Mumbai, week 3

Monday, March 17


Stefan and I went back to Kumbharwada for further research. It ended up we met a group of residents in the area that we were not allowed to go. From this incident, we met a nice teenager, Jitendra, who has invited us to have tea. As a result, we forgot about the time and missed the lecture. In front of the lecture hall has located a gym. This hilarious sign of muscular guys is unbelievable, especially from the perspective of the Indian culture.

March 18

During my first try of mapping out a horizontal sectional cut in Kumbharwada, I met this girl with her younger brother and sister. Although they don’t know English, their similes were irresistible. While I went back to that area later on, they also came over and greeted me, which made me felt like I am back at home.

March 19

Today we met a very nice family, the Akshay’s family. This experience is unforgettable. Both of the children in this household speak English, because they go to a private English school. Thus, they can explain a lot of the area, their lives and families, their living conditions and so on. They showed Stefan and me around of their long house, which is divided into four parts and four families. A group of children showed us their parents’ wedding pictures and their family tree due to the complexity of the number of cousins and siblings.

March 20

After the long day of the Dream House Competition, Stefan and his friend put the clay houses on their heads just like the Indians do. This shoot was hilarious. As they walked back to the guest house in this manner, they caught numerous attentions. But the point is that even Stefan did not do that bazaar gesture, he is still eye-catching due to his height. As we told him a few times before, he can be a popular Bollywood star! The Indians do like him a lot!!

March 21

During the start of the Holi festival, we went back to Kumbharwada to give the children photos and asked them to write down their contacts as a return. This experience was pain-taking. They all rushed into us and pushed us around. Some women became impatient and pushed me aggressively. It was kind of disappointing to see that. Also, due to the Holi festival, the children were very hyper, a few of us got wet from the paint balls.

March 22

Today was the last day in Mumbai. At first, I started to hate this chaotic place, but in the end I was surprised to find that I really missed all the tiny incidents in the trip. It is true that India is chaotic, but it has its unique beauty that no other place can be compared to. This is the same as the slum; it has its true attractiveness out from recycled materials. The smiles are unforgettable, and the kindness of the people is true from their hearts. This photo was taken in the Muslim cemetery which becomes their playground.

Mumbai, week 2

Monday, March 10


We were asked to go to the 60ft. road at night to observe the activities in the area. It ended up the most horrific trip in my whole life. The street lights were not working, and people became aggressive at one point. After 2 hours of torture, I started to have a fever while I was walking with my group mates. This experience cannot be forgotten, and the question of organization from the tutors is unbearable.

March 11

SICK

March 12

In the bus tour, we went to an artistic village with numerous beautiful small houses. It was kind of heart broken to find out that the village will be demolished for new development. We walked around the area and enjoyed the impressive detailed designs from façade to doors. They are the real architects who can create unique houses for their families.




March 13


Today, we were assigned to start working inside Kumbharwada, the potters’ area. Due to the lack of contacts, we traveled around the area and talked to the residents in order to build up our contacts for further research. As a result, we got at least six contacts. The most important of all was to let the inhabitants to start recognising our faces so that it could be easier for us to work for the coming week.

March 14

The family of Amritben was the first family that we have visited. They were very friendly and welcomed us with tea and sweets. They lived in the area for 30 years. As they have arrived in the area with no money, they built their home step by step. The tiles were given by one of his customers. Also due to the plastic goods, the demand of pots has decreased. For that reason, they prefer their children to change for other professions. Their son (on the right) always greeted us with smile whenever he saw us in the area.

March 15


The over-night bus ride to Aurangabad was quite rough, but exciting due to the first time of this kind of experience. The first sight that we visited was Bibi-Qa-Maqbara, a mausoleum for Aurangzeb’s wife. It is a mini version of Taj Mahal, with lovely courtyard and garden. Some of the Indian locals asked us for photos at one point. We suddenly became movie stars sitting on the stairs and let them took numerous photos. It was quite a strange experience.

March 16

The Ellora cave temples are the most impressive world heritage that I have never seen in my whole life. The impressive crafting is unbelievable. When I entered the gigantic gate, it seemed like I went to another world. Comparing to the cave temples in the Elephanta Island, this is way more stunning and majestic. I could not find any other descriptions to express what I have seen.

