First Year AD Jury: Expression Spaces

I myself waited with this project and made my fellow faculty wait for a long time before the final jury could be taken. It was because I was not satisfied with the amount of time the students spent in their process of evolving their design. However, the final jury for the 3rd project of the first year students, I felt, had much more content than discussed in the session.

The project was about making and expression space of a professional (profession) by deriving patterns out of their working conditions (behavioural, habitual, through their objects they use or deal in, etc.). We chose 40 professions to begin with - a variety of them - from the vada pav seller, dabbawala to the Chartered Accountant or the Dancer. To limit the scale/scope of the project for the first year, we restricted the area to 50 sq m. I shall be writing a formal "retrospect" brief for this project later.

Each design had so much potential, and each designer had so much enthusiasm. And so I too got enthused. The above sketches were made as I thought along with the students. Of a postman, a space in the wells of the staircase ringing door bells and looking into interiors of houses framed through keyholes and cut-outs in safety doors, of a barber - looking at multiple hairstyles, almost living in hair. For an astronaut, we thought of the ground plane, which is never flat - rather someone who spent time in undefined plane. So the undulating surface enclosed in a space which would be under constant air pressure. However, the student took a complete different trajectory and made something like pneumatic slabs. He lifted this inhabitable expressive space a feet above the ground, thus it being in space (ungrounded) while the user entered or left the space.

For the tailor, we began with the idea of playing between the 3 critical numbers: shoulders-chest-waist. These numbers define the body and in turn, the garment. The idea could have been abstracted into a series of such hangers sized to people. However, the idea was lost. The pattern in the fisherman's profession was seen to be a daily passage between solid ground to the non-ground. This pattern of transition between surfaces that the fisherman inhabits was what we tried to explore. The idea was abstracted through the symbolic net, which becomes a surface to walk as well as envelop. The movement it induces in the body is similar to the movement from land to sea (and vice versa) by cleverly spacing the structural members of the support. I am not sure if the student brought out this aspect clearly. There was perhaps a little conceptual misunderstanding.

A rigorous process followed for the dabbawala - of analysing the codes on the dabbas to evolving it into a spatial configuration. This was truly the most fascinating project in the class. Others were that of the joker, achieved through the act of juggling, and completely colourful while another interesting one was the magician, where I tried to crack the idea of anti-pattern (that a magician works with). Although it was a tricky profession, if there was a little more rigour in the project, it would have worked brilliantly. But theorizing the whole idea of magic for architectural space was something that I enjoyed in my mind. I didnot discuss it with the student since it would make no sense to her. So I kept myself low-key.

I think the students got an idea of anthropometrics and the process of evolution of space. Since the first two projects were too exploratory in terms of form, we consciously kept this one as an exercise for evolving space. Now, we need to introduce them to function, while the students need to learn how to communicate their designs ideas through their work.

photo titles in order (expression spaces of):

bus conductor

priest

magician

bus conductor

dietician

dermatologist

astronaut

Raag based item songs...

Sitting back and pondering over music, it occurred to me that some of the most raunchy songs in Bollywood are based purely on Indian Classical Ragas. Here are some:

Dhak Dhak Karne Laga, Beta

Raag Shivranjani

Sunta Hai Mera Khuda, Pukar

Raag Bhairav

Tu cheez badi hai mast mast, Mohra

Raag Bhimpalaas

Hai Rama yeh Kya Hua, Rangeela

Raag Poorvi

Is Pyaar ko main kya naam doon, Mujhe kuch kehna Hai

Raag Shivranjani

will add more if i get more. I have detailed writings to write on music. dont know how to put it down. Anyways. lets see...

Comic of the day

Of unknown imagic realities

When I went back to inquire about my lost wallet at the counter, they said that they dispose off any item that is left in their space after waiting for a few hours. I reached late. It seemed that they passed my wallet through some device like a paper cutting machine, because I could see that my purse was split into thin slices - My notes, passes, cards, and the leather of the purse too. I wondered what kind of a place that was, where they didn't even bother removing the money inside the purse? They could have used it themselves, if not me. How could they be so selfless in disposal? I collected the bits and pieces of my sliced wallet, cut notes (which almost seemed like chopped cabbage) and carried it back.

----

At once, only one single peacock came and dashed into my forehead. It felt soft. Later, they grew in number. In series one after the other, all entered into my forehead. I did not feel them inside me. Where did they go if they hit me on my forehead? Where did they disappear? Did they melt in me - why don't I see the wings? Why don't I feel the tickle of the feathers - just the long neck and streamlined body hitting me like a wagon. Like a train of birds bursting into me...

----

The creatures were colourful. They looked like beautiful stones with patterns. They were small button-like things falling on to the green leaves. I wondered if I had seen them ever in my life. I reassured myself of all discovery channel programmes on tiny creatures. But these did not confirm to anything that I had seen earlier! How could such creatures (whom we would woosh away) be so beautiful? Those shiny beatle-like little moving creatures on the leaves - I wondered if I must woosh them away or keep gazing at them.

----

A thousand butterflies hit my head. They were colourful, all flying in a line. Forcefully. But they were weightless. I don't remember how they entered me, where they went? But they came.

----

I kept thinking that it was an aeroplane. Perhaps I felt so because it was a tubular. But when it would not show me anything in the sky (nor did it take off), and moved only in an opaque tube/pipe/tunnel, I corroborated to myself that it must be a train. The tube turned and twisted - I am not sure how I recognize the turns and twists - perhaps due to the movements in my bowels. After some time, it gushed into a larger volume, I could finally see some spiraling tracks. I got down from there and moved towards the exit from the station. As I came out, I realized that I was in Japan. But how did I realize that it was Japan? I had never seen Japan! But at that time, I felt, it was Japan.

