Articles by Kiran Keswani

It is really the small changes, the ones that you see everyday, but don’t quite remember seeing, that seem to change a Street. As one street changes from being a quiet street to being a busy street, somewhere else another street begins its transformation. Every changing street changes its neighbourhood, and every changing neighbourhood changes the city. The small changes are seen everywhere, in almost every city in India. In Bangalore, it’s the Adiga’s lane off Bannerghatta road, in Mumbai, it’s the Hill road in Bandra - streets that are “not the same anymore”. Here, in Bangalore, we have been…

It is really the small changes, the ones that you see everyday, but don’t quite remember seeing, that seem to change a Street. As one street changes from being a quiet street to being a busy street, somewhere else another street begins its transformation. Every changing street changes its neighbourhood, and every changing neighbourhood changes the city. The small changes are seen everywhere, in almost every city in India. In Bangalore, it’s the Adiga’s lane off Bannerghatta road, in Mumbai, it’s the Hill road in Bandra - streets that are “not the same anymore”. Here, in Bangalore, we have been…

In India, as in other emerging economies, 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 of the city in a random manner. The formal plan of the city finds it difficult to account for these everyday practices due to their changing nature and because they have not been sufficiently documented or analysed. To understand this phenomenon, a series of workshops with architecture students comprising of both conceptual…

In India, as in other emerging economies, 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 of the city in a random manner. The formal plan of the city finds it difficult to account for these everyday practices due to their changing nature and because they have not been sufficiently documented or analysed. To understand this phenomenon, a series of workshops with architecture students comprising of both conceptual…

In the past, people lived in small, isolated communities where artisans and farmers bartered goods and services among themselves. Distribution was limited to how far people could walk, and advertising to how loud they could shout. Today, things are different. Our ways of communicating have taken new forms. As you go through the City, you see advertisements painted on walls, posters of election campaigns, hoardings that hide heritage buildings or that become facades of contemporary buildings. The city has become our canvas for communication. Signages, messages and markers We could categorise these ways of communication into Signage, Messages and Markers.…

In the past, people lived in small, isolated communities where artisans and farmers bartered goods and services among themselves. Distribution was limited to how far people could walk, and advertising to how loud they could shout. Today, things are different. Our ways of communicating have taken new forms. As you go through the City, you see advertisements painted on walls, posters of election campaigns, hoardings that hide heritage buildings or that become facades of contemporary buildings. The city has become our canvas for communication. Signages, messages and markers We could categorise these ways of communication into Signage, Messages and Markers.…

In the past, the making of urban form in an Indian city like Bangalore was an outcome of the spontaneous growth of a settlement. The city had winding streets that were primarily for people and not for the automobile. There has been a tremendous change in the economic life of the city and in the present times the experience of the city lies in its high-rise buildings, its flyovers and its high speed traffic. Every piece of architecture in the city strives for its own individuality and its own identity. Today, a street is defined by high compound walls that…

In the past, the making of urban form in an Indian city like Bangalore was an outcome of the spontaneous growth of a settlement. The city had winding streets that were primarily for people and not for the automobile. There has been a tremendous change in the economic life of the city and in the present times the experience of the city lies in its high-rise buildings, its flyovers and its high speed traffic. Every piece of architecture in the city strives for its own individuality and its own identity. Today, a street is defined by high compound walls that…