Arul Paul I

1543-A

The project focus on a key junction in Asarwa, Ahmedabad, re-imagining the AMC’s model for in-situ slum rehabilitation, and the creation of urban commons, by and for, the local Patani Vaghari community.

The ‘Patani’ Vaghari community is a scheduled caste/tribe and considered untouchable/unclean by most of the city’s dwellers. They are regarded with distrust and ill regard. Can architecture and urban design change the way people view an entire community? Can it give the Vaghari community an opportunity to earn the trust and regard of its neighbours? It is these complex and vital social, political and economic issues that this project aims to understand. 

The new model put forward by the AMC, as seen in the Devipujak Co-operative Housing Society project, has been widely touted as a successful solution to the problems faced in slum rehabilitation. The idea that even squatter settlements can be redeveloped and privatized, is a byproduct of a state policy which aims to make Gujarat ‘slum-free’. This approach begs the question, ‘is it alright to privatize land that belongs to the public realm?’ 

This project works within the purview of the existing policy and imagines a future where all the slums in the area are turned into these residential towers. Is shelter all that these people need to survive? Along with the ‘slum-free’ rhetoric, there is a worrying trend that tries to sanitize these neighborhoods by removing all elements of the informal, especially those involving street vendors. 

Is there a better, more holistic way to address these problems? Can redevelopment address issues of livelihood as well as shelter? Can the left-over spaces i.e. ‘the void’ be used for the common good of the community? 

Credits: 
1. Waste Disposal Map, Page 04 - Saman Quraishi, Mapping Group 8 
 2. Access Map, Page 10 - Siddharth Bansal, Mapping Group 8 
 3. Retrofitting the Existing, Page 11 - Chaitali Patil, Nishali Ranganathan, Arul Paul 
Photographs in this presentation have been taken by students in the Foundation Studio ‘17. 
 *Some images have been sourced from the internet.