Creation of Place Identity in the Public Realm by Nidhi_

THE CREATION OF PLACE IDENTITY Scalar Narratives for the Public Realms of Kalachowki Precinct By Nidhi Darshan Bina Modi

GUIDED BY Ar. Nachiket Kalle

A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment Of the requirements for SEM-IX The Degree

BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE MUMBAI UNIVERSITY MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA.

5TH YEAR, SEM-IX, BARD 911, DEC’2020

Conducted at: RACHANA SANSAD’S ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE, UN-AIDED COURSE RACHANA SANSAD, 278, SHANKAR GHANEKAR MARG, PRABHADEVI, MUMBAI 400025.

DECLARATION I hereby declare that this written submission entitled “Role Of Scalarity in the Creation of Place Identity” represents my ideas in my own words and has not been taken from the work of others (as from books, articles, essays, dissertations, other media and online); and where others’ ideas or words have been included, I have adequately cited and referenced the original sources. Direct quotations from books, journal articles, internet sources, other texts, or any other source whatsoever are acknowledged and the source cited are identified in the dissertation references. No material other than that cited and listed has been used. I have read and know the meaning of plagiarism* and I understand that plagiarism, collusion, and copying are grave and serious offences in the university and accept the consequences should I engage in plagiarism, collusion or copying. I also declare that I have adhered to all principles of academic honesty and integrity and have not misrepresented or fabricated or falsified any idea/data/fact source in my submission. This work, or any part of it, has not been previously submitted by me or any other person for assessment on this or any other course of study.

Signature of the Student Name of the Student: Exam Roll No: Date:

Nidhi Darshan Bina Modi 2092UBARC026F

13th December 2020

Place: Mumbai

*The following defines plagiarism: “Plagiarism” occurs when a student misrepresents, as his/her own work, the work, written or otherwise, of any other person (including another student) or of any institution. Examples of forms of plagiarism include: • the verbatim (word for word) copying of another’s work without appropriate and correctly presented acknowledgement; • the close paraphrasing of another’s work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation, without appropriate and correctly presented acknowledgement; • unacknowledged quotation of phrases from another’s work; • the deliberate and detailed presentation of another’s concept as one’s own. • “Another’s work” covers all material, including, for example, written work, diagrams, designs, charts, photographs, musical compositions and pictures, from all sources, including, for example, journals, books, dissertations and essays and online resources.

Acknowledgements

To my thesis mentor, Prof. Nachiket Kalle, for the encouragement since the ideation of this topic, and all the insightful conversations that followed. He has been instrumental to stitch my fortuitous thoughts into a meaningful study, for which I will always be grateful.

To the Principal, Prof, Rohit Shinkre, for being the constant source of support and motivation,

To my co-guide, Ar. Saurabh Mhatre, for directing me towards the study and the freedom to explore all along the process,

To all the mentors who have been a part of this learning, and for their guidance,

To my friends and classmates, who have helped me with all their support, and contributions in ways big or small,

And to Mum and Dad for their perpetual positivity, strength and patience which has always inspired me.

Figure 1: Depicting Place and its Publicness.

To the man sauntering around, And another who sees the traffic crawl; While a friend looks for others at the old spot, A new fellow calls it home; A place that greets them all.

Abstract

The humankind, as social beings, belong to a certain place and associate their identity with it. A person is at the least seen in isolation, but always is surrounded with a context, a locale and a relationship shared with others that is greater than their individuality.

‘There is no such thing as mute architecture.’ The built context is designed to suit its users and eventually rendered meaningful when it is furnished with human interactions. The spatial implications in a city are an outcome of what the inhabitants made out of the land available, stitching around narratives, and working collectively towards the creation of places. It has always evolved from the past, integrated with human reflections, experiences and social occurrences.

The spaces are perceived and defined in the broad spectrums of public, private, gendered and empowerment, while the users play within these fields. With mindful interventions, an inter-relation could be thought of between geography, its people and the built characteristic. These places are an extension of the collectives, going beyond singularity and bringing in the social conduct. It personifies our state of living, with memories and experiences (intangible) etched into the built (tangible) form. It holds the ability to envision a place differently, rather than the way it is already looked at.

Various locales, when entwined the likes of functionality and a space for emotive association, they emerge as Places, and let everyone be a part of it. The study looks at introducing public places as a significant part of archetypical of the city. In an attempt to bring the community together, the public sphere takes centre stage to form pluralist, animated places, rather than passive sites.

Table of contents PART I: INCEPTION 1

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………….01

Literature Review a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

3 4 5 6 7

Space as a Fundamental……………………………………………………………………05 Contextualising Place……………………………….……..……………………………….09 Space for Engagement………………………………………………………………………15 Constituents of Place………………………………………………………………………..21 Space Syntax……………………………………………………………………………….……31 Public Spaces………………………………………………………………………………..….35 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………………37

Research Question………………………………………..…………………….……………….…39 Aims and Objectives…………………………………………………..……….….……………...41 Definitions………………………………………………………………….………………….………..43 Scope and limitations……..…………………………………………………………….………..45 Methodology…………………………..…………………………….……………….……….……….46

PART II: INFERENCES 8 9 10 11

Precincts in Mumbai……….…..…….…………………………………………….…………...51 JVPD………………………………………..………………..…..…………..…………………………..53 Pali Hill………………………………………….…………………………..…………….……….…….63 Kalachowki…………………………………….……………..……………..…………………………73

PART III: INTERVENTION 12 13 14 15

Site Selection…….……………………………………………………….……………………………81 Identifying Nested Scales….………..………………………………..……………………….87 Case Studies…….……………………………………………………………….….………………….93 Architectural Program….………………………………………………...…………………..…97

16 17 18

End Note…………………………………………………………….…..….……………………………103 Bibliography……………………………………………………..…………………………..………...105 Appendix…………………………………………………………..……………………………..………106

PART I: INCEPTION

Introduction Relevance of place is hugely contested in today’s times as the places become more globalised and people, disassociated. The study explores the relationship between people, everyday life and their sense of place. It emphatically questions the dynamics of a place and its dependence on social collectives and experiences.

The physical location of space has an associative property, which leads to the manifestation of Place. The fading loss of relatability of mankind to their place of belonging is unsettling, causing the cities to seem dysfunctional and fragment into pieces of passive parcels of land.

Place has multiple definitions in the diverse fields it is studied in, largely being referred to as a point or positions of contact in the physical environment of Space. In the study, we see it grow substantially from this physical expression to a multi-faceted arena of publicness and animated social proceedings, eventually leading a creation of identity to those who fall within these networks.

Prominently, the research focuses on the fundamentals of space, comprehended in close reference with the elements of Place, through a temporal lens, the users and their activities and its Materiality. It is necessary to understand the hierarchy of scales it operates at, and how different are these from each other. Scalarity becomes an important aspect, as the study pivots around various precincts in the city of Mumbai. These known locales strengthen the relations between people and places, giving back to the society and identify a more relatable habitat for its residents.

A way to bring in architecture as a response to the everyday life and celebrate the social conduct in the familiar, ordinary activities, this is an attempt to bring in changes in the physicality of a place to encourage a wide range of experiences.

Literature Review

Figure 2: Empirical State of Space, where everything is located and measured.

Figure 3: Flow Space.

2a. Space as a Fundamental Space is the basis of architecture which architecture obtains its characteristics based on it.

Space, the most primitive concept discussed in Architecture, has its meaning spread vast across definitive boundaries. To view it holistically, space is an abstract, relational perspective to all other things, which helps to document a series a of co-production with other elements to gain character. These elements include, movements, actions, links, or even a pictorial depiction of events to define space and its use. The perception of space is only possible in the presence of the perceptible objects, which makes it space is the relation among objects.

