ART IN TRANSIT
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ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Art in transit is a live project under BMRC, which focuses on Peenya metro station as a pilot project. The purpose of this project is to create an immersive art and design experience that marks the location of the station and it’s architecture. The larger objective of the project is to develop cultural links between different locations through interactive means of creating new-shared experiences for the city, thus making Peenya a destination station.
CONTENT Experiencing the Namma Metro
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Purple line Sketches
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Purple line Metaphor
Mapping as a tool 16 Mapping Yelahanka 17
The Concept 27 Spaces for Intervention
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Mapping Peenya
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Ideas for Intervention
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Green line Sketches
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Mapping the Unmapped
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Selecting the site
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Green line Metaphor
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Social Interaction
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Iterations and Limitations
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Model Making
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Public Seating 57
Prototype 2.5 72
Visualizing the Triangle
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Observations at Peenya
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Prospect 76
The Wall
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The Experiment
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Bibliography 77
Prototype 1.0
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Prototype 2.0 64
Material and Making
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Concept Furniture
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Photography by Alok Utsav
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EXPERIENCING THE NAMMA METRO
In order to create an immersive art and design experience for a space, the first very important step is to understand and experience the space itself. Since Art in transit is a project for the Namma metro, it was very important for me to encounter the journey in the metro as a layman. TRANSIT is defined as an act of passing through or across a place; an inbetween passage of change from one point to another. The people who travel through the metro go through this state of transit everyday. The idea behind this project is to mould this state of transit into an experience of its own. Thus, to create an experiential intervention it was important for me to undergo this state of
transit and cautiously observe every detail of it. Sketching as a tool To document the observations at the metro, sketching served as an act of note making, giving a medium to represent the way in which the architecture of the space spoke. By the means of sketching it is possible to observe and interpret the finest details’ which are personal to every individual. Thus using sketching as a tool, I proceeded to understand the purple and the Green line( to which Peenya Metro station belongs) of the Namma metro in terms of structure and function. .
PURPLE LINE SKETCHES 8
The purple line under the Namma Metro currently runs from MG Road to Baiyapannahalli. This particular line is completely constructructed and runs full fledge. Therefore, by choosing a couple of vantage points around the Indiranagar station(a part of the purple line) and sketching the observations of architecture; was the first step towards understanding the metro.
PURPLE LINE METAPHOR
In order to gain a deeper, more abstract understanding of the metro, the next step was to attempt to explain some aspect of the metro through a metaphor followed by creating a tangible artifact that could represent this metaphor. The artefact could be anything ranging from sketches, illustrations, film, soundscape etc. The observations are again from the Indiranagar metro station. The Metaphor Looking at complex structures always fascinates me. Outside the Indiranagar metro station I saw this composition of a simple and a complex staircase, one leading to the station and one used for the purpose of security. It was interesting to see how simplicity and complexity balance each other. The staircase that led to the station was continuously used by the people creating complexity in the area, while the complex staircases used for security purpose were rarely used. This composition further makes me focus on the terms “ ordinary” and “extraordinary”. The simple staircase depicts its use by a common man, while the complex staircase shows its use by an important person, in this case the security incharge. This composition gave me a sense of hierarchy where the security guard in this situation belongs to a higher rank or is a person of greater importance, when compared to a common man.
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GREEN LINE SKETCHES Exploring Peenya
This exercise was aimed at understanding the Peenya metro station, once again, through the act of sketching. Sketching gave us a way to express a more intangible understanding of the physicality of the space, something that perhaps could not be expressed through words. 12
I perceive construction as a state of disruption. The ongoing construction at the peenya metro station was a disturbing sight for me until I came out of the station and walked towards the flyover. Looking at the flyover and the metro trackmerge at infinity was a very pleasing sight for me
as it gave me a sense of order after looking at the chaotic construction going on inside the station. These series of sketches show my journey of the peenya metro station from the inside to the outside.