----

Someone shot a rifle in my abdomen. A fountain of blood came out. But it did not hurt me at all! How was that possible? I did not even see who did it! I pressed my abdomen to stop the flowing blood, but not to control my pain. Because it did not pain at all.

****

I haven't understood my dreams! But they are fascinating. And I would like to learn more about them. Why these set of images for me in my dreams? Have to be decoded.

Any takers?

Ideas worth exploring in pedagogy:

Problem House:

That all students pin up their "problems" with any subject onto a board alloted to them for a week. Perhaps each class has a dedicated board. Every one is free to respond to any one. Its a physical sharing of problems and solution.

FMS (Flexible Marking Scheme):

That Students themselves give dates of when they want to be assessed. As in, they set markers for themselves. How it works? If a project goes on for 10 weeks, students are asked to keep 3 assessment dates for themselves during the process. They work according to their time schedule and not the faculty's.

EAC (English Assistance Cell):

The place where students would go to communicate their thoughts in better english (written and oral and any other) - for all students who are trained / not trained in English.

Annual Day at AOA

The annual Day of Academy at Rachana Sansad was fantastic. I enjoyed all programmes and the end also left me in nostalgia. I missed my class mates. I missed myself being on stage. I missed making mistakes on stage. All that...
There were 3 performances on Sheila ki jawaani. And I loved the fact that no one cared about the lyrics: particularly the part "I'm to sexy for you" - it was almost a lament when these sweet simple girls from first and second year performed it. But it's the music that we are supposed to enjoy anyway! Who cares what the lyrics are!

Similarly, profanity & erotica was everywhere - in plays, songs, and performances. I particularly liked the skit by the hostel-ites. It dwelled on the idea of separation from homes and the craving of the body for another. Where on one hand, it surfaced the tension of being alone, it also somehow brought out its translation into the need to feel another flesh. Does it mean physical security or craving for another physical body, I dont know. But on the other hand, it elaborated how such ideas are negotiated by them - from pseudo-sensuality to actually being subconsciously pushed to making relations with the opposite / (same?) sex, or make them voyeuristic, or developing uncommon habits to curb these thoughts...It is difficult to imagine how are these thoughts survived. How do they manifest?

Also of how we like being like someone. Imitations, replications, representations - all of it. And there is this huge amount of fun in all of it - erotica, mimicking, voyeurism, comments...And amidst, messages are slipped - who likes whom, who dislikes whom, what do they think of certain teachers, what they think of their study, what they think of things around them - that is the power of a space (here I mean space in the realm of public, made by public).

And I was wondering how background sound with huge amount of images irrespectively makes you nostalgic - especially if the images relate to your past. But that's essential I suppose. After all, we do build relations over 5 years, and they are validated thus!?

I liked what my class performed. And i particularly liked the selection of their song - Choli ke peeche kya hai. The song is grooving and all of them danced so well. I hoped to have more of my friends (students) on stage. Many of them are too conscious perhaps. But I am sure they will resolve this unnecessary and unwanted issue of the 'self-complex' in the years to come.

What I constantly asked myself all the time was: "Anuj, do you want to be in this cyclic college atmosphere all your life?" - it was scary. Rather, I haven't clarified this for myself. I then saw Suresh Singh, Jagdish Rajde, Sachin, Pooja and others, and felt a bit reassured. But the question is not answered. What do I see myself as 10 years down the line? And in some ways, it also echoes Correa's question to me: "Do you want to teach all your life?" - Why would he pose it to me? Oormi once said: "Anuj, the profession needs people like you. The state of the environment is such only because people like you choose not to practice." But I say to myself, "Teaching is my practice." This debate with myself is endless. But what is more important to me is that I am doing what I enjoy doing. That's it. What is work if you force yourself to do it! Maybe, when I am contemplative again, I shall elaborate this over a new post.

----
reflections:

The only silly part was the presentation of the NASA AVs. both of which i felt were absolutely silly - in the way they were designed, and the way they were presented. but they would never know how to speak for a presentation, unless they go out of their only mythic NASA space, to other talks, and see how to TALK! (I am referring to the way you deliver a speech, the tone of your voice, the confidence with which you speak, the emphasis on certain words in your speech, etc.). They love to make their powerpoint presentations animated - even where it's not required - and it always jams their computers. That's to show off their skill! The Panels had so much text that even a book would fail to contain it! And the drawings were to technical to be creative. There were hardly any graphics showing the context of the design in the surrounding but; hold on - there were details of how beds would be placed in the room and what would be the bedsheet covers like! Especially the police officers mess' spoke all about the swimming pools and gymnaesiums, but never about the aspect of policing - and how its probable translation into an architectural language! I wondered if that's the was cited as the best NASA design, what would the other 100 designs be!


THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH REWORDED:
I remained unimpressed with the work displayed by students who participated in NASA convention this year. Although one could see a lot of work, it was difficult to relate the design to the aspect of policing. The design did not speak about how the architectural language related to the activity of the police force. The representational skills that were used for the presentation, i felt, needed to be explored beyond 3d views and plans sections. It would have been really nice if there was a feel of 'discipline' (as would the police have) in the verbal presentation of the visuals. It would have really been interesting to watch at the panels if all of the text was more graphical, and diagrammatic. I almost felt disinterested in reading plenty of text - filling up every inch of the panel. There needed to be some breather space to appreciate the drawings. This is where I felt that the representation drew from its earlier counterparts. Being involved in NASA since 1st year, when I was briefed using NASA sheets of 5 years prior to 2003, and having read all of them in the past 8 years (so in all a reading of NASA of 13-15 years), the tools of representation should have been able to mature much more, which has failed to take place.

