In "Indigenous Modernities: Negotiating architecture and urbanism" (2005) Jyoti Hosagrahar writes about New Delhi’s public spaces after colonization: “Rebuilt, redefined, reasoned, and reconstituted, public spaces in their many hues were indigenous modernities […] A constantly shifting ‘middle ground’, of hybrid space and less-than-ordered use, signaled the local people’s subversion and contestation of the colonial state’s vision. […] The city’s streets and squares were the collective expression of multiple and emergent settlements of these contradictions. In their plurality the forms and meanings, Delhi’s public spaces and urban form were neither entirely planned and regulated, nor completely traditional and spontaneous, but the result of conflict, mediation, and negotiation”.
Hosagrahar further explains where
or what the public spaces were before the colonization of India; “The bazaars,
the chowk or intersections of major streets, the courtyards of mosques and
temples, the entertainment houses of the tava’if (courtesans), the tombs of
saints, the sites of ancient ruins, fairgrounds, water tanks, and the river
bank and the many gardens were places of public gathering for the residents of
Delhi”. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British officials strove to
redefine the public realm through a massive urban restructuring “public space
became a contested terrain” (Hosgrahar p.47). First they demolished large parts
of the city clearing up the density and opening a large boulevard called “Champs
de Mars”(Hosagrahar p.58); this Haussmanization was then followed by the
introduction of new civic buildings which “included facilities like hospitals
and clubs that were for Europeans only while some others were open to all
Indians.” The new spaces included facilities for finance, education, health,
and administration “to improve the physical and mental well-being of people” (Hosagrahar
p.60). Furthermore, the officials tried to define strict delineations between
what’s public and what’s private. This is due to the fact that the private and
public spaces were many shades of gray. Hosagrahar explains “Pathways that cut
through private properties created ambiguous ownership. The bazaars such as
Chandni Chowk, Faiz Bazaar, Meena Bazaar, and Chawri Bazaar were the most
public of spaces where anyone could pass […] As one moved inwards from the
bazaar the streets got increasingly narrow and more private. In the old world
of face-to-face interaction the gradation from public to private were one of decreasing
anonymity and increasing control”(Hosagrahar p.68). In addition, the public space
for the locals meant that if needed they would appropriate the spaces through
agreements, such as enlarging the house as the family grows, adding a floor,
converting street front rooms to shops (Hoagrahar p.69).
Looking at the significance of bazaars
as the “most public” of spaces in India where the society that’s “divided as it
was by race, caste, community, and religion, bazaars, […] were spaces of
anonymity, identity, display, and interaction” (Hosagrahar p.53). I therefore
decided to study three sites, the Dharavi tool-houses, the Bhuleshwar
neighborhood’s markets, and the most recently built mega-mall in Mumbai Phoenix
Market City (2011). These three public spaces which also act as spaces of
commerce, have varying spatial organizational systems, economic outputs, and
users.
In a New York Times article
published in 2011 titled In One Slum,
Misery, Work, Politics and Hope, Jim Yardley explains “In the labyrinthine
slum known as Dharavi are 60,000 structures, many of them shanties, and as many
as one million people living and working on a triangle of land barely
two-thirds the size of Central Park in Manhattan. Dharavi is one of the world’s
most infamous slums, a cliché of Indian misery. It is also a churning hive of
workshops with an annual economic output estimated to be $600 million to more
than $1 billion.” Interestingly, despite it being the most notorious of slums,
it is also home to some prominent millionaires such as “Mohammad Mustaqueem,
57, arrived as a 13-year-old boy. He slept outside, in one of the narrow alleyways,
and remembers being showered with garbage as people tossed it out in the
morning. Today, Mr. Mustaqueem has 300 employees in 12 different garment
workshops in Dharavi, with an annual turnover of about $2.5 million a year. He
owns property in Dharavi worth $20 million” (Yradley, 2011). The markets in the
Bhuleshwar neighborhood on the other hand, are street markets in close
proximity to one another built during the 19th century which include Bhuleshwar
and Crawford market where fruits and vegetables are sold, Mangaldos Market where
silk and cloths are sold, Zaveri Bazaar for jewellery specifically diamonds,
and Chor Bazaar for antiques and furniture. Finally, the Phoenix Market City, “measuring
around 4 million square feet, it houses over 300 Indian and international
stores, 55 food and beverage outlets, an 8 screen cinema, and a massive family
entertainment area.”