GREEN LINE METAPHOR
The objective of this exercise was to work as groups and integrate our individual metaphors for the Peenya metro line into one single metaphor represented through an artefact.
the world. We have used smaller parts of a whole to convey a coming together and an eventual breakdown. This breakdown can be seen as a result of spurts in growth that are still premature.The components of this stop motion are nuts and bolts, since they are the sole reason for keeping a structure intact. In the film we
My group worked with the concept of development, which was showcased through the medium of a stop-motion film. ‘Pieces’ is a short stop-motion film that rethinks the pace at which our nation is developing within the larger context of 14
While shooting Pieces
have tried to show how these components come together and give rise to larger structures, showing the development of our nation. Eventually the stop film concentrates on how this constant urge for development might lead us into a complete breakdown of our system since we are “trying to bite more than we can chew”.
Stills from the film
MAPPING as a tool
Mapping is a multisensory research method, which has the ability to evoke relationships between place, lived experience, and community. It is a unique and aqualitative method of collecting data, particularly in the ways that its contemporary aesthetics can be used to evoke the lived experience of social, cultural, and political issues related to place. The process of mapping is personal to every individual i.e the choice of data that is collected varies from person to person. In simple words, this tools helps us to map what google maps do not show us. By the means of this tool, we first mapped Yelahanka, followed by Peenya- the main site. This Practice helped us gain a vast and exhaustive understanding of these places, which further helped in concept development.
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MAPPING YELAHANKA
Drawing a 2km radius around the Srishti N2 campus, we split up into eighteen pairs, each pair exploring a slice of this circle. The objective of this exercise was to identify a lens through which to map our respective slices so as to provide information that couldn’t be obtained from Google Maps. My teammate Ishita and I represented our map in the form of an image collage, which showed the parameters we marked. In the two-kilometer
Architecture
radius we saw a huge difference in landscape and architecture of the place and how this change affected the population density and the activities of people in the area.
Commercial activities Vegetation/greenary Population density
All Maps put together with legends
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MAPPING PEENYA
Moving forward after mapping Yelahanka, this exercise was aimed at gaining a vast and exhaustive understanding of Peenya by mapping it through various different lenses. Local architecture, people, recreational spaces etc. were the few lenses through which I mapped Peenya. I started with observing the small communities around peenya and the way people behave in these communities. I started identifying the spaces around the different
communities in Peenya where people get together for various recreational activities like play, leisure etc. In Peenya, the most interesting sight for me was looking at life under the shadow of the metro. The space under the metro is a playground for children who reside there. It is a space where men and women of the community come together and interact with each other. I interviewed a few residents around the Peenya metro station and I realized that they have accepted the metro as a part of their surroundings and their lives, but on the other hand, the metro has not been able to take these people into consideration and has therefore, not been successful in making them a part of it. For the people of Peenya, travelling in the metro is just
a joyous weekend activity, as they cannot afford this mode of transport on a regular basis. I learned that Peenya had many small communities within itself but it had failed to form a community as a whole. The reason behind this was the upcoming of the metro station, which was an alien body for the people of Peenya. There was no connection between the communities of peenya and the people who came there for various work purposes. The people lived within their shell of comfort. Looking at the above scenario I was determined to come up with a system where the Peenya metro station could serve as a platform for the people of this city and Peenya itself, to interact amongst themselves.
THE PEENYA COMMUNITY showcasing the local architecture and people
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MAPPING THE UNMAPPED
Mapping Peenya with different lenses
Recreational Spaces Play Areas New Construction
Old Residential Areas
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SOCIAL INTERACTION
What is Social Interaction? Social interaction is the process by which we act and react to those around us. In a nutshell, social interaction includes those acts people perform toward each other and the responses they give in return. Why is Social Interaction necessary? Social Interactions are necessary for the followeing reasons:
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-Helps in exchange of ideas from person to another. -It helps people to co-operate and work together to achieve shared goals. -It helps to form a successful community where everyone is happy and satisfied. Learning from the observations made at peenya above, it is clearly visible that there is a lack of Social interaction between the people of Peenya and the world outside it. Also, the Peenya metro station at present can be seen as just a space; a foreign body to the Peenya community, devoid of any characteristics of its own, thus making it a stand-alone
body in Peenya and not a part of the community. The citizens of Peenya play a very important role in giving the area as well as the metro its characteristics. In addition to this the people who work for the metro and the people who travel by the metro are also responsible for making the Peenya metro station a place. They are the soul reason for the functioning of the metro. The point of making the metro is nullified if the people don’t accept it as a part their community. It leads to the failure of the system if the people who are responsible for making it work don’t participate actively.
