ART IN TRANSIT 2.0
SRISHTI SAXENA B. Des in Public Space Design Final Year Project Documentation Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology 2016
ART IN TRANSIT 2.0 SRISHTI SAXENA B. Des in Public Space Design Final Year Project Documentation Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology 2016
NAME
Srishti Saxena
COURSE
Art in Transit 2.0
FACULTY
Arzu Mistry Amitabh Kumar Abhiyan Humane Shivani Seshadri Aastha Chauhan Adithya Bhardwaj Siddhant Shetty Gaurav Singh
SUPPORT FACULTY
INSTITUTE SUPPORT (Outsourced)
Urvashi Jalali Venkat Prasad David Sg Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum Bangalore
ART IN TRANSIT 2.0 An Art in Transit project
Immersion and research phases were done along with Urvika Chhabra, Shuchi Bellare , Taarini Jouhari, Ayush Dubey, Nitya Bala and Mrinalini Mohan
Project Mentors Abhiyan Humane, Amitabh Kumar, Arzu Mistry, Shivani Seshadri, Urvashi Jalali
Copyright © Art in Transit All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Art in Transit CA site no.21, beside yelahanaka 5th phase terminal, S.B Nursing college building 3rd floor, Karnataka housing board 5th phase, yelahanka new town, Bengaluru 560064, INDIA Email: labs@srishti.ac.in | Website: labs.srishti.ac.in About Srishti Srishti Instituteof Art, Design and Technology was founded in 1996 by the Ujwal Trust with the objective of providing art and design education in an environment of creativity to maximize the individual’s potential.
About Art in Transit Art in Transit is a public-art project housed at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore, with the aim to create meaningful artistic interventions and discourse in spaces of transience. The project is rooted in the city of Bangalore, a complex quilt of people, places and community identities that are navigating multiple transitions, experiencing growth, movement and development at a rapid pace.
Acknowledgements (in alphabetical order) Aastha Chauhan, Abhiyan Humane, Ajai Narendran, Amitabh Kumar, Arzu Mistry , David Sg, Geetha Narayanan Mary Jacob, Rustam Vania, Shivani Seshadri, Urvashi Jalali, Venkat Prasad— for constantly guiding and supporting me throughout the project and for being my cornerstone for the 4 years of the course. I would also like to thank VITM for sharing their expertise and providing direction for my project. I wish to express my sincere and heartiest appreciation towards my fellow students at Srishti, friends and my parents for being there.
Content BACKGROUND IMMERSION INSPIRATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL FORMALIZING CONCEPT CURATORIAL PROCESS + FRAMEWORK FORM AND PROTOTYING FINAL FORM
BACKGROUND
Attracting Immigrants Younger crowd
availability of resources
Cantonment Area
Nitesh Estate, Adarsh etc.
Parks & Lakes
Garden City Lack of Public transport
Club City Pensioner’s Paradise
Traffic Jam City
british Architecture
Multilayered city
Greens and Water Bodies
Multistorey Apartments
Cubbon Park & Lal Bagh
Smaller roads
IT Hub
Old Bangaloreans
Area Names
Providing Lung- space
continuation of western influence
Archirectural and spatial aspects
Colonial Architecture
Options of commute in the city
INTERPRETING THE BRIEF
Commercialisation
Private Vehicles
BMTC Bus Service
Real estate Boom
Modern Architecture
Car pooling encouraged
Over Priced
Competing With Cabs
Auto Rickshaws Cab Serive
Train
Multiplex and Malls
Namma Metro Metropolitan city
Competing with other cities
Class Access
2 and 4 Wheeler
A/c Non A/c
Inclusivity & Accessability
Namma Metro
Future of the city
Public Space Availability Transport
Gentrification SemiPublic Spaces
Fenced Public Spaces
Residential Areas
Mass Public Transport Private Sector Flourishes
Increasing Population
Availability & Accessability Smoother On-Road Traffic
Commuter Train
Slow paced Construction
Lacks Connectivity
Necessity for a Metropolitan
Connecting the city
Bridging
Introduction of underground New Space Better Future Connectivity
Milestone Public Transport option
Contributes the Traffic
Project Overview Bangalore city has grown with its multilayered definition, which has stacked to its name with the different roles it took up like the Pensioners Paradise, Garden City, IT Hub, Club City et cetra. Each layer has managed to view the future of the city in a different light but co-existing at the same time. Art in Transit is an idea of looking at Bangalore city from the lens of the Metro Rail Transit System. This line inquiry is influenced by the experiences, Memories and Fantasies, which have made the city for what it is and an element, which is transit in the city itself. Transit System of a City is a Metaphor for the ‘chemistry that each part of the city has with the other’. The Metro system in this Metropolitan city presents itself as a semi - public space that provides an opportunity to many individual to congregate and build a social network with a common purpose of travelling from one point to another. Art in Transit then steps in as a collective which engages with the metro through ‘Art and Design’ to map a changing City.