As evaluated by Nigel Thrift, space is multi-faceted and various connotations be made from it, as stated below:

1. Empirical Space A tangible form of space, which encompasses the empirical state and objects of utility and occupy space. This is termed as ‘space for measurement’ where all components defined objectively and form a basis for us to quantify and identical all over. Largely overlooked, these systems or objects are so deeply weaved into our everyday life that they are hardly noticed. (metric system, road signs, etc) In the later developments, the GPS facility, also marks a presence of this empirical spaces, where it identifies our existence and presents in a tangible manner, that everyone can read and decipher. It acknowledges space and brings us in perpetual contact with each other, without seemingly feel its presence. These systems did not just spring out, but were progressively developed as the need arose.

2. Flow Space A way of interacting and communication, flows are networks through which the world engages and facilitates exchange of information. Reasonably so, this is intangible and depends on the social conduct of humans to be experienced. These are movements of people around, or dispensing information through words, or even disciplinary laws which dictate certain gestures and motions. To think of flows, it functions at all scales, right from the movement of

Figure 4: Representing Image Space, through a series of screens and multimedia

Figure 5: An artist’s representation of Place Space, as human interactions get involved.

minute cells in biology, to the wide-ranged global tourists. These connections and links exist in both states or formal and informality. Globalisation has made the world a smaller place, with faster transactions of people and information, allowing new spatial experiments within this social realm and see space differently.

3. Image Space Images and pictures are a key element of how humans remember spaces and register the details in our minds. Everything associated with pictorial depictions, images, paintings, postcards and animations are constituted within these. In a world of growing multi-media transfer, this space becomes significantly momentous and useful in exchanges and interactions between people. The screens displaying these visual interfaces have a pervasive entry into our lives and substantially dictate our likes and dislikes. They produce a continuous stream of pictures that feed our intellectual, while also causing the issue of attention- truck loads of information is exchanged with less time on hand to process it.

4. Place Space A more real constituent of space, this is a stance born out of the intellectual certainties oh humanity. A tangent of space which binds the social activities of people to their geographical point of context, it focuses on the rhythms and maps their movements through the given context. It largely has to do with embodiment of the space and bring in life to the otherwise static entity. Giving shape to ‘everyday routine’ Place space naturalises the existence of certain areas in our lives and blends it with our existence. The natural sounds or scented whiffs make up space which can be felt and experienced, thus making it easier to remember the spaces and always go back to them when re-lived.

2b. Contextualising Place Place Traditionally, geographers dealt with places as being bounded entities that could be used as fundamental units of study but could also refer to places in a more general way, for example, urban, sub-urban, or rural. To make it lucid, Place is easier to define when related to a particular locale. The spirit of a place is its identity, and forms the entire character around it. People who inhabit the place, develop a strong territorial belonging to it and inculcates a physical, as well as, social relationship with it. Place is like a container, holds the events that occurred in history, a visual indicator of temporality. (Schulz, N. (1979) Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture.) It grows from those experiences and builds up on the narratives through the social collectives, with no opinions established from an absolute point of view. The places constantly evolve from past experiences and are always in a state of re-definition. They have the ability to be malleable and transform itself as the need arises, and be extremely user- centric.

Social Spatiality ‘Spatiality is fundamentally constitutive of social life’. (Soja, E. (1989) Postmodern Geographies.) It well establishes the space for social activities and gives back to the society. It is a tool that could be used to revitalise neighbourhoods, or even be paired with design principles to plan efficient localities in the city. It adds a humanitarian angle to the overall architectural practise, and shifts the focus from economics, to user oriented public spots.

An affiliation towards the place also makes the user grow more mindful of the place it inhabits and subsequently becomes responsive in shaping it up. A symbiotic relationship is recognised with the spatial implications and the cultivating need for a stronger societal connection.

Use of Place Each person has different use associated with a place, which Lefebvre has tried to contextualise in his theory. The ‘Social Production of Space’ categorises spaces according to the way people utilise the places and the functions that it can facilitate. A triad of meanings are discussed, as a series of ‘Moments’ emerge from these places through these implications-

•

Spatial practice or Perceived Space This includes physically presence in a space to actually understand its spatial implication.

•

Representations of Space or Conceived Space It implies the creative processes of developing the place and representing it accordingly.

•

Representational Space or Lived Space This signifies to be aware of all the subjects that are related to the place and mindfully design practise to suit them all.

Attachment to Place

To feel connected to a place and establish that identity with the place, there are a few activities or characteristics through which it could be achieved, other than the physical properties. These could be observed at various scales in respect to different individuals, in a temporal sense.

• • • • • •

Emotion / feelings being central (the ‘affect’ that the place has) Cognition (thought / knowledge / belief) Practice (action / behaviour) Action (individuals through to groups) Social relations (co-operative, conflictual, connectedness, cohesion) Temporal aspects (longevity, memory, nostalgia, acceptance of change, future trajectories)

Sense of Place Place has vast understandings as it dribbles into numerous fields of study. The diversity is vast, and many terms have been coined to explain this concept of place.

•

Topophilia was coined by to denote a strong sense of place or identity amongst certain peoples. The ‘insidedness’ and ‘outsidedness’ illustrates the kind of belonging that people may feel. The experience of places that people have connote understanding and appreciation of the character of place. (Tuan, Y.-F. (1977). Space and Place. The perspective of experience, University of Minnesota Press.)

•

Dwelling is a term used in architectural studies to emphasise on the importance of home places where people spend a great deal of their time and to which they show a high degree of attachment. (Cuba, L. and D. M. Hummon (1993). "A Place to Call Home: Identification with Dwelling, Community and Region.")

•

Rootedness is a metaphor used to suggest a degree of permanence and acceptance of people to their places. (Chawla, L. (1992). Childhood Place Attachments)

•

Belonging is a notion that can be applied to a range of scales to represent the abstract feelings that people have towards a certain place. It is a dynamic concept, where people can belong somewhere in a number of ways. (Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined Communities)

Shared Places Territorialisation matters a lot when discussing about public spaces and it is through this that social and spatial boundaries and identities are inscribed and erased. Territory is a way of demarcating a locale, and establishing a structural social conduct and flows through the same, keeping the indifferences apart. Altman’s three-layered construct of primary, secondary and public territories is a framework that helps us to distinguish these and make inferences from the same; • • •

primary when we shut the door to the bedroom, secondary when territories are shared by a ‘club’, public when territories can be appropriated by anyone.

The research becomes a part of the third scalar network, where the space becomes completely open to public, but also includes certain interrelations of primary and secondary strata of territories.

Architecture and Place

The everyday life and routines provide a context of the built environment to support the functionality of the place and encourage comfort and habitability around it. Places are experienced in concurrence to these spatial layouts and help the users to interact within it. When we say ‘this is a great place’ we mean something more social and less formal than ‘this is a great space’. A large part of what distinguishes place from space is that place has an intensity that connects sociality to spatiality in everyday life. (Dovey, K. (2010) Becoming Places.)

Place is termed as an ‘assemblage’ where its characteristics emerge from numerous variables and parts. A few have been taken forward in this research, namely, the users, temporality and the materiality of the place that it has to offer.

The linking in the built environment itself enforces certain kind of social mixity and enable social practice to ‘take place’ in the public realm. The buildings share an interesting flow of private to public when they spill out onto the streets and make it accessible for everyone, while also maintain protocols and norms of limiting action. It has a finesse of flows and pathways of information shared and humans interacting.

Architecture is a thread that holds together the activities enacted and the sense of being. “The experience of ‘place’ is based in a primary relation of body to world.”

Non- Places

places reconstitute themselves in it; relations are restored and resumed in it; … Place and non-place are rather like opposed polarities: the first is never completely erased, the second never totally completed; they are like palimpsests on which the scrambled game of identity and relations is ceaselessly rewritten. (Marc Augé) (Augé, M. (1995) Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity.) Here, as Augé affirms that non-place ‘never exists in pure form’, we cannot term certain spaces as ‘Non-Place’ definitively. Place and nonplace are relational, contingent and in constant progress.

