Running head: Existence by Invention and Experimentation 1

Existence by Invention and Experimentation or Evolution and Exploration?

Samvida Rai, r0688220

MSc Conservation of Monuments and Sites, RLICC, KU Leuven

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Existence by Invention and Experimentation or Evolution and Exploration?

Cities are breathing machines and are evolving constantly. These evolutions are because

of the material, social, economic and political activities which create them and the human side of

it all which causes repeated adaptation, intervention and eventually the reinvention of an urban

space (D. Hoffman, 2017). It is quite controversial to say that creating and occupying these

spaces is an “experimental process” and that too particularly in the cases seen from the Global

South. These thoughts are discussed by considering the creation, occupation of these spaces and

the gaps and links between their creation and occupation with a brief example from India to

further build upon the argument.

Urban spaces of the Modern world

Creation

As AM Simone says, “African cities remain preeminent locations for the expression of

national aspirations” is quite agreeable if the case of Monrovia or Freetown is considered. These

cities and their ruins are a result of the vision of the modern city and the modern African state.

Monrovia, a city where progressive social transformation was hoped to be achieved by a built

aesthetic and was a political decision to build the enormous, brutalist Ministry of Defense building

in the outskirts of the city in the 1980s even though the arrangements of housing and infrastructure

were largely informal and insufficient. But it was never completed. These actions of building were

considered to be nation and regime building strategies for most cities (D. Hoffman, 2017).

Colonizing nations of Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and England can be accounted for a lot of

the modernist buildings in Africa who invested along with the émigré families which wanted to

shift reserves from Europe. The kind of architecture seen is mainly because architects from these

nations moved to Africa, designed buildings out of the context and forming links for these sites
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with other centres in the world systems resulted in the destruction of connections that existed

within their context (H. Le Roux, 2005).

The primary idea here of achieving something multidimensional, development of the

city/nation in this case with a unidimensional approach of just constructing modern buildings is

defective which is quite evident from the present scenario. But as each action has a reaction, the

actions of building a modernist city gave rise to a different set of potentialities and led to the

creation and transformation of the city in a different way than expected. These unexpected

potentialities and constant evolution due to the material, social, economic, and political activities

have directed to the formation a space that is disordered and hanging by the thread.

KwaThema as a case gives a different perspective to the scenario as its creation was not a

result of aspirations, but because of political and social reasons (Apartheid). A designed low-

density community which even though has only one layer of creation, has had multiple layers of

transformations in the built and unbuilt spaces due to occupation.

Occupation

Cities never stand still, are dynamic and alive, function on the interweaved bodies, physical

and cultural materials which have an impact on regions far beyond municipal borders. But still the

image of African cities is dominated by a wide range of deficiencies (A.M. Simone, 2010). The city

life appears horizontal and more liquid than solid because of the constant flow of its poorest

residents from one space to another, as the situation seems fit. From modernist buildings as

barracks during wars to squatting in the modern ruins of the city, the different political, social and

economic activities have constantly influenced and transformed the way the urban spaces have

been occupied as much as their creation (D. Hoffman, 2017).

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Considering the case of KwaThema, a township that was constructed as a result of

Apartheid, the usage and occupation has always been influenced by design in a complex way. The

design has been like a catalyst provoking reflective process that supports the desire for

transformation leading to evolutionary processes of creating and occupying spaces and generating

future scenarios of richer and inclusive urban or community space, which was quite evident from

the cases of three front yards at KwaThema. All three of them were used differently because of the

way the house has been designed, occupied by people having different needs and approaches to

life which gives an unconscious freedom of evolving the space. Not only the spaces within the

premises of the living built spaces but even the planned open spaces. Lack of funds for

maintenance or not being fit for any other use like farming, a lot of the open spaces have returned

to their natural state but still have layered uses like pedestrian paths, for herds of goats and cattle

and soccer fields. This layering of uses is a kind of transformation of the site from a transcendent

to an animated space (H. Le Roux, 2014).

