permanence of temporary*
The structure of traditional medieval city of Ahmedabad- situated in western India is one, which has the ability to disappear. In its purely physical representation, the structure is very apparent or prominent. Yet in ones spatial conception, the immediate experience is of disorientation as there is no strict general reference point to experience the space in the city. This happens because the city of Ahmedabad - like a lot of other cities, especially from the developing world - works on multitude of levels, where space as represented is just one part of the whole. There are innumerable layers juxtaposed each containing different activity / acts / happenings. The complex interweaving of these layers results into the actual experience that is made up of all these temporalities in the city.
Only way to grasp the structure of the city thus is familiarizing it. Each individual here experiences the space from ones unique viewpoint. More one uses the space, the space is contextualized rich with its local references. Thus for each individual, a personalized city exists with its own references; may that be of incidents or places. It is an experience of grasping the temporalities that go undocumented in its formal representations.
Manek Chowk is a public square in the heart of old city centre of Ahmedabad. It holds layers of activities ranging from formal markets, informal economic activities, non-commercial, social and religious happenings with interdependence on one another.
The life in the big space is the ever-happening activity: constant movement of people performing in the space, passers bys, the traffic…the space gets transformed in different ways throughout the day ranging from a quiet morning to busy bustling afternoons to happening evening eateries.
One experiences the formal (jewellers, tobacco sellers, utensils shops etc.) and the informal (bangle sellers, vegetable vendors, street side food joints etc.) simultaneously. Constant juxtaposition of activities makes it seem like a random jumble of chaotic happenings, but a more detailed observation demonstrates a perfectly organized performance with very precise interdependence of activities that are performed in these surroundings.
These temporalities have been around in Manek Chowk for the time ones memories go back. With its ever-changing forms and positions, it has now transcended the commonly accepted notion of temporality to acquire the notion of permanence. Yet, it does not become the part of the formal study on the space, functionality and its behaviours. In conventional planning norms, the informal layers (may it be economical, social, or religious activity) are either romanticised or completely ignored. Yet these are the entities that make ones experience of space actual and alive. Also, they are the ones that make the actual structure of the space and activities it supports.
*part of the proposal submitted for an exhibition by chintan gohil and rooshank mehta
[The proposed study will try to map the area of Manek Chowk with all its events, temporalities that have become a permanent part of the big space it occupies, and break it down to a perceivable human scale.
In detail, the study will look at the space with regards to juxtapositions of various activities, coming together to make the singular experience of Manek Chowk. In different layers, It will study the range of activities happening throughout the day and night and locate the infrastructure and activities that support this complex happening. It will also plot the socio-economic relations between its players to understand the complex relationships in the space and how it moulds an individual experience.
This study in its extended form may be taken up to view / analyse the problems that lie in the seemingly informal set up of the permanence, which is ignored by the planners in the development process and provide suggestions to improve and change the urban area with better infrastructure and planning, integrating the informal as main stream.]
Only way to grasp the structure of the city thus is familiarizing it. Each individual here experiences the space from ones unique viewpoint. More one uses the space, the space is contextualized rich with its local references. Thus for each individual, a personalized city exists with its own references; may that be of incidents or places. It is an experience of grasping the temporalities that go undocumented in its formal representations.
Manek Chowk is a public square in the heart of old city centre of Ahmedabad. It holds layers of activities ranging from formal markets, informal economic activities, non-commercial, social and religious happenings with interdependence on one another.
The life in the big space is the ever-happening activity: constant movement of people performing in the space, passers bys, the traffic…the space gets transformed in different ways throughout the day ranging from a quiet morning to busy bustling afternoons to happening evening eateries.
One experiences the formal (jewellers, tobacco sellers, utensils shops etc.) and the informal (bangle sellers, vegetable vendors, street side food joints etc.) simultaneously. Constant juxtaposition of activities makes it seem like a random jumble of chaotic happenings, but a more detailed observation demonstrates a perfectly organized performance with very precise interdependence of activities that are performed in these surroundings.
These temporalities have been around in Manek Chowk for the time ones memories go back. With its ever-changing forms and positions, it has now transcended the commonly accepted notion of temporality to acquire the notion of permanence. Yet, it does not become the part of the formal study on the space, functionality and its behaviours. In conventional planning norms, the informal layers (may it be economical, social, or religious activity) are either romanticised or completely ignored. Yet these are the entities that make ones experience of space actual and alive. Also, they are the ones that make the actual structure of the space and activities it supports.
*part of the proposal submitted for an exhibition by chintan gohil and rooshank mehta
[The proposed study will try to map the area of Manek Chowk with all its events, temporalities that have become a permanent part of the big space it occupies, and break it down to a perceivable human scale.
In detail, the study will look at the space with regards to juxtapositions of various activities, coming together to make the singular experience of Manek Chowk. In different layers, It will study the range of activities happening throughout the day and night and locate the infrastructure and activities that support this complex happening. It will also plot the socio-economic relations between its players to understand the complex relationships in the space and how it moulds an individual experience.
This study in its extended form may be taken up to view / analyse the problems that lie in the seemingly informal set up of the permanence, which is ignored by the planners in the development process and provide suggestions to improve and change the urban area with better infrastructure and planning, integrating the informal as main stream.]
posted by chintan at 9:05 am
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