Static & Kinetic City
“Today in our urban areas there exists two cities – the static and kinetic…the static city represented through its
architecture and by monuments built in permanent materials…and the kuttcha city, built of temporary
material; processions and festivals form its spectacle, and the very expression of the city is temporal in nature, in
constant flux.” -- Rahul Mehrotra
Call for Conservation
• Urban Design Research Institute: architects surveyed traffic patterns & land use
• largest concentration of contemporary art galleries in country
• Promoted as art district to drive process of restoration, though historically never considered one
The Initiative
•Kala Ghoda citizens’ association: 1998
•Annual arts festival: fundraising & awareness
•new signage, st. furniture and amenities, re-deployment of gardens, parking lots; renovation of major landmarks
Restoration of Elphinstone
-pollution & weathering deteriorated limestone
-1st citizen group to restore gov’t building
-State Ed. Dept, Public Works, & Kala Ghoda
-water misting
-Heritage Management