However, what is worth learning is the dedication and the rigour put in the work. But one has to always keep a check that this discipline must not regulate the creative thought and ways of creative thinking. According to me, Indiscipline is essential for creativity. Because, indiscipline has a pattern of production. This should be explored and channelised. Creativity many a times in the realm of NASA has been about cartooning how they slept at odd hours, or how 'new' couples were paired, or inconsequential things like that. But seldom have they explored cartooning as a way of presenting their entire panel! The sheets draw representation ideas from 10 year old NASA sheets - of the self! All are horse-blinded!

Anyway, even if people learn that, it should be enough. At least they get into the act of production. I hope they met new people, discussed ideas and did not lose out opportunity of networking in the chase of displaying their rivalry with others.

----

And for the first time, I took no photos of the event. I realized that photos distance you from the engagement. I was thoroughly in the crowd and I am glad I did not get into archiving it!

Aeroplanes

My nephew obsessed with aeroplanes, as I have also mentioned earlier...here are more of his drawings, although on paintbrush!
I like how he's maturing with his sense of space...

Quote Unquote

Charles Correa's references and anecdotes:

"Hinduism accepts things decaying"

"The medium is the message"

"The man who invented the internet didn't get a penny"

"An Indian mother is never nasty to her son-in-law."

"You can't work on urban problems without political backing."

No TV Day

The "No TV" campaign by Hindustan Times doesn't seem as successful as the "No Electricity" campaign (by RED FM?). Although HT floods its newsprints with 'how successful it was' today, I feel all this hype is just constructed. to begin with, locating problem in TV is highly political.

To begin with, they never explained why No TV day instead of say, No Travel Day...What was the benefit to the people by watching No TV? Without even justifying why, they went on to give alternatives for what can be done if you don't watch TV. And they contacted all the cafes, restaurants, art people and heritage walk people around the city to come up with offers, in favour of / support of the event. In turn, they must have given them coverage and publicity. Basically they made you step out of the house. Most people took their cars, or flood the public transport without any reason - burnt petrol (read 'waste energy') just for not knowing why they weren't watching television. These are our educated people, wanting to support a cause, which has no justification!

Today's Hindustan Times ad reads "We had fun" (see pic).

Of course, they (HT) had fun:
1. They got a lot of publicity from the event (after all, they want to establish themselves in Mumbai)
2. They earned lot of advertisements (money).
3. They did a lot of marketing and developed PR.

All of the above done still keeping people wondering why 'No TV'?

If one sees the amount of advertisement that HT has got out of this NO TV campaign (check Sunday HT), it is phenomenal. It got about more than 100 brands to endorse themselves though placing an ad in HT. Free coupons, discounts, sales, etc...And I am sure people were ready with their scissors to cut coupons for pizzas and 10% discount meals - a complete Kishore Biyani Big Bazaar trick. Completely market driven.

(Obvious reasons for watching TV will be enlisted by beginning to blame TV as the Idiot box, which is much a transferred epithet - It's saying that 'people who watch the kitchy TV programmes are idiots'. The they would criticise the saas-bahu soaps; its ready material for them. They would also say that the reality shows are no more real, and go on and on and on - BUT, they would never talk about channels like Discovery, TLM, or Nat Geo. Or for that matter, they could have asked for a movement to create more sensible TV programmes. But the problem was that they did not know why No TV)

So let us reflect what No TV day did:

• Clearly, it escalated the sales/profits of Hindustan times.
• It made more people step out of their homes on a holiday, making them burn fuel and congest roads.
• It prevented people from watching TV - even the people who watch news, or their daily dose of 'pravachan' or discovery or TLM...
• It increased the people's consumption of outside food, making them waste more money by stepping out of their homes.

Okay, i have no complaints for people who painted a picture or two at their homes, or looked at a butterfly fluttering outside their window or just listened to some music on their i pods. But my argument is that they would have done it anyways.

Here is something from the Society of the Spectacle:

"The spectacle grasped in its totality is both the result and the project of the existing mode of production. It is not a supplement to the real world, an additional decoration. It is the heart of the unrealism of the real society. In all its specific forms, as information or propaganda, as advertisement or direct entertainment consumption, the spectacle is the present model of socially dominant life. It is the omnipresent affirmation of the choice already made in production and its corollary consumption. The spectacle's form and content are identically the total justification of the existing system's conditions and goals. The spectacle is also the permanent presence of this justification, since it occupies the main part of the time lived outside of modern production. "

First Draft - An Evening in the City

Scene 1:

I place the letter on His desk and wait for him to call me in. I wait for the next 4 hours. He leaves the office. Dhaval says it's done. You're free. And vacuum occupies my head. I walk to the station thinking why He didnot address me.

Scene 2:

The crowd rushes inside the compartment as the train halts in Dadar. The man in front of me (moving in) suddenly turns back, picks up his wallet and starts hitting the boy behind him. The train moves. The boy is brought to the centre of the compartment after 4 hard blows. Suddenly in an overly packed compartment, a human trap is made to punish the boy. People join in for slaps and punches - some elbowing, some kicking, some pinching, some tearing apart his hair. All have ideas: "Don't kill him", "Give him to the police", "Today is 27th, the last week of his pay back perhaps to his boss", "Throw him out"....They remove all his clothes and throw them out of the running train.

Scene 3:

The person besides me makes himself almost uncomfortable to see the boy naked, crying and pleading. They laugh as he accepts his crime. All decide to throw him out of the moving train. I remove one earphone from my ear - now listening to multiple sounds. Another man consoles the man who was being pick-pocketed and indicates him to stop beating the boy. The man enjoying the breeze on the footboard on the other end of the compartment directs the side on which the platform should appear. They wait until Andheri arrives and throw the boy naked on the platform.

