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Does the Global Meet the Local in Chandigarh?

The possible interaction between local and global

communities, economies and environments

Workshop by Henrik Valeur

Chandigarh College of Architecture

4 - 8 Oct 2010

Report

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Content

Organizer 2Intro 3

Brief 4Task 4Timeschedule 5Site 5-6People 7Results 8

Group1(1stprize) 9-12Group2 13Group3(2ndprize) 14-17Group4 18Group5 19Group6(3rdprize) 20Group7 21Group8 22Group9 23Group10 24Group11(3rdprize) 25Group12 26

Process 27-29Participatingstudents 30Press 31

Organizer

HenrikValeur,UiD

Chandigarh College of ArchitecturePradeepKumarBhagat,PrincipalGauravGangwar,CoordinatorSujaySengupta,CoordinatorAnuSingh,TutorJanbadePrafullaTarchand,TutorKDSMankota,TutorMallikaJain,TutorManojKumar,TutorSamdeepNandwani,Tutor

WithspecialthankstoMelissaKSmith(Berkeley)

Copyrights©HenrikValeur2010

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“We have to pay attention to the urban developments taking place on the fringes of existing cities. Outside the planned city of Chandigarh a new kind of city is rapidly developing. The Rajiv Gandhi Technology Park is located next to existing villages and informal settlements. This juxtaposition of two separate “worlds”, a local and a global, can be observed all over the world today. And it is, in many ways, here, in the interface between the local and the global, our common future is being decided. If we don’t know and understand each other how can we be expected to take care of and feel responsible for each other? Thus the task of the students in this workshop was to propose interventions that may enable or provoke interaction between the two “worlds”. HenrikValeur,CreativeDirectorofUiD

RajivGhandiTechnologyPark Informalsettlement

Intro

“I am satisfied that such a workshop is being conducted by an architect of Mr. Henrik Valeur’s stature, which exposes the college students to an unbiased interpretation of the contemporary development underway in the area of study. It further allows the students to analyse and design a very appropriate and site responsive answer to the current manifestations brought in by globalization.”PradeepK.Bhagat,PrincipalofCCA

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Brief

Focus areaThefocusareaislocatedbetweenChandigarhandPanchkula.Itconsistsoftwoseparate“worlds”:“theglobalworld”tothenorthoftherailroadconsistingoftheRajivGandhiTechnologyParkandanupscale,internationalshoppingmalland“thelocalworld”tothesouthoftherailroadconsistingofexisting,historicalvillagesandinformalsettlements.

Task

UnderstandingObserveandanalyseproblemsandpossibilitiesrelatedtotheeconomic,environmentalandsocialdevelopmentofthearea,throughempiricalstudiesandinterviewswithdifferentpeopleonsite.

InterventionProposeoneinterventionthatcanmakethelocalandtheglobalmeet.Theinterventioncanbebigorsmall,physicalornon-physical,butitmustprovide economic, environmental and social benefits to the area.

PresentationPresenttheunderstandingandtheinterventioninawaythatisunderstandableforlayman.Thepresentationshouldconsistof2A2panels,5powerpointslidesandoneA4essay.

Challenges1. Can we make the ‘global’ and the ‘local’ interact in a mutually beneficial way?2.Canwethinkofthesiteasanecologyinwhicheverythingandeveryonedependoneachother?3.Canwemakearchitecturemoredemocratic?4.Canweimprovethelivingandeconomicconditionsfordisadvantagedpeople?5.Canweimprovetheimageforthetechnologypark?6.Canweimproveaccessibilityandconnectivity?

YinYang:thisChinesesymboldescribeshowpolarorseeminglycontraryforcesareinterconnectedandinterdependentinthenaturalworld,andhowtheygiverisetoeachotherinturn.

Infinity: In ancient India and Tibet, this symbolrepresentedperfection,dualism,andunitybetweenmaleandfemale.Itisalsoassociatedwithbalanceortheequilibriumofforces.

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Time schedule

04.10 Understanding10.00–10.45IntroductiontotheworkshopbyHenrikValeur(ALL)11.00–14.30Sitesurveyandinterviewswithpeoplerepresentingusergroupswithdifferentneedsandwishes;forinstanceasinglemother,aretiredcouple,asuccessfulbusinessman,amigrantworker,ayoungstudent,anITprofessional…(GROUPS)15.00–17.00Discussionofproblemsandpossibilities(ALL)

05.10 Brainstorming09.00–15.00Brainstormingofintervention(GROUP)15.00–17.00Presentationofproposals(ALL)

06.10 Focus09.00-17.00Developmentofintervention(GROUP)

07.10 Presentation14.00–19.00Presentationandreviewofprojects(ALL)

08.10 Evaluation11.00–12.00Evaluationofprojects(HenrikVakeurandfaculty)13.00-14.00Prizes(ALL)

Site

ThesiteisamixedurbanandruralarealocatedoutsidetheplannedcityofChandigarh.Itisdividedbyanelevatedrailwaytrack.Ononesideoftherailwayisatechnologypark,ashoppingmallandprovisionalhousingformigrantworkers,andontheothersideisavillage,informalsettlementsandsomeagriculturalland.

Thevillage,theIndiraColony,wasconstructedsome20yearsagoforpeople who were working in Chandigarh but couldn’t find housing there. Itconsistsoftraditionalcourtyardhousingwitheachcourtyardserving12dwellings.

Evenbeforethevillagewasconstructedslumdwellershadsettledinthisareaandcontinuetolivetheretillthisday.

ConstructionoftheRajivGandhiTechnologyParkbeganin2004.Beforethattheareawasaforestlandwhichincludedadumpingground,avegetablemarket,aplaygroundforkidsandotherfacilitiesforthevillagers.

