Articles by Kiran Keswani

Placemaking is an approach to the design and management of public spaces that draws upon the strengths and aspirations of the local community. Whereas ‘space’ is a physical entity, a ‘place’ is imbued with memories and evolves as people interact with each other socially and culturally in the public realm. It is a term that Architects and Urban Planners in the western countries began to use in the 1970s to describe the process of creating parks, plazas and streets that could attract people. In India, the street was already a vibrant place with a family celebrating a wedding; the temple deities…

Placemaking is an approach to the design and management of public spaces that draws upon the strengths and aspirations of the local community. Whereas ‘space’ is a physical entity, a ‘place’ is imbued with memories and evolves as people interact with each other socially and culturally in the public realm. It is a term that Architects and Urban Planners in the western countries began to use in the 1970s to describe the process of creating parks, plazas and streets that could attract people. In India, the street was already a vibrant place with a family celebrating a wedding; the temple deities…

One thing led to another. I was looking for feedback on sketches of the street life at Russell market and that led to the suggestion: “Why don’t you try meeting Mr.Zaffar Sait? He has been an old resident of the neighbourhood” So, that’s what I did and then couldn’t help but turn it into a post just so that others would have the chance to listen to this story as well. So, here is the account of life in Bangalore in the 50’s as narrated by Mr.Zaffar Sait, who belongs to one of the most well-respected mercantile families of the…

One thing led to another. I was looking for feedback on sketches of the street life at Russell market and that led to the suggestion: “Why don’t you try meeting Mr.Zaffar Sait? He has been an old resident of the neighbourhood” So, that’s what I did and then couldn’t help but turn it into a post just so that others would have the chance to listen to this story as well. So, here is the account of life in Bangalore in the 50’s as narrated by Mr.Zaffar Sait, who belongs to one of the most well-respected mercantile families of the…

An INTACH walk took some of us to Avenue road last Saturday with Lathasshree KS, an archaeologist who unearthed for us the Avenue road of old times. We saw that morning a beautiful past that had been preserved for centuries, low-relief deities in the ground or a nandi that was partly submerged. One step at a time, we moved from the contemporary urban chaos to the ancient serene landscape of shrines, snake stones and peepul trees. The axial symmetry of Chikpete If we look at the map of the fort or Pettah area, there are two axes – the N-S…

An INTACH walk took some of us to Avenue road last Saturday with Lathasshree KS, an archaeologist who unearthed for us the Avenue road of old times. We saw that morning a beautiful past that had been preserved for centuries, low-relief deities in the ground or a nandi that was partly submerged. One step at a time, we moved from the contemporary urban chaos to the ancient serene landscape of shrines, snake stones and peepul trees. The axial symmetry of Chikpete If we look at the map of the fort or Pettah area, there are two axes – the N-S…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUwxV7_pYyE&feature=youtu.be The film was taken in 2010 and the background music is a recording I made from the loudspeakers that played on Bull temple road during the Kadlekai Parishe (Groundnut fair) that same year. The purpose of the film had been a simple one - to record how people use space on an everyday basis. It was a time when the street vendors had not yet been evicted. That happened in Jan 2012. The reason cited by the government for the eviction was that the gandhi bazaar main road was becoming very congested. But, was this the only solution? In…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUwxV7_pYyE&feature=youtu.be The film was taken in 2010 and the background music is a recording I made from the loudspeakers that played on Bull temple road during the Kadlekai Parishe (Groundnut fair) that same year. The purpose of the film had been a simple one - to record how people use space on an everyday basis. It was a time when the street vendors had not yet been evicted. That happened in Jan 2012. The reason cited by the government for the eviction was that the gandhi bazaar main road was becoming very congested. But, was this the only solution? In…

In his book, ‘Sidewalk’, Mitchell Duneier describes the lives of people who “work the street”, the book vendors, the magazine vendors and the ‘men without accounts’ who guard the door to the ATMs on Sixth Avenue in New York. It is an intensive ethnographical study of the social structure of street life in the city. As I read the book, I’m reminded of my interactions until now with the street vendors outside Russell market in Bangalore. They also “work the street” some becoming entrepreneurs out of necessity and others by choice, in many ways living the same lives as the…

In his book, ‘Sidewalk’, Mitchell Duneier describes the lives of people who “work the street”, the book vendors, the magazine vendors and the ‘men without accounts’ who guard the door to the ATMs on Sixth Avenue in New York. It is an intensive ethnographical study of the social structure of street life in the city. As I read the book, I’m reminded of my interactions until now with the street vendors outside Russell market in Bangalore. They also “work the street” some becoming entrepreneurs out of necessity and others by choice, in many ways living the same lives as the…