Scene 4:

In an overly packed compartment, more people gush in, laughing, joking, talking, pushing...They talk about the whole racket - the trade. While they have already forgotten about the boy, and filled their minds with their own everyday insecurities, I secure my wallet. Putting back the earphone in my second ear, I listen to myself. I wonder if I had an opinion on the boy, on the act... The song fades, and I stop it. And vacuum occupies my head. I walk to the bus station thinking why He did not address me...

Quotable quotes

Prasad Shetty...

on working:

"You must work with the masters. If they match to your imagination of them, then you always knew you were right, but if they dont, at least you know why they are'nt great."

on seeing:

"The way you see is the way you understand, the way you understand is the way you intervene."

on things:

"A chair is a chair is a chair"

on abstraction:

"We don't know everything about anything"

on presentation:

"Use the KISS rule - Keep it Short and Stupid (err), you can say Short and Simple. Try explaining it to your grandmother first."

on people:

"He/she's interesting!"

on writing:

"Make it crisp."

more shall be added later.

xxx

In catching up with our ideals, we lose ourselves.

Things to carry

This is a superbly handy list that akhil had prepared for himself during the Hampi tour.
The checklist is for all things you must carry while travelling.

(the cigarettes are a part of his personal things and can be omitted!)

Contraptions

Some sketches for the Street USB
(first year orientation workshop 2010)

a chance encounter between an umbrella and a sewing machine:

Mumbai Profiles

poster design: Anuj Daga

Great works (not equal to) great people

We mistakenly construct identities of architects by seeing their works. When we see great buildings, we feel their architects too must be great. But in this process of labeling, we seldom realize that it is the quality of the work that we assign the person, and it's not the evaluation of the person him/herself. What perhaps I am trying to argue is that qualities of work need not necessarily impersonate an individual. This construction of idols in such a manner is extremely deceitful.

But the society works by evaluating people through their works. You are a good (=useful) person if you can produce good (=useful) work. There is no humanities at work here. Environments are deals made in this realm of exchange of useful work (okay, I may be gross generalizing here). Nevertheless, what I can definitely say is that every building has so much of ruthlessness to itself. But it is all immediately covered up as the building is inaugurated. Would the financier of the biggest building allow its workmen to enter the premises once the building is finished? Never! The workmen will be shooed away as the red ribbon is cut.

Correa is not as human as his buildings. His buildings are "constructed" and therefore, his identity is constructed.

Why I am thinking of all this? Because I am realizing the difference between 'great people' and 'great buildings' - and I am wondering if places must have more of great people or great buildings?

Untitled

These thoughts occur to me as I see and listen to this song:

And I wonder if my fascination with Muslim culture is because it being the "other" or with its mysticism or what? If I was to trace my association with Islamic culture, I could string together a lot of things. Perhaps the biggest share would be that I went to a school which had a Muslim Management. I did not understand them as the "other" till the 1993 riots.

But as I relate with their culture today, it seems to me that there is a lot of 'respect' in the culture - what we call 'adab' waali bhaasha - urdu, uff...you almost fall in love with it. Even the burqa / purdah has originally been a respectful custom - and this song so beautifully brings it out.

When I was young, I used to love watching Alif Laila - translated in English as Arabian Nights. Although it was very badly produced and directed, what fascinated me was the myriad magical experiences it gave me as a kid. I would wait for the protagonist of the stories to perform 'jaadu' and wait for revelation of spaces beyond unaccessible regions - it was totally fascinating. Also how can we forget the Prince of Persia that we played as kids, and defeating Jaffar - the villian in the computer game. But this also connects to Aladdin and Persia - another world to live in.

And some days back, I also listened to Rumi - and it was so soothing. Rumi creates a space around you. I think I have trailed enough in this blogpost and almost travelled the journey of Islam's passage to our country. the above song beautifully encapsulates the 'muslim' youngster and his romantic encounter within his 'closed' community. I love the slow movement of the video from him being a stranger to a lover....it is soft and likable. And the song adds to the softness.

Sometimes I wonder if I would be able to live in such surroundings (the "other")? how about falling in love like that? Don't quite know...

Kohinoor Mills

Photo Courtsey: Pranit Rawat

It's interesting how all the mill lands want to be secretive about themselves.

If the mills in the city were opened up, how wonderful it would be to understand another kind architecture that pervaded the city, that anchored life in the city. Large volumes, wide column free spaces, huge machines, loud noise, sharp shadows, big steel members - we see none of it today!

What was the industry? What is it to be in an industry (mill)? What is it like to work in a mill - in a place where the roof is 20 times above you, generously and you are handling a big monster - the machine...
Today, we see these houses of 'monsters' only through cracks in the wall, unaligned gaps in the gates and google maps. Why cant these spaces be opened for study? What if these places just became museums and still fetched huge money? Can machines be adapted for malls? Perhaps they could become sculptures - like the follies in Parc De La Vilette (Bernard Tshcumi)...

Anyway, I asked Pranit to construct an imagination of what he thinks is inside - since it is like some other world which one can not enter. Seeing this picture, it feels that this watchman is the guardian of the Garden of Earthly Delights - the Kohinoor! The Kohinoor remains unraveled and hidden for the inhabitants of the city. Makes for a perfect metaphor to the precious stone that remains unclaimed and alien to our place...

Sex / Gender

I learnt the essential difference between Gender and Sex today:
Sex is something biological. We are born with it.
Gender is a social function. It depends on the way you are brought up.