Even though the feelings of detachment and solidarity are finite to such archetypical of non-places, they can be experienced in any other space. The materiality of places and the interactions and movements they offer in the social domain are more accounted in order to design active places to stimulate publicness.

2c. Space for Engagement Himanshu Burte in his book ‘Space for Engagement’ explains five parameters for spaces which are required for the engagement of human activities and the environment.

Occupiability It is a description of the affordance offered by an environment for pause and for durable occupation. Occupation and pause, as opposed to movement through an environment, are crucial to the development of a place-person engagement. Repeated and durable occupation of a space is central to the process of establishing a relationship with an environment. Thus, spaces that neither allow nor encourage us to occupy them are difficult to engage with. If they keep us moving without allowing us rest or ignore our pause and make dwelling uncomfortable, then they keep us at a distance. It is also clear that spaces cannot be indiscriminately occupiable.

Penetrability It is a description of the way in which an environment allows itself, its spaces and barriers to be penetrated by the dweller. Penetration is a constant theme in our interaction with the built environment and is experienced most piquantly at the entrance into any domain. Habitable space incorporates multiple domains that are separated by barriers of various kinds. So, every time we step through a gate or onto the entrance steps through a door, we penetrate a barrier, whether it be a wall or intervening space. The actual fact of penetration is accompanied, or often preceded, by judgements about the ease and possibility of such penetration through barriers and spaces. The walls of fortresses are often thought of as impenetrable and the open door is almost always seen as a primary sign of the possibility of physical penetration into another realm. Penetrability is thus related to the actual and perceived possibility of penetration.

Figure 6: It depicts environmental comfort for the user.

Figure 7: The smooth transition from one domain to another.

Legibility It is a description of the manner in which an environment presents itself for perception and comprehension. We need to be able to make sense of the environment around us. Our dislike of certain environments stems from the fact that they strain our cognitive capacities beyond comfort. Specific aspects of each environment affect our cognitive comfort and, therefore, our judgements about their ugliness, beauty and hospitability. The definition can be broadened to include the perception of buildings as ‘objects. When used in opposition to each other, the terms ‘object’ and ‘environment’ refer to two kinds of experiences of architecture: one, of buildings and environments seen from ‘outside and perceived as large objects in space, and two, as habitable environments within the architectural ‘object experienced from inside.

Sociability It is a description of the manner in which an environment affords social contact. A look at various environmental situations quickly reveals that there is a great difference in the manner in which they support social interaction. Classrooms, family living rooms, railway waiting rooms, gardens and markets - each facilitates social contact differently. In classrooms, the arrangement of benches is traditionally meant to enable only a formal interaction between the teacher and the students while discouraging informal interaction between students. Most comfortable living rooms, on the other hand, attempt to foster social intimacy and conversation between family members. Of course, in every inhabited space, a number of factors together influence social contact. Some of these have to do with attributes of the space itself. In public spaces like art places, where catalysing social contact is one of the objectives, it is particularly important to attend to the range and action of such attributes. An environment that catalyses social interaction, that induces a desirable nature and level of ‘co-presence’ - the simultaneous presence of two or more people may be thought of as sociable. At the other extreme, an environment that obstructs such co-presence and contact can be considered unsociable.

Figure 8: As more complexities are added, the built structure become legible

Possessability It is a description of the manner in which a space offers itself up for ‘possession’ by the dweller, even as it lays claim to his/her loyalties. I find that art places, and public places in general, do not usually enable people to take possession of them in the sense in which the term will be conceptualized here. The dull, transactionally oriented art place environment fails to do so simply because it is content to be no more than a mere facility. Engagement depends upon the strength of the dialectic between possession and belonging—only when you can ‘possess’ a place, as well as belong to it, is a strong engagement possible. When either relation is overwhelmingly stronger, the engagement can only suffer.

2d. Constituents of Place Place evolves from various key factors that contribute to its makings and dispense an identity to the locale. A few of these are discussed here and as well taken forward in the research.

Habitus Structures are seen as properties in the social construct that have the power to stabilise the framework around which human beings operate and act as resources. With hold the potential to realise our capacities, it strengthens the relation between the built environment and its users; The relations between structure and agency are primarily those of ‘enabling’ and ‘constraining’.

From an Architectural perspective, the structure mediates its presences and frames the social actions surrounding it. Evoking a certain life form, the built elements like walls, and roof does constraint our movement and but places it in an order which other wise would not have taken shape. The spatiality is a form of language for communication, etching out the gesture of motion.

“Without the structure of syntactic and semantic rules that we call ‘language’, we cannot speak”

A spatial relation plays a key role in structuration theory, one where it structures the footfall into the built form and the design channelises our interactions within it. Power is conveyed through the sense of all that are present in a space, governed by the factor of time and spatial sequence. These eventually give rise to ‘situations’ and events. A ‘board meeting’ is framed temporally by its time-slot and spatially by its entry sequence, enclosure, art works and outlook. Situations are also framed by clusters of rules which help to constitute and regulate activities, defining them as actions of a certain sort and subject to given sanctions.

Thus, the social world is ‘made to happen’ as a condition, through a series of events which team up the entire realm of publicness. Various parameters of privacy, dominance, and inter- merging become essential in such places and need to be accounted for while designing.

The habitus is a set of practical categorisation, divisions and hierarchies which are embodied in the everyday lifeworld of experience and action. These divisions of space and time—of objects and actions, of gender and status—are at once forms of ‘habit’ and of ‘habitat’. Thus, the habitus is embedded in familiar forms of dwelling and the house is a very important ideological construct as the first such habitus. Habitus is a structured form of understanding and clear perceptions of the built environment with plugins from the cultural, natural, practises and the social arenas of the construct. It helps build up the sense of one’s ‘place’ in both the social and physical senses: the habitus produces practices and representations which are available for classification. It is both the condition for the chance of social practice and the site of its multiplication.

When we feel ‘out of place’ in a social situation it is often that we lack this ‘feel’ for how to act. While the habitus is not a synonym for habitat, places are strongly implicated through the ways in which built form frames social practice.

Although, it is limited as a theory of social change, and is useful in understanding how identities are stabilized and spatial practices are reproduced through built form. It is the most crucial of concepts in understanding the complicities of place with power. A socially engaged architecture puts forward the need to give a giving voice to real public interests; unpacking and restructuring the habitus.

Power and Control

Empowerment assimilates at places through the everyday life, and pre determines the hold of authority and control shared by the individuals. Although it comes from a very privileged point of view, it becomes pertinent to understand this a key concept which helps in building up a Place. As varied sects of the society get a platform and come together, the space is shared and for smoother transaction of activities, power comes into play. If not significant, it holds a considerable proportion of determinacy when it comes to analyse Places and its constituents.

A clear distinction lies when discussing empowerment; ‘Power over’ and ‘Power to’. However so, these are not contemplated as two exclusive entities, but as facets of the operation. The former pertains to the control established on the actions of others, while the latter looks at the capacity to achieve the desires through the enactment of power. The way forward towards the execution for these wants precipitates power to be dictated over others. The desired end may be control over others and to exercise power over others is to harness their capacities.

‘Power over’ does have other derivatives from which it takes up, which includes force, coercion, manipulation, domination, seduction and authority. A few of these factors act up in architecture as well and mediated through urban public spaces•

• •

The expansive open spaces or looming towers may be perceived as intimation by the users, while prison cells and private properties demand a sense of regulated accessibility. Institutions contribute to the transformation of precincts and authorise the movements of its people. The hierarchy seen either in built forms or rehearsed from the way people interact with the places, while they act as spatial centres.

In order to effectively use this phenomenon of empowerment, it should be thought of as a productive tool to bring in favourable transformation, rather than to use it as an oppressive resource. The subject who holds the control, constructively channel the perspectives through social practises and intimate it into the fields of activities and operations.

