Acknowledgement

This research and thesis would not be possible without the constant help and support of my friends, family and faculty at the School of Environment and Architecture(SEA).

I take this opportunity to thank my parents for their support and for inspiring me, which has allowed me to fulfill this venture. I am grateful to them for providing me with all the resources and tools that helped make my thesis possible.

I would also like to thank my mentors Prasad Shetty and Vastavikta Bhagat, for their efforts in guiding and pushing my questions and thoughts to new extents.

To all the faculty, the staff, my friends (Preet Waghmare, Kalyani Wadhai, Paras Burande, Rishabh Chajjer, Jayesha Chimanpure & Akanksha Thakur) as well as other acquaintances at SEA, I thank you all for your moral support and guidance over the past five years. Our continued conversations, teachings, knowledge, and work methodologies helped me shape my own

Streets are and have been for most of us places of varied activities, they consist of an array of events which blur its identity altogether, especially streets in India. Uneven street edges, Construction in between streets, dug up sewers, potholes, garbage dump, collision of various activities and events and overall rigidity of emotions of oneself is what sums up understanding of this thesis and this phenomenon could be termed as “Roughness.” Roughness could be perceived through various modes and at various places. In order to understand this phenomenon if the reader would situate themselves in the given space.

Throughout the thesis while analysing rough edges/spaces, one comes across few nodes where halting, stopping, diverting allows newer possibilities, the experience enhances one’s behaviour this could be termed as’ Slowness is defined as ‘The quality or state of being slow - roughness appears to induce slowness.

In the context of public spaces/streets slowness could be, while defining roughness we come across specific terms such as ‘halts, obstructions, diversions, blurry edges, events etc’. These instances may stand out as interruptions to the user but they become these spots of commerce, leisure where varied transactions take place. These spots/nodes allow newer possibilities, newer forms of architecture to evolve, sustain into narrow, crooked, limited spaces.

In this study the spatiality of the street appears to be that of a spongebeing able to absorb activities and lives through its corrosions. In many ways this is the softness of the street.

Contents

1. Introduction

1.1 Poor Street conditions , uneven pavements, abundance of activities lead to an uneasy or rather discomforting environment, Behavior Patterns

1.2 Edge / threshold conditions (spatiality) of a street shapes experience (Behaviors)

1.3 To map the relationship between the street edges / threshold conditions and the behaviors they generate

2. Literature Review

3. Operational Concepts

1.4 Roughness

1.5 Slowness

1.6 Mixed Use

1.7 Practice & Claim

1.8 Spill-over spaces

4. Research

Methodology

1.9 How do spatialities of roughness of streets affect their experience?

1.10 Observing daily commuters, mapping movements, Case studies

5. Research Findings

1.11 Case 1.Hanuman Road (Akurli, Kandivali East)

1.12 Case 2. Null Bazaar (Bhuleshwar, Charni Road)

1.13 Case 3. Kalbadevi (Churchgate)

1.14 Case 4. Station Area (Dadar)

1.15 Case 5. Station Area (Borivali)

6. Analytical Framework

1.16 Behaviour Analysis

1.17 Movement Analysis

7. Conclusions

1.18 Softness

1.19 Re-imagining Streets