What it implies is that
Not acknowledging eunuchs as an alternative sex is a grave issue.
On the contrary, a woman may have different expectations with planning versus a man. (Gender issue)

I kept mixing sex and gender in my argument on "why should there be separate seats for separate sexes in buses, or separate compartments in trains". Today it is clear to me that these divisions are social and not biological. Thus, where I may argue that women are equally physically capable as men, the difference is only that the society doesnot see them as so. Thus it is a gender problem, and not of the sex.
However, Gender is a construct of Sex. In simpler words, Gender is a subset of sex. And this creates a lot of problems - the problems of perception, the issues of trans-genders, and so many more. In our times, gender is trying to become the universal set. Thus there are cases of people wanting to change their identities (social construct) by transforming themselves biologically!

That's quite a backdoor entry!

But I think this definition becomes crucial in the understanding of Feminism, the discourse of the Body, etc. We shall be discussing this in our humanities class later this year. It will be exciting....

Development Plan

Do we really need a development 'plan'?
A plan is a very modernist conception. A plan first defines an achievable objective assuming that all the parameters will be under control (which is a fallacious assumption), and goes on to execute to achieve a specific goal.

In case of a development plan, 'development' implies a process which is incomplete/incremental while the 'plan' contradictingly talks about a finite, static plan of action. Thus, the term "Development Plan" is ironic. Such a plan is never planned for a developing city/region, it assumes a particular growth (most of the times, it works with older statistics, on the basis of which the future may be (inaccurately?) speculated). What then, is the actual value of a plan?

The plan considers 'resources' as finite. Is it so? Are resources finite? Resources are biological processes - cyclic in nature. Thus, can we think of cultivating resources for the future rather than always getting entangled in the idea of effective consumption of available resources? We always miss out this point. The idea of sustainability also has always been about limited consumption for prolonging use of available resources and never about cultivating more resources for future. 

Land is finite for development, Neera Adarkar said. But we have already pushed this limit by reclaiming huge amounts of sea - and thereby creating land. Look at Dubai, Mumbai, Japan - I think one can give so many examples. Japan's proposals of development projects on sea are ready! So can we really consider land as finite? Today, land is 'generated' - after all, land is just a surface for developers. It is only the environmentalists or some other activists who think of land as a resource. Otherwise, land can be created!

We love the post modern ad-hoc conditions of the city. We love to celebrate the hawkers, we love to talk of the slums, we love to talk about the 'new' urbanism or the pluralism of the post-modern city.  I think that no city would function without its three basic tiers - the rich industrialists/corporates, the aspiring middle class, and the lower class people. This hierarchy is definitely the key to the success of the city. Each city has to plan for the rich and the middle class and allow the slums to exist. If one wants to eradicate the slums, he/she has to be ready to pay Rs. 5000/- per month to the house maid who washes utensils at his/her house. Only then one would be allowing the right amount of hygiene to exist in slums. In other words, a house maid can only afford a slum in Rs. 500/- that we pay now.

A very interesting and reasonable answer that Neera Adarkar provided was that we (primarily the middle class and the rich) have to acknowledge the fact that the poor get 'free houses' by the government, in case they do so, and not compare it with our status, making it a 'rights' issue. To give an example, we feel too cheated on issues like reservations (we know the kind of protest that went on for long) - which essentially were possible solutions for eradication of illiteracy. Unfortunately, reservation policies were tactically exploited by people who were ineligible. 

To begin with, perhaps we have to define, what kind of people are we looking to occupy our city? If the city is a system, then I hold my three-tier theory's presence for the city's effective functioning. Modernist notions (which we still follow today by defining our goals as achievable) consider all people as equal (and thereby divide resources equally). The relation between the three tiers and consumption of resources by these may be unequal - even completely contrasting. The fallacy of the modernist method may be its failure to allocate wrong amount of resources to wrong kind of people. Right now, resources are distributed based on availability of money. There is no relationship established/studied between the three tiers and consumption pattern . If money does not remain at the centre of planning process, perhaps something could be achieved, However, if money is to pivot the function of development, we are bound to have the same cycles of problems again. At the same time, desires and aspirations can not be handled through modernist planning principles since:
1. They can not be quantified
2. They are not finite (Buddhist philosophy).
(therefore, the whole premise of this vertical studio for me, is fallacious. Since it talks about executing a strong modernist action plan and discusses the city as the post modern condition!)

Anyway,

I could keep on talking, and this could become (or has already become?) a research paper.

For the time being, I propose that we re-name the next "Development Plan" as a "Development Framework". Unlike a plan (which works with fixed entities), a framework allows and adjusts according to changing systems & resources. We have to develop frameworks for future and not plans. Yes, as Neera ma'am said, they could be prototypes - small pods. What I recall is Japan's "Metabolist Movement" which acknowledges change and brings it to the centre of development. We are yet to understand it perhaps...

The Pursuit of Happyness

Pursuit is not the same as 'having'. pursuit is to 'be together with' or 'engage' with something.
Possibly means a 50% yes, 50% no, but it would mean more negative
Probably too means a 50% yes, 50% no, but it would mean more positive
Happy is an adjective, and not a noun. Happiness is a noun.
You can have nouns and you can only be adjectives.
Thus you can only pursue happyness, you can not have it.

-"the pursuit of happyness"

I think one understands some films only at specific age. As I mature with my knowledge, I am able to appreciate things with more care. Today when I saw The Pursuit of Happyness for the 4th time, I understood the nuances in its dialogues, and more importantly its message, which is stated above.

Similarly, when there was only the Doordarshan, I saw Umrao Jaan (old one) for perhaps so many times, and never understood it. Later, when I grew up, it only took the re-make of the film to understand it. I then  understood that the old one was a fairly well constructed and a much better film than the latter. I understood the cynicism of "Jaane bhi do yaaron" only when I became cynical, rather when I faced the world all by myself. When I saw "Zakhm" for the first time, I could not sleep for the next two days.

