INFORMAL CITIES -Saumya Pankaj

 INFORMAL CITY-My Reflection

Suggestive of their name, informal cities are undoubtedly big areas, inhabited by citizens of the country that have an anonymous say  in the politico set up yet are not publicly recognized as strategically important in the national franchisee, or as home to a famous community of workers that display remarkable professional or creative skills. Or which contribute heavily to the exchequer by way of income tax or source or natural revenue.

Such cities ‘enjoy’ an ignoble and anonymous existence until they are catapulted to fame by some ‘misadventure’ or act of greatness. Outside the national curriculum, such communities function on a self-reliant note much like the ancient communities without the help of a central governing body. Social workers, artists, designers often try to use such communities as a source or anthropological study perhaps because of their untouched by modernity experiences. Though born out of a survival instinct such cities within cities tend to be palpable and throbbing relentlessly despite a side-lined existence. It serves more like an alternative respite from the over populous cities loaded with urbanization, industrialisation and waning culture. Such communities develop their own ways of creative and occupational articulation without intentional efforts….it’s a natural and adaptive inhabitation of people who avoid being herded in big cities where individuality takes a back seat. Untouched by heavy regulations and rule and invisible governance such communities flourish in its informal and unregulated structure, with a more easy way of life to boast. Such cities exist concentrically to big cities often complimenting their effort ceaselessly and unknowingly.

The heart of Bangalore "SHIVAJI NAGAR"

This project is to design a walk for shivaji nagar. We started with looking at different perspective of shivaji nagar. I initially wanted to work with music for the walk. I wanted music because according to me music is a really interesting way to communicate.

I was already a part of the previous course regarding which we already did a lot of research on shivaji nagar especially jewelers street. Every walk you end up with a new perspection about shivaji nagar.

We have been looking up for all the information we can get on shivaji nagar from any resource.

As of now I am working with performing arts group. We have been out on field looking for various kinds of performences and the unseen talents we can get in shivaji nagar itself which could be presented during the walk. We are still looking for a way to put it up which could be a musical performance or a skit or a song or a puppet show, which we will soon figure out hopefully. And the result will be good to.

Like the say “All's well that ends well”

ANKITA MIRANI

Watching the overlooked

The informal city is a great symposium which investigates the urban growth. The focus lies on the fastest expanding city structures in the world: city districts with no city planning or communal infrastructure. Well it is not only a step to remove people out of slum but also to remove slum out of people. Informal city is such part of the city which people generally ignore and overlook and eventually it does not even bother and it becomes a routine. These areas are also self-sustained. Even thoughIn these informal cities, legal rights are denied and citizenship is uncertain it is a great step towards breaking the ice between the informal city and the city.

The project would relate to shivaji nagar as it is also a part of the urban city “banglore”. It is also unplanned and not completely developedin a way that it eventually just grows.

 Looking at these perspective of shivaji nagar would be a great help I feel.

ANKITA MIRANI

ARTICLE RESPONSE

Mumbai is not just a city it is an aspiring vision that people look up to for the modern urban life. “The city that never sleeps” is the phrase given to the city no matter when the city is never lifeless.  Gyan Prakash largely talks about Mumbai and its history. Mumbai seems the city of extremes, for the good and the bad. Not only the bright side has been revealed but also the dark phase that the city had to face, starting from catastrophic floods to terrorist attacks to the before history in past.. Every aspect one can think of is present in Mumbai.  Initially it starts of with an outsiders perspective of the awesomeness of the city and why basically people wow it so much. The article then goes on and ends with the concept of “Generic city”. That every city is going to be the same in future just like copy paste it seems. The article explores the “mythic life” of Mumbai as seen by different perspective. It also unearths the history of worlds most famous urban centre( Mumbai). Mumbai is at last the city of verve and panache. I really found the artice very interesting and also I read about the author Gyan Prakash he is the professor of history in Princeton university.

The other article city at its limit deals with issues and different phases of Lima.

It also has a lot to deal with the taboos. Well according to me taboo is just an invisible obstacle. It is not your perception by choice you are made to think in the way the taboo is accordingly.  Even in the article when it mentions about the nudity of an old lady everyone would have reacted the same , because we were made too think like that since childhood. And reading the article the way author describes nudity of the lady shows it was more of an issue because she was old. She basically forms a repulsive force in motion to have an effect on the crowd.

Both the articles are different perspective of different cities.

ANKITA MIRANI

Shivajinagar Calling!!