Themigrantworkersaretemporarilyaccommodatedwithinthetechnologypark,closetotheconstructionsitesonwhichtheywork.

Courtyardhousinginthevillage

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Site

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People

Architectureisaboutalotofthings,butitisprimarilyaboutpeople.Someofthepeopleintheareaare:

ThewhitecollarworkersfromITcompaniesinthetechnologypark.

Thestrong,butoftenunemployedwomeninthevillage.

Thehardworkingmigrantswhoarebuildingthetechnologypark.

Thekidswhoaresmiling…eveniftheyarelivinginslum.

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Results

UnderstandingAn important finding of this workshop was the biased perceptions and misconceptionsbetweenthedifferentgroupsofpeoplelivingandworkinginthearea.The“globalpeople”wouldseethe“localpeople”asuneducated,badmanneredandwithoutanyusefulskillswhilethe“localpeople”wouldseethe“globalpeople”asarrogantanduncaring.

TheproblemsofinformalsettlementsarecommoninIndiancities,butthejuxtapositionofabrandnewtechnologyparkmakestheseproblemsstandoutevenmore.Thesettlementsinhabitedbyslumdwellersandmigrantworkersconstituteabufferzonebetweenthelocalsandtheglobals,alongtheelevatedrailroadtrack,whichalsoactsasaphysicalbarrier.

ITcompanies,suchasInfosys,providetheiremployeeswithallthenecessaryfacilitiesinsideafencedandguardedcompound.Duringworkhoursemployeesonlycomeoutsidethecomplextosmoke,haveacupofteaorgrabsomethingtoeatintheprimitivefoodstallssetupbylocalvillagers.Theseareamongtheonlyexistingpointsofsocialinteractionbetweenthetwo“worlds”,thoughsomeoftheyoungwhitecollarworkershavealsofoundaccommodationinthevillage.

Inthevillageunemploymentisepidemic,especiallyamongstwomen.Thespillovereffectsfromthenewtechnologyparkhavebeenminimal,thoughsomenewservicejobshavebeencreated.

Theplanningofthevillage,especiallythecourtyardhousing,seemquitesensible, but the traffic congestion, litter and the illegal use of buildings for commercialuseandunauthorizedverticalextensionssuggestotherwise.Itisclearthatpeopledon’tusearchitecturethewaytheyweresupposedto.Isthatbecausepeopledon’understandthearchitectsorisitbecausethearchitectsdon’tunderstandthepeople?

InterventionsProposalsforinterventionsincludesmallservicestationsprovidingbothpracticalfacilitiesandeducationalinformation,forinstanceeducationonhygienecombinedwithashowerandtoiletfacilitiesfortheslumdwellers.WhitecollarworkersintheITindustry,whowantabreakawayfromthemonotonousroutineinsidetheircompound,mighthelprunningsucha“station”intheirbreaks.

Otherproposalsincludevocationaltraining,forinstanceintraditionalhandicraft,whichcouldbetaughtbywomenfromthevillagetowhitecollarworkersinthetechnologypark,ortraininginnewinformationandcommunicationtechnologies,whichcouldbetaughtbythewhitecollarworkerstothewomenfromthevillage.

Interactioncouldalsobeenabledthroughhealthandbodycare,includingyogaandmeditation,butalsothroughsportsevents.Localfoodcyclescouldbeestablishedinwhichslumdwellersareemployedtocollectorganicwasteandgrowfood,whilethevillagersprepareandsellthefoodtowhitecollarandmigrantworkers.

Street-artcouldbeusedtocreateinteractionandafeelingofcontinuitybetweenthetwo“worlds”,whilelandscapingandphysicalstructures,suchas flyovers and underpasses, could ensure actual physical connection.

Maybe the different people could even be living together in flexible new and mixed-usedhousing.

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Group 1 [1st prize]

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Group 1 [1st prize]

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Group 1 [1st prize]

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Group 1 [1st prize]

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Group 3 [2nd prize]

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Group 3 [2nd prize]

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Group 3 [2nd prize]

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Group 3 [2nd prize]

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Group 6 [3rd prize]

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Group 11 [3rd prize]

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Process

Goingtothesite

Conductinginterviews

Makinganargument

Thinking

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Thinking

Thecoordinator

Reviewing

Presentinganidea

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Theeditors

Reviewing

Presentation

Diploma

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Participating students Arjun AbhishekVermaAshutosh AmrapaliDebbramaDaanish AmritaSabhapanditDeepanjali AnkitaThakurDigvijay AnuragSinghDisha ChhaviAryaGurpal DipankarNathJayant EktaKheraKamal GhanShyamManic HarnoorKaurBoparaiManinder HarpreetSinghMeme IshitaBhatnagarNishchal JasmineSinghRenuka KashishThethiRidhi KasturikaSaikiaRimaljit KushaalVirdiSahilK. MashaaraaBhatiaSahilS. MrignayneeBhagatSaurabh MuskaanSajjadShabnam NagmaSharmaShani PavneetPalSinghShantanu PrachiSarnaShruti PragyaMittalShweta PranikaMahajanTejasi PranshuDograVarunK. PriyankaGoyalVarunM. PulkitGoyalVikramJeet RamneekMiglaniVinay RamyaKuchhalAnindita SahilBansalParthaDas SamanyuBhatnagar

Geetashree ShriyaVermaLeena SidhantMadanNikita SiratToorVenus SoniaBalyanAparna SowmyaSinghArun SumitSinghGurinder TanviGroverPuja GunmeetSinghAsha SwetabjoMajumdar

TaruniAggarwalRavinderSinghAbheyJasnamKaurMohd.ShaiquedinGagandeepSingh

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Press

AmarUjala05.10.2010

IndianExpress09.10.2010

DanikBhaskak10.10.2010

TribuneLifestyle11.10.2010

HindustanTimes12.10.2010