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Vidhan Soudha Entry/ Exit Cubbon Park Entry/ Exit
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Vidhan Soudha High Court M Chinnaswammy stadium Cubbon Park Bangalore GPO
200m
6 HAL Corporate Office 7 Raj Bhavan 8 Minsk Square 9 Press Club of Bangalore 10 Visvesvaraya Industrial & technological Museum
11 Government Aquarium 12 KSLTA Tennis Stadium 13 Venkatappa Art Gallery 14 State Central Library 15 Income Tax Office
Site Analysis Art in transit 2.0 situates itself in the heart of the Bangalore city spanning out to Cubbon Park and Vidhan Soudha Underground metro station in the purple line of Namma Metro. The sites being part of central Bangalore, brings the responsibility of being conscious and informed of the attached spaces and pockets. The circumference of these two stations witnesses a large chunk of urban life juxtaposed by older architecture. The space is also Clustered with a number of Government and Commercial Building. Both the stations cater to a large crowd of working class people as well. The stations are located on junctions of main roads like Cubbon Road, Dr. Ambedkar Road, Queen’s Road et cetra.
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N 1 Jet Entry/Exit 2 Canara Bank Entry/Exit 3 Chinnaswamy stadium Entry/Exit 4 HAL Entry/Exit 5 Cubbon Park 6 Press Club of Bangalore 7 Bangalore GPO
200m
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Bar Council M Chinnaswamy Stadium Income Tax Office HAL Aircarft Display The Capitol Vishveshwaraya Towers National Information Centre
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Consulate of Japan The Hindu Matnri Altius HAL Corporate Office Minsk Sqaure Coolant (Metro Station) Telephone House
VIDHAN SOUDHA METRO STATION Entrances to Vidhan Soudha metro station named after the seat of legislature of Karnataka, sit calmly with borrowed architectural elements on a structurally empty sidewalks. This station is situated on Dr. Ambedkar Road and has 4 entry/exits, two on the high court side and two on the Vidhan Soudha Side. This stretch of the road is noticed to have a language of mixed architecture. Vidhan Soudha and High Court stand cladded in their Mysore NeoDravidian architecture; larger than life symbols of power as opposed to the Visveswaraya Centre designed my Charles Correa in its modern veil. The environment around the station is diverse, encircling the government buildings, Cubbon park in the backdrop and a few private buildings decorated by the trees on the sidewalk. The Primary audience of this station will primarily be of the officials travelling on an everyday basis. CUBBON PARK METRO STATION Cubbon Park metro station is situated around Minsk Square in Bangalore. The entry/exits open towards HAL building, Canara Bank, Cubbon Park and Chinnaswammy stadium. The strategic placement of this metro station spreads like veins at the junction of Cubbon Road and Queens Road. The Station is surrounded by commercial buildings and blanketed by Cubbon Park from one side and Chinnaswammy stadium rests right across. Thus, the audience for this station will also see a diverse footfall.
Peenya Metro Station Colors of Peenya by Aroushka Jinelle D’Mello
Peenya Metro Station Skew by Natasha Sharma
Why take this project? I saw a successful showcase and experimentation during Art in Transit 1.0, which was situated in Peenya metro station. A visit to this station allowed me to view a large spectrum of possibilities and opportunities. It is a transitional space that is bringing individuals to a collective and what better way could be there to string this together than art and Design. The Idea of an intervention in a space of transit increased the probability to reach out to a community with information, facts and conversations. As a Designer/ Practitioner, I understand that something great can evolve out of engagement with the space in context with its surroundings. And that will lead to an informed piece of art or design. As a public space design student a flash of working in a semi – public space like the metro station was thrilling and brought innumerable possibilities. What better way could be there than to be a part of project where a group of people are working with the same idea? And it was true; the extensive research and discussions that has taken place in the first half of the course has definitely escalated the possibilities to add to the experience of a traveller. The transformation of the surfaces inside the station will evoke different meanings and feelings for the traveller.
IMMERSION
At the advent of the course we started investigating Bangalore city through various lenses. Primarily under the three major components of the project:
FRAMES OF ENTRY
The city Past, Present & Future
Experience of Transiting
Transit as a Social Network
The City – Past, Present and Future Bangalore city has evolved and aspired to be so many different things. It has been summed up as the Garden city, the silicon Valley, the smart city, the pensioners Paradise, the Exploding City, the Garbage City, the Exclusive City, the World Class City, the Pub City, the young City, the Traffic Jam City and the Fastest growing City. The city has transitioned from one identity to another paralleled with Nostalgia and future directions. The project offered an opportunity to explore various transient Identities of Bangalore by collecting past memories of the city, different experiences of the city in present and the divergent future. The intent then becomes to investigation and question if metro can become a connecting frame for the past, present and future. Experience of Transiting Mobility and transition are two aspects directly linked to progress and development of human life. Public Transit modes allows for an individual to break away from their direct surroundings and be exposed to a larger human society to interact, make conversations and become aware of the possibilities and future. Art in transit allows for an opportunity in this transitional space to explore different facets of human journey; the politics of migration, replacement and displacement, treating this semi-public space as an artifact, a journey for self and technology as a binding force across space and time. Transit as a Social Network The Public transit systems are semi-public spaces that bring together individuals to a collective; to a diversity of sorts with a single purpose of making a journey. Thus allowing for a social network to form. Art in transit brings freedom to the designer/ practitioner to develop this space of transit into a social network that moves beyond the transit space. The transit space can then be treated as a testing area for technologies, ideas of connectivity, to explore cultural relationship between different ideas, to decipher patterns across space and time and to identity meanings and insights of a complex world that live in. It is a clear opportunity to rethink design and its impact on the users with relation to the space; a space for direct communication, making voices reach the audiences – where the transit space is detached from the other spaces of our living world.
