traffic hq . phoenix

saurabh and me went to the traffic department hq at worli today to show the man in charge the dadar proposal. naturally with one way systems and no parking zones and entire streets being pedestrianized their approval is most necessary. the guy we spoke to had 6 telephone including 3 mobiles that kept ringing throughout our conversation with him and on one side of him was hindi breaking news on a computer monitor as live feed. the room was on the 6^th floor on one side of the dingy typical doubly loaded corridor with a super view of the ocean and the unbelievably unimaginative four storey housing blocks that are the staple diet of the pwd. the meeting went off all right but we have to take him to the site one evening.

looking out from the traffic department hq

later at phoenix while waiting for mukul to turn up we hung around in the courtyard turned parking lot on weirdly colored benches and took in what has become the symbol for the violently transforming landscape of the city. mill lands into malls. chimneys, industrial sheds have been made cute by graffiti and glossy by a veneer of aluminum composite panel cladding. except that you don’t bother covering the entire building except what is considered the ‘front’ in a cartographic drawing. old arches and brickwork still peek through. now they are building a huge parking structure that looms ominously over the courtyard. this i think they will clad with glass. this patchwork of materials, colors, sizes and shapes is the form of the new city right now. venturi would be pleased – maybe (?).

it was drizzling gently as we talked.

phoenix