Images of the empty and deserted Peenya Metro station.
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THE CONCEPT
Social Fabric is a metaphor for how well the community members interact among themselves. If you consider all the individual member as threads, the “social fabric� is made by having those members interact, thus weaving the threads together. What Peenya lacks is a sense of community, a platform where people can come and interact. My intension is to form the base of this platform, which can be further build upon to form a joyous community. I perceive the Peenya Metro station as the loom, and the surroundings around it are the warps and the people whom I am addressing are the different wefts who have their individual characteristics and are responsible for the quality and the completion of this social fabric that I intend on creating around the metro station.
THE SPACES FOR INTERVENTION The formal intervention that I intend on making that will justify the above concept will be situated outside the metro station. The reason I have chosen the spaces outside is so that everyone can be a part of it, including the people who cannot afford the metro and not just the people who travel through the metro.
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INITIAL IDEAS FOR INTERVENTION Sketching on the images of the spaces proved to be a great tool for visualization. Since my aim was to work with spaces for the purpose of gathering, I started looking at the spaces as parks and playgrounds. which provides scope for all age groups ranging from children to senior citizen. Public seating, play structures, open air chess clubs were the different ideas that I thought of for intervention.
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Sketches done on gateway sheets pasted on the images of the space
SELECTING THE SITE After working with different ideas and different locations I had to make a decision of selecting one space which would serve the purpose of my project. The TRIANGLE The triangular space in the centre of a Y-junction adjacent to the metro proved to be the most apt site for my interventions. The reasons for it were: -Its visiblility from three sides. -Its was the closest site to the enterance of the metro station. -In terms of space, it was the largest and had scope for multiple interventions. -Located under the shade of the metro station with section exposed to sunlight, thus giving a possibility for green areas. -Located facing the areas with commercial activities i.e, near the chai and food stalls. -Faces the road that leads to the National Institute if Design campus, making it a possiblity to attract more people. 32
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The Triangle Space
ITERATIONS AND LIMITATIONS
After the selection of the site was done, we started brainstorming on different elements that could be a part of that space, which would make it a visually appealing and a comforting public space. Before iterating, we threw some light on the issues and limitations of the space. Limitations -The location of the space is inbetween the Y-junction. 36
Eventhough due to its location the space is easily visible, the traffic that moves through all the three sides creates unwanted sound which makes the space unpleasant. -Most of the area is under the shade of the metro station, thus making the space too dark even during the day time, which might prove to be a major reason for not attracting the masses. -There are a couple of entry points to the space, and to enter from any point, one needs to cross the road and every entry point overlooks a blindspot. Thus, taking away the possibility of making a zebra crossing, thus making it an unsafe crossing Some of the the iterations were
designed to solve the problems with the site and some were based on the requirements that would activate the site and make it a communty space, a platform where anyone could come and spend time for various purposes. The first proposal for the space included the following: - Seating - Sound barrier - Jungle gyms or play structures for kids - Totem poles indicating Zebra crossing - Planters or a mini garden The space needs an assortment of things to attract different age groups of all gender.
Ideas that were proposed for the space
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sketches of iterations
MODEL MAKING as a tool for visualization
Showcasing concepts and ideas by the means of making scale down models.
Model making is an excellent tool for visualizing a space as well as concept. It can be used to express both practical and theoretical concepts. Building a model is rarely an end in itself; instead, its goal is to help us make a decision. With models, we are free to imagine how an existing system might perform if altered and explicitly visualize, how a new system might behave before making the system in reality. Model making for concept This was a class assignment, the purpose of, which was to observe the Peenya metro station and one another metro station in the green line and represent the similarities or differences observed in the form of an
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artefact. The metro station I chose was Mantri Square. Mantri square is located adjacent to the Mantri mall in Malleshwaram. It is the most crowded metro station of all, reason being the Mantri mall, which attracts hundreds of people everyday. I explained the contrast between the two stations with the help of a model where I explained how, Mantri mall is a destination, a successful public place unlike Peenya, due to the various activities it holds for the public to enjoy. It is a space of interaction, a loom that weaves the community together. The woven Building depicts the Mantri mall and the black show the Peenya metro station.
