The next day, I bid adieu to the family that took extremely good care of me , and set off again to study the same precinct , all my luggage loaded into an autorickshaw, the next part of my survey I was to stay with a family, in Noida. After a long ride from the western district of Delhi , Vikaspuri, I managed to reach the East End Apartments; a colony which boasts of a total population of about 4000 people.
A quick 20 minutes of throwing my baggage into the apartment, changing and rushing out. My previous experiences with the city taught me a story , one of disguise and its numerous advantages. There's always a hint , in any social scenario,of the particular traits they follow , in their guise, in their linguistic formalism and even in their every-day dialogues with people.
To be successful in a precinct like Jama Masjid , I used this very trick, a chicanery it seemed like , but one that was both onerous and necessary. I bought a kurta , and the shoes worn by the vast majority of the society here. My verbosity in Urdu ( the language used in the Jama Masjid and around 3-4ths of the city ) is one that is highly questionable. After spending a day streaming audio and video clips I grasped the accent and the tone of speech. Using these tools , helped me during my entire analysis; into even my second phase of the study ( which is the second trip I made for the site study).
Like I've already mentioned, being a multifaceted person , genuinely helps, us architects, and during an indepth analysis, there's nothing more helpful than combining the mapping, diagramming abilities with the skills mentioned above.
Moving on, the day consisted of yet another phase of mapping, this time, one street analysis again of the secondary lanes of Chandni Chowk , as well as the architectural chronology of the precinctual buildings. After spending a good three hours , studying the street , making notes of different structural anomalies, I came to one final conclusion regarding the street, and its relevance to my thesis.
The street is primarily characterised by history, and the loss of memories. Although , what struck me the most, was the layering and the disparity between these layers and the functional systems on different levels.It seemed to me like the precinct had developed what urban designers would call edges, but with a slight difference:
Here, the edges were multiple and what we can call micro-edges, sometimes the disparity in the different observational facets was exaggerated to a few metres. What we see is a collision of such elements and its co-existence. As we stare at these multi-dimensional networks in amazement , we can only diagram them, and hope to use such elements in architectural re-creation. As already mentioned , the historical differences is one that should be noted as well. The street offers some fine detailing; of arcades, of brackets (columnar) , of pavements, and yet an almost imposed system of contemporary architecture is inserted sporadically. A gradual walk takes you through this sequence of events and we slowly develop the ability to compare this system of urban design with one that is just a few kilometres away, one that is touted to have incredible planning.Our minds start reading these gradations in history.We start painting pictures of the past and present, it is this exact collage which presents to us a final diagram, what students always strive for, and always get confused by. Ultimately the 'site-study' is just a clear set of diagrams which lay out, the storylines of a city.
Half the day was entirely spent on this very site, and it was at this very moment that I'd penned down what the Red Fort is , and left its analysis for the next day. I had an important appointment, one that would further my research and textual studies; I had to meet a reporter, an eminent one , with over 20 years of experience, and to me that was gold.
This was about the time when the cold had gotten to me , terrible headaches and high body temperatures had enervated me. But as the cliche goes;a persistent mind pushed me to my limits. I was to travel to Noida, about an hours journey on the metro , from Old Delhi, i fought through crowds. The increased pedestrian density ,being due to elaborate protests in Delhi, over the gang rape of a college going student on a moving bus. The traffic routes changed and metro stations were closed owing to the intensity of protests near the city's center.
A long journey hanging on to the steel columns in the metro, finally saw me exit out of the station at Noida.
After confusion regarding the location of the news station and a few random walks, I set out finally in the right direction.
As I walked, alongside the compound walls of the university , I kept searching , I had walked around 8 kilometers, fighting the harsh winds of the open lands in that part of Noida, each step quite obviously
harder than the previous one, the extremities of the Delhi winter, catching up to me , palms , legs everything numb , head throbbing, The office was still under construction ;
The bare concrete blocks , and in some places the reinforcements for the outer portions landscaping. The lifts were not yet done , so I walked , with every moment , anticipating a good end result, thinking to myself about the postive results a visit like this could have.
