This article is from the Tehelka Magazine, Dated Sept 13, 2008. Image via NATIW

Our cities are out of control. Literally. But there are ways of fixing them. Architect Charles Correa dissects how for ANASTASIA GUHA

Charles Correa, 78, architect, activist and pioneer in Third World urban planning, is also angry. At the systematic way in which political parties are destroying Indian cities; at the smug inefficacy of NGOs that are doing little to save them. Correa is well placed to know what besieges our cities. Among many things, he has been Chairman of the National Commission on Urbanisation as well as the Chief Architect of Navi Mumbai. Sitting now in his impeccable sea-facing flat on Nepean Sea Road, South Mumbai, he argues strongly for a complete overhaul in the way cities are managed. Civil society, he argues, can do very little except make a noise because no one izs answerable to them. A much more radical change is needed. Excerpts:

Why are land scams increasing in so many cities across India?
Because our political parties are using urban real estate as a prime source for finances. Of course, some money stays in some people’s pockets, but the engines driving this corruption are not individuals — they are the political parties themselves.

Like the SEZs in Goa? Yes, that’s a very good example. Goa, an honest society for hundreds of years, has become extremely corrupt in a breathtakingly short period — just over a decade. How did this come about — and so quickly? Individual corruption is not enough. No, the main actors have been the political parties — and their need for funds. So any local politician, especially an ambitious one, soon learns how to earn ‘brownie points’ with the party bosses in Delhi.

But didn’t this always happen?
No, right up to the late 60s, industrialists financed political parties (a pattern that might have started with the Birlas and the Freedom Movement). Then during the Emergency, someone realised there were much bigger percentages in defence contracts. In fact, those kickbacks are astronomical. But because the CMs of the states don’t have access to these funds, they have to exploit urban real estate. In the process, they are ruining our cities.

But why doesn’t the Opposition expose what is going on?
Because every political party needs all the money it can get — and they believe, quite correctly, that their time will come next. In that sense, Mumbai is like a great milch cow, waiting to be exploited. In fact, one of the biggest perks you get when you are elected CM is the opportunity to loot the principal cities of the state — with hardly any accountability. For instance, the CM of Maharashtra, who makes all the major decisions for Mumbai (eg, increasing FARs, changing landuse, etc), is not accountable to the people of this city — because he was not elected by them. He, and all the other members of his Cabinet, have been elected from some other villages and towns in the state. So they have no reason to pay any real attention to what the citizens of Mumbai feel. And the same is true of Bangalore and Karnataka, Chennai and Tamil Nadu, etc. And each state generates its own funds, acting as a ‘Profit Centre’. This has huge advantages for the CM as well. For as long he (or she) does not ask the Centre for funds, he can give tickets to his own chamchas. On the other hand, if he asks for help, then he will have to accept someone else’s candidates. So it’s in his interests to keep the system going.

But what about public opinion, and the role of the NGOs?
Did you know that India has the largest number of NGOs in the world? It’s a reflection of the frustration of the citizenry. But unfortunately, government does not have to pay any attention at all — because their re-election depends on other voters who are not concerned with this city. So for all practical purposes, our NGOs are just a form of cabaret, performing for the media — or perhaps for themselves.

How can we change this?

……

Continue reading the story at the  Tehelka Magazine.

“My name is KP Singh, Kulpradip Singh, this is the house which i built eight years back, It has become a place of inspiration for many to realise that the tree can provide them not only the shelter but also the pleasure of living with the living thing.”   -  KP Singh

Images Via Honda Drive Every Drop

Via Pardon My Hindi via Honda Drive Every Drop

Entrance is not too exciting, the restaurant sits on 103-105 Waterloo Road, with a few tables outside. But once you enter the restaurant it is a whole other world. The chaotic lines criss crossing over shades of green blending in with the timbers and furniture, gives it a urban-earthy feel.

Like the railway sleepers they have a scaffolding with a dining area on the top level. The customers sit in their little berth, crammed in for a more private conversation. Their menu offers a wide range of North Indian Food. Yes, i don’t understand how it makes sense at all.

This space is all about romanticizing India- Bangalore – Indian Railways. The language is clear – chaotic lines, earthy contemporary colours and crammed spaces between railways berth scaffolding. But the type of food offered is just disappointing.

Via The Cool Hunter

Incite INClined towards Ideas Thoughts and Expression through (Contemporary Architecture)

The Event is aimed in informing people about the city of Bangalore and where it is heading in an architectural context. The exhibition is no restricted to the architects and designers but everyone who is interested in Contemporary architecture in Bangalore. I would recommend architecture students, developers and anyone concerned with Bangalore’s infrastructure and urban planning attend this event. There are limited enteries and works on a first come first serve basis.

“

080 TRANSFORM, with a strong design focus, has a multi-directional approach through the exhibitionand associated events. Projects built in the timeline of 1990 – 2007, that have consciously attempted to transform the built dialect of the city, are featured through panel displays. The exhibition presents forthcoming transformation ideas – explorations that are not yet realised, through models.

“

Click on the Poster to enlarge. -

There are three basic events spread out over the 10th to the 26th of October

Design Dialouge, Dialouges among architects and various professionals.

Design Walk of Projects, Tour of Projects with Architects.

Meet The Architects, Direct Conversation with Architects.

Some of the best Architects of the day will be presenting their work and Ideas at the venue. Including Aumitro Gosh and Nisha Matew from  MgA, Prof. AR Jaisim from Jasim FountainHead, Gayathri and Namith from GNA, V. Narasimhan  from Venkatramanan Associates and many others.

A detailed schedule of events and exhibitions can be downloaded at the Incite website or here.

