Our documentary film was first shown as part of an exhibition & seminar ‘What makes India urban?’ at AEDES Am Pfefferberg, Berlin, a gallery that focuses on architecture.

In less than two decades, the rural landscape of Gurgaon has taken on an urban identity. Yet, without a shared vocabulary for spaces, zebra crossings are “peopled” by buffaloes and busy mall roads have “herds” of shoppers making suicidal attempts to criss-cross a sea of racing vehicles.

In Gurgaon’s patchy landscape of high-rise apartments, glass-and-steel office buildings, and glitzy malls on the one hand, and village clusters, slum sprawls, buffaloes and cows on the other, the old and the new are reinventing old spaces, and creating new spaces that often exclude more than they include. This audio-visual documentary explores the ongoing negotiation of space and meaning in a rapidly urbanizing semi-rural environment in India.

Scroll down to watch the video

IMG_4251-m.jpg
IMG_2812-m.jpg
IMG_3566-m.jpg
IMG_3403-m.jpg
IMG_4351-m.jpg
IMG_2505-m.jpg
IMG_2724-m.jpg
IMG_4271-m.jpg
IMG_4313-m.jpg
IMG_2728_hdr-m.jpg
IMG_4055-m.jpg
IMG_2388-m.jpg
IMG_2605-m.jpg
IMG_3610-m.jpg
IMG_2764_hdr-m.jpg
IMG_2751-m.jpg
IMG_2264-m.jpg
IMG_2574-m.jpg
IMG_2550-m.jpg
IMG_2629-m.jpg
IMG_2776_hdr-m.jpg
IMG_3261-m.jpg
IMG_2577-m.jpg
IMG_3842-m.jpg

First published on May 4, 2011
#photography, #photo-features, #featured#urbanization, #what makes india urban