Mumbai, week 1

March 2






The trip to Colaba by train was a very intense moment. People have the tradition to push one another into the train and a few of them are usually hanging outside of the train! It was not surprising that our first try getting on the train was unsuccessful. But do not have a wrong idea that the Indians are impolite or violent. Some of them helped us out with smiles on their faces. It is just the lack of spaces and the inpatient driver that have created these choatic problems.




March 3






The first day to explore Dharavi was very stressful. The non-stop sound of the traffic, the intense heat and the air pollution really drove me crazy! As a group of five, we explored the border condition of the southern part of Dharavi. It ended up that we got lost for 3 hours, but we have seen a lot on the way. I was kind of surprised to see the inhabitants of the slum are very friendly and cheerful, especially the children. There are always similes on their faces.



March 4




During the second day, we aimed to travel in and out of the slum area. It was the first day that we traveled to the 90ft. road, which was one of the major roads in Dharavi. Although some people were quite aggressive, but there was always a few that were very friendly and always asked for photos. The exploration inside the slum was outstanding. Within numerous small aisles, there are different kinds of shops. People are full of energy and work hard to earn their living.



March 5

In the reality tour, we went to study the area called 13 Compound, which involves heavy industrial work in Dharavi. Due to no camera policy, it was quite nice just to use my eyes to observe the surrounding. We visited the plastic recycling industries, went all the way to the roof top to see the “landscape” of metal sheets, talked to the students in the English learning center, and observed the food industries in Dharavi. It was an interesting tour, but the smells in some areas were unbearable.




March 6

We spent this day to organize a technique to represent a sensual map of the first two days of explorations. It was a challenge to represent the senses on a visual map. Therefore, we have decided to apply our extensive notes onto a timeline, which could map out the experience.



March 7




We went to the Sir J. J. College of Architecture to have some lectures. Rajiv Mishra, an architect, planner and valuer, was presenting his extensive research on the new development of Mumbai. I found it quite uncomfortable to listen to his lecture due to his lack of time and led to rush through the presentation.



March 8

In the city tour, we went to the Haji Ali Dargah, which is Mumbai’s most important Muslim shrine. The narrow stone causeway is a magnificent design. As the water level goes up, people cannot access to the shrine, which is in the middle of the water. This experience was unexpected. I have seen children swimming naked along the causeway casually. As a result, we all got wet but it was quite fun to walk with bared feet in the holy area.

March 9

We finally had the time to visit the Elephanta Island. The temples in the caves are magnificent, especially with the natural lighting. The craftsmanship is impressive. There were some monkeys having fun in the area and enjoying the gaze from the tourists. A group of dogs were sleeping under the tent. The extensive shops along the stairs of the 2km hike are very tempting, and it was fun to see some of the American tourists hired the “dolly” to climb to the destination.

workshops

Feb. 4-5 "Experiencing Space" Susanna Recchia

Within the rectangular frame, we used our creativity to experience the space with our other senses rather than visually. This experience was quite powerful and shocking at the same time. Closing the eyes has aroused the other senses, which has totally changed the space. At the end of the workshop, we were asked to draw out the senses of the body on a piece of paper. Although it was just a simple task, it was so playful that we enjoyed expressing our feelings into a drawing.

Feb. 11-12 "Fantasy saves the Planning" Daniele Pario Perra

The most difficult part of this workshop is organization. Within the 2-day workshop, we spent one whole day to organize what to do. Dividing the groups into 4 to 5 people from 37 students was a disaster. However, it was quite fun to see many of the master students couldn't be able to count 1 to 7 in the right order.

The word "planning" might sound important at first, but once it reached to the construction part, it suddenly vanished. We faced numerous problems. The search for unused materials and then transported them on the 8th floor was not an easy task. The security from the faculty was quite hash on us. During the construction part, we faced the problems of the lack of tools, materials and cooperativeness. Because of these problems, the other groups started to help one another in order to finish the construction on time.

Feb. 14-15 "Two days, Two walks" Stefano Greziani

We were asked to take some bad photos within 3 hours. For me, bad photos can be anything; it just depends on one’s perception and taste. Therefore, I chose to simply play around with the geometrical “rules”, such as the improper place to cut things.