UNDERSTANDING THE SITE
The Greens The greens in the space covered a large part of the area. The big old trees acted like a blanket to the prestigious government building. The pathways are easy to walk on in the daytime with the shed of the trees. The sky seemed to a textured coat of the crisscross tree branches. Cubbon Park in itself is a space of transit for many commuters and officials. The walk is meditative and soothing with the cover of expansive greenery.
Architecture The area is noticed to have a large sector of government building like the High Court, Vidhan Soudha and the GPO building in the old traditional styles like Mysore Neo Dravidian. This location also consists of certain commercial buildings like the Visvesvaraya Centre, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Visvesvaraya Industrial and technology centre with a more modern approach. And a few pockets of Bangalore construction companies are also seen like Prestige. In the middle of both the station lies a spread of landscape – Cubbon Park.
Food option The availability of food in this area ranges from small snacks like roasted corn, tea stall with biscuits; healthy options like fruits vendors, juice stalls; to the small shops for meals. With Cubbon Park spreading to all sides, fresh cut fruits and vegetables are fast moving food items. For quick refreshments different kinds of juices also add to the list.
Attached elements A conscious effort has been made to make the Dr. Ambedkar road, harmonious and united through different elements in that space. The metro station borrows architectural elements from the existing buildings. The sidewalk is complemented with a trail of trees. The footpath has a combination of color and form to add to the aesthetic
Shapes and Patterns Different shapes and patterns were noticeable everywhere. The footpath has arrow shaped tiles, which somehow represented movement. At point of juncture, one could see the paths meeting. The fencing of the spaces in this area was of bold high iron bars which circumference around Cubbon Park and major government buildings.
ARTIST VISITS AND SCREENING
Community Art Khirkee ki Khoj: Shop Make-Over Project Aastha Chauhan Khoj Studio, New Delhi
Community Art Khirki ke Khiladi Aastha Chauhan Khoj Studio, New Delhi
AASTHA CHAUHAN The question of where a person comes from and where the person is and where is he/she going is of constant change depending upon the pace and decision one takes. Under a similar thought in class I viewed Aastha chauhan’s work. The breadth and length in her lens of working with the community showed a constant grasp of learning and re-writing the working system of a person. With public spaces and engagement coming in the forefront, shooting new idea has become evident. The one thing that I could take back from her engagement with different communities is, that no matter with what community one is engaging with; the actual interaction happens at the most basic level of the public concerns; for tea seller it might be just about painting his shop in the most attractive format; to engage with kids, might be just to kindle play in there lives; for residents it might be just seeing there surroundings from a different view point without actually physically changing the structure; or installing a community radio station to cater to the everyday health problems. Another learning that has come my way is, that making larger differences in a community starts by catering or supporting the small needs of the people.
Cases of Confusion (50-40-20) (56-45-25) (55-40-20) Installation, 2015 Cooking Section Group Exhibition, Delfina Foundation, London.
ALON SCHWABE, COOKING SECTION Alon shwabe re-iterated the course of understanding people and places by the food that circulates in a space. It is know fact that food is one of the ideas through which a community living is understood. The extent of Alon’s work perched through the perspective of politics, finance and traditions. Cooking section was born to explore the systems that organize the WORLD through FOOD. I understand that as one of the most interesting ways of understanding a setup of a space. It is interesting how a basic thing like food can provide insights to politics, humanity, behavior, organization and many more things. By the end of there presentation I was able to make links to the exercise of understanding the space of central Bangalore through food, that we as a class did a day before that. The idea of availability and access or reach is noticed in every realm of the society and so is for food. The kind of food people ate for their lunch and breakfast in that area spoke volumes of their background. A clear class divide can also be noticed while documenting the same. But food is a colorful outlet of understanding the culture of spaces and places; this same element is necessary for survival and also the source of pride; food provides an understanding of how people interact internally in a community and how they want to be seen from outside.
