In January of 1995, the city had about 8,05,000 slum dwellings for over 4,000,000 dwellers (“Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, Maharashtra, India Public Private Partnership”, n.d.). This means an average of 5 people living in one ‘house’ which was about 100 sq. ft in floor area. The Government of Maharashtra in December 1995 established the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) in an attempt to provide secure housing for the urban poor living in the slums. The slums in the city started forming ‘co-operative societies’ as developers approached. The Apna Ghar Co-operative Housing Society, my home, in Andheri East was one of those. Before 2003, slum dwellings took most of the space on the land which originally belonged to the BMC and a couple of private owners. As the redevelopment of this slum commenced, the people from the part of the land on which the building was being constructed were relocated to transit camps while the other half stayed. The redeveloped housing encompassed 379 residences of 225 sq. ft carpet area each, accommodating all the dwellers that were there in the slums before. To determine the parameters through which one would be eligible to form a claim over an apartment was that those who were residing in the hut on or before 1.1.95 and had a name in the voter's list of or before 1.1.95 would be provided the housing.

As for me, I was born in the year 2004 - the year construction was completed and homes were provided so I have only heard stories about what it is like to live in those conditions. 

Having said that, the “Apartment” living that I grew up with in this setting brought my way experiences so spatially enriching that looking back at it I almost end up romanticizing them. This article is a personal attempt to look at the spatialities through the lens of personal experiences and observations made while growing up.

 What is it like to have 20 homes with families of at least 3 living on the same floor sharing a common passage?

 How do the neighbors become a neighborhood? 

 In a space where every home feels yours, how are people claiming their spaces in that one common passage they share?

Going in further to see how an apartment as a house works with its limited space and inexhaustible wants here, one can find numerous ways in which each person has retrofitted their homes to accommodate a little more than what was given. Speaking through examples of my own, the window in my house was broken down and extended outside a little more than the Chajjah given, with a low seating to allow more light while the wall around it was converted into storage. Another example would be that of one of the houses while redoing the interiors broke the kitchen and living room partition made out of brick and built a thick wood one which has an inner partition to it with openings from both - the kitchen and living room; side to provide for the lack of storage. These smaller moves are where I see architecture happening, on this scale, where for the people the design comes as a solution to make the most out of what they have rather than the aesthetics of it. 

When I look at this housing scheme standing on the outside, the system and programmes running throughout have slowly made this space almost city like, where services outside of the building systems like the vegetable lady and the machhi-wala coming to sell their goods to the people instead of them going or a general goods store running in one of the units is making it a self sufficient organization that is running under administered attention. What comes with it unfortunately are the ill-implemented building methodologies with respect to its scale, proportions and pure spatial environment it generates devoid of the people who make it breathe; often proving to be worrisome dwellings for the masses. And to study, resolve and generate through its learnings will remain a constant attempt. 

*The Drawings and photos used are all original and are made by the author