Feb. 18 "Mapping" Antonio Scarponi

The aim was to search for some found objects that could represent the social issues and modify the situation. As a group of four, we have decided to put a blank page on the newspaper so that people could write freely on it on the train. In Holland, people tend to leave the newspaper on the seat, which will eventually pass to the next person. This action is an ongoing action in daily lives, and thus enriches the exchange of communication in the metropolitan without the boundary of visual contact.

Feb. 25-26 "The Sensory Commons" Christian Nold

The trip was full of excitements. It is an unexpected journey to explore all my senses which I have long forgotten. The sonic experience has remained me of the first workshop that we have done, the Experience Space Workshop. The words that I can describe the experience are inspiring, exploration, disorientation, strange, realism……….

Being semi-stoned did not relax me at all, I felt more anxious comparing to the normal circumstances. This could be seen from the biomapping result between Linda and me. On the 2nd day of this workshop, we needed to use the result that we had to create a map that shows the sensual experience in the city. Thus, it is the transition from the abstract level to a more visual representation.

Feb. 20 Case Study: Chicago

Working in a group of four, we have prepared a 4 meters long map with fully detailed two ghetto conditions in Chicago: Cabrini and North Lawndale. We made a graph to link the Chicago history to the formation of these areas, which is greatly related to the economical changes of Chicago, which is the shift of the industrial development to the commercial enlargement. Although up to this point we didn’t have any in-depth research of Dharavi, but we had the chance to study another form of “slum”.

BIOMAPPING WORKSHOP reflections (journey to the sensual world)

Feb. 25, 2008

Status: eyes covered and semi-stoned, with biomapping device

As being semi-stoned did not make me more relax, but more anxious in constant times. Before covering my eyes with the blindfolded, I remember that the birds were walking slower at the market place, and two men on the bicycle looked at me strangely when they passed by. The movement in the surrounding became slower then usual, and the beautiful sunlight has created the dreamy atmosphere. Once my eyes are covered, the most noticeable sound was from the teenagers, who were laughing and chatting at the far corner of the market place.

Stefan led me throughout the trip except the part of exchanged partner, which was closer to the end. In general, the trip was quite smooth as I got used to Stefan’s protective feature. May be I was not too stoned, I could tell the direction of the sunlight and the surrounding very clearly. However, it was like spinning in circles, with the sound of the traffic moving constantly beside me. The most surprising moment that I found is whenever I needed to step down and up for the rise of the roads, I felt nervous for a while and kept all my focus on my steps rather than the sound of the surrounding. In other words, my senses kept switching for different situations during the trip. I could really understand that it is not easy to be blinded.

At one point, we reached to a quiet zone, which I could identify as a park. The area was cooler then before, and the sound of the birds filled the atmosphere. The texture of the ground changed, from pavement to gravel. Also, the surface of the ground was not flat, and thus I could strongly aware that it was a park. Once we reached closer to the highway, Stefan suddenly pushed me to the slope along the sidewalk, and I was shocked by this surprise followed by the entry of the “tunnel”, which is beneath the overpass of the highway. The experience was appalling, where the sound of the traffic was echoing in a ferocious matter. It was unexpected due to the push from Stefan, and thus the result was devastating.

In general, the trip was full of excitements. It is an unexpected journey to explore all my senses which I have long forgotten. The sonic experience has remained me of the first workshop that we have done, the Experience Space Workshop. The words that I can describe the experience are inspiring, exploration, disorientation, strange, realism……….

interesting quotations

"Rediscovering Dharavi" by Kalpana Sharma

pg. xxv
"Dharavi was a bustling, busy, chaotic settlement where nothing stood still."

pg. xxx
"The high-rises are still only eruptions on a low-rise unplanned landscape of scores of settlements with distinct names and personalities."

pg. xxxiv
"To remind us that a slum isn't a chaotic collection of structures; it's a dynamic collection of individuals who have figured out how to survive in the most adverse of circumstances."

"...nothing to celebrate about living in a cramped 150 square ft. with no natural light and ventilation, without running water or sanitation."

"No one should have to live in such conditions."


"Shadow Cities" by Robert Neuwirth

pg. 107
"We had to put up with everything - the bad smells, the mosquitoes, the flies. Everything."

pg. 109
"They scraped, they borrowed, and they improved."

pg. 111
"People have created elaborate custom-built hutches to hold their meager possessions. Essentially they created tiny built-in wooden shelving systems to organize every possession."

