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| The Colaba Woods Garden, The Shopping Center, and The Slums - Mumbai, March 2015 |
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| The WTC shopping center - Mumbai March 2015 |
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| The walk towards the slums - Mumbai, March 2015 |
The site stands vacant between three worlds. On its right
stand the dense trees of Colaba Woods Garden, on its left the dense homes of
Dhobi Ghat, and at its head the towering World Trade Centers of Mumbai. At the
base of the world trade center is a three-story shopping center.
On my first visit to the site, the area around the center
was barricaded with police officers. I walked inside the center to large signs
that shouted “No Photographs Allowed on the Premises”- the shops were closed,
the center was empty, except for police officers and a few civilians that
walked in straight to the elevators and core circulation. After sneaking in a
few photos with my phone, I left the WTC and began walking toward the slums. As
I got closer the activity on the streets increased. Children were playing on
the streets, women were seated on the sidewalk conversing with one another, and
taxi drivers were taking power naps in their rickshaws and cars. The adjacent
woods stood untouched behind a tall fence.
Looking at an aerial photo of the site, I started to wonder
whether my hybrid workshops and market of informal and formal shops could be a structure that
connects the slums to the WTC shopping center and the Woods. The highly
industrious slums are surrounded with a 3 meter high wall constraint with
space, the center and the woods stand unoccupied. As the markets proliferate
into the design and grow they could eventually infiltrate into the existing
fabric that is deserted.
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