Pecha Kucha 1: Renewals of Place

The identity of a community is highly dependent upon cultural values and traditions. These values and traditions feed directly into the decisions and actions of the people within a community. Who we are as people and as a community or culture assists in forming our perceptions and making our decisions in life. Many of these cultural identities are very specific, and often their differences cause them to live away from mainstream society. This study specifically targets the communities that inhabit the hollows of Fayette County, West Virginia.

This presentation