"These hutches keep a person's belongings off the street and out of the way of bacteria."

pg. 114
"squatters actually pay rent to the city... started with a ground rent of 3 rupees a month. Today, residents pay 100 rupees a month . Given that there are 1000 homes in Squatter Colony, the City of Mumbai receives $1.2 million rupees a year, or a bit more than $25,000, from these illegal residents."

"squatters improve their homes in a novel way..."

"They build as money becomes available. So each wall is turned from mud to concrete separately, over time. No interest costs. No overhead. No problems with storage and site security. No accounting headaches."

"On a small scale - and small, sometimes, can be beautiful - they are quite efficient."

pg. 129
"Mumbai's middle class and wealthy have always had a schizophrenic relationship with the squatters... Their conversation is full of references to the horrible crime and the amount of parental neglect in the squatter settlements. But many of them hire squatters as maids or cooks or drivers or watchmen, or even to care for their kids."

pg. 142
"slums in Indian parlance- had become a city within the city."

"Rather, the middle class and wealthy neighborhoods constitute the small, separatist enclave. The well-off are the city within the city. The squatters are the majority, so they are the city. When they fully understand that, politics and policies will change for the better."

having a niceeeee time :)

slum construction process- video

slum construction: the battle with the security

My Own Interpretations on 2 Different Slums - essay

Slum is the Ideal City
2 Case studies: Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, and the Slum of Dharavi in Mumbai.


“With the successive folding of a handkerchief on itself: each fold doubles the layers of material, the density of experience.” (Correa, 77.)


What is a city? According to Charles Correa, a city is full of challenges and changes. It is a place “where different people meet, where things happen, where ideas incubate.” (Correa, 79.) The slums of Kowloon Walled City and Dharavi have fulfilled these requirements. They are self-regulating, self-sufficient and self-determining modern cities, which all inhabitants have participated due to one single goal: survival.

Slums always give people a false impression. Does it represent the worst of urban poverty and inequality? Do the inhabitants live without dignity, prosperity and peace? By studying these two slums, it is quite chaotic that “slum” is the reflection of a modern city. They are created by the inequality of the society and the city. It is very surprising that without enough supplies, organization, controlment and planning, the slums can actually achieve the basic needs of a modern city, which are both emotional and physical needs. Its organic mega-structure has robotically responded to the daily changes of its inhabitants. Their ideal goal is survival, and as a result they have created the most efficient ideal city in history. They are full of energy and enthusiasm. From its complexity, one can search of its beauty. It is the beauty where many modern cities lack of. One may wonder what the definition of a slum is. What are the needs of dwelling for the slum dwellers? Do the slum dwellers have to be responsible of decreasing the housing standards even though they have improved their living conditions without the help from the government? What is the meaning of ownership? These questions will be fully examined in this essay.

In Vaux’s 1812 Vocabulary of the Flash Language, the word “slum” is identical with the word “racket” or “criminal trade”. Charles Booth, an English Victorian writer (1840-1916), has characterized “slum” by “amalgam of dilapidated housing, overcrowding, poverty, and vice.” (Davis, 12.) For the perspective in the 21st century, in Robert Neuwirth’s Shadow Cities, he stated 10 reasons from Peter Marcuse, an urbanist, that why squatting will not work:

1. Squatters will not provide enough resources to handle the immense problem.
2. Squatters are individuals and cannot deal with a host of issues that require centralized decision-making.
3. Squatters only produce temporary solutions to their immediate needs.
4. There is no evaluation mechanism and no way to replicate the success stories to allow squatting to be transformed from individual action into a program.
5. Squatters are inefficient and do not make use of economies of scale.
6. Squatters are economically regressive because they are not redistributing wealth.
7. Squatters lower housing standards.
8. Squatters are politically reactionary; they shield the status quo from anger that should be directed at it.
9. Squatters are socially divisive: the more aggressive squatters get more while less aggressive squatters get less.
10. Squatters are exploitative: they are forced to exploit themselves.
(Neuwirth, 295-296.)

One may wonder the level of truthfulness of the above extensive definitions of what slum is. By studying the slums of Kowloon Walled City and Dharavi, one may gain another perception and discover with numerous surprises. They are not only the reflections on the advanced “modern” cities; they have also elaborated numerous questions on what are the basic needs of dwelling.

