Design Studio, Sem 3
Institutions as houses of Memory: Matherpakadi, Mumbai Studio faculty: Anuj Daga, Mayuri Sisodia, Rupali Gupte, Samir Raut.External Reviewers: Samira Rathod, Quaid Doongerwala, Sameep Padora, Praveen Alva.
In 1534 when the King of Portugal distributed the Bombay Estates along with Mazagaon on tenure, Mazagaon was known for its salt pans, fishing village, rice fields and orchards. It had a small dock with some trading activity. There were sparse buildings and huts inhabited by kolis, kunbis, agris and bhandaris here. By 1550 Bombay was divided into seven villages including Mazagaon, which were subordinate to two kasbas or chief stations at which custom duties were levied. In 1665 when Bombay island was handed over to the British, the Portuguese declined to give Mazagaon, arguing that it was part of the Mahim island and not Bombay island. Around the 1670s, the Siddhis used Mazagaon to fight the Marathas. By 1758 the Estates were acquired by the collector of Bombay. The name Mahatar Pakhadi might have come from the possession of land by the Mahatars, a community of custom officers appointed by the collector to prevent fraud, alienation or destruction of East India Company’s land. By 1810 the land was converted for building activity. The fruit orchards in Mahatar Pakhady were developed around the tank. In 1769 the East India Company decided to build a new dock at Mazgaon for ships exceeding 300 tons. In the next two decades increase in shipping activity brought in a large influx of people from Salsette and Goa. Markets were built in Mazgaon to support this population.
In 1788 powder works were established in Mazgaon. This period also saw a large scale reclamation binding Mazgaon to Bombay island. The settlement of Mahatar pakhadi began grow enventually by 1872. By 1906 a major city road restricted the growth of the settlement and major industrial activity started developing around. With the Bhandardara reservoir the tank in Mahatar Pakhady became redundant and was filled up. With the outbreak of plague, an oratory was built on the site as a mark of thanksgiving. By 1915, Mahatar pakhady was restricted to a triangular plot, industrial activity with ware houses grew around, the harbor railway line was initiated and a disharmonious development in the form of a dispensary and gymnasium came up on the land generated by filling the tank.[1]
Currently Mahathar pakhadi is bounded by Mahathar Pakhadi road on one side, Chamsi Bhimji Marg on the second and Dr. Mascerenhas Rd. on the third. The houses in the neighbourhood are largely ground and one or two storied with large verandahs and staircases abutting narrow streets. The houses follow distinct typologies and every house is a unique variation of one of those typologies. The morphology shows a unique open space structure with small community spaces adjoining the houses. The streets are scaled such as to remain shaded throughout the day and allow a gentle breeze to blow through. The houses have skins that breathe and walls that thermally insulate the indoors from the harsh heat outside.
While the design typologies may seem to respond to empirical conditions of climate, site condition etc. there are several mythological references on the site that also seem to form its collective memory. Taking cues from these references, from the historical narratives of the site and from the everyday stories collected from the site, students collected memories associated with the site in a drawing. We looked at the sketch books of the likes of Aldo Rossi, Frieda Kahlo and others to see how collective memories are accrued in drawings. These associations then become conceptual devises to draw on, when developing new typologies on the site, at the same time responding to physical site, climatic conditions and aspects related to architectural programme and its behavioural logics.
A design project in the second year, third semester at SEA, delved into an investigation of ‘type’. While students learnt to discern various typologies on site, and studied various patterns that constituted these types, they invented new typologies as interventions in three sites in Matherpakadi for programmes such as a bakery, a Goan club and a dispensary cum gymnasium that were either dilapidated or incompatible recent additions that did not pay heed to the rich typological variations in Matherpakadi. Through these interventions students learnt how to retrofit, rebuild and insert sensitively into a historical context.
[1] “Mahatar Pakhadi, Conservation Guidelines for Mahatar Pakhady precinct”, a study conducted for MMR Heritage Conservation Society by Pankaj Koshi, August 2001
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