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B.Arch (AR-321)

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Acharya Nagarjuna University

Academic year: 2023/2024

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Master in Architecture

(Urban Design Studio)

Architecture

M

1. Details of Module and its Structure

Module Detail

Subject Name M – Architecture

Paper Name Urban Landscape Design

Module Name/Title Urban Open Space Module 1

Objectives 1. Everyday life activities as experience 2. Experience of neighborhood life 3. Experience of street life 4. Experience in public places

Structure of Module / Syllabus of a module (Define Topic / Sub-topic of module )

The module underlines the significance of the qualitative and human aspects in city formation along with the quantitative aspects which have largely shaped the theory and practice of designing and constructing the city. The Indian urbanism represents a distinct character formed by its deep socio-cultural, economical and political factors in history. This perception of city is elaborated as the urban question of experience in a city and its human value through 5 lecture sessions which will throw light on the issue of Image of the city, sacred space, everyday life, events in city and a documentary film highlighting the human experience in urban space.

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MODULE : City as an Experience – 3

Everyday Life:

Cities are the places for concentration of people engaged in urban activity. It forms two major realms the place to stay and the place to work. There is continuous cycle of urban life between the two realms constructing many more places of interactions and engagements for various needs of life. This particular phenomenon of life creates an urban experience of everyday life. The complex structure of everyday life in a Indian city can be studied through neighborhood life, street life, markets, pedestrian movement, hawkers and livelihood in parks, riverfront, lakefront and squares. They become the major elements which create the structure of everyday experiences and contribute to urban identity and form of the city. They define the concept of urban space and its relationship to urban life. The pattern of various experiences in the everyday structure play important role for the quality of a city and define the human aspects. Everyday life becomes a vital determinant of the experience of a city and important aspect for a good city. With the evolution of the Industrial city there was degradation of quality of life which has led to everyday life as a emerging urban question. American author Jane Jacobs in her book ‘Death and life of great American cities’ in 1961 brings out the critic of this particular experience in a city. It is critically underlined that modern cities have failed to ensure good everyday life and moved away from the human aspects.

“The essence of urban life lies in exuberant diversity, in the making available to anyone, at any time, a vast range of choices of things to do.” Jane Jacobs, 1961

The Human aspect of city can be dealt only at everyday life activities and its corresponding urban spaces, and the various choices and opportunity and in the finer aspects of life available at the scale. French critical thinker Henry Lefebvre in his book ‘The critic of everyday life’ emphasizes the significance of everyday life to construct a good humane city.

“The ‘World’ is man’s mirror because man makes it: it is the task of his practical, everyday life to do so........... and it is in everyday life, through everyday life, that humanization is accomplished.” Henry Lefebvre, 1947

The two main elements of experience in a city are the everyday life and the events. The everyday life however mundane it may be is one of the significant aspects to be dealt with to create a good character and quality of a city. The place to live, place to work and the mobility today are the most important urban components of the contemporary city. The study of everyday life is a huge structure. A city today is large constituting of many kinds of people and communities, their large

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structure of activities, their many needs, their big desires and the large numbers of population making the modern city a complex and difficult place to design and manage. But a careful study of this large everyday structure will allow us to create a qualitative urban space and experiences and a good livable city.

Neighborhood life:

People come to live in city for work and good life. The neighborhood, the place to stay forms an important element of everyday life experience in a city. In Indian urban history we see two distinct formations of these experiences. The traditional old city of Ahmedabad built in 1411 demonstrate one of the finest construct of the medieval neighborhood called ‘Pol’ with rich experience and social structure. There is territorial definitions and control of community, strongly defined public realm in streets and open spaces, intimate relationship of the private realm of the house and the public realm of street through an important transition space called the ‘otla’ a verandah. The open space is a great social place where all age members of families come and engage in various activities in the whole day. It is not only a place for human interactions but also has a richly designed bird feeder is placed to define human existence with relationship and care for animal life. The verandah becomes a great place where private activity of the house comes out at the edge to make the street alive all the time. The neighborhood in old city are very active and lively ensuring great social life and security, which forms a good human value and offers a rich experience of living. This traditional neighborhood is an important urban form in cities of medieval India and a strong social structure for a good living experience. On the other hand the new modern city which brought completely a new concept of spatial relationships developed by vertical development and disconnection of private realm and public realm, but offering a large free space for more community activities and landscape. It offered more secured space for children to play a very important aspect for child growth. But the vertical development does not allow interactions between neighbours and becomes anti human.