The dominant similarity of the two slums is that they are created by accident and neglectedness from the government and the society. Both of them are the focus in the political issue of their cities. Both slums are titled as the biggest slums in Asia: KWC with 33,000 inhabitants within 6.5 acres of solid building, and Dharavi with 18,000 persons per acre. Due to the limited living spaces, both slums’ inhabitants have used spaces as multipurpose, both for dwelling and work. “They are remarkable architects because within their restricted spaces, they have designed the use of space in ways that few trained architects could.” (Sharma, 201.) One may wonder why people would prefer to live in those poor conditions. The reason is that they suffer from the inequality of the society, and thus they have found the slums as the magnet of opportunity. It is the opportunity to use one’s labour to maintain one’s living. It would cost so much higher outside the slums to start the business again. Another reason is that they came from a worse environment, and thus they do not consider the slums as bad living conditions. They see the place as their home with the sense of belonging. In KWC, one of the inhabitants, Yim Kwok Yuen, has stated:

I was not scared of anything when I came to Hong Kong. After all, no one ill-treated you here. I came from a poor village where the hygiene conditions were much worst. Only the air was better. Coming from such a poor place, I thought Hong Kong was heaven. The Walled City is all right; I came from a worse environment, so I’ve never really thought of it as bad.
(Girard and Lambot, 93.)

Furthermore, the inhabitants do not consider that they are living in the ‘slums’. In Dharavi, one of the inhabitants has argued, “How dare anyone claim that Kumbharwada is ‘a slum’ in need of rehabilitation! Kumbharwada is home to working people, men and women who have always made their own way.” (Jacobson.)

The process of their improvement on their living conditions is very impressive due to the development of self-administration. Without the help of the government, they have gradually solved the problems of the water supply, electrical accessibility, safe housing and building construction. In KWC, the methodology of water supply and electrical accessibility are quite outstanding. The residents paid private suppliers to pump water from wells that were beneath the City, and also stole water from the nearby mains supplies. As the water supplies were not enough for residents, they hired private drilling firms to make the drillings as far as 100 meters below the surface due to the overuse of water. As the people had more money, they used the water tank system, “Water was first pumped up to rudimentary storage tanks on the City roofscape. From there, a twisted congestion of pipes ran downward again, branching into blocks and flats.” (Girard and Lambot, 37.) Due to the year of the big fire, there was a big transformation of legal electrical supply during the years of 1977 to 1985. Because the City was a maze of pipes and wires all over the place, it was extremely difficult to carry the cables to all the required places. “Actually, in a few instances, we just supplied electricity to the power points on a lower floor and let the owner connect it to the floor above. You know what the buildings are like in the Walled City – they’re built one on top of the other, leaning here and there,” mentioned from an employee of China Light and Power, Mok Chung Yuk. (Girard and Lambot, 46.) As Hong Kong economy was blooming during the 1980s, the demand of electricity kept increasing. For the solution, they found a space with 250 square feet to locate two high-density cables and set up the electrical stations.

In the case of Dharavi, it is less advance than the KWC in terms of the technical aspects. However, their ideology of combining investment and improvement is the most fascinating. “Even without any aid from the government, one can see how people have successfully replaced thatch and bamboo with brick and mortar.” (Sharma, 200.) With confidence, they transformed the no-man place into a powerful industry. “They scraped, they borrowed, and they improved.” (Neuwirth, 108.) In other words, they build as the money is available. “Each wall is turned from mud to concrete separately, over time. No interest costs. No overhead. No problems with storage and site security. No accounting headaches.” (Neuwirth, 114.) It is a very efficient way to construct the dwellings permanently. The slum dwellers have also developed the skill of savings. Each squatter community will create a savings association where each family can join and pay as little as a rupee per day. The collected money will be used in the community for loans such as the medical treatment or small businesses. “Savings brings confidence to the people. Through savings, we don’t have to demand that the politicians to improve living conditions or economic conditions or homes. We can do what we want to and achieve what we want to. Because of savings, you empower yourself,” said Jockin Arputham, the head of the National Slum Dwellers Federation and Slum Dwellers International in Mumbai. Up to this point, it is very obvious that Marcuse’s opinions on the squatters are his false perceptions, especially from his reasons numbered 1 to 3 and 7.

