Identity Crisis

I thought Landscape Architecture had a problem of not getting recognized or appreciated in the United States, after coming here I realize that it's not so bad at all. At least people know what it is. Here, only a few people know what Landscape Architecture is and even fewer actually know what we do. Most people think that we just like gardens and plants and such. If that was the case, I would have just gotten my two-year degree as a Landscape Designer and called it a day.

People can't seem to grasp that we can (and usually do) design on a macro scale. The professors here don't seem to understand why I don't care about a section of a wall or the intricate detail of a pattern on that wall. I mean.. yea it looks really neat, but I care more about why the wall are placed where they are, and what there purpose was/is.

So even though, we're still a long way from getting appreciated in the United States; there is at least hope.

Ghat Ki Guni

On Wednesday we went to Ghat Ki Guni which is a garden on the outskirts of Jaipur. It was very interesting for a few reasons. It was completely walled off and was only visible once inside the walls or on top of (which could only be accessed from inside). It created a kind of 'fake' world if you will, where the inside was very pristine and the outside was filled with poverty, burnt, and run-down buildings, and overall the 'normal' city. I don't like fake spaces; if I'm going to design something, I want it to reflect the location. Even the hillsides adjacent to the garden were walled off; which is unfortunate because that would have been a neat element to incorporate.




The style is based of the Mughal gardens which is nice and symmetrical... but very boring. I feel like I'm looking at the same gardens over and over again, no matter which place I go to. I want to see a design that reflects the local area, not the style from a completely different city. If I want to see the Mughal gardens, I will go to Delhi.

There is a very interesting irrigation and water retention system here and it seems so simple, but also very efficient. And then I look and see people water the garden with hoses, trying to get grass to grow in a desert and it cracks me up




There is also benches on the grass but no easy access to get there. In some instances, the edges are taller than the actual benches. Most of the edges are a good two feet higher than the grass so its tough for a short person like myself; and I'm not short in comparison to the general population in India. I hunted for those steps and they were never to be found.



Despite all that, it is a pretty garden and to most people its probably awesome.

The Streets: Where Life Happens

In the United States, our shopping centers and market stalls occur away from the streets and are usually buffered by a sizeable parking lot or side streets. In India, there is no such comfortable buffer between the streets and the markets. The markets are right on the street, and the parking lot is usually a little indent in the street or right in the street itself. Street vendors are truly on the street and it’s not unusual to see a blanket with bowls of vegetables nestled in between parked vehicles. Many of the shops have doorways less than 3 feet away from the street (and that’s only to accommodate for foot traffic.

Here it makes sense, when there is such a high volume of traffic all day long, being able to drive right next to the market stalls keeps traffic moving and the flow smooth. Many of the shops sell the same thing, and its not that there a few blocks apart or even a few stalls for that matter, their right next to each other. I went to the old city yesterday and there were five women all right next to each other selling the exact same food, all nestled in between cars on the street. Any time you look into one shop and by something, the adjacent store owners get upset that you didn’t buy the same thing from their store.



Because the shops are right next to the streets, there’s always movement. Nothing ever stops and traffic move quickly, if only to quickly walk away from all the shop owners trying to get you to go to their store. Groups meet and congregate in the small spaces where there is room. Goat herders stop to talk to the street vendors while their goats munch on some greens from pruned shrubs. School children congregate after school outside their respective schools. It would be easy to think that these heavily trafficked streets were merely cul-de-sacs in the suburbs of large cities in the United States.

A Road for Everyone

I’ve been in India for one week and the one aspect of Landscape Architecture that I’m fascinated by is the street system. The streets here are used by all walks of life. It’s a place where modernism meets traditionalism; where the slow and the fast all share the road; and it works.

The philosophies of street design are very contrasting. Back in the United States, the focus is on how to minimize interaction between the pedestrian traffic and the vehicular traffic. Here, it seems that there is little concern whether or not the two groups are segregated or not. I think one reason this is of little concern here is that the driving philosophies are also different. In the United States people are defensive drivers and always assuming that everyone around them is an idiot. Whereas in India people assume that everyone else knows what they are doing.

At first this system seems chaotic and very dangerous, but once you understand the driving styles it makes a lot of sense. In a city with such a high density, why re-design a road system that has designated areas for different types of traffic; when that same space can be used to incorporate all types of traffic and move people through the city more efficiently? People move within a hands length of each other, be it a motorcycle, auto-rickshaw, bike, or pedestrians; they all move right alongside each other. Lines are painted on the road, but I have never seen them used. People will just as easily drive right down the middle of the line as they would drive in between the lines.

Crossing the street is another aspect of the system to get used to. There are very few crosswalks and I have yet to see someone use them, and there are certainly no pedestrian lights at the intersections. The key to crossing the road: don’t hesitate, and trust the drivers. Which seems very contrary to what we’re taught but it must be remembered that the driving philosophy here is completely opposite of ours and what we’ve grown up with. It’s rare to see someone cross the entire street at once. Usually the street has to be crossed in increments, wait for one car and then move a few yards, stop and wait for another vehicle to pass and then move another few yards, and so on until you’ve crossed the streets. Even though I’ve found myself standing in the middle of the road facing a slew of oncoming traffic, I’m not bothered by it because I have to remember that I have to trust them just as they have to trust that I’m not going to move in front of them at the last minute.

Despite all of this, I feel just as safe walking along the road here, as I do walking along a sidewalk back in the states. I have seen cars, auto-rickshaws, traditional rickshaws, motorcycles, mopeds, bike, camels, carts, people, dogs, cows, and goats; all traveling along the roads.

Where Biker's Rule the Roost

There is no question that bikes are king of downtown Amsterdam. Never in my life have I seen such a high density of bikes. It truly is a sight to see, especially if you’re like me and grew up in the suburbs where cars are king of the road. There is no end to the bicycles that line the streets. With the road system as confusing as it is… I can see why biking is the preferred method of transportation. There is a lane specifically for bikes on nearly every road I’ve traversed since my arrival. Even the bike lanes are cleared off better than the pedestrian lanes. Some lanes are wide enough to have four bikes.

Since there are so many bikers, walking can be a treacherous task. Not only do you have to look both ways for cars, but bikes also. They do not stop for anybody or anything; most pedestrians seem to follow this ‘rule,’ even at crosswalks. There are three different sets of stoplights within the downtown area; lights for Cars, Bikes, and Pedestrians. Bikes and pedestrians are segregated at all intersections of main roads. At the Train Station in Downtown Amsterdam; there is a three story parking garage for bikes; only bikes, and from there they spill onto the sidewalks and streets. Bikes are everywhere; there is no end to the vast amount of bikes. Plazas are wide open with few obstacles to account for all the pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Even in the parks, the main path is for bicycle use only. The pedestrian walkways are on either side and seem to be a glorified cow path. Whether or not there is a hard surface underneath the packed snow is unknown. It doesn’t seem to matter what time of day it is, people are riding bikes and traveling all the time and the traffic never seems to die down.