Assisting in decentralisation, and creating an identity of the place, these acts of dispersed power, eradicates differences to bring over social uniformity. Subsequently, the control is fostered by the built environment facilitating our movement around it, instead of it being held by the users. This leads to the smooth transition from ‘Power over’ to ‘Power over’, dissipating constraints and oppression. The advent of this change acts as a stimulus to percept new links between people, experiences and development of fresh cognitive meanings and language. The materiality of the place is affected and leaves a scope to be seen through a new focused lens and impact the built fabric accordingly. “Coercion consists in transforming private, communal, group or cultural spaces into organizational spaces in which people perform actions directed towards the fulfilment of another’s plan, or refrain from performing actions subversive of the realization of another’s plan.” (Dovey, K (1999) Framing Places.) Its relativity keeps changing ground as encounters differ each day and is influenced by the everyday practises. The experiential quality encourages a ‘sense’ of places as it the events proceed and gain momentum. It functions as a collective play of shared power, and units of desire, as each one has different set of needs that they expected to be fulfilled from these places. Mediating ‘Power Over’ Power, as an intangible constituent of Place, it has a few methods to be contextualised in real world and derive meanings from it. As subjective it may be, these examples do take place in the places in varied forms all within our social activities. • Orientation and Disorientation- The built fabric can orient, disorient and reorient its subjects through the spatial framings of everyday life. It constructs a mental framework through which we imagine our world and give it our attention. • Public and Private- The buildings segment spaces in a way that positions certain kinds of people and action under conditions of surveillance while conditioning the other kind of people actions as private. • Segregation and Accessibility- Access Boundaries and pathways can segregate places by various parameters like, gender, culture, age, and creates separate enclaves of access, amenity and community for each of them.

• Nature and History- The built form uses metaphor, past events and constructs mythology through a myriad of representation. Historically constructed meanings can be ‘naturalized’ to legitimize authority. • Stability and Change- Producing illusions of permanence, the built environment brings in a stable social order. Similarly, images of dynamism and innovation can produce illusions of progress. • Authentic and Imitation- We inhabit a world where imitation and representation is at its peak. This leads for a quest for authenticity and hence determines authority and power. • Identity and Difference- Places symbolize socially constructed identities and differences of varied persons, cultures, institutions and nations. The politics of identity and difference is mediated in an arena of spatial representation. • Dominant and Docile- A dominant built mass or volume signifies the control over resources necessary to its production. Relative scale in mass or volume, cannot be discounted for when designing of these spaces. • Place and Ideology- The experience of place has the capacity to move us deeply, and opens the question of ‘spirit’.

The built environment frames everyday life by offering certain spaces for programmed action, while closing other possibilities. In a plethora of ways every day we avoid those boundaries that are met with resistance and goes against our ideologies. Even though in the physical world, there is no clear demarcation of necessary forms of spatial power, most forms of spatial surveillance and control are dominating, but only to imply order and refrain chaos in these places. It is this positive and primary notion of power as the human capacity to imagine and create a better built environment.

Temporality

The physical space holds something very objective and quantifiable which is then filled up with the daily set of public experiences, as an extended feed of abstractions. This is guided through the sense of time and circumstance. The social space metamorphoses as events take place and through past learnings.

As fundamental as space is, the distinctiveness that it carries, is born out of history and from an attempt to re-live the memories, because of which, ‘Time’ becomes an important aspect and the identity of a place and its people associates with it.

Not just across timelines, the place also changes according to its day and night functions. The user group is different at both times and the locale adapts to suit these changes and their functionality. Temporality becomes key while devising these places to be flexible, non-restrictive and to maintain its ability to accommodate the shifts in lifestyle.

Scalarity The local and global are part of a pre-existing notions of nested scales and it is within this that the social place takes form. The practises in both these realms are overlapping, intersecting or even distinct from each other. The only difference it carves out is that ‘global’ is identified based on geographical limits, while ‘local’ is fairly subjective and is determined more on the basis of communal activities, and the people’s collective consciousness. It may be along the lines of region, culture, identity, and activities.

Precinct Study ‘Locales’ are akin to ‘places’ in as much as they are meaningful centres of everyday life. Everyday life is described by Giddens as a serial time/space path, marked by opening and closing brackets in both space and time which define ‘situations’.

The precinct or a neighbourhood is a comprehensive yet complex system, with multiple facets to it. It is a conscious developing decision, with particular planning principles which then helps in growing of a city. In a response to the modern urban environments, precincts help to maintain the identity of the place amidst rapid urbanisation. Furthermore, shifts in the nature and use of urban components and their mutual relations follow the tendency to view the city as a composite assemblage made of discrete urban units. Accordingly, the neighbourhood becomes a convenient and easily defined urban area; a clearly bounded territory, a cluster of streets, and a service area, which generates a social network.

The precinct emerges as an urban component, that can be perceived as the manifestation of a Place and allows communal interaction. This unit is capable of generating communal relations and can induce rewarding human associations, along with the provision of comfort and convenience. This emergence can aspire not only towards the achievement of an appropriate physical form, but also towards an object having substantial content and meaning. Hence the neighbourhood is always part of a larger whole and, at the same time, a system in itself, having specific mechanisms and functions.

Figure 9: Diagram showing types of Spatial Syntax for a Plan

2e. Spatial syntax To study the built forms and to cluster them into specific archetypes, it becomes necessary to formulate a framework to analyse its spatiality and draw inferences from it. The syntax analysis starts from a technique of mapping buildings into a cellular structure using the external entry points as a base. The building plan is translated into a structural diagram of how life is framed within it. To begin with an example, three similar plans with different doorways provide us with three quite different syntactic structures. In practice nearly all buildings are structured in combinations of these basic syntactic structures. (Figure 9) •

The linear structure is a string of spatial segments in sequence, known in architecture as the enfilade. There is no choice of pathway from one segment to another.

•

The ringy or looped structure is the opposite inasmuch as it connects segments to each other in a network, with multiple choices of pathway.

•

A fan (or branching) structure controls access to a range of spaces from a single segment, like a corridor or hallway.

Most prominently, formulating this spatial grammar helps in understanding the ‘depth’ or ‘shallowness’ of any segment from the external entry can be determined, along with the overall depth of the structure. A deep structure requires the traversing of many segments. This has implications for how many boundaries and points of control one crosses in penetrating into the building. The linear structure is twice as deep as the fan or the ring one. Another key dimension of syntactic analysis is the degree of ‘ringiness’ versus ‘control’, that determines to what extent are spatial segments interconnected by looping pathways as opposed to being controlled by a linear or branching syntax. The ringy structure is defined by its multiple and lateral connections, many possible pathways through it and dispersed control. The linear or fanned structure controls circulation and social interaction in certain key spaces. The degree of ‘control’ of a given cell is the degree to which access to other cells must pass through it.

Figure 10: Spatial Syntax diagram for Educatorium, University of Utrecht

Figure 11: Spatial Syntax diagram for Seattle Public Library,

Educatorium

The spatial analysis clearly exhibits that the building is accessible and highly permeable. Accessed through 11 entry points from the exterior and other buildings, the building leaves a choice with its users to maximise their efficiency in circulation. For a building of this size and complexity this is a shallow spatial structure, which implies all major spaces within it are accessible within six levels of depth. While the plan has a high level of permeability with a multiplicity of pathways, the main foyer also operates as a control space through which all of the open circulation systems within the building pass. To sum up, the Educatorium is a highly innovative building at its shallow levels that becomes more conservative with depth. (Figure 10)

Seattle Public Library

The spatial structure of the building is its key innovation. The cluster of spaces is an extremely smart design which assembles five storeys of programme within two spatial segments deep from the street. The Living Room is effectively one vast floor space extending across the city block with good light and outlook. The vertical circulation stands out, and persuades the users to explore the entire building. Although the spatial structure may be puzzling initial, it is very much suitable for the functionality of the building and it grows on the user as well with time. (Figure 11)

Figure 12: Place Diagram tool to evaluate public places

2f. Public Spaces A public space refers to an area or place that is open and accessible to all peoples, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. These are public gathering spaces such as plazas, squares and parks. Connecting spaces, such as sidewalks and streets, are also public spaces.