For the first half an hour I waited, patiently in a closed room , staring outside at neatly laid out roads, at the sun setting , the city's dusk. I took a small break , the intensity of my headache, furthered. I sneaked out of the room to the cafeteria , grabbing two cups of coffee, hoping for some relief. A few conversations with the waiters, a jolly young group, working at the cafeteria .
After a long wait in, I met the lead reporter; A long discussion, loads of notes, exchange of ideas, district cultures, in Delhi , and news reports specific to Old Delhi, all over a period of few hours; before I knew it was 830 pm , and calls to enquire about my whereabouts, began pouring in; ofcourse signals are blocked within the building , for security reasons. The in depth analysis , and reports furthered my ideation of the architectural program, and my understanding of the urban scenarios. I would not like to bore the readers with the further mundane experiences of the day, but the implications of the trip were great;
it led me on to further 'conquests' which finally gave me a cohesive set of data to work with.
A quick 20 minutes of throwing my baggage into the apartment, changing and rushing out. My previous experiences with the city taught me a story , one of disguise and its numerous advantages. There's always a hint , in any social scenario,of the particular traits they follow , in their guise, in their linguistic formalism and even in their every-day dialogues with people.
Like I've already mentioned, being a multifaceted person , genuinely helps, us architects, and during an indepth analysis, there's nothing more helpful than combining the mapping, diagramming abilities with the skills mentioned above.
Moving on, the day consisted of yet another phase of mapping, this time, one street analysis again of the secondary lanes of Chandni Chowk , as well as the architectural chronology of the precinctual buildings. After spending a good three hours , studying the street , making notes of different structural anomalies, I came to one final conclusion regarding the street, and its relevance to my thesis.The street is primarily characterised by history, and the loss of memories. Although , what struck me the most, was the layering and the disparity between these layers and the functional systems on different levels.It seemed to me like the precinct had developed what urban designers would call edges, but with a slight difference:
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| THE SHIVA AND THE JAIN TEMPLE SILHOUETTE - CHANDNI CHOWK- Old Delhi, by Shankar Roshan Valiathan |
 |
| THE RED FORT PLAZA , by Shankr Roshan Valiathan |
This was about the time when the cold had gotten to me , terrible headaches and high body temperatures had enervated me. But as the cliche goes;a persistent mind pushed me to my limits. I was to travel to Noida, about an hours journey on the metro , from Old Delhi, i fought through crowds. The increased pedestrian density ,being due to elaborate protests in Delhi, over the gang rape of a college going student on a moving bus. The traffic routes changed and metro stations were closed owing to the intensity of protests near the city's center.
A long journey hanging on to the steel columns in the metro, finally saw me exit out of the station at Noida.
After confusion regarding the location of the news station and a few random walks, I set out finally in the right direction.
As I walked, alongside the compound walls of the university , I kept searching , I had walked around 8 kilometers, fighting the harsh winds of the open lands in that part of Noida, each step quite obviously
harder than the previous one, the extremities of the Delhi winter, catching up to me , palms , legs everything numb , head throbbing, The office was still under construction ;
The bare concrete blocks , and in some places the reinforcements for the outer portions landscaping. The lifts were not yet done , so I walked , with every moment , anticipating a good end result, thinking to myself about the postive results a visit like this could have.
For the first half an hour I waited, patiently in a closed room , staring outside at neatly laid out roads, at the sun setting , the city's dusk. I took a small break , the intensity of my headache, furthered. I sneaked out of the room to the cafeteria , grabbing two cups of coffee, hoping for some relief. A few conversations with the waiters, a jolly young group, working at the cafeteria .
After a long wait in, I met the lead reporter; A long discussion, loads of notes, exchange of ideas, district cultures, in Delhi , and news reports specific to Old Delhi, all over a period of few hours; before I knew it was 830 pm , and calls to enquire about my whereabouts, began pouring in; ofcourse signals are blocked within the building , for security reasons. The in depth analysis , and reports furthered my ideation of the architectural program, and my understanding of the urban scenarios. I would not like to bore the readers with the further mundane experiences of the day, but the implications of the trip were great;
it led me on to further 'conquests' which finally gave me a cohesive set of data to work with.
 |
| Sketches from my book - of the Delhi metro-By Shankar Roshan Valiathan |
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| The bare lands of Noida- Uttar Pradesh, India , by Shankar Roshan Valiathan |
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