Film shot ‘Our metropolis’ by gautam sonti and usha rao
Movie – Our Metropolis Within the duration of this movie I experienced mind shifts so rapid that it was difficult to decide which thought was really right or true. ‘Art in Transit’ as a project provided the clarity of working on public space to make it more interactive to solidify its ground in the realm of a public space. ‘Our Metropolis’ caused a drastic mind shift; more like path of understanding, which never existed before the movie. I experienced a constant wrestle in my thoughts to settle on one side of the issue but at the other hand I felt satisfied of the fact that being in project like ‘Art in Transit’ provides the space of taking the middle ground. Making statements from the middle ground actually turns the production understandable or at least worth viewing from all sides because you are not fighting on either of the sides then. A great suggestion made by my peer Natasha sharma was indeed a helpful one in the succession of the thought process that followed after. The movie unknowingly binds all sides of the issue for us; as artist and Practitioners it allows us to grasp more than what is shown in the film. Yes of course the mind went into all different direction of judging each organization for their actions; but then at the end that I understood as the actually intent; and leaving it their and looking forward to my role in this scenario.
Pixel stick Experimentation session Venue: Vidhan Soudha Metro Station
Experimental Laser Projection Bonamy Devas Temporary Art Projects, Southend
BONAMY DEVAS Bonamy Devas’s idea of treating photography as an installation in space through the Pixel stick gave path to understanding integrating experimental means in our practice. The concept of the stick really excited me as it involved movement and precision from an external physical body. The fact of engaging myself as an instrument to construct something virtual in a space was a great experience. It came to me as one of those things that I did not know about but when I did; it rang the bell of still expanding my horizon of executing things or designing interventions. While conducting every research, every activity and working on every thread a constant question that popped in my head was that, is this taking me towards formulating my design intervention and I was asking the same question while experimenting the Pixelstick. And somehow my brain was giving aid to creating virtual reality for public to view a surrounding in a different light and may be with different elements.
Research Process
Observations
BANGALORE
Reflect
Emerge
Past
Present
Future
Express
Envision
Insights
Opening Research Lens I commenced the research and inquest in contact with Entertainment/ Leisure options and spaces that are allocated to it. The evocation and the behavior generated in every space is directly linked to its purpose and the look and feel. Places of entertainment are public spaces clearly modulating a certain code of conduct/ human behavior in that space. I approached this lens through the curatorial frame of the city- past, present and future. Bangalore being one of the major ruling stations for the British, it saw an inclination towards the west and this was the case even after the British left India. On researching, subjects were various ranging from Circus, Drive theatres, Theatre jams to Music festivals, music jams and area specific festivals. My opening lens was wide – to narrow down my question of inquiry I began inclining towards music and dance festival as I come from similar back ground as well. A few of the examples were as follows:
The Bangalore music Strip
Bangalore Music Strip, Cubbon Park 80s
Posters for Sunday jams 90s
Bangalore Music Strip, Cubbon Park 80s
Late 70s was the time when the music strip came into being. Listener and performers crowded near Cubbon Park and indulged in a free of cost experience. A hat went around the crowd to collect compensations for the musicians. Soon the strip became popular amongst tourists and other bands also came in to perform. In 80s the western music culture gave rise to ‘The Bangalore Music strip’ within Cubbon Park. The strip was evicted after large crowds poured in as the authorities realized threat of western influence.
Vasanth Habba and other festivals Vasanta Habba was a spring cultural festival organized by the Nrityagram foundation in Hesarghatta, Bangalore, first held in 1990. The festival attracted many artists and professionals to perform and celebrate the spring season with dance and music. It was a very popular event but it was withheld after tsunami in Indian Ocean and then due to lack of funds the Habba never happened. Vasanth Habba 2003
Vasanth Habba 2002
Insights The spaces in which these events/ festivals were held were primarily public spaces. Parks, empty grounds and gardens were a few favorites. Bangalore city was structured to be a small city with minimum population and was never foreseen as a metropolis and so the Roads within the city are of a corresponding size. With the sudden IT growth and more area being included in the city, the need of providing habitat for the growing population has also led to explanation of residential spaces; which directly affects the area allocated for the public spaces. With the population increasing and the public spaces decreasing, there are very few options left to experiment with Public engagement. Of course, multiplex and shopping complex is an alternative but it leaves really less opportunity to indulge in public engagement and interaction.
Pre Independence During the colonial period the city was demarcated as Cantonment and Pete. Cubbon Park, which was developed in 1864 AD on about 120 hectares of land, was a popular public space for people from both the pete and the cantonment. An amusement park called ‘Hollywood City’ was set up on Police Parade grounds during the Second World War and a skating rink owned by a Jewish family existed at the corner of Cubbon road and Curzon road The streets were carved out of the mass of buildings and hence were “elemental streets”, as identified by William C. Ellis. Therefore the streets had a very strong character and were highly image able. They were channels of communication and interaction, which held the city together. South Parade has transformed into M.G. Road but continues to be a fashionable shopping and business street. Ones flourished with bougainvillea on one side of the road. Liberty and Plaza Theater on M.G. Road were the only places to watch English movies.
Readings I used ‘Multiple city’ by Aditi de and ‘Beantown Boomtown’ by Jayanth Kodkani and R. Edwin Sudhir as references to understand the leisure time activities and a description of the spaces. Both books narrate first hand experience of the people from the city, immigrants, tourists and visitors. To know about the leisure options what better way would be there to know it from the people who experienced it and that what exactly both of these books did.
