1. location: ahmedabad, gujarat, india
type: urban planning
year: spring 2011
organization: ball state university studio 402
professor: nihal perera
abstract: CAP Asia, an immersive learning study abroad tour, took students to
Southeast Asia to learn from people, tradition, experience, and a different perspec-
tive. The semester consisted of 2 rigorous studio projects where students actively
participated in a planning and built project. Chharanagar, or City of Chharas, is
home to a wonderful group of people whom face immense discrimination. In
Chharanagar, I lead a team of three plus chhara translators to culturally immerse
ourselves by mapping the uncharted slum area. Our contributions resulted in
preserving the entire area from a planning scheme that was to displace more than
1,000 of the 5,000 homes of the 25,000 inhabitants. The chharas still live in
Chharanagar and continue rise against the stigmas and discrimination by entering
the workforce and colleges of their choice.
chharanagar
14. so
what?
the process of mapping was a great study of
current existing conditions and the play
between analog and digital inputs. what about
the quality of specific spaces such as roads?
how do you move through one of the most
dense pockets of urban areas in the India?
17. pro forma eradicated. compression
tension of existing road conditions formally
expressed to represent the ebb and flow of
Indian traffic: scooter, bicycle,
auto-rickshaw, and foot. The swells and
contractions of the cyan form express the
inherant nature of “open space.” Two
dimensional forma eradicated. Levels of
building complexity at the informal settlement
level must be expressed thee dimensionally
to successfully represent the complexity of
conditions and density. Imagine a manhat-
tan compressed in a five square mile area.