Modernism saw a different kind of public spaces that shaped its cities. The town and its public space were conceived as an organized scheme in which growth followed functionalist guidelines. One of the diverse features that define the city is the availability of quality public space. Citizens only acknowledge themselves as members of a society if they can access and use the public "place" similarly, which is also the consequence of evolution and urban fabric growth.

A framework constituted by the Project for Public Spaces, shows certain parameters, which help us design efficient public places and also evaluate its relativity with the users. (Figure 12) Public spaces are now under the pressure of capital and privatization in modern cities. This transforms their social and physical form gradually, leading to a significant reduction in the public biosphere and the loss of public space. Green parks, open-air squares and trails along the waterfront are the victims of privatisation. A public space of hybrid character thus, begins to emerge. It is a location where public and private are not clearly distinguished, a ‘grey area’.

Consciousness about the opportunities allocated to the public space has given rise to an unrelenting discussion on the identity of the locale. The entry to the public space marks the transit from the domestic to the public and from the subjective to the collective. As a matter of fact, the public space offers its people the possibility to engage in a larger and more diverse network of relations. It is important to realize that the collective identity takes shape in the public space, hence the need for a set of rules that align the needs of the group to those of the individual.

2g. Conclusions

The spatial syntax is an important factor to be considered while designing spaces as it distinctly spells out the need of such spaces and their relevance. It makes me question the concept of sense of place as an organising principle, within which people could find common ground in order to develop their neighbourhood, and grow as a collective.

In conclusion, the studies done leads me to explore the relationship between sense of place within the social construct with regards to perceptions and behaviour in an ordinary landscape.

The scales at which these inter-relations function, and what suits the best, is distinguished, and accordingly the study has been taken forward.

Research Question In what way can a scalar framework be applied to reimagine the inter-relationship between Space, Time, User and materiality, which then contributes in the making of Place and thereby assist in identity creation.

Aims

Identify the varied plugins that operate in a Place to make it habitable, more humane and correspond to its built fabric, thus establishing a way of identity- creating a place for the public in the domains of a progressive environment.

Objectives

1. To understand how the 4 variables of Space, Time, User and Materiality, come together at the nested scales within a precinct.

2. This eventually gives a focused lens to program public spaces and understand the necessary spatial inferences to fill in for a larger engagement for the public within the built fabric that it has always been engaged with.

Scope and Limitations

The dissertation focuses on the public realm that habitats in the precincts under study, while the individuality of the users is put under collective meaning. It looks at spaces meant for the masses and the placemaking potentials they hold.

As the research concerns familiarity and personal opinions, the locations are Mumbai- centric, and the studies are the author’s own observations, based on literary sources and informal discussions at the field visits.

More than solving a problem, the approach is an exploration of the concept of Narratives and how they are cultivated in the various precincts in the city of Mumbai. It does not challenge the current communication trends but thinks of establishing an alternative approach to build up on these opportunities and assist in Placemaking.

Definitions

Specific keywords in the study, and its implied meaning.

1. Place A physicality which represents the inter-relation of its people and the intangible attributes that the space holds, which sees a shift with time and forms of activities.

2. Sense of place The relativity of a locale towards a person and the feelings it dissipates from it for the person to make certain assumptions regarding the place.

3. Precinct It is a planning concept, to identify various parts of the city where the context is hyper-local and its residents carry certain notions of collective consciousness towards their place.

4. Placemaking In a way, it personifies the place and gives it an identity that matches with that of the people who inhabit it. This quality separates out the place and allows itself build its own character within the city.

5. Public Realm The large scaled build environment that is open for everyone to make use of and participate collectively into social processes of inhabitancy.

Methodology

The research is derived from various readings, and eventually proceeds to build up author’s own observations at various sites in Mumbai.

1. Literature reviewThrough a series of readings and secondary data a framework is established to carry forward the research and systematise the understanding. It is categorised under different topics to assimilate the theories coherently and maintain a lucid flow.

2. FrameworkA basis is formed to study a place and contextualise it under different headings to make the study lucid and readable. The framework includes• Physical Place It is the tangible attributes of a place, which can be measured and objectively examined. • Functional Place • The potential of the place to allow a set of activities without a hindrance and in tandem to one another. • Emotive Place • The flexibility of a place for people to express freely and establish a relation with it.

3. Primary dataAs to co relate the theoretical data in the real settings of Mumbai, a sequence of surveys, interviews and informal discussions, were undertaken.

Questions asked to the people at site visits to build up the discussions are• Everyday routine- points of activities around the place • Since when have they been residing or visiting the locality • What are the factors they appreciate? • Willingness to shift to some other place, if given a choice • Temporality- specific changes in built context • Scope of activities

4. Analysing the data The points gathered are analysed from an architectural point of view that one needs to consider to design a space. It covers certain parameters under the physicalities of the place and also the social variables.

5. Design InterventionIt eventually leads the research to form a design intervention at the selected site of study and apply the understanding into an architectural program that suits its corresponding user group and helps in achieving the research objectives.

PART II: INFERENCES

Figure 13: A representational map of Mumbai to locate the precincts under study

Precincts of Mumbai

Scalarity is pre-dominantly important here as I identify 3 precincts in Mumbai and understand them as places. (Figure 13) While JVPD and Pali Hill are relatively new residential precincts that have emerged in the late 90s, Kalachowki has seen rational transformation over the years.

Each of these have different functionality and varied sense of place, operating distinctly. These parameters that make up place, have been studied further in the research.

Figure 14: Nolli Map of JVPD

Juhu Vile Parle Development scheme

Well known as JVPD, is a precinct in the Western Suburb of Mumbai, which was developed in the 1960s as a new residential hub. Well planned streets and housing projects gave a fresh identity to the city as it started to be known for its impeccability and grid planning.

The place even now has a sense of calm to it, intertwined with the playful activeness it alludes. The closeness to the shoreline makes it even more favourable for people to connect to the place and hold certain notions regarding it.

People who have become a part of this precinct are well tied to the place, as I recognise generations of the same families continue to reside there and not look out for better options. Thus, bringing in a sense of communal attachment to the place.

As depicted in the Nolli Map, a style of representation developed by the Italian architect, Giovanni Battista Nolli, we evidently understand the accessibility into and inside the map and how the built spaces are organised, while also focussing on the critical land topographies and physical features. (Figure 14)

The precinct continues to evolve and respond to the temporality of activities, it stands out even in today’s time as it gives makes a lasting presence in their everyday life.

Figure 15: Precinct pictures showing various components of the public space

Physical space Parameter 1: Accessibility Even though the precinct is difficult to access from the transit nodes of railway stations, it is well connected by the roadways, and seemingly occupies a considerable portion on the map. The by lanes and streets are well planned in a grid that follows the curvature of the main access road.

Parameter 2: Green cover The abundance of trees lined all along the footpaths, gives it a characteristic detail. It is not just limited to the public spaces, but also the private residential balconies and windows have been decked up with the bounty of green plants and various other botanics. It incentivises the privacy and makes the users curious of the place inside, mostly left in awe.

Parameter 3: Walkability The planned footpaths can be well accounted for, and are a major reason for the increased pedestrian activities at all times during the day. These are either used as a means of transport, for the user to reach to a destination or just as recreational purposes in themselves as a place to walk their pets, or to take a stroll around the vicinity with friends and alike. The built environment is proportionate to the human scale, and adds comfort while indulging in street activities, and it is also relatable to know what lies ahead as one keeps walking.