Illustrations of the different identities allocated to bangalore by Paul Fernandes ‘Multiple City’
Both the readings share the experiences of people at different times in the city. ‘Bangalore originally not designed to be a metropolis for millions. as one of the two princely citiies of the state of Mysore, its scale was just right’ -Beantown Boomtown As the city has assumed different identities the frequent travellers to bangalore have always found change in the nature of the city. They often try to trace their last experience and are able to starkly juxtapose it with the current one.
Ekta Mittal
Interviews Through interviews the purpose was to gather converstions perspectives and Memories.
Sri. U. A Vasanth Rao
Ekta Mittal, Co-founder, MARAA- Media and art collective Ekta Mittal, the co-founder of MARAA explain the collective’s work centered around political but creative practices spread across domains of strengthening public media platforms, democratizing usage of urban public spaces and deepening rights based campaigns. Her insights to the entertainment options rather spanned to the availability of public spaces in and our surroundings to do something as a collective. The discussion also branched out to the understood gentrification of public spaces, where the places assume the availability of a public space to a certain class and stature of people. Ekta explained the journey of maraa and there idea of reclaiming public spaces and attempting to bring people together through music, theatre, storytelling et cetra. MARAA takes a more activist approach towards society issues. Ekta also expressed her nostalgia about certain festivals that use to happen and they were discontinued due to lack of funds. She also brought up the fast changing identities of Bengaluru city and how at a point of time she use to cycle on a road, which is full of traffic today.
Sri. U.A.Vasanth Rao, Chief Public Relations Officer, BMRCL Mr. Vasanth Rao has been a connecting thread between Art in transit and BMRCL. He has been a person who has answered all are questions and queries about the metro – from its functioning, to construction, maintenance and size differences of the stations. It is intriguing on how much planning and thought goes behind taking a simple decision of even constructing a subway. He also provided a better understanding of a semi – public space like the metro stations. Movement in a place like this very different, on being asked about the problem of catering to large crowd, he plainly replied that when people enter a metro station, no matter the number, they automatically fall in lines. Thus a behavior and decorum is set for them to carry out the activities inside a station. A system is designed right from buying the token, then security check, to catching the train and reaching you destination and finally dispensing the coin.
Old theatres of bangalore Bangalore Metro
quiet and clam street taken over by heavy traffic
Small city turning into a large metropolitan city
Intimidating structures amidst the old setup
Parts of this slow paced city is struggling with the new born fast life
New Shoots and Old Roots
Nostalgia
Bangalore
Development
Infrastructure growth due to growing population and traffic
Job Opportunities attracting immigrants
Bangalore Metro moving towards provding efficient mass Public Transport
Bringing Communities together through Art
Attempting to provide for reclaimed public spaces
Commuter Train to Yeshwantpur Metro station
Yeshwantpur metro station to Nagasandra Metro station
Yeshwantpur to Yelahanka in BMTC Bus
Yelahanka to Purva Venzia in Auto Rickshaw
Commuter Train
Namma Metro
BMTC Bus
Banglore Commuter Rail Connects near by towns like Hosur, Kengeri, Doddaballapur, Yeshwantpur, Baiyyapanahalli, Tumkur et cetra. The train is mostly delayed and slow. The regular passengers are aware of the delay but continue to use it as there is no other alternative.
Banglore Metro is growing means of public transport in Bangalore. The stations have been made keeping in mind the existing Commuter Train stations as well. The trains or the station are not running to its full capacity as yet as the lines are not fully functional. Ones phase 2 of Bangalore metro comes into effect, Transiting across the city will definitely become easier. Consequently, On-Road traffic would be lesser and the load on other pub;ic transports will be relieved.
BMTC bus connectvity is efficient and but with the growing outskirts of Bangalore it isnt a easy task to travel from one end to another without changing a couple of buses. the A/c, Volvo and airport buses bring respite to the middle class people nd makes their journey easier across the city.
Auto Rickshaws Auto Rickshaws do not run on the stipulated fare chart. they often demand extra money. This mode is definitely faster that buses and also provides for private space. But the boom cab services in bangalore has led to lesser usage of auto rickshaws for longer distances.
Understanding the Commute A chief element of the project was to understand a transit experience. I travelled in different modes of public transportation in Bangalore to evidence the transit space. The only glitch in this experience was that I was travelling with the intention of understanding travel and not exactly with the intention of getting to a place. The experience then became more about empathizing with the travellers and making conversations to understand their experience of transiting everyday.
