islands dissolved, the coastline moved West, homogeneous and compact. Backbay is the only area where the filling in has not completely happened. Around the big water void diverse social groups are near and divided, struggling every day to conquer square metres of free space.
The project states the need of maintaining this water void, redefining it in its geometry to give it a form: cutting its edges to reveal its potential as a public space. Respecting local differences, as an alternative to the banalizing process of the land reclamations. Water becomes the public space, the space for the negotiation of the needs and the interests of every part of society, place for communication, for social activities and of intermodal exchange.
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