Functional Space Parameter 4: Activeness The vitality of the place is immensely superior as the varied user group which reside there get a place to indulge in their activities and build up a social fabric of the precinct. The events are spread across the time during day and night, where it is either families or individuals who become a part of it.

Parameter 5: Malleability The place has something to offer for all strata of the society, and holds the potential to be moulded accordingly. All the built form is dense with narrow lanes, the has the acceptance towards progressive change and suit the ephemeral nature of today’s society.

Figure 16: Site Conditions- spill over activities

Figure 17: Site Conditions- Abundance of greenery

Emotive Space Parameter 6: Interactivity The soft edges alongside the built environment provides places for pause and rest. As residents spend more time at these nodes, it gives rise to interactive activities amongst them and exchange of information. Acting up like a social mixity, even the compound walls contribute to this factor as it includes animated movements and provide multiple meeting nodes.

Parameter 7: Celebratory The diversity of the place is such that it holds the ground for an emotive expression. It alludes a warmly feeling when there are group of people around the built volumes and mark a presence of life around it.

Kaifi Azmi Park As an example, the park is a place identity for the users in this precinct, co relating to which a few user personas have been studied, and known how they make use of the place available.

Figure 18: Location of Kaifi Azmi park within the precinct as a Place

User Profiles

Figure 19: User Persona 1

Figure 20: User Persona 2

Figure 21: User Persona 3

Figure 22: Nolli Map of Pali Hill

10. Pali Hill

Another familiar precinct in Mumbai, is Pali Hill, that derives its name from the topography it is situated in. Now an affluent part of the society, earlier, before the development that took place around 1950s, it was a forested land which later was used for cultivation of crops and consisted of fruit orchards.

The place now has grown as a landmark or sorts where people of different age groups find a place for themselves to engage in activities and build up a social environment. The residential houses present here have withstood the rampant construction that the city has been subjected to and have maintained their old-world charm.

I perceive a close-knit community that is welcoming to the visitors and sits in peacefully as it shares boundaries with other sorts of fishing communities. The precinct is planned along the land terrains and the built mass fits in the valleys and crests of the hills, because of which there is transition of road network, from a grid pattern to a more organic layout of streets.

The twists and turns as we manoeuvre around the streets often hold an element for surprise. The precinct is quiet, as the people are more drawn towards the fringes of the place that connects them to the land-sea edge and provides them with a place to interact, or just gaze at the sea of hours and delve in the sense of calm that takes over.

Figure 23: Precinct pictures showing various components of the public space

Physical Space Parameter 1: Accessibility Well connected by the roads, the locality lies adjacent to the Bandra promenade. The users are welcomed through a series of streets that lead them right inside the precinct, where the built fabric rests in harmony with its other constituents.

Parameter 2: Green cover As it being a forested land before, the built structures, are planned around the existing trees, and does not lose out on the ecology. Home to a variety of flora, where it is easy to spot a few indigenous types of fruit bearing trees and shrubbery. The green cover is in plenty and is what adds value to the precinct. The trees line edges are used by the local hawkers and turned into soft edges meant as pause points and have animated activities.

Parameter 3: Walkability The lanes are un- obstructive with minimum interruptions from other factors. This supports free movement for pedestrians and encourages walkability around the precinct. The absence of multiple levels, add to the users’ comfort while exploring the pedestrian activities. The slopes, quirky twists and turns that are harmonious with the hilly terrain add life to the place and stimulate people to traverse the place on foot.

Functional Space Parameter 4: Activeness Although the precinct itself is calm and peaceful, it activates the waterfront edge with numerous activities which is visited by all its residents as a part of their routine within the locale. The interiors of the precinct are favoured by the older age group and provides them with a place to unwind, and become a part of the community.

Parameter 5: Malleability The place holds a part of nostalgia as it is home to various landmarks residential houses. It has grown with time and shared the same timeline as the users have felt the need. Now, the precinct itself has become synonymous with Mumbai. It has mutated from its initial identity and is on the way to incorporate more of cultural and social activities.

Figure 24: Site conditions- no barriers on edges for smooth transition.

Figure 25: Site conditions- use of existing elements.

Emotive Space Parameter 6: Interactivity The tree canopies cast soft, yet dense shadows on the public spaces which make the place habitable, and persuade the users to come out of their houses and interact within the public domain. The spaces are quite and welcoming because of its human scale and pleasant corners to facilitate socialising and meeting people.

Parameter 7: Celebratory Because of the heritage value it carries with itself, the place identifies itself for an emotive expression from the people who make use of it. The precinct has the flexibility to allow these expressions to be experienced and to be embodied in space and its physicalities.

Carter Road Promenade As an example, the park is a place identity for the users in this precinct, co relating to which a few user personas have been studied, and known how they make use of the place available.

Figure 26: Location of Carter Road Promenade within the precinct as a Place

User Profiles

Figure 27: User Persona 4

Figure 28: User Persona 5

Figure 29: User Persona 6

Figure 30: Nolli Map of Kalachowki

11.

Kalachowki

Dotted with mill lands all around the precinct, the place already has a sense of nostalgia that it has carried itself through the decades, while the people also convey an intangible past of their lives. Kalachowki is a huge residential colony of MHADA buildings, meant for residential use of the workers of the textile mills around. These share the same built typology, following a ‘C’- shaped plan with open spaces at its centre. The uniformity is unmatched and it harmoniously fits in the entire context.

The place had numerous traditional ‘Vyayaam Shalas’ or as we call them Fitness Centres, where the mill workers would often go to keep them in shape, and also as means to socialise with peers. These disappeared as mills shut, which are now replaced by either dead spaces or dysfunctional community centres with no incentives to attract the people. The place is soon enough losing ground with their identity, while a lot is left behind in the public domain, with nothing to keep holding onto.

With a lot of potential, the precinct has seen high rises crop up in their locality, which disjoints them from their familiarity. The place, however, is trying to keep its identity intact, by ways of celebrating festivals together, teaming up for outdoor sports, and building up the communal harmony.

Kalachowki is a lively precinct, with immense scope to collect all its past social narratives and streamline it into its everyday engagements. The public realm is adaptive, while it takes joy in festivities and collaborative social participations.

Figure 31: Precinct pictures showing various components of the public space

Physical Space Parameter 1: Accessibility As it was a commercial hub before, there was already a wellconnected transit system in place that catered to the precinct. The railways are a significant point of contact, and helps in connecting the place to the rest of the city.

Parameter 2: Green cover Although the green landscape is not prominent, it sufficiently sits well in the built fabric. A lot of these place are disordered and left to grow out in the wild which cannot be used by the public. It gives an opportunity to utilise the place through smart interventions make it available for the masses.

Parameter 3: Walkability The streets within the precinct, have a different characteristic, and offer different functions throughout the day, thus acting as catalysts to persuade people to explore the place. the residential built typology shares an active edge with the lanes, resulting in a smooth transition, without too many interfaces to block the right of way. This further enhances the experience, and encourages the communal growth through shared and barrier-free spaces.

Functional Space Parameter 4: Activeness The place is filled with vitality, as we see almost all nooks and corners get occupied by either, kids who indulge in sports, or adults who get together to socialise. The spatial layout of the precinct is such that it encourages chance encounters and keeps the lanes busy filled with the everyday din.

Parameter 5: Malleability Kalachowki has already a rising shift in the way it way before, then what the footprint is now. Although as repulsive the change may be, the place has always been receptive to adapt to the rapid changes, and make itself aware and belong to its surrounding.

Figure 32: Site conditions- Taking over footpaths, active edge

Figure 33: Site conditions- Peripheral use of open spaces

Emotive Space Parameter 6: Interactivity The built typology is designed such that it persuades its users to communicate and leave traces of interaction even while going through the menial tasks of everyday. The common shared passageways, or thoroughfares bring up instances of encounter which support social activities and human interactions.