VISUALIZING THE TRIANGLE visualizing the space
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After making a good set of two dimentional iterations and sketches, I decided to visualize the ideas in three dimensions in space. I made a 1:30 scale model of the site and included furniture, staircase structure, chess table, swing etc. The act of model making was a great help in understanding the scale and space in depth. Also, it gave an idea of the movement around the area and the space required for every individual intervention.
THE WALL
across a project on web where a ceramic wall with planters has been used to block the space from city traffic. Image as shown below.
As mentioned earlier, one of the cons of the triangular space is the three way traffic that causes a lot of noise and irritation, therefore making the space not appealing. In order to prevent this traffic noise and dust to interfere with the activities of space, a decision of working with the idea of building a visual cum sound barrier was taken. Plants are proven to be great sound barriers. Also, they give a very pleasant and delightful aesthetics to a space. I came 44
In many places in India, Ashoka tree because of its density is being used as a successful sound barrier.
Such brilliant solutions cannot be easily achieved in our space since it does not receive sunlight to help these plants to nurture. Due to these limitations, other iterations were made for the sound/visual barrier. Different materials such as rubber pipes, wood etc. was taken into account.
Sketches of iterations
Sketch by Harleen Chatha
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Final rendered visualization
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PROTOTYPE 1.0
Prototype 1.0 was our first physical intervention on site. It was a part of the exhibition named “Shana�. It was a fund raiser cum work in progress exhibition that we, the students of Srishti School of art, design and technology did for the BMRC at the Peenya metro station. The purpose of this public art exhibition was to show the the possiblities of interventions in and around the Peenya metro station that would give the user of the metro a unique experience. For the exhibition Harleen Chatha my peer and I worked on the wall (visualization shown beside), which was a visual barrier cum seating installation. It was a temporary installation for the exhibition. It focused on giving the idea of a divide, that would block the space from facing the road and traffic.
MATERIAL AND MAKING
The challenge of making the prototype 1.0 was that we had to work with the materials available to us. Very close to the Peenya Metro station was a scrap yard partly owned by BMRC. We had access to a wide of materials there including plywood, pipes, metal, concrete blocks etc. The availability of these materials reduced the costs to great extent. Apart from these, a few materials required for building the piece such as casuarina poles and nylon rope were purchased.
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The backbone of this structure was made out of casuarina poles, which were joined together by making lap joints as shown in the images below. To make sure the strength of the structure we used nuts and bolts to join the casuarina followed by tying with rope.
Two of these base structures were made, each of length 9 feet and width 5 feet; these structures were placed at a distance of 3 feet from each other. The vertical casuarina’s were then nailed and tied to these horizontal frames.
After the frames were ready, they were burried two feet into the ground for the purpose of stability. The ply wood pieces were then nailed into the casuarina forming a structure similar to the one in the visualization made earlier. In order to give some aethetic and color to the piece, Nylon ropes were used. To incorporate some form of seating around the wall, two wooden boxes were made out of ply wood of dimension 2 feet by 1.5 feet each. Apart from this a rectangular metal frame was woven with different color nylon ropes was also a part of the seating.
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At the exhibition
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PUBLIC SEATING
After the exhibition, I chose to broadly concentrate on public seating as my project. I started my research very specific to Peenya and observed the different kind of furniture present there. I wanted to make sure that the furniture I create doesnt intimidate the people. I also researched about the public seating in urban spaces and looked at the public seating orientation. I then applied this knowledge while observing Peenya and noticed how and where people sit. While designing the furniture, I iterated keeping in mind Peenya and its aesthetics. I wanted the people of Peenya to feel comfortable in their space. Apart from this I also wanted the commuters of metro to feel comfortable. Therefore, I had to maintain a balance in my design in order to serve all.
