Case Study 1: Mahalaxmi - Lali & Cats
Field Notes
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Kishor Bhai, a feeder in Mahalaxmi, travels on his scooter to purchase meat from the stalls set up near the fish market.
He starts feeding cats from the fish market, making his way till the WSD kennel gate.
There are go-downs across the fish market, where he first feeds the cats.
After passing the garbage dumps, public washroom and the canteen, feeding the animals along the way, he meets Lali.
Lali was a dog picked up from Lalbaug (5-7km. away) for sterilisation. After being discharged back to her space in Lalbaug, she figured her way back, and has settled in the space outside the kennel.
Kishor Bhai has made a ragged-looking space as a shelter for the animals in that area, his reason being that if it were a clinical, clean space, it would start getting occupied by the delinquents of the area, leaving no space for shelter for the animals.
Nodal Mapping
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Three moments across the entire site are considered.
Lali spends her mornings with the cats outside the kennel gate and the cats outside the canteen, picking on left overs or food dropped by people standing outside the canteen, or when Mayur reaches the kennel and feeds them.
Afternoons are generally spent under the cots of street dwellers in the lane. Kishor Bhai arrives on his scooter at 3pm or so, and Lali recognises the sound of his horn and approaches immediately to feast on the meat Kishor Bhai purchased.
Evenings, the streets are terribly busy and cacophonuous. Lali makes her way, first to the dustbin at the corner of the street, and then through the hoards of people to visit a couple of friends who reside outside a wine shop.
Notion Landscape
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All the activities are marked with nodes which represent Lali's notional understanding of the spaces and activities. They include the busy street bustling with humans (red), familiar persons and spaces, resting below parked cars, Kishor Bhai on his scooter, the cats she is friendly with who sit outside the canteen, (yellow), and spaces to procure food, being leftovers and food dropped outside the canteen, garbage dump at the corner of the street (green)
The simulation depicts the chaotic movement of humans on the busy street, and Kishor Bhai (as the yellow node) who moves across the site stopping along the way to feed.
Moment Articulation
At any given moment in the simulation, the notional landscape is devoid of zones having a 'feared' tone. Across the pattern, the dominant spaces are of an eating tone, resting tone and familiarity tones.
Thermal Comfort
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Hover on numbers to view an expanded view of select moments.
1. Parked vehicles provide additional thermal comfort. Majority of these vehicles have been abandoned.
2. The niche in the corrugated sheets where a few cats from the kennel rest outside. The space has been covered with a tarpaulin by Kishor Bhai for additional thermal comfort.
3. Cooler spots near the construction worker’s canteen where Kishor Bhai, the feeder, meets several cats.
4. The home opposite the kennel remains quite cool.
5. The street shop remains fairly cool.
6. The space near the garbage dump remains fairly cool.
7. The perpendicular street to the kennel’s street has constant blue patches owing to the high rise and the shop facades.
The site in Mahalaxmi, like the previous site, has bare minimum tree cover. There are a few cooler spots owing to the parked vehicles and the high rise being constructed in the neighbouring plot, but there are extremes in patches across the site.
The cooler spots include parked vehicles, street stalls with extended shading devices, shops with canopies and a few spots created by the high rise.