Parameter 7: Celebratory The Indian festival of Ganesh Chaturthi holds immense significance for the community, as it sees thousands of people, from and outside the city, visiting the place annually to celebrate it. The precinct has a terrific sense of emotive quality attached to it, as the harmony is very fiercely seen during Diwali as well. The people share a deep bond with each other, and the same is reflected in its spatial qualities.

PART III: INTERVENTIONS

Figure 34: Map showing the location of the precinct, and the site selected.

12.

Site Selection

The focal design intent is to bring in multiple, scalar-based design interventions in a precinct and re-interpret the growing identity that the people stitch with the place. It brings in fresh perspectives to think of spaces to socialise, interact and build narratives within it, under nested scales to suit varied user group.

The design interventions are an attempt to intervene within their everyday routine in their public realm of their precinct, and initiate socials engagements.

The following are the criteria on the basis of which site selection is done-

• A place which is part of a precinct. • A place with an identity of some sort. • A place with a varied user group. • A place with a variety of spaces available- at different scales. • A place which is accessible to all.

The Kalachowki precinct majorly houses the Abhudaya residential neighbourhood, which has 54 MHADA buildings and share the same built typology of chawls. It can be approached from the Zakaria Bunder Road from the eastern side of the City, while Dadar and Lalbaug Flyover are the nodal transit points from the western part.

Figure 35: Development Plan 2034 to locate the site selected.

Locating the Site

The site selected is the India United Mill Compound (IUMC) No. 4 for the study to proceed further. It fits the parameters that are listed previously, at varying levels, and provides a wide scope for suitable plan for design interventions.

The site surroundings have a varied range of user group, each coming from different walks of life, while also holding the strings of the past to keep their corelation with the place intact.

Site Details• •

Falls under- E Ward, under the Island City of MMR Site Area- 24,000 SqMts.

Figure 36: Site under Study and its context

Figure 37: Site Pictures from the South direction.

SWOT Analysis

Strength The place is highly malleable as it has withstood the rapid urbanisation since the mills closed down and now that the land parcels are being replaced by high-rises. This quality could be approached more mindfully to be used positively and design interventions can be thought of that suit the user group at its best, while also be sensible so as not to dominate the entire locality.

Weakness Currently the site is cordoned off with almost no transparency to the surrounding context, and remains unnoticed by the community at large. Its physical existence is very passive in their everyday life, that it hardly makes an impression onto the users.

Opportunity With the textile museum been proposed at its adjacent plot, it will subsequently help as a catalyst for the proposed architectural interventions.

Threat As a lot of these mill lands remain unoccupied, they seem like potential sites for city developers to realise their commercial dream, and may overshadow the larger interest of the existing inhabitants of the place.

Figure 38: Master Plan showing different scales for design interventions.

13.

Identifying Nesting Scales

In an attempt to intervene in the public realm of Kalachowki as a precinct, it becomes impertinent to identify various scales at which these social activities take place within the society.

1st- Precinct Scale

The mill compounds have been inactive for almost 40 years, and are viewed as dead, passive spaces by its residents who share same locality with these places. So much that, they often go unnoticed and at the least make an impression on the visitors.

With their glorified past, soon these are replaced by glass towers which imbibe no sense of identity, and also cast a spell of alienation of the familiarity that has been stitched around for all these years.

The disappearance of “Vyayaam Shaalas” in the precinct has also displaced the people’s attachment with the place and, in an attempt to move on they are finding new alternatives in the city, not just for occupation but also to socialise.

The architectural intervention looks at to revive this in a way, and appeal to the society as a whole, and go beyond it limits and bring in the city.

Figure 39: 1st Scale- Architectural Intervention.

2nd- Neighbourhood Scale

Kalachowki as an entire precinct, like others in Mumbai, houses a few smaller neighbourhoods within itself. There are spaces available for the people to ideate and socialise, but often are left passive, with little presence of life.

The nooks and corners within the locality, although are dedicated for either the senior citizens, or children as play areas, are unhabitable or largely forgotten from the everyday routine. As an attempt to bring them back and add more places in the public realm, these are great layouts to spatial chalk out design interventions.

As we increase these pause points within the layout of the locality, it makes the place much more habitable and also persuade the people so spend more time outdoors, at these shared spaces and overall give a boost to their communal harmony.

Figure 40: 2nd Scale- Design Intervention

3rd- Thoroughfares

To increase public footprint, and maximise pedestrian activities throughout the locality, there are quite a few thoroughfares between 2 buildings that predominantly help in connecting two adjacent streets. Not only assisting in efficiently accessibility, these right-of-way also gives back space to the public and put them in the foreground rather than the built fabric in itself.

Shared, or open compound walls between buildings create penetrable boundaries, giving access to the public, but largely remain undisposed because of lack of intersections to assist them and use the place at its full potential. Moreover, it is only because of the shop line that it sees an increase in the activities, and due to any other social plugins.

Figure 41: 3rd Scale- Street Intervention.

4th- Building Scale

The most dominating characteristic of the built fabric at Kalachowki is the strong similarity of each of the residential buildings. Akin to chawls, these residential buildings have shared passage ways and balconies which over look at the open grounds at its centre.

The young user group make use of this place to indulge in various sport related activities, mostly it being cricket, while all these functions remain make-shift.

The space is passive in nature, and there are no such interventions to ground the users to its place, to provide them a place to judiciously make use of these open areas. They hold strong potential to be designed into meaningful public spaces, each catering to an individual building, so its own residents to interact, socialise and ideate within their framework.

Also, as a platform to celebrate festivities and togetherness, these shared spaces become impertinent to be thoughtfully designed, so as to make a mark in the public realm but also give its residents the sense of ownership and attachment amongst themselves.

Figure 42: 4th Scale- Building Intervention.

14.

Architectural Program

The pivotal intervention, at the macro scale, that pertains to the entire precinct of Kalachowki, and also extends its limits to welcome in the city, is that of a place where people can freely express themselves, socialise within its framework, and also give value to the place where it belongs. For this the IUMC No. 4 is taken ahead to realise the potential and assist in ‘Creation of Place Identity’.

The basic outline of the design program aims at maximising their interactions and shared engagements to bring back a sense of attachment and relevance to the place. also turning the passive nature, into an active oasis of social narratives where people of all age groups, and varied walks of life can build up the notion of a society.

To think of public places as a new typology, within the constituents of Space, and Scalarity, the following are activities that the architectural program aid in-

•

As a place for social engagement

•

As a place to ideate and create

•

As a place to shared learning

•

As a place to relax and contemplate

•

As a place to explore and experiment

•

As a place for fun, and play

•

As a place interact, express and emote

•

As a place for vitality, and animation

Design Scope The significant portion of the design program would focus onSport- related activities, while also leave scope for other lateral, and auxiliary functions for the place to emerge as an identity and a social collective for its people.

Why Sports•

There is already a lingering history of physical activities and fitness in the precinct, which is fast losing. This will be an attempt to revive the same and enhance the experience further.

•

Sports is an engagement which does not happen singularly, and persuades the person to delve into the social domain and communicate with others, thus adapting engagements and inter-relations.

With this, multiple other functions could be inter-twined so that it caters to varied user group and remains ephemeral in nature, providing flexibility to adapt and change according to their needs. Create Adaptable or flexible spaces that demonstrate new ways of utilizing them every time.

User group•

People who call this precinct a home

•

Young adults who are sport-enthusiast

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Women wanting a platform to represent themselves

•

People who can contribute in ways small or big towards the social enhancement

•

Citizens of the city at large

Design Program The spaces and design program is thought of in two ways•

the co-relation of the built mass to the site context.

•

The association of the site, to the comprehensive public realm

The total site area is- 24,000 Sq.Mts. The program includes a sports complex for all ages alike, and develop inter-relations amongst them.