The idea of the ownership is very critical. The four important things that the slum dwellers need are security, stability, protection and control. As long as they know that they would not be removed, they would establish a market. “They buy and sell. They rent. They create. They develop. Actual control, not legal control, is the key. Give squatters security and they will develop the cities of tomorrow.” (Neuwirth, 302.) For both of the slums, the dwellers have to pay rent or they have purchased the property. In KWC, after the demolish in 1993, a 73 years old inhabitant, Kwok Lau Hing, has recalled, “The flat cost about $4000 HKD then. My cousin contributed a quarter and took one room. My sister also put up a quarter, but she rented her room out for $50 a month. I had a half share, so I had two rooms, one of which I rented out. Water and electricity were supplied properly there and I paid the bills monthly to the right authorities.” (Girard and Lambot, 136.) In Dharavi, the slum dwellers have to even pay the rent to the city. “Squatter Colony started with a ground rent of 3 rupees a month. Today, residents pay 100 rupees a month. Given that there are 1000 homes in Squatter Colony, the City of Mumbai receives $1.2 million rupees a year, or a bit more than $25,000 US, from these illegal residents.” (Neuwirth, 114.) They earn the money from all types of factories especially from recycling. “Dharavi has also been mirroring India’s economic revival and it has done so largely by rejecting a local government that has ignored it and by recycling its own resources.” (Jacobson.) There are approximately 2 million squatters in Mumbai, more than 50 percent of the population in the city. The most important of all is that they are the productive engines of the country with numerous successful stories from the inhabitants. “This is the only state (in India) with a slum rehabilitation policy. This is the only state where pavement dwellers have rights. And why do you think this has happened? It is a direct result of our work. We very strongly believe that the problems of the urban poor can be solved by the urban poor, not by anybody else. People always see the change agents as the intellectuals. I don’t agree with that. The urban poor will be the change agents of the city,” said Jockin. (Neuwirth, 138-139.) It is quite interesting to see that they are gradually gaining the power to a level of participation in politics. In their unconsciousness, they are challenging the power structure while contributing in it. From the surface, the Mumbai’s middle class and wealthy constantly criticizing the unhygienic conditions and the horrible crime in the slum. However, it is quite chaotic that many of them hire the slum dwellers in pitiful wages, such as the positions from maids to drivers to baby sitters. As a result, from all these incidents, they have been proven that Marcuse’s reasons numbered 4 to 6 and 8 to 10 are not realistic.

Regardless that Kowloon Walled City as the city within the city, and Dharavi is the city itself, they have both fulfilled the needs of what a city requires. They are the examples of the ideal cities in vertical and horizontal developments, which have indicated what are the origins of all the modern cities. Its complexity reveals its beauty as a “city”. Charles Correa once stated, “As a biologist, he felt the move towards complexity is as compulsive and as irreversible as the blind drive that caused life to develop from single cells to more and more complex forms.” (Correa, 77.) In the case of Dharavi, higher-class residences are agreed strongly to take down the slum. But it turns out to be a very dangerous perception, due to the idea of treating the inhabitants of the slum as structure instead of lives. “The ugliness of the structures is all the people can see, not the vitality of those who live in these tenements. As a result, people glibly talk about slum removal and city beautification without a thought to the dislocation and anguish that this cause to thousands of families.” (Sharma, 194) People should once again question themselves seriously of their limited observations. It is quite chaotic to limit the word “slum” that describes a place with production, energy and enthusiasm.





Works Cited List

Correa, Charles. The New Landscape. London: Butterworth Architecture, 1989.

Davis, Mike. Planet of Slums. London: Verso Press, 2007.

Girard, Greg and Lambot, Ian. City of Darkness- Life in Kowloon Walled City. Hong Kong: Ernst Et Sohn, 1993.

Jacobson, Mark. As Mumbai booms, the poor of its notorious Dharavi slum find themselves living in some of India's hottest real estate. 2 Dec. 2007. National Geographic. May 2007.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0705/feature3/index.html

Neuwirth, Robert. Shadow Cities- A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Sharma, Kalpana. Rediscovering Dharavi- Stories From Asia’s Largest Slum. India: Penguin Books, 2000.

"Two Days, Two Walks" Workshop

pics from workshop