Woods Bagot and ERM in partnership are designing the masterplan for a new IT park commisioned by ASF Infrastructure in Gurgaon, 20 km from the South of New Delhi.

The 2000 crore investment is located on a farmland of 20 hectares,and is aimed at achieving Leed Gold ratings. The project is to be completed in the next 5 years.

Images via Woods and ASF.

Any one know about this please shout out.

Can wait to watch.

http://doshi.100hands.net/

The speakers are picked to address the current issues around the world. A perspective that is much needed

There is Poptech popcasts who have a similar model.

No banghra, no retro Hindi mixes, no cheap spins from some wannabe dj , ‘just pure melody baba’ (like my granny used to say) .

The Raghu Dixit Project is the new shit, bringing in old folk tunes, with new new sounds and lyrics from three different languages fused into a single song. Though they have been jamming from as long as 06′, they have only recently released their self titled Debut album with the vishal and shekar duo on the 26th of February.

Picture Courtesy: The Ragu Dixit Project Blog.

Their five piece band of Gaurav Vaz, Raghu Dixit, Siva, Vija and Jithin (as seen in picture) are the soul of the Raghu Dixit Project. They project itself is also open to collaborations with number of artists, a kind of ‘open source’ band. Though they classifying their music in the genre of “indo world folk rock” , i would say its a more of a folk-soft rock. The Cat Empire, an Australian band, has a similar kind of music and band concept.

Hey Baghwan.

The content of their songs is kind of what you would expect to read in a journal. Not very personal or emotional, but something like a of short story. The subject really connects with the masses, ‘in mumbai, wating for a miracle’, is a song that narrates a story of a man from the village searching for his place in the big city. ‘Mysore se Ayi’ comes forth at first as a beautiful little composition of a young love, innocent and naive, but then Dixit comes in with a ‘trrrrrrrrrrrrrrah’ which is just a killer.

They have also recently composed tunes for a kannada movie ‘Psycho’. These guys have the freshest tunes from since the times Thermal and a Quater. You can buy their 8 track album from Music Yogi for a reasonable 149 Rs. They still have a long way to go, and im sure they are gonna get there.

My teacher in school, a year ago, gave me a red sheet of paper with black print, it read, ‘An incomplete Manifesto for Growth : Bruce mau‘. I gave it a read a once or twice, was a little difficult to understand it at first, capture accidents, harvest ideas, slow down ??? Was all jumbled up in my head. So i just let it bury under my work.

But then, the bloody thing started popping up every where under dirty laundry, RED SHEET, in a folder of papers. RED SHEET, in school i see it in the middle of my visual diary RED SHEET, like some kind of WARNING ! RED SHEET HERE . It was every where, so i was like what the hell, il just stick it up in front of my desk. This made me read each point over and over again. I have got them stuck in my head now, and try to live by them.

Thought it should be passed around, so here it is for you in red.

An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth: Bruce Mau

Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements that exemplify Bruce Mau’s beliefs, motivations and strategies. It also articulates how the BMD studio works.

1. Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

2. Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth.

3. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.

4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.

5. Go deep. The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.

6. Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.

7. Study. A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.

8. Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.

9. Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

10. Everyone is a leader. Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.

11. Harvest ideas. Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.

12. Keep moving. The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.

13. Slow down. Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.

14. Don’t be cool. Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.

15. Ask stupid questions. Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.

16. Collaborate. The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.

17. ____________________. Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.

18. Stay up late. Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world.

19. Work the metaphor. Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.

20. Be careful to take risks. Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.

21. Repeat yourself. If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.

22. Make your own tools. Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.

23. Stand on someone’s shoulders. You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.

24. Avoid software. The problem with software is that everyone has it.

25. Don’t clean your desk. You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.

26. Don’t enter awards competitions. Just don’t. It’s not good for you.

27. Read only left-hand pages. Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our “noodle.”

28. Make new words. Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.

29. Think with your mind. Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.

30. Organization = Liberty. Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between “creatives” and “suits” is what Leonard Cohen calls a ‘charming artifact of the past.’

31. Don’t borrow money. Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.

32. Listen carefully. Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.

33. Take field trips. The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic-simulated environment.

34. Make mistakes faster. This isn’t my idea — I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.

35. Imitate. Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You’ll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.

36. Scat. When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else … but not words.

37. Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.

38. Explore the other edge. Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.

39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms. Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces — what Dr. Seuss calls “the waiting place.” Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference — the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals – but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.

40. Avoid fields. Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.

41. Laugh. People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I’ve become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.

42. Remember. Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.

43. Power to the people. Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can’t be free agents if we’re not free.

Bruce Mau’s website describes his firm as a “business and cultural design studio of experts from diverse practices in communications, science, philosophy, psychology, economics, architecture, business, marketing, and the arts who are all designers, visionaries, futurists, activists, and global citizens.”

I suggest you print it out in red, so maybe it could just pop up and change you.

Accessed from http://www.brucemaudesign.com/manifesto.html on 17th may 2008.

mgroad, ada is an open source blog about art architecture and design (ada) primarily focused on India and ada, inspired from Indian culture.

Covering everything from amateur photographers to high profile architects, we will bring to you the latest township projects and the coolest graphics. Apart from ada we will also cover contemporary music and popular culture.

There is no consistent source of ada from India, we are here to provide that. There are a few online lifestyle magazines and a many personal portfolio’s, but very vague. We are here to connect that gap and bring everything together.

We would like to have more people in our team of authors, if you think you can write and have a specific area of expertise, please send us an email . This is an opensource project so we would also like you (readers) to send us your article, our team will review it and publish it, credited to you of course.

Contact us : mgroadblog@gmail.com