Junk Spaces as a way to respond!
Place
influences architecture and in return, architecture influences how we remember
a specific “place.”
An image
of New York evokes a certain kind of architectural memory that is completely
different than one instigated by an image of, Charleston, Mumbai or anywhere
else for that matter. Memorable architecture stems from the place it sits in,
relates to its surroundings in an organic manner and subsequently locks itself
in the very image of that place in our memory.
When I think of my City that I grew up in the instant architectural memory that surfaces my mind is one full of jumbled house types ranging from extremely wealthy bungalows to very indigenous bazaar-based complex settlements. I often question what role does Architecture in Delhi plays in deciding the landscape of this ever changing city.
Delhi has
been many cities. It has been a Temple city, a Mughal city, a Colonial and a
Post-Colonial city. It prides itself as a city that serves as the testimonial
of various period pieces. I would like to call my city in Rem Koolhaas words as
“rich orchestration of Chaos”
How do
today’s architects respond to this nature of complexity of the landscape they
are working in? They end up creating tons of so called “Junk Space”. Recycling
the past is easy but to redefine elements from a different time to suit the
need of today is where the challenge lies. Sometime it achieves a totally
different quality unlike anything anyone has experienced and sometimes it just
becomes another debate of how the space serves nothing. The question that comes
to my mind is if there is any simpler way of doing this? I say No! Some cities
like mine just have to go through this transition of achieving junk spaces I believe.
I really like this line: "Memorable architecture stems from the place it sits in, relates to its surroundings in an organic manner and subsequently locks itself in the very image of that place in our memory."
ReplyDeleteI also like the phrase "rich orchestration of Chaos". Sometimes it is self-orchestration as the city tries to regulate itself without anyone's intervention, other times the orchestration is through the action of people with the power to do so. And that is probably where architectural ideas can be most powerful, in conjunction with people with the power to affect those changes.
In a city like Delhi that has lived through many periods, have the elements of architecture and urbanism always been based on the same principles, but resurfacing as different avatars in different times?
Is living through junkspace necessary as a first step before achieving better designed spaces?