OBSERVATIONS AT PEENYA
This time I went to Peenya specifically hunting for seating spaces and looking at the seating orientation of people in public places. I went to the communities as well as the food stalls. The interactions that I observed: Between People who know each other: random to circular informal formations, some sitting on benches or steps outside the shops and a few standing and talking to each other for e.g. bus drivers, residents of the community and college students. Between People who dont know each other: Linear orientation on stone benches near the food stalls. People sitting alone: on cement blocks and stones under the tree.
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Sketches of seating in and around Peenya.
THE EXPERIMENT
In order to observe people’s reaction towards the site, I decided to conduct an experiment in the space. I created a seating out of concrete block and made a table out of a carton box. I placed a chess board and a snakes and ladder board on the box with its components. The idea behind this experiment was to see how people react to this setting. Observations For the first fifteen minutes I did not get much footage. I did not see any interaction of the people 62
with the setup. After a while there were two men who walked past the setup and kept staring at it for a while and left. I did not receive much reaction for about an hour so I took a step forward and began playing the game with
a friend of mine. To this many people stared at us and gave us weird looks. After a while of playing we left the setup deserted again with a camera pointing towards the
setup, shooting. The camera kept shooting for 3 hours until two men came and kept staring at the setup. After 5 minutes they picked up the carton, put the boards inside the carton and began to walk away with it. When i ran to
chase them, they handed me the box and blabbered a few words in Kannada. This experiment gave me a conclusion that the space requires permanent structures.
PROTOTYPE 2.0
Learning from the observations above it was clear that the seating that needs to be made should be permanent or immovable. Keeping this in mind I stated looking at the different possible materials that could be used for the furniture. The materials that I shortlisted were: -Cement -Cob -Stone -Concrete blocks The most cost effective material was cob since it could be molded into any shape manually unlike cement, which would require moulds to give it shape. In order to protect the structure from ground water, I deciced to use stone as the base. Cob furnitures look very homely have an aesthetic of their own. 64
Furniture iterations
1:10 scale model
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CONCEPT FURNITURE
Prototype 2.0 lacked style and complexity. To learn more about urban spaces and seating I went through the documentary film by “William Whyte” named “A social life of small urban spaces”. Through the film I learned the most important key to the success of a public space is the seating. I also learned the different ways in which the people like to sit and different places. The two major observations from the film were levels and corners. The movie showed very well how the staircases and the cornes were the most popular of all the seating spaces. Therefore, I began iterating keeping in mind levels and corners. I took staircases as my inspiration. The levels in the furniture could be the back-rest or the arm rest for the lower level. Thus, i designed the seating keeping in mind a group of people ranging from four to twenty and more.
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PROTOTYPE 2.5
Furniture renders
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Rendered model of the space
PROSPECT
Art in Transit as a project is the first step towards creating an art and design experience in Peenya. This project makes one think about the different creative possibilities of intervention in a public space. The kind of change decides the kind of place a space becomes. Future changes in Peenya can change a lot about the space. Increase in the commercial activities around the metro station will automatically attract large masses, increasing the need for comfortable spaces for people to inhabit. My project aims at providing a space for the people to interact and socialize. Though presently it mainly focuses on one aspect i.e. public seating, in future, the project can grow bigger and incorporate different ideas depending upon the needs of the space. Furthermore, the participation of the peenya community would make this project more worthwhile.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Social life of small urban spaces by William Whyte https://archive.org/details/SmallUrbanSpaces Plants as sound barriers http://inhabitat.com/urbanarbolismo-unveils-gorgeous-vertical-garden-set-within-a-sweeping-ceramicfacade/ Public furniture projects http://mocoloco.com/fresh2/2013/05/07/meet-me-seating-by-ligita-brege.php http://wgsn-hbl.blogspot.in/2011/04/milan-2011-vicolopagliacorta.html Projects for public spaces http://www.pps.org/reference/grplacefeat/ http://www.zumkukuk.de/en.html
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Disha Bhardwaj Art In Transit Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology https://www.facebook.com/artintransitproject
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