The creation and occupation of the spaces in an urban setting is a continuous, ever changing

process influenced by various activities, each of which gives rise to new conditions and makes the

residents adapt to them. Creation naturally leads to occupation but occupation in a transformative

way in return causes “creation” again, not a spatial creation but a transmuted space within a space.

Along with the creation of spaces, their occupation leads to several gaps and links in this system

of urban spaces, most of which are also dependent on desires and requirements and are a

consequence of adaptation to this transforming urban space.

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“Gaps” and Links

Even though the modern movement began to address the cities which seemed to be ill

equipped for industrialization and urbanization, “Yet today many of Monrovia’s youths inhabit

spaces that they refer to in Liberian English as Monrovia’s gaps: the ruins of public buildings,

urban beaches, cemeteries, alleyways, parking lots, or dump sites. These gaps are created by a

history of conflict, aging, and voluntary and involuntary neglect.” This is seen in the cases like

the Ducor Hotel and the Ministry building of the many, the way in which they were occupied by

men who fought in the war during the war and later on by their families as well until they were

forced to leave (D. Hoffman, 2017). Is it a gap within a “gap”? Therefore, the aim these days should

be shifted from building new to creating spaces within the already built to increase the usability

and liveability of these urban spaces. These “gaps” are widened as even a decade after the war,

the majority of the residents still don’t have a legal claim on the land they occupy (D. Hoffman,

2017). Reoccupying these “gaps” in a legal and efficient way would also be an advantage if the

sustainability and economic aspect is considered.

A link between creation and occupation of the spaces is observed because of the lack in

resources, political will and technical capacity which has led many Africans to link the livelihood

agendas and practices of individual households to a broader series of economic, cultural, and

religious activities. “Homes become workshops, workshops become associations, and associations

become components of interlinked production systems”, as A.M. Simone says and as Hannah Le

Roux found in her research in BunnaBet, Jeppe where the building in the inner city plays a critical

role in the transformation of an empty to a lived modernist space. Re-occupation of these buildings

have contributed in the physical, atmospheric, economic and social layers (H. Le Roux, 2014). The

basis of urbanization is the augmentation of relationships between people and things which
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increases the value by using things in more than one way and this is how a lot of African cities use

the infrastructure to fulfil the needs and requirements (A.M. Simone, 2010). “Urban residents must

continuously learn to live an urban existence”, says D. Hoffman and their way of multiplication

of relationships is a process of constant invention. What should the ones governing learn from this

continuous change? Partha Chatterjee’s Politics of the governed covers the aspect of how creative

possibilities are used to form kinship relations and to produce a new rhetoric of political demands

in West Bengal1, India by introducing mediators between the governed and those who govern.

Even this has drawbacks but it is the start of creating a difference in the idea of urban residents

and urban existence.

The gaps are a negative representation and don’t portray a positive image of the city but

the links of using the existing infrastructure to meet the needs and improve the quality of life is a

step forward, if not positive. But the problem lies in the fact that the gaps that have been inhabited

by the people of the city are not owned by them and even though they are squatting they don’t

have the right to have interlinked production systems there. Appropriate infrastructure is vital and

forcing them to move out will not solve the problem. The residents of these gaps should be given

equal rights but do they even have a right to the city? A need for retheorizing the cities is strongly

needed as the constant mismatches between funding streams and infrastructure development is

neither able to solve the issue nor speed up the process (A.M. Simone, 2010).

1
West Bengal is an Indian state located in Eastern India on the Bay of Bengal, it is bordered by
Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. The main ethnic group are the Bengalis, with
Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority.
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Case from India

Partha Chatterjee’s an equal right to the city is a good illustration to put forward a situation

similar to the one in Africa as it takes the case of Calcutta, the capital city of India when it was

under the British rule. At the time of colonization, Indians took their right to the city whenever

they were denied any by the British by forming their own parties and associations. They even

transformed the city for living in an “ethical way” which was in many ways different from the

traditional practices in the villages. Street culture was suppressed in the city to produce “high”

culture for the Bengali middle class. Here, the source of the transformation is the middle class of

the society which affected the lower classes that is a bit different than the other cases of Africa

considered. Although these activities happened during colonization in the early 20th century, they

are an example of how the urban space was transformed because of social, economic and political

activities. Sometime after the end of colonization during the partition2 of East Pakistan, there was

an influx of refugees in the state which led to refugee settlements and squatter settlements, the

people lived on illegally occupied land, used public transport for free, got electricity and water

supply as they were part of the urban population of the city and were part of the growth of informal

economy (Partha Chatterjee). This development again led to new means of evolution and changes.