PROJECT SHAPE
At times the intimidation gives rise to a certain behavior
spatial aspects highly influence the Public Behavior
The decorum of the space commanded by the spatial behavior
Spiral of Silence
CODE OF CONDUCT
Public behavior
Human Physical/ Mental distance
Unknow spaces like huge transii spaces provide navigation aid to familiarise with the space and get comfortable in it
Minority falls to majority behavior
Understanding Code of Conduct
Circus
Exaggerated Environment
Drive- in theatres
Unfamiliar Experience
Music and Dance Festivals
Sets, themes and Stages
ENTERTAINMENT / LEISURE OPTIONS
CODE OF CONDUCT
Vasanth Habba
Celebration in a Public space open to all
Movie theatres
Majestic-Wave of theatres
Bangalore Music Strip
Bringing communities together through music
Connecting Insights
INSPIRATIONAL RESEARCH
Colored Glass Panels Palais des congrès de MontrÊal, Quebec, Canada
Vortex Toledo Metro station, Naples, Italy
Toledo Metro station, Naples, Italy Metro Toledo is designed by architect Oscar Tusquets Blanca and his firm. The space is cladded with white and violet tiles which disappear into a vortex on the ceiling. The concept of introducing depth in a transititonal space like an escalator of a metro station is intriguing and leaves the traveller awe struck. The artists have successfully triggered a dialogue with the space and it never goes unnoticed.
Palais des congrès de MontrÊal, Quebec, Canada this conventon centre in Montreal, Canada as veil of colored glass panel which filters the light inside the building in the most dynamic and dramatic form. The convention centre also connects to the Montreal Place D’armes station. In the daytime, the building creates a kaliedocscope effect with its transparent colored glass panels inside the space and at night it turns into a two way impressionist painting. The building is strategically placed between Old Montreal and Downtown; explaining the transition of the changing images due to the glass panels.
Système, Namur metro station, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Cluny - La Sorbonne Station, Paris, France
Système, Namur metro station, Montreal, Quebec, Canada “Système” is one of the largest structures ever installed in Montreal metro stations. The ceiling suspended octahedrons lit with fluorescent lamps mirrors the pattern on the floor of the mezzanine level. The largeness of the structure almost feels like one is walking through a cloud of aluminum geometric structures.
Cluny - La Sorbonne Station, Paris, France The birds vaulted on the ceiling of this station are complemented the signatures of poets, writers, philosophers, artists, men - and one woman science, King and men of French state, famous figures of the Latin Quarter. The birds almost seem like a Phoenix; paying a tribute to all the great people of France. The artwork is informative and a re-visiting. The proportion of the artwork always leaves the traveller to notice the details and make observations in every single visit. And some travellers who have been coming to the station regularly feel that the artwork stands as part of the station now and not otherwise.
Bird and Fish M.C Escher
Meteorological Circles Olafur Eliasson
M.C Escher, Interlocking patterns Escher’s mathematically inspired interlocking patterns have gained much fame. Escher sees the beauty in structure and infinity. He likes to challenge the logic of seeing. You can see the white birds and regard the black as background. Or you can see the black fish and regard the white as background. When the mind jumps back and forth, that is when you are seeing two things existing together as interlocking shapes.
Meteorological Circles, Olafur Eliasson This installation was part of the 2016 exhibition, ‘Nothingness is nothing at all’. The installation consists of 27 elliptical yellow mirrors arranges in 3 rows. Each row shows progression of an elliptical surface triggering a lapse of motion. The 2 dimensional elliptical surfaces on being tilted give the impression of it being 3D circular discs. ”The work exploits this inherent visual ambiguity to highlight the mutability of forms in relation to the viewer’s perspective.”
Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy
Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy The new Milan headquarters of the Prada foundation is designed by OMA architecture led by Rem Koolhaas. The campus consists of a conserved building and three new buildings. The foundation stands with a coexistence of old and new. The numerous spatial variables of Old and new, horizontal and vertical, broad and narrow, black and white, open and closed bring the contrast into play and leave room for constant evolution and change in terms the art in the space and the relation of the viewers with the space. The Fragments somehow come together to form one big picture and contribute to different dynamics to identify the buildings.
PROJECT PROPOSAL
PROPOSAL
Research questions guiding the project If spaces influence human behavior then what it would be like to deconstruct the space, does the decorum get disturbed? How does spatial function effect Human Movement & Behavior in the metro station? If people are informed and directed by the space to make decisions. Can Design prevail for people to make their own discoveries and channel their routes?
Proposing the project Every space designed for public footfall assumes a certain behavior appropriated to that space, for example: silence in a gallery, line formation inside a metro station, loud conversations at a fair, maintaining physical and mental distance from a stranger in a public space etc. A basic attention span of a person in a space is kept intact with the soul purpose of movement in it as I noticed at the M.G. Road metro station in Bangalore. Navigation, way finding and flow are a few activities, which engage a person with the space. The intent became to establish a dialogue between the space and the traveller. Becoming aware of the surroundings and taking your own course to transit through a space. The most potent space to fixate the intervention would be a transitional within the space, which in this case is a metro station. So transitional spaces inside a metro station would account for Stairs, Escalators, Elevators, Concourse et cetra.
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Canara Bank Exit/Entry
HAL Entry/Exit
Turnstile
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LIFT Turnstile
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Jet Exit/Entry
LIFT
LIFT
38
Chinnaswammy stadium Exit/Entry
Key:
Pathways Escalators
CUBBON PARK METRO STATION
INITIAL CONCEPTS
A form with idea of forced perspective. Achieving the concept through illusions
CONCEPT 1 This concept sprung out of the dynamics of transitional spaces. This space is where the boundary between two spaces dissolves and it only serves as a connecting space. The idea was to create a rift between the ground and the underground in order separate both the experiences from each other. The intent thus became to exaggerate the underground space to achieve the above. The idea was to treat the first transition space as a rift to create the first impression of it. The space would then mark the difference between the ground and the underground.