Shivajinagar is the oldest part of Bangalore and is well known for the availability of everything. It has its own aura which spreads its charm everywhere attracting some for the beautiful architectural spaces like the St.Mary’s Basilica, the Rama Temple, Shri Muthyal Amma Devi temple, Jumma masjid, the Russell Market, etc. And some for the delicious smell of meat, biryani and its sulaimani chai! It also has a big market for cheap shopping. The famous beef market is the place to buy almost all variety of raw meat, fish, etc. It’s also diverse as it holds all religions which is unique since there are very rare places holding all religions together. My first walk to Shivajinagar was full of confusion, I had so many questions in my mind but gradually when I started exploring various areas, getting comfortable to the surroundings ,it made the my task easy.I got to know many streets there like Arunachalam Mudaliar Road, Seppings Road, Mackhan Road, Kamraj Road, etc.Communicating with people and getting to know about their life experiences there was quite a task as in the beginning I was a bit hesitant to interact but then when I started, it was interesting and good to listen to what  people came across while living there. It also gave me an opportunity to know the famous stories of some the landmarks there.

Firstly I came across Mr.Ramchandram, he was great source of information about the place also he made me know about the antiques in his shop, about the old watches,paintings,etc.He even guided me with my other group mates to the area where we could set up our Gallery , our main idea!  

Also what fascinated me the most was the historical background of the place from the time of the British rule till now! The origin of its old name Blackpally is still controversial and no one exactly knows the actual story behind the name which also keeps the listener in a mystery which I think is amazing. There is so much to talk about the place that keeps the person so much engrossed!

During the walk I came across Father Joseph Naveen Kumar, who made me familiar with the miraculous stories of the St.Mary’s Basilica and also shared one of his experiences with me which was really very touching...

Also I met Mr.Samir who is working for the Taj Printers, 45yrs old Urdu printing press, and shared a word with them regarding the brands which were then in use and the old advertisements and the layout basically so it was very useful.

Another person I came across was Mr.Mohd. Idrees Chaudhary, the secretary of the Russell Market. He has all his reflections about the place online and even made me familiar with the recent incident that took place there, The Fire Accident due to the short circuit in one of the shops on the 25^th of Feb 2012, early morning. Then from there me with my fellow group members, we visited various libraries:

v        The Government Library, located on the Haines Road.

v        The British Library, located near Kasturba cross road.

v        The Bangalore Central Library, located in Cubbon Park.

It was a really wonderful to go there. The Central Library is the biggest of all and is beautifully arranged.

I really got inspired from the Cinemacity exhibition held in NGMA and thought of taking the basic idea for the mediums from there. I thought depicting stories in the form of photographs and will be using different kinds of narrative s to convey the stories we across, which may take any shape or form including all the different aspects of art and design.

The walk in Shivajinagar has been really useful to enhance my perspective and trying to understanding a place like Shivajinagar.

~ Juhi Kedia

Response

The Mythic City- Gyan Prakash
The article tells about how one city is defined through its various outlooks. It shows the various aspects of Mumbai city. How Mumbai was before and how its now, the timeline of Mumbai city in short. It also tells about how one see the city according to their aspect.
It shows the both worst and good part of Mumbai, also how fast is the life of people their. After having lots of destruction and problem the people over their living behind all the issues carry on their life and after having lots of complaints they don't give up, as if nothing had happened they continue their daily routine.
Bolywood has given Mumbai a charm, which makes it more interesting. I found this article very interesting because of all the aspects as I said above.

The city at its limits- Daniella Gandolfo
The article gave me a visual aspect of the city. It shows how everything is interconnected in a city. It tells both good and bad aspects of the city, also how rural area converts to city and what are things which make those changes. Also including market areas, what changes can be seen in markets due to other aspects of change. I liked the question asked in the article on the sentence : "Lima, the way it once was.",but once when?
-Divya Jain 

Mythic city & City at it's Limits

<Mythic City>
The author, Gyan Prakash, has taken into account what his view on Bombay(Mumbai) is. He shows how he percieves different cities and how,in his view, Mumbai is the best city in the world. He compares the mumbai of the past to present day and shows it's ever changing nature and vast possibilities. He also shows the way cinema is linked to the way people behave and act. He gave a unique identity to the city and made it very relatable. The article, in short, made sense of the experinces the author had in the city and basically showed how media affects how the city develops.
<The City at it's Limits>
The article showed how the city deals with events that occur on a daily basis and how it developes over time through these events. The author made it clear how one could process information and observe the area around him. He shows the historic events of the city and how he used to know the city in the past as compared to the present. He explains how a taboo is simply a practice that has been shunned because it is different from the norm of the society.