Anyway, I am happy that these things dawned to me. And I am sure there is so much more in store, which I can only realize on aging.

Some definitions

Borrowed from Vertical studio:

delta: created when river water enters in the sea, eg: Ganga
estuary: created when sea water tries to enter land, eg. Mumbai
mangroves: salt friendly plants.
planning: tool to allocate the finite amount of resources through principles of efficiency and equity.
maps: tools for strategic planning

more

i think i have to write so many things that i have no idea where to begin with. of anish kapoor - and the multiple experiences around it! the vertical studio and the same old questions. the independent research and connecting to new people, the progress with archive and another talk with mr. correa!!

no mood, no mood...

subtitle

"My blog is my archive"

Bollywood top xx year fundas

And I thought about how

1. It has become fashionable to have a profane word in a film title or a film song

eg: Kaminey, Pappu cant dance saala, man lafange, Lafange Parinde, etc

2. How diseases have been explored in last 5 years for film scripts

eg.: Khamoshi, Black, My name is Khan, Taare Zameen Par, Guzaarish, Lafange Parinde, etc.

3. How names have become important to songs. (no comments on what they do to their namesakes)

eg.: Kabhi Kabhi Aditi, Munni Badnaam, Sheila ki jawani, aisha, blah blah

4. How Hindi language is gaining momentum again through songs...

eg.: many egs but can't write the whole songs, but many of vishal bharadwaj, gulzar, prasoon doshi songs...

(if i have 6 more, i can send it to a magazine! you are invited to contribute)

The examination

Supervising the examinations was another experience. However, not elaborating on this, I just want to mention that it was only during their exams that I first met 'my' current class.
Mobiles!
Late comers!
Forgetting timings!
Forgetting documents/ids!
all possible misdemeanours encountered here!

And i tried to focus on more beautiful things around: the silence of winter was one, and the other was the soft light:

Archive as Play

Lined up 21 files tracing Correa's history in newspapers and magazines since 1962...
and more to be added to it soon.

Yeah, I wanted to mention here that how working on this project is so playful. I used to love solving puzzles when I was young - what comes first, what comes in the end, find the missing number, arrange in order, match the figures, find the differences...all that. That is exactly what I am doing here. Putting things in place, neatly, taking prints of matter, scanning and organizing into a system...guessing out page nos. from "continued at" and "continued from" - all that.

More than that, how it makes me delicate towards the material. That's fascinating. I love handling old paper - the yellowness due to its age,  its smell, eroded surface, old signs/logos of newspapers, old typeface, sometimes a random advertisement along side an article makes you wonder what that time was and how people lived - it's interesting in all its dimensions for me to understand the historical aspect of archiving.

And in the end, the colourful tags that I remove from unwanted places make my table very colourful against the old furniture and the old papers. At the end of every day, I put back my stationery in that big round pencil holder created from some stupid unwanted empty spindle of rolled paper... it's interesting to see all pens and pencils self-organize themselves into its curvature.

More interesting things are when Correa talks about them - like he mentioned today about a newspaper called "Daily Telegrams" which used to be published only in Andaman. The reason why it was called a "Telegram" was because during those days, all news could only be sent to Andaman via a telegram. So the publishers would receive a couple of telegrams which would be published into a newspaper, daily. On the other hand, while I was just sorting out all the VHS tapes containing his interviews, etc, it's funny to have no more tapes after 1997, and it makes you realize the overtaking of computerised (digital technology) over TV - since then, one finds only CDs and later only DVDs...


(and on my way back, I thought of another idea, rather ideas, to be written upon, drawn about or recorded {audio/video}...where shall I get the people of my temperament to accomplish it? Lots of work to be done - if the curved line on the palm is the measure of the life, then I want to scratch it right till my arm...hush...)

Serigraphy

I did a screen printing workshop today - one of my many fantasies to learn these things. And i learnt that it is far too tedious to pursue it for personal happiness. there is a lot of effort in preparing the screen. However, if the image is simpler, it's a lot of fun to do it. We worked with very basic technique, very basic material. Nijeena was conducting this workshop on behalf of an art teacher of a school. What I learnt was that such techniques were towards coming up with a solution of reproduction of things into multiple copies quickly. Similarly, the wood cut method, or the block printing, metal plate method...so many of them...Man and machine.

(I want to elaborate on the school the workshop was held in and the traditional PAT-BGT matrix i saw on the blackboard - it is too nostalgic to remember of a time when I used to make that box on the board...)

And at the workshop I met Jyoti - an artist from JJ school of art, a friend of Nijeena and Shubha, who was quite fascinated by the exercises we have conducted at college. Actually Shubhalakshmi told her about these...and she was even more interested in what I did with my research at KRVIA. Interesting. New connect!

Anyway, as I left the place, I was out in Byculla a the footstep of the JJ flyover. And i felt so obscure in that space. byculla as a place made me feel so alone, as if I was in some other land. Different people, different landscape, I shall bring out this contrast further in my subsequent mails if i get time.
Here was an attempt trying to capture the 'aloneness' or the 'obscurity' of this place:

 (no people, no life)



But I couldnot take more pictures! I don't know why. I just took a cab, and rushed to Bombay Central station. That cab driver thought i was new in Bombay and tried fooling me taking in another direction. I then embarrassed him telling him the way to go, and he had almost no words to explain.
I wanted to prick him more and so i asked him why he turned his cab in exactly the opposite direction we had to go. He fumbled some shit, which he knew too, was to hide his mischief.

Nevertheless, I will have to visit Byculla to understand why it made me feel so alone...and simultaneously I shall explore it in my space here...

