Email
Print
ShareA group of 35 people from Mumbai and other cities in the country, the US, Japan and Germany came together to study the heritage structures and bazaars in the city. They came together at the Urbz Mashup, a four-day workshop organised by Urbz, a group that aims at facilitating exchange of ideas and information towards better urban planning and development.
The participants, comprising mainly of architects, designers and photographers, visited Chor Bazaar, Nal Bazaar, Crawford Market, Bhuleshwar and other places for three days studying the heritage structures and the bazaars and also the life of the people there.
On Sunday, they presented their findings and ideas in the form of audio-visuals, sketches and presentations. "Many a time, some ideas of re-development or restructuring emerge that are very interesting," said Rahul Srivastava, organiser, Urbz Mashup.
The participants, who met at the JJ School of Architecture on October 29, had a two-hour discussion before taking off for their destinations. Stephanie Carlisle, a graduate of architecture, who studied the flyovers of the city, said, "When you look at a map of the city, you can only see the flyovers, but there is so much activity going on below it which is not visible."
Her group's presentation looked at the different ways the spaces below the flyovers could be used. Varsha Deshikar, 23, a student of fine arts from Bangalore, came for the workshop to understand the fast changing dynamics of a city.
Geeta Mehta, founder member, Urbz group, said, "A group that studied the Chor Bazaar looked at why certain streets have a very sparse woman population. Another studied the heritage value of Edward Talkies. The group that studied the Crawford Market looked at the architectural importance and how the area could be improved without necessarily redeveloping it completely."