The aim is to study these three
commercial public spaces, and try to find a hybrid space where both corporate
spaces and local individuals thrive and live interdependently. An interesting
precedent is the Santa Caterina Market in Barcelona that was re-structures with
the collaboration of the locals in accordance with their needs, practices and
traditions, rather than being transformed into a mall where luxury goods are
sold.
In "Indigenous Modernities: Negotiating architecture and urbanism" (2005) Jyoti Hosagrahar writes about New Delhi’s public spaces after colonization: “Rebuilt, redefined, reasoned, and reconstituted, public spaces in their many hues were indigenous modernities […] A constantly shifting ‘middle ground’, of hybrid space and less-than-ordered use, signaled the local people’s subversion and contestation of the colonial state’s vision. […] The city’s streets and squares were the collective expression of multiple and emergent settlements of these contradictions. In their plurality the forms and meanings, Delhi’s public spaces and urban form were neither entirely planned and regulated, nor completely traditional and spontaneous, but the result of conflict, mediation, and negotiation”.
Hosagrahar further explains where or what the public spaces were before the colonization of India; “The bazaars, the chowk or intersections of major streets, the courtyards of mosques and temples, the entertainment houses of the tava’if (courtesans), the tombs of saints, the sites of ancient ruins, fairgrounds, water tanks, and the river bank and the many gardens were places of public gathering for the residents of Delhi”. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British officials strove to redefine the public realm through a massive urban restructuring “public space became a contested terrain” (Hosgrahar p.47). First they demolished large parts of the city clearing up the density and opening a large boulevard called “Champs de Mars”(Hosagrahar p.58); this Haussmanization was then followed by the introduction of new civic buildings which “included facilities like hospitals and clubs that were for Europeans only while some others were open to all Indians.” The new spaces included facilities for finance, education, health, and administration “to improve the physical and mental well-being of people” (Hosagrahar p.60). Furthermore, the officials tried to define strict delineations between what’s public and what’s private. This is due to the fact that the private and public spaces were many shades of gray. Hosagrahar explains “Pathways that cut through private properties created ambiguous ownership. The bazaars such as Chandni Chowk, Faiz Bazaar, Meena Bazaar, and Chawri Bazaar were the most public of spaces where anyone could pass […] As one moved inwards from the bazaar the streets got increasingly narrow and more private. In the old world of face-to-face interaction the gradation from public to private were one of decreasing anonymity and increasing control”(Hosagrahar p.68). In addition, the public space for the locals meant that if needed they would appropriate the spaces through agreements, such as enlarging the house as the family grows, adding a floor, converting street front rooms to shops (Hoagrahar p.69).
In a New York Times article published in 2011 titled In One Slum, Misery, Work, Politics and Hope, Jim Yardley explains “In the labyrinthine slum known as Dharavi are 60,000 structures, many of them shanties, and as many as one million people living and working on a triangle of land barely two-thirds the size of Central Park in Manhattan. Dharavi is one of the world’s most infamous slums, a cliché of Indian misery. It is also a churning hive of workshops with an annual economic output estimated to be $600 million to more than $1 billion.” Interestingly, despite it being the most notorious of slums, it is also home to some prominent millionaires such as “Mohammad Mustaqueem, 57, arrived as a 13-year-old boy. He slept outside, in one of the narrow alleyways, and remembers being showered with garbage as people tossed it out in the morning. Today, Mr. Mustaqueem has 300 employees in 12 different garment workshops in Dharavi, with an annual turnover of about $2.5 million a year. He owns property in Dharavi worth $20 million” (Yradley, 2011). The markets in the Bhuleshwar neighborhood on the other hand, are street markets in close proximity to one another built during the 19th century which include Bhuleshwar and Crawford market where fruits and vegetables are sold, Mangaldos Market where silk and cloths are sold, Zaveri Bazaar for jewellery specifically diamonds, and Chor Bazaar for antiques and furniture. Finally, the Phoenix Market City, “measuring around 4 million square feet, it houses over 300 Indian and international stores, 55 food and beverage outlets, an 8 screen cinema, and a massive family entertainment area.”
The aim is to study these three commercial public spaces, and try to find a hybrid space where both corporate spaces and local individuals thrive and live interdependently. An interesting precedent is the Santa Caterina Market in Barcelona that was re-structures with the collaboration of the locals in accordance with their needs, practices and traditions, rather than being transformed into a mall where luxury goods are sold.
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