Street Life:

Streets in a city form the important public realm for various human activities right from movement, commerce, recreation, socializing and identity. The narrow neighborhood streets in the old city of Ahmedabad and Jaipur are great shaded spaces for human activity round the day and become an important social space along with its role for movement. They become the extensions of the private realm of the house during the day. The houses form the richly articulated entrance façade with a verandah for interactions. And this aspect of entrances becoming a great interface for human interaction is the significant aspect of experiences of the streets of neighborhoods. There is also space of animals like cow, dogs and birds in the street in the form of bird feeder and other elements. The practice comes from old vedic times in Indian history where concept of existence is defined between human, nature and animals as a larger ecological system of living and a important factor of experience. The city level streets outside the neighborhoods form the main commercial spaces with shops and markets. They are flooded with people and hawkers and vehicular movements resulting into congestions and chaos. The apparent chaos is actually a elaborate structure of organization of formal and informal spaces and activities in a street which is demonstrated in the detail study of narrow market street of old city of Pune. This informal

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walk on carriage way negotiating the haphazard parking and threat of been knocked by moving vehicles. Cities like Mumbai with high congestions of vehicles have resorted to segregation of pedestrian movement by elevated walkways. But there exists a strong interdependency of pedestrian movement, vehicular movement, shops and hawkers as a ecological system and segregation will affect the human activity and experience.

Hawkers:

Hawkers in Indian city form an important demography today and play important role in economy and experience of the city. Urbanization has led to large scale migration of people from rural India to cities for livelihood since independence. This has resulted into a new demography where half the population in cities is marginalized and poor. They are left to live on illegal or encroached lands and street space. They form the informal and illegal activities of the streets in India and define the important emerging character. Hawkers depend on streets for livelihood as they were not recognized for long as part of the demography and the planning process of cities development plans and policies. Because of their temporary nature of existence in urban space they bring the informal quality and experience. They make the streets busy, vital and active for a great human experience. They make the street a social place. They support the large daily needs of the people of the city by selling vegetables, fruits, products, garments etc. and also provide household services for neighborhoods.

Livelihood in Streets:

The urbanization story of India since industrialization created the major section of migrant, marginalized and poor population resulting into large numbers of hawkers on street for their livelihood as employment for all was not available. Many of the old textile mills closed in cities due to modernization and led to major unemployment and production of hawkers on street. Livelihood in streets has become an important characteristics of Indian urban space and not been dealt in planning process. Many of this population are forced to live on streets as they do not have access to affordable housing and resulting into major slums in cities. Some engaged in food courts, some do street plays/performances, some create temporary workshops for their livelihood. The existence for this section of the population of a city is a hard struggle and projects a very poor experience of living in a city. On one hand they offer this fantastic urban experience and infrastructure of informality in the Indian urban space but their own existence and experience is a hard struggle due to its neglect in the planning process.

Recreation:

The hard stressful life of cities and the basic human needs require recreation as a important element of existence today. The street food, outdoor games, cycling, watching life on street, having a walk, visiting a park and many more form the activities for recreation in everyday life. Street food is an important form of recreation and experience in a city. In India it has emerged through the hawkers in streets and moved to create some of the best street food joints and experiences in several cities across. It forms and interesting relationship of street food becoming a recreation for many and a source of livelihood for some and hence a important urban formation.

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Standing on street and eating the panipuri, having tea on streets or eating a icecream or other snacks on streets are some of the vital experiences of recreations and social interactions. Besides street there are other places the city offers for recreation in the form of lake front, river front and sea front where nature and its experience along with walking and eating forms one of the biggest everyday life experiences and activities. The three major project of Kankaria Lake front, Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad and the Marine drive at Mumbai have been developed to ensure this particular aspect of recreation as an important experience for everyday life and have been used extensively to become the lungs of the city. Connaught Place in New Delhi by Luytens also is a significant place for recreation formed by shopping, restaurants, street food and a park. These places also become occasions for city level public events and festival celebrations. The Old Cities also created spaces for recreations along with commerce like the Badi Chaupar (square) in Jaipur, Chandni chowk in Old Delhi and Manek chowk in Ahmedabad.

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