At the oratory Junction in Ranwar

this is the synth at the oratory in Ranwar. The Oratory is over 100 years old and it just celebrated its centenary in February 2010. more stories on the same soon.
for now enjoy the view!

What is an Oratory?:

In Christianity, an oratory is a room for prayer, from the Latin orare, to pray. In the Roman Catholic Church, an oratory is for all intents and purposes another word for what is commonly called a chapel. Oratory today means a private place of worship for a group or community which could be opened to the public at the discretion of the group's superior.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oratory_(worship) )

This Oratory is now maintained by the residents, it used to be a very common place of gathering. Only recently in february when it celebrated its centenary all the residents gathered around fro a good celebration. All the old residents started speaking and it went back in the passage of time to remember old times (as told to me by Mr. Damascene D'sylva). These kind of spaces have served as nodes of great nostalgia and reflects the living culture of the place.

More in view is the 170 year old house, The Trellis which is still maintained beautifully to its old glory. also in view is the AB estate, which once used to be the house of the Xavier'. The Xavier house was built in 1841 and used to be one of the most common ground for all the kids to play and loiter around. The Xavier's who were spinsters were very open to the kids and other people walking and walking out at any time. They lived for the community and contributed a lot. Now it is occupied by the AB estate a G+3/4 structure which has taken over the entire land and covered all the open area too. Also the AB estate has the biggest amount of land in Ranwar.

Other is the view of the streets and the main street that bring one person inside the village.

Have fun navigating.

At the junction after the Grotto

well heres the synth of the junction after the grotto..
In view will be the houses belonging to the Rodrigues, Mrs. Flananingan, and the Pareiras.

This junction is very interesting because it gives a great view of these houses, with a sneak preview of the Ranwar Square over the grotto.

These houses if maintained would look just stunning. Its going to be one way in which the old glory of a place like Ranwar can be brought back.

If we look at other villages like Shirely Rajan (Bandra) and Khotachiwadi (Girgaum), these houses have been reinterpreted to todays times and have been given a new look with something as simple as exterior facade paints. nothing more but just limestone mixed with color will not only give these walls a new life but also lets them breathe, specially in a whether like Mumbai.

But anyways coming back to these patterns in grills, these window styles, the verandah styles, the colors, they are similar all across these kind of villages everywhere in Mumbai. They are said to be Portuguese in style, but they are not..well maybe they have an influence, but they are very Indian in style and make and is a typical style of paddy cultivating villages around the Konkan line and the rest of Mumbai, wherever they are located.  It is popularly know as Vernacular Architecture style, but its a good example of Local style. These are ofcourse going in a time warp due their appearance today, but a little modification and these will look absolutely stunning.

Ranwar Square in Detail

This is the Ranwar Square in Detail, an amazing space with an age old cross in the centre and some amazing cottages in the periphery. What is to note is the details of the grill patters, balustrades, staircases, facades details and door and window patters. This is something very common as a visual language amongst the houses that belonged to the paddy cultivators even before the British stepped in India. Its a very common feature all along the Konkan line and even the other suburbs in Mumbai like Vasai, Malad, Andheri along with a few others left in Bandra. The space formation and the urban texture is found to be similar, this was a conclusion after visiting several other villages in Bandra, one set being the Shierly Rajan village near Carter road. 

All the visual elements along with the Architecture style is noted to be on a similar patterns.

now can we visualize ugly high rise constructions instead of these quaint cottages? 

These squares in olden times used to be used largely as community spaces for weddings and other religious ceremonies. It was also a hangout spot for the old and young to just sit around play street games and chit and chat. The extensions vertically were made later with additions in the family, it used to be a loft earlier to store paddy harvests. The square was also used to store the harvest. 

These cottages which age 100 years approx. are now in quite a dilapidated state, maybe waiting for its current owner to pass away and make way for a builder to tap and construct a building. Well, i am not against this, but the issues remains the style in which these builds are constructed. They steal away the pedestrian experience of scale and peace. The vehicular circulation has already done that to a great extent. 

As a solution what is thought is to have basic guidelines for the builders/architects to build on, that would maintain the scale, proportion and style of the place. Also it is for the residents as a tool to maintain their own residences. Recreating the space for the same community activities is also something that is to be looked at.

more street views coming soon! 

South Facade view of Waroda road, Bandra

South Facade view of Waroda road, which is the entrance to Ranwar from Hill road.
all the houses, shops in this series of photographs are in Ranwar.
Have fun playing with the synth.

will upload screen shots and the maps soon.

North Facade view of Waroda Road, Bandra

North Facade view of Waroda road, which is the entrance to Ranwar from Hill road.
all the houses, shops in this series of photographs are in Ranwar.
Have fun playing with the synth.

will upload screen shots and the maps soon.

Ranwar, up, down and sideways

wells heres a sneak preview of how could one view Ranwar.

have fun while playing with this..its just a vigorous attempt at photo documenting a tradition, culture, style that will be a past in maybe some time. it just aims at making everyone aware, including the residents of Ranwar and Bandra, what is the power of the space they live in!

please make sure you comment and put in suggestions..

more in this series coming soon

  

some screen shots that have been used in the map above for an easy navigation: