the black skyscraper / performative urbanism / shiro

at nariman point we rose from the basement where the water of the sea is let in to diffuse the pressure of the tides, where a printing press still works over weekends and where the massive machinery of the building creates a spectacular sculpture; to the ground floor from where large ramps rise up above the podium of parking and services, to the first floor lobbies with the riverine floor and weed like landscape of tiles on the walls; shooting through the middle floors with gardens and lawns that rise up into the black square tower and from where the trident that icon of the 26/11 rises and at the core of the building where few remnants of the original lobbies with the dark brown mosaic floor, the tile clad walls and that landscape like false ceiling still remain, to the roof sidestepping the spectacular apartment and burrowing through the service core that sits like a box on the tower full of service rooms and storages and at the end the roofless room at the top where pigeons perch on the skyline and views of the city spread out on all sides. it is like rising through trees in a forest into the sky.
and that was the day before.


















yesterday sophie wolfrum from munich spoke of ‘performative urbanism’ at the udri mumbai lounge and i found echoes of interest with bodies transcribing spaces and tools of mapping that emerge from subjective readings of the city. i was discussant and tried to ground the issues in the landscape of this city.

later at dinner, shiro is overdone oriental kitsch in a spectacular space. a high ceiling roof truss jam packed with buddha statues, red dangling lights and tassels.