As occupants of the city they used the facilities and amenities. But as refugees, how much right

did they have to the city?

2
When India gained independence in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines. The western part
went to the Dominion of India (and was named West Bengal), while the eastern part went to the Dominion of
Pakistan as a province called East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan in 1956). The latter became the independent
nation of Bangladesh in 1971 (I. Sirajul, 2015). In 1950 the Princely State of Cooch Behar merged with West Bengal
(S. Debnath, 2007). In 1955 the former French enclave of Chandannagar, which had passed into Indian control after
1950, was integrated into West Bengal; portions of Bihar were also subsequently merged with West Bengal. Both
West and East Bengal experienced large influxes of refugees during and after partition in 1947. Refugee resettlement
and related issues continued to play a significant role in the politics and socio-economic condition of the state (S.
Debnath, 2009).
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Drawing a parallel to the case in Monrovia, even though the people living in the gaps are

legal citizens of the country, does not owning legal space in the city make them have a lesser right

to the city? If a study of the land occupation laws is done for Liberia, it might give a better

perspective on how the rein-habitation of these structures can be done in a legal way.

Conclusion

Many buildings and spaces have interesting narratives after they become ruins and are part

of the “experimental” process. Personally, calling the creation and occupation of such spaces an

experimental process of repeated reinvention is not completely agreeable and is a little inhumane.

These can be seen as processes if considered in a purely academic setting. In reality, these are not

experiments. The people inhabiting these buildings are not laboratory specimens and the steps they

take are a result of the necessities and situations in life. They wouldn’t have inhabited these “gaps”

if they had a choice. It is the necessity and as “necessity is the mother of invention”, it leads to the

constant innovation by the occupants. Even though the residents of the urban areas continuously

learn and adapt to live in the ever-evolving urban spaces as there is no authentic way of living in

them, a lot of times there is no other possibility and the people have to make do with whatever is

on hand. These possibilities, potentialities and human creativity give the urban spaces its character.

A personal take on the statement would be that the material, social, economic, and political

activities of creating spaces and occupying them are explorative means, means of continuous

evolution.
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References

Chatterjee, P. (2006). An equal right to the city: Contests over cultural space in Calcutta. Current

Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa, 18(2), 166-184.

Chatterjee, P. (2011). Politics of the governed. Multitudes, 45(2), 174-182.

Debnath, S. (Ed.). (2007). Social and Political Tensions in North Bengal since 1947. Bengal, India: N.L.

Publishers.

Debnath, S. (Ed.). (2009). West Bengal in Doldrums. Bengal, India: N.L. Publishers.

Hoffman, D. (2007). The City as Barracks: Freetown, Monrovia and the organization of violence in

Postcolonial African cities. Cultural Anthropology, 22(3), 400-428.

Hoffman, D. (2017). Monrovia Modern: Urban Form and Political Imagination in Liberia. Durham,

USA: Duke University Press.

Le Roux, H. (2005). Foreign Parts. ArchiAfrika Conference Proceedings: Modern Architecture in East

Africa around Independence, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, July 24-29, 43-52.

Le Roux, H. (2014). Lived Modernism: When Architecture transforms. Unpublished Doctorate

Dissertation.

Parnell, S., & Robinson, J. (2012). (Re)Theorizing Cities from the Global South: Looking Beyond

Neoliberalism. Urban Geography, 33(4), 593-617.

Simone, A. M. (2010). The Social Infrastructure of City Life in Contemporary Africa. Discussion Paper

51, 5-22.

Sirajul, I. (n.d.). Partition of Bengal, 1947. Retrieved January 5, 2018, from

http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Partition_of_Bengal,_1947