"Looked into the streets - the glaring lights and the tall buildings - and there I conceived Metropolis" exclaimed the Austrian filmmaker Fritz Lang at the sight of New York. This visit inspired him while creating the sets and background for the radical movie Metropolis released in 1927. Taken right after World War I, the movie set in 2026 was heavily symbolic with German expressionism and it captured a projected socio-economic condition which was a direct result of the fears of the people at that time. The working class lived in subterranean spaces distraught with mundane labor while the affluent lived in skyscrapers and exotic terraced gardens and drove around in elevated highways. The city seemed to be this well-oiled machine existing only to cater to the needs of the upper class. The poor eventually try to overthrow the rich. The movie finally ends with the message of hope, that the mediator would create harmony among the classes and create peaceful coexistence.
The city of Mumbai in 2018 is in many ways - the Metropolis. When a city develops, it does not seem to cater to all sects of people. In fact, there seems to be a parallel relationship between the size of the city and its level of socio-economic disparity: the larger the city the less equal it tends to be. More often than not, the true soul of the city lies within that lower stratum of society who often live in slum-like settlements.
Can architecture play the Mediator and bring about a connect? / Master of Architecture / At the time of Indian Independence in 1947, Gandhi said that “India is to be found not in its few cities but in its 700,000 villages. Villages were self-sustaining units which were rich in culture and tradition. He believed that the revival of the villages and all its cottage industries, handicrafts and agriculture was India’s answer to development. However in 2018, there are only about 597,464 census villages . At this rate, within a few centuries, India would loose its identity and will look like every other country in the world. Anybody who could afford to travel. moved to the cities. Villages are constantly abandoned and some get engulfed or morphed into cities. Cities grow at such rapid rates with the latest building technologies usually ignoring the needs of the people its supposed to serve.
Is the city developed only for the rich and affluent? Can architecture support social inclusion and break down spatial segregation within a megacity? Can we capitalize on a city’s history and rich traditions without destroying them? Can a village survive a city?
My thesis attempts to answer some of these questions through case studies, research and finally applying some of these theories and concepts on to a project that involves the redevelopment of a fishing village in the heart of Mumbai, India.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/85014 |
| Date | 13 September 2018 |
| Creators | Dinoy, Ashvini Mary |
| Contributors | Architecture, Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C., Kelsch, Paul J., Emmons, Paul F., Morton, Elizabeth |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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