PUNE:A woman bathing her daughter every day in the open. Children playing on a footpath that is also their home. Snatches from the lives of the millions who live and thrive on the streets and slums of India. And now these moments are being closely watched and chronicled by nine students of architecture from the University of Florida.

Led by Prof Shivjit Sidhu of the UF School of Architecture they are here to “learn about urban Indian civilisation and for that we need to observe even the smallest details.We are studying what Pune was 20 years ago to what it is today. We want to notice its people, its culture and lifestyle and then imbibe all these important observations in our further studies and designs.’’

Sidhu leads this team of American students who have been in India since September 12 to study the way housing is coming up in various cities and understand historical documentation of different cities in the country in the 12th, 14th and 20th centuries. This is the first time that an American university has taken up an initiative like this in India. Usually they have restricted their studies to Europe.

In India, Pune was chosen apparently for its rapid transformation that, says Sidhu, has been faster and on a much more massive and compressed scale than any other city in the country. “The entire city is a construction site and we were very intrigued to learn how Pune would be 10 years from now. Moreover, the city’s social pattern has changed drastically and we thought it would be very interesting to explore Pune for future projects,’’ he adds.

Over the past month and a half, the team has been scouring the streets of Fergusson College Road, M G Road, Laxmi Road and the city’s malls and megastores. Explains Matthew Hill, a third year student: “We also wanted to see how the malls work in the city especially when they are not typically a part of the city’s character. What works here on the streets is different than what works inside the air conditioned confines of a mall.’’

Gustavo Bonet, a fourth year student adds, “We will apply these designs — right from the traditional Parsi or typically Maharashtrian ones to the modern-day malls — in our architectural designs.’’ Taking the point further Matt Demers, who is working on a PhD in urbanism says, “We are also trying to compare the drastic change in architecture on the IT-centric Senapti Bapat Road to that of the traditional M G Road or Fergusson College Road. These changes in the areas designs and architecture have been quite profound.’’ In order to document these changes and draw a comparison between two different cities in India, the students will also come out with a book that will serve like a complete travelogue with positive solutions and analysis on what could be done to have the architecture of a place better.

As for the “mall experience’’ and the roadside adventure, the students found a striking difference. Says Justin Smith, “Pune roads and galis provide an experience that is completely removed from the malls. Then when you visit M G Road, there is a fluid boundary, the environment is so internalised here. You need to go within the flow to experience the difference.’’ Little wonder then that the group is fascinated by the city’s street life that goes on, unhindered by the construction of a mall next door.

“There is this swanky mall on the one side and on the same street, you will notice so much going on — dogs chasing each other, a rickshaw wallah spitting on the side wall, children running helter-skelter — there is a classic intermingling of chaos in a seemingly modern setup,’’ adds Smith.

Other than Pune, the students will also be visiting Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Rajasthan, Guwahati and Kolkata. They will study the ancient architecture of these cities. Before coming to Pune, the students paid a two-day visit to Mumbai.

Their observations will hardly come as a surprise to Puneites. “Mumbai is cleaner; in Pune trash lies on every street. Pune has no master plan and although the rate of development is quite fast here, the infrastructure is just not equipped to support the massive-scale growth,’’ says fourth year student Rayna Toole.

Sangeeta Patel, a third year student and the only Indian in the group, voices her concern over the crumbling system. “The city is not ready for the influx of so many people. A classic example is during the Ganeshotsav, when devotees visit the city but most of them either camp on the streets or sidewalk,’’ observes Patel. The students have also met city-based architects, developers and local contractors to get their perspective on the planning and architecture of the city.

The project will also come in handy for the country’s planning authorities. The case studies prepared by students and the data collected during their stay here will be available for planning agencies like Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and other private developers.

“The students are trying to use one primary case study that would entail a project over a large urban area called the hybrid programmatic usage. This particular case study will have the cultural, residential and commercial details of an area. A comprehensive community project will be designed to show how a particular neighbourhood area works. We are also aiming at learning from the problematic areas in the Western architecture and imbibe it in our case study to make it error-free,’’ explains Sidhu.

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