Jain Cosmology

tantra - mantra - yantra - transcendence - cosmograph

OK, i have read about 120 pages in flat 4 hours yesterday and it would require me some time and my personal diagrammatic observations to be able to talk about the above.
Nevertheless, the post could be a review of the book "The Art of Tantra" by Philip Rawson. I shall post some things from the book too later.

So here:

yantra: A diagram / diagrammatic pattern created through the mantra.
mantra: the words containing the sounds that create a vibration and help in focus the 'right' energy.
tantra: the description of the way in which 'mantra' is to be said/performed.

The above is the simple relationship between tantra - mantra and yantra.

Basically the book tries to explain the Jain philosophy behind the emergence of the universe which it says is a result of 'cosmic sexuality'. The book puts light on interesting aspects of the symbols that we follow today in our daily rituals - what they signify and how are they manifested into the physical world. It interestingly connects many ideas, symbols and images and gives a new reading into the meaning of forms around us through symbology.

Some word patterns, which I shall assist with diagrams later:

Play - Leela - Kama - Krishna
Garbha Griha - Womb - Egg - Vulva - Phallus
Hrim - Hridaya - Heart - All - Life
Vibration -Resonance - Sound - Snake
Sound - Shape - Design

Site Coffee

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Trial

After my small sidebar google widget has stopped functioning, i am trying hard to make e mail posts to my blogger....
i hope this works

Views from Kanchanjunga

Some pictures taken from Kanchanjunga and others from my work...

History / Humanties

Humanities: Way to look at History - concepts of understanding - intangible ideas

History: What to look at in past - what exists - tangible reality

Sandeep Sir and myself often seem concerned about the disparity in students' minds about learning humanities/history. Whenever one asks him about humanities, he gives such a crisp, to the point answer, that one feels like recording it. The precision with which he speaks, I think, is a matter of age and experience.

But we discussed today that students don't connect to humanities, because they are often searching for an image to relate to, while humanities deals only with concepts of understanding history. This is complex, unless one is interested really in history. But in the western world, there is rigorous training in humanities and hence, it has been able to produce critical thinkers.

What students must understand is that history is not to be just mugged up and learnt for exams, but they are steps on which you stand and trace where we have reached. It's a measure of change. And humanities helps in understanding the relevance of change.

I used to dread history in school. But I never imagined that I would love history so much once I grew up, and also teach history and even wish to study history ahead. Perhaps it was my teacher who was responsible for my low interest in school, however, the point is that we are never taught (rather the teachers themselves don't know most of the times) why are they teaching, or why are we learning or even knowing history. If the agenda of teaching history is clear, then half the battle is won.

For some time, I have been thinking for which professions would history be more important? Some of them that I thought were the lawyers and the doctors. Laws are just historical acts. A decision passed by the Supreme court assumes the status of law. Thus, lawyers keep cross referencing 'historical ' cases to bring up new decisions (now that is completely humanities) - the ethics and morals of decision making. On the other hand, my family doctor keeps a record of 'patient history'. So he has all my records since I first visited him. Every time he checks me for any ailment, he speculates my body performance. After a few permutations and combinations, he arrives at what disease or ailment I must be suffering from and then suggests appropriate medication. his medication works fantastically.

So I wonder if one was to take all his 'history' case papers and read the history of 'disease' in the city, it would definitely show interesting patterns against the parameters of seasons, ages, genders, etc. One could do a whole thesis on the 'Health of the city' in the past 40 years. But similarly, history is important in all other professions. The key is to identify 'gaps' in thinking and build new bridges with existing or developed knowledge to break new grounds.

Architectural history is tricky, but at least in the west, there has been a tremendous use of history for basing architecture. Our inability to handle or even trying to deal with history (due to or overemphasis on culture and belief in the acts of the past) doesn't allow us to boldly question our past. The past has to be questioned to be able to step into 'a' direction in the future. Thus the past orients us to our future. Therefore history is important, and this direction is understood in the way we see our history. This is where arrives humanities. Humanities offers an arrowhead to history in a specific direction towards future. In other cases either we accept the same direction or we are direction less. Conceptually, in either case, we are aimless.

another aspect associated with history is recording it or passing it on. Most primary method of doing this is writing. And hence the second concern that arises is the lack of communication in writing. Within writing, two major problems that we face are: handling language and translation of language. Simply put, the language of expression and the language of thinking. Recently I have seen that students who have been trained in vernacular mediums express tremendously well in their own language, and are evidently weak when writing in English. The second category of students are those who have studied in English and still translate from their mother tongue to English (basically where the thinking language is different than the expression language). The last ones are those who think in English. The problem is the keeping the rigidity of expression language constricted to English. If we remove the barrier of this expression language to be english, half the battle will be won. Then a collaborative environment could be set up for translating texts in class. the problem with the second group of people is their unjustified comfort zone with their expression language. That is something that has to be broken, and can only be tackled if the student wishes to agree that there can be more richness to language of expression. The third ones are almost ready and need to understand the structure of language to be able to exactly communicate what they want. They have to work on using the right words, which convey the right sentiment and expression.

Anyway, I didnt mean to give a lecture here, but as I see and list these factors down, perhaps I will be able to tackle these three student groups in appropriate manner with history, humanities and its recording...

For KRVIA Annual Exhibition 2010

A snapshot of my fellowship:

"I work in a country where no one cares for buildings."

Chaitanya shared an interesting critique on Corrra's buildings. He says, Correa's buildings are very unclear, they do not have a diagram. What he meant was they one gets 'lost' while moving in the building.
Taking specific examples, he said that many buildings rely on external media like painting, sculptures to communicate. For example, if the whole of Cidad-de-Goa was to be painted white, the building would lose all its quality. Similarly, if  JKK lost colour, it would be a different building. However, this does not happen always.