The Alternative
KEY WORDS
Function for Thought
Adding to the given
CHALLENGES AND LIMITATION The concept was unable to present a potential and clear traveller experience. Travelling through an altered space, evocation in the space seemed a disjointed idea. Due to which arriving on a form became a challenge
281
Canara Ba
Turnstile
21
LIFT
Jet Exit/Entry
LIFT
38
sites Pathways Key:Potential Intervention Escalators
N
ra Bank Exit/Entry
HAL Entry/Exit
Turnstile
42
LIFT
Chinnaswammy stadium Exit/Entry
Rotating mirrors placed at the entrance of the station, reflecting the outside spaces
Colorful Led panels lighting linked to the train arrival, one space informing about the other
Concept 2 This concept was based out of enabling people in making navigation and movement related decisions. The idea was to make one space inform about another place, which would then create a different language of interpretation for the station.
CHALLENGES AND LIMITATION The design lacked a final purpose. Also the interaction with the traveller was slow; at some level it might not culminate at all.
Angled mirrors to reflect different spaces of the station at one point
Rotating mirror pieces connected to the human movement in the reflected spaces
Final project proposal This idea evolved out of inculcating exaggeration in such a way that it adds to the experience of the traveller. The design progressed towards adding to the unseen parameter of a viewer in such a large space like metro station. The orientation of a person inside the station flawed underground as a subject like skyline and attached structures are not there anymore to guide a person on their movement. Some people are able to gain respite in the navigation system provided others resort to the information given to them by a fellow passenger or a staff member. Thus enabling people to understand the space and bringing a vast space to the viewing parameter of the traveller was developed. The objective was to Use mirror as a medium to view the unseen parameter of the station.
FORMALISING CONCEPT
Arik Levy Rock sculptures
Vestige 2009 Rob mulholland
ARIK LEVY’S ROCK SCULPTURES Artistically, he is known for his prolific work in sculptures, paintings, and drawings. He is particularly well known for his mammoth (and smaller) rock sculptures made incorporating mirror steel. Stainless steel gave the liberty of making the structures, which were completely seamless. The placement of the sculpture was mostly outdoors providing a chance to pay attention to the surrounding, which is mostly taken for granted or ignored.
VESTIGE 2009 BY ROB MULHOLLAND Rob Mullholland in Vestige has tried to bring out the essence of who we are as individuals in relation to others and our environment. “The six male and female figures represent a vestige, a faint trace of the past people and communities that once occupied and lived in this space. The figures absorb their environment, reflecting in their surface the daily changes of life in the forest. They create a visual notion of non – space, a void, as if they are at one moment part of our world and then, as they fade into the forest, they become an intangible outline.”
Installations Graham Caldwell
Ring Arnaud Lapierre
INSTALLATIONS BY GRAHAM CALDWELL Graham Calwell’s practice is concerned with the elasticity of sight, and the way visual perception constructs and distorts the immediate external world. He has expressed his interest in the historic and intrinsic association between glass and the act of looking, from the early lenses that allowed glimpses into the microscopic world, to the eyeglasses, ubiquitous windows, and mirrors inside telescopes that let us to peer into space. The multiple nature of his installations like that of a cluster of convex mirrors, plane mirrors and window like frames adds to the multiple views of the space.
RING BY ARNAUD LAPIERRE This installation is made out mirror cubes stacked alternatively. The entire structure takes shape of a ring. This like a lot of other mirror installations is a commentary on the relationship between the space and the people. The structure reflects the spaces and breaks the paradigms due to its alternative nature and fills in the gaps with the reality on the other side. It makes an image, which has fragments of reality juxtaposed with reality in a reflection.
Form Inspiration
Tilted circles Olafur Eliasson
Adolf Luther Hohlspiegelobjekt 1967 25 concave mirrors, aluminium, glass
Mirror sculptures Mathias kiss
Anthony Howe
Mirror installations Francisco Infante-Arana & his wife Nonna Gorunova
Peter Trevelyan’s sculpture The Mimetic Brotherhood
CURATORIAL PROCESS + FRAMEWORK
Curotorial Themes
Art in Transit
The Traveller
Participative Network
The Otherland
Aesthetic and Aspirations
The Traveller The intent was to engage with the transience and the figure of a traveller in it. The idea of evocation of different spaces and urban experience in the transient space was resonating under this theme. This theme could also aid the travel experience for the traveller by inculcating glimpses of a city in transit itself. The theme also helped in elaborating the image of the traveller and identifying ones relevance in the transit space. It is also focused at the journey of the traveller and making the same evident to the traveller himself. The Otherland The theme explored the possibility of treating the underground as an alien/ new experience. in many ways the underground region is a new space and concept for the city dwellers. These stations activate the underground journey for a travel. The theme offers a chance to treat the space as a new setup with presence of metaphors, Dystopia, futuristic imagery, a chance to explore the alternative. The intent thus became to reimagine the underground in the light of whimsies, fantasies and other stories.