Other auxiliary functions which support the institution are• • • • • •

An urban market place, temporal in nature, shifting its form as need arises, Exhibition spaces to lend a voice to the people and to enable them to express freely, Community vegetable patches which instils a value of care towards the place, Shared learning spaces, to educate, explore and learn multilateral skills, Spaces for play and entertainment, Landscaped spaces and pause points to relax and unwind.

Figure 43: Design iterations for Parc De la Villette.

Figure 44: Parc De la Villette.

15.

Case Studies

1. Parc De La Villette, Paris The program by the city of Paris was too large for the site, leaving no space for a park. The proposed project is not for a definitive park, but for a method that - combining programmatic instability with architectural specificity - will eventually generate a park. --Bernard Tschumi

A popular example while referencing social places, this project by Tschumi, has radically transformed the way public spaces are imagined and accomplished.

It has been realised following a systematic planning of points, lines, grids and surfaces which assist the people to navigate through and provide materiality to engage with. These concepts are translated respectively into red structures (points), futile curving paths (lines), and landscaped green-space (surfaces).

Built as forms without clear functions, the all-red structures are evenly spaced through the park, becoming an orienting intervention in the large city park. It caters to all activities requiring large expanses of horizontal space for play, sports and exercise, mass-entertainment, markets and many such human plugins.

Figure 45: Design Ideation -Hang Out, Shanghai.

Figure 46: Hang Out, Shanghai.

2. Hang Out, Shanghai

Hang Out is a creative public space intervention designed for one of the main plazas of a new mixed-use complex located in the New Bund, the emerging international business center in Pudong, with the aim of fostering entertainment & social interactions among new visitors, appealing to kids, youngsters & adults alike. -- 100 Architects

Inspired by the triangulation of crystals’ structures, the project is shaped as a huge hexagonal structure from which different elements are added or suspended with involves the visitors in funfilled activities which set them out in a completely different environment in contrast to the harsh, competitive corporate world.

The star attractions remain the suspended objects so as to make the users experience gravity differently, which otherwise is not seen in the city. A hit amongst the children, it also tempts the adults to experience and relieve their childhood moments.

Stark visual graphics and bold colours are means of communicating and create eye-catching imagery from the surrounding towers. It persuades the passer-by to pause and look around in awe. It is whimsical in a way, but provides the users with various activities or rest, play, and interact in methods like never before.

A prototype was first tested in the architects’ office then later to be realised at a public scale. It is designed in a way to immerse them as a whole into the experience, while the paint-scape starts the experience before even reaching up at the installation.

Figure 47: Ideation of activities, Social Service Centre

Figure 48: Social Service Centre

3. Social Services Centre and sports ground, Poland

The project proposes two distinct and self-defining spatial forms. They differ from dull surroundings, aim to attract and integrateboth in social and spatial terms. --Archigrest

The institution is open and available to a varied user group to create informal and friendly spaces for them to take over and build a growing attachment towards it. A dedicated central space is designed where the attendees and customers interact in a communal area, while the rest of the ground is left open for them to explore.

The sports field is an integrated element with the public building, which is inhabited by people irrespective of their age group, social status or aspirations. It is meant for relaxation and larger engagement of the public. It is realised into 3 parts where• • •

The recreation lane adjacent to the building is an extension of the functions performed inside the building. The stroll park is a landscape element, where it meets the river, meant for mindless ambling through the space. The vegetable garden is added in between the pre-school and senior centre, where it helps in community growth.

Figure 49: Bringing in public, Social Services Centre

16.

Going Beyond

The study is an attempt to connect people with the place where they thrive and build their life around. The fast-paced world is degenerating the humanitarian aspects and it is through a responsive architecture that we can not only preserve, but also enhance these experiences and make people part of the city.

Community building and harmony is key to any place to survive and look beyond the capitalist advantages that it offers. It anchors them to specific expression which brings out the essence of the entire locale. To achieve the same, public spaces become significant in how the people eventually shape up the city, and contribute in its making.

Tearing away from physical boundaries, this is an attempt to identify places from their cultural practises, social activities and community engagements at large.

17.

Bibliography

Books

• •

Key Concepts in Geography (2009), Nicholas J. Clifford, Sarah L. Holloway, Stephen P. Rice and Gill Valentine The Architecture of the City (1984), Aldo Rossi

•

The Condition of Postmodernity (1990), David Harvey

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Framing Places (1999), Kim Dovey

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Becoming Place (2010), Kim Dovey

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Space for Engagement: The Indian Artplace and a Habitational Approach to Architecture (2008), Himanshu Burte

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The Practise of Everyday Life (1988), Michel de Certeau

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Key Thinkers on Space and Place (2011), Phil Hubbard and Rob Kitchin

Published Prints and Thesis •

Spatial Experience Narrative and Architecture (2012), Amanda Clarke

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Connecting People and Place: Sense of Place and Local Action (2014), Ann Louise Kolodziejski

•

Spatial Narratives- Published Essay (1991), Mark Rakatansky

•

Place and Non-place: A Phenomenological Perspective (2017), Dylan Trigg

•

Ten Stories (2017), Edwin O’Brien

18.

Appendix

List of Figures

Fig 1: Place and its Publicness (Abstract) | Source: Author

Chapter 2(a) Fig 2: Empirical Space | Source: Author Fig 3: Flow Space | Source: Author Fig 4: Image Space | Source: Sun after Rain Blog Fig 5: Place Space| Source: Tatina Bilbao

Chapter 2(c) Fig 6: Occupiability | Source: Space for Engagement- Himanshu Burte Fig 7: Penetrability | Source: Space for Engagement- Himanshu Burte Fig 8: Possessibilty | Source: Space for Engagement- Himanshu Burte

Chapter 2 (e) Fig 9: Spatial Syntax | Source: Becoming Places- Kim Dovey Fig 10: Educatorium | Source: Becoming Places- Kim Dovey Fig 11: Seattle Public Library | Source: Becoming Places- Kim Dovey

Chapter 2(f) Fig 12: Placemaking Diagram | Source: pps.org

Chapter 8 Fig 13: Precinct Map | Source for Base map: Google

Chapter 9 Fig 14: Nolli Map of JVPD | Source for Base map: Google Fig 15: Components of public space in JVPD | Source: Author Fig 16: Site conditions 1 | Source: Author Fig 17: Site conditions 2 | Source: Author Fig 18: Kaifi Azmi Park | Source for base map: Google Maps

Fig 19: user persona 1 | Source: Author Fig 20: user persona 2 | Source: Author Fig 21: user persona 3 | Source: Author

Chapter 10 Fig 22: Nolli Map of Pali Hill | Source for Base Map: Google Map Fig 23: components in public space in Pali Hill | Source: Author Fig 24: site conditions 1 | Source: Author Fig 25: site conditions 2 | Source: Author Fig 26: Carter Road Promenade | Source for Base Map: Google Map Fig 27: user persona 4 | Source: Author Fig 28: user persona 5 | Source: Author Fig 29: user persona 6 | Source: Author

Chapter 11 Fig 30: Nolli Map of Kalachowki | Source for Base Map: Google Map Fig 31: components of Public space in Kalachowki | Source: Author Fig 32: site conditions 1 | Source: Author Fig 33: site conditions 2 | Source: Author

Chapter 12 Fig 34: location and access to site | Source for Base Map: Google Map Fig 35: DP Plan | Source: DP Remarks 2034 Fig 36: Site context | Source for Base Map: Open Street Maps Fig 37: Site Pictures | Source: Author

Chapter 13 Fig 38: Scalarity in the precinct | Source for Base Map: Open Street Maps Fig 39: 1st scale- Architectural intervention | Source: Author Fig 40: 2nd scale- Design intervention | Source: Author Fig 41: 3rd scale- Street intervention | Source: Author Fig 42: 4th scale: Building intervention | Source: Author

Chapter 15 Fig 43: Parc de la Villette | Source: OMA

Survey Questions and Responses