Articles by Kiran Keswani

In his classic book, 'Ways of Seeing' John Berger says, "The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. "Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it." what we know a Street for Cars and People to move what we see  what we know There must be an EDGE differentiating spaces and functions, a distinction between where the street vendor belongs, where the pedestrian walks and where the vehicles move. "We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice." And, if we were…

In his classic book, 'Ways of Seeing' John Berger says, "The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. "Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it." what we know a Street for Cars and People to move what we see  what we know There must be an EDGE differentiating spaces and functions, a distinction between where the street vendor belongs, where the pedestrian walks and where the vehicles move. "We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice." And, if we were…

The Registrations for the CEPT Winter School in Ahmedabad are now open! There's a wide variety of courses and one of these is 'The Everyday City'. Sharing the details of this course below. Dates: 1st to 17th Dec 2015 Location: School of Architecture & Planning, CEPT University, Ahmedabad In India, as in other parts of the world, some of the physical development of the city is influenced by the everyday practices of its people. The urban spaces are continually transformed by social, cultural, religious, political, economic and other practices. Currently, these practices intermingle with each other and with the streets…

The Registrations for the CEPT Winter School in Ahmedabad are now open! There's a wide variety of courses and one of these is 'The Everyday City'. Sharing the details of this course below. Dates: 1st to 17th Dec 2015 Location: School of Architecture & Planning, CEPT University, Ahmedabad In India, as in other parts of the world, some of the physical development of the city is influenced by the everyday practices of its people. The urban spaces are continually transformed by social, cultural, religious, political, economic and other practices. Currently, these practices intermingle with each other and with the streets…

The focus at Neralu this year was on Trees & Public spaces - including ashwath kattes, neighbourhood parks and streets. Alongside that, MapUnity developed an online platform where people could upload the location of their neighbourhood kattes, with photographs and a story. Please do log on to: Mapping the Ashwath katte if you have something to share about your own neighbourhood katte or one you’ve seen elsewhere. We hope that as we all share our stories about the Ashwath kattes we have seen and help to map them, we may uncover yet another story about the city of Bangalore - a story about its trees, its culture and…

The focus at Neralu this year was on Trees & Public spaces - including ashwath kattes, neighbourhood parks and streets. Alongside that, MapUnity developed an online platform where people could upload the location of their neighbourhood kattes, with photographs and a story. Please do log on to: Mapping the Ashwath katte if you have something to share about your own neighbourhood katte or one you’ve seen elsewhere. We hope that as we all share our stories about the Ashwath kattes we have seen and help to map them, we may uncover yet another story about the city of Bangalore - a story about its trees, its culture and…

At the Neralu 2014, a discussion on the cultural meaning attached to some of the older, shade-giving trees in the city led to the awareness that people continue to worship the Peepul tree AND informally generate community spaces within their neighbourhoods. This led me to research this idea further and to look at how the peepul tree (Ficus religiosa) shrine with its serpent stones and the raised platform around it, locally called the Ashwath katte, contributes to the making of urban space in the city of Bangalore. The origin of the ashwath katte lies in the rural areas of India. In…

At the Neralu 2014, a discussion on the cultural meaning attached to some of the older, shade-giving trees in the city led to the awareness that people continue to worship the Peepul tree AND informally generate community spaces within their neighbourhoods. This led me to research this idea further and to look at how the peepul tree (Ficus religiosa) shrine with its serpent stones and the raised platform around it, locally called the Ashwath katte, contributes to the making of urban space in the city of Bangalore. The origin of the ashwath katte lies in the rural areas of India. In…

The City authorities have decided to redesign and redevelop some of the historic markets in Bangalore. In an article in the Bangalore Mirror, 'Is this the end of the road for the city's iconic markets?', we read that the government believes that a joint venture model will give the markets a facelift and help get higher revenues. I can't help thinking about who has been "designing" our Bazaars? I'm thinking of 'bazaars' as not just the market buildings, but the cluster of push cart vendors at the street corner, the street bazaars, the market precincts that sometimes spread over much…

The City authorities have decided to redesign and redevelop some of the historic markets in Bangalore. In an article in the Bangalore Mirror, 'Is this the end of the road for the city's iconic markets?', we read that the government believes that a joint venture model will give the markets a facelift and help get higher revenues. I can't help thinking about who has been "designing" our Bazaars? I'm thinking of 'bazaars' as not just the market buildings, but the cluster of push cart vendors at the street corner, the street bazaars, the market precincts that sometimes spread over much…