Kanchanjunga, he says doesnot even have a clarity of 'entrance'. You wonder when you enter the building, "where to go"? I agree to this, having seen and experienced the building recently. Adding to this, each flat in the building is different, so you constantly keep losing orientation. (imagine a maid working at 3 houses in the same building! she would go mad!!).

One standard critique that everyone has for Correa's buildings is that they are not detailed enough. The edges of the buildings, the railings, the steps, or even the windows or any damn thing. Nothing looks 'tight' in Chaitanya's words. Also, although Correa may be a world famous architect, he has not offered anything to India for which "people would come from outside to have a look at". He was perhaps mentioning about the 'iconicity' of a building.

Another point he made was that his buildings do not have a 'tropical' character. A tropical building would be a building with a private-semi open verandah (long) and then opening to sky building. This is where, he says, the courtyard typology fails. His buildings don't even speak of the tropical character through colours - which are bright and whites. Rather, he chooses earthy and more rural colours.
His remarks are relevant.

However, in the past week, Correa has hinted answers to all these questions in our conversations with him. So I will defend all the critiques from Correa's side one by one:

Correa operates through the Hindu ideas of myth and reality. He believes in the hindu philosophy of the universe and this philosophy accepts things with their chaos. There is no black and white like the western philosophies of how we came into being. Thus, although his buildings start with a process of structuring space, he ends up making complex movements in the building that resonate with the central idea of the philosophy of ordering chaos (which he explains as multiple layers of order).

While talking, he said that he loves to introduce paintings, suclptures on walls because they, he assumes, are not a separate element of the building. He says that in our culture, a person staying in the village feels that painting is an integral part of the process of house-making (like the warli, madhubani, kutch houses). He also mentioned that even critics like Kenneth Frampton are not able to appreciate the paintings he makes on his buildings, because there is a lack of cultural experience.

"I work in a country where no one cares for buildings." he says.
further, he says that "I did most of the Government projects using the contractors of the State Public Wards Department, like the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram or the Vidhan Bhavan and the Bharat Bhavan Bhopal. You can not expect pristine lines and finishing when you are working with local people. These are not priavte clients which can spend so much on precision. Infact, I feel the unfinished-ness adds to the quality of the buildings. Even the indian khadi fabric looks beautiful because it doesnot form clean straight lines. The undulating warps and wefts give character to the cloth, it echoes our culture." And he also ties it up with the philosophy of Hindu culture/philosophy. But those interested in seeing crisply finished Correa buildings, see the Champalimaud Brain and Scientific Research Centre in Portugal. Here, the client was a private company and they could afford being precise. To sum it up, he himself feels very sorry for all his ill-maintained buildings.

So I shall keep updating more of such discussions and debates whenever possible.

Time for a one liner:
"Manmohan Singh is a cross between a kitten and a mouse"
(he acted it out too)!

Charles Correa - a charactersketch

As a small child, Correa loved to play with toy trains - in an interview he said. He wanted to study something that would give him equal amount of satisfaction and that's the reason why he joined architecture. On his table 81 years after he is born and 50 years after he started his practice, one can see a number of toy trains. I have still not asked him which one is how old, but lets see if I get an opportunity to make a mini questionnaire for him.

The table is exceptionally low, and shows him tall even when he is seated on his chair. The table has plenty of pencils and pens, weights, cars, his numerous awards, collectibles and gifts from all over the world and animated sculptures.

 

 

Correa is a hardcore modernist - he believes in a plan, and he doesn't like any one speaking or informing in the present tense. For example, yesterday i told him, "'A' is working on transferring videos to the computer" - and he almost lost it and said, "where do you learn this language from, the language of the present tense? what do you mean by 'he is doing' - like 'she is cooking in the kitchen' - 'i am doing it'... what do you mean? we all are doing something, he is not sleeping over the table, he is definitely doing something - but that doesnot mean anything. But if you tell me what he did, or what is is going to do or finish by today, that is what makes sense. This is why the condition of our country is like that, there is no accountability...(shrugs)...'contractor is doing that' - what do you mean?"

The first taunt of my work with him.

but this is not the time to evaluate his thoughts, i feel. I must know him more to be able to understand a personality like him. He has presence.

As I watched him closely, he had dense silver white eyebrows, almost like a camel. They almost make a chajja over his eyes. And he keeps fiddling with his eyebrows. And they are always unsettled. His ears, as Dhaval puts it are 'elephant ears' - they are large. His spectacles are like those of Corubsier - jet black, round and big. There is no ambiguity in its colour (not sparkling silver-grey or golden-yellow or copper-brown). They are just BLACK. He writes and overwrites over tracingpapers and almost wastes tonnes of paper every year. Because he doesnot reuse any paper for printing twice. And because of fear, employees make so many errors that they end up printing everything thrice. Also, he has a habit of 'seeing' the correction at every stage - so every small incremental improvement is printed. Seeing is believing for him. 

I wonder how all his pencils on the table are always sharpened - they are always sharp. The papers are crisp, the pens are clean, the tracings are neat, the checkered pad is fresh. That is his characteristic.

"How did you get interested in archiving work?" he asked me after 4 days of my meticulous work, "You are really good at it, i am really glad..." (he waited for me to answer)

and almost articulating and editing my answer, I said "I was always interested in research and even during my research last year, I was very particular about noting down things." and I stopped fearing he would judge me on what I said.

One liners by him (more to come):

"A woman can't be 5% pregnant" 

(implying that you have to completely be involved in anything you do)

*I joined Charles Correa Associates as an archivist on 29th Nov. Don't know how long this journey will be.

New money