Other sider of what you see
Shifting Reality
Perception
Alterntive
Illusions
Warp
POSITIONING UNDER THEMES With the initial concepts and ideas, I found them to be more ‘traveller’ centric. But with the availability of a theme of ‘Otherland’, the concepts also took a jump into that area. The concepts continuously reflected the creation of an alternative with ideas of spatial warping and exaggeration in mind. The concepts were also leading to form, which was self-engaging and not influenced by guidelines or rules provided by the space. One of the major research questions that surged its way through was – if a space really commands the behavior and decisions of the people in that space? If there is a set code of conduct then what factors influence it? The early concepts and ideas progressed with one foot with traveller theme and the other in the ‘Otherland’ theme. I gradually gained an understanding that the theme of Otherland also speaks directly to the traveller and so the concepts were safely placed under that theme completing its function and legibility.
FORM AND PROTOTYPING
FORMS
The material that the concept developed itself was mirror, which not only gave me the liberty of experimenting in many different ways but also provided a frame to extract a traveller’s attention to it. The idea of reflection is great tool to trigger a dialogue between the human and the space. A lot of the space often goes unnoticed due the paths and the navigational decisions of the traveller in a transitive space. The following forms were true to the concept of bringing the spaces to the purview of the traveller and enabling them to experience the space without actually being present in it.
Site
Initial forms Convex mirror display The form being a cluster of convex mirror and convex mirror shaped display OLED screens. The installation would then reflect the rest of the station and provide station information like Fare charts, the metro route, and overall picture of the metro; with references of average station distance, total track kilometers, footfall in the station et cetra. The above information doesn’t only inform the passenger of there inquires but also prove the efficiency of Bangalore metro and so establishes a relation between the metro and the traveller.
Installation triggered by human Movement The form was intended to have a dialogue with the human movement. The rotation of the mirror pieces was directly linked to the human movement in the area being reflected in the mirror. Each mirror piece would be connected to sensor in the space being reflected in the piece. The rotation of the mirror would directly be proportional to the traffic in that area.
N
Key Plan 281
Canara Bank Exit/Entry
HAL Entry/Exit
Turnstile
21
LIFT Turnstile
42
Jet Exit/Entry
LIFT
LIFT
38
Chinnaswammy stadium Exit/Entry
Key:
Pathways Escalators
Scale For
1:1000
(In Meters)
Drawing Title: Site Floor Plan, Concourse Level Site Name : Cubbon Park Metro Station Student’s name : Srishti Saxena
Rotating structured triggered by the movement of the people in the area reflected in the mirror
Drawing No. C3 Date: 15/04/2016
Installation triggered by different energies insidethe station The form was intended to monitor the usage of the lift. Using the concept of the domino effect, the intent was to connect the movement of the lift to the triggering of the domino effect of multiple mirrors. everytime the lift would make a trip , the mirrors would go into a domino effect.
Domino triggered by the trips of the lift
FINAL FORM
THE UNSEEN SCENE
Adding to the unseen parameter The form surfaced from the concept of influencing human behavior without giving any set comments. The idea was to bring a vast space like metro station to the width of a single wall, which reflects all the spaces inside the station. The structure would then develop a dialogue with the traveller and in turn with the space. The intervention brings the fragments of the different spaces to a single area. This also adds an extra dimension to the view of the traveller aiding their experience. The evocation of the installation is to make a traveller feel that the space is not as unknown as they would expect to be.
First phase prototype Proof of Form
Prototype Process
Acrylic mirror Cutting Process
Prototype after fixing the acrylic pieces on the wire frame Material: Duct Tape
Bibliography
Parthasarthy Aarthi, “Bring back our public spaces” The Hindu, Bangalore, October 8, 2015, accessed on January 24, 2016. http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/bring-back-our-public-spaces/article7738754.ece Udvardi, Mayrah. “Bangalore: Urban Development and Environmental Injustice.” (2014). Red bull Music stories, “The Bangalore Music Strip”, NH7, October 6, 2015, accessed on January 22, 2016 http://www.redbull.com/in/en/music/stories/1331751882756/the-bangalore-music-strip Ouroussoff Nicolai, “Why is Rem Koolhaas the World’s Most Controversial Architect?”, Smithsonian Magazine, September 2012, accessed on February 14, 2016 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-is-rem-koolhaas-the-worlds-most-controversial-architect-18254921/?device=ipad&=&page=3&no-ist= Wellershoff Marianne, “Rem Koolhaas Interview: ‘We Shouldn’t Tear Down Buildings We Can Still Use’, Spiegel online, April 25, 2015, accessed on February 13, 2016 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/interview-with-rem-koolhaas-about-the-fondazione-prada-a-1031551.html Projects, Fondazione Prada, 2010 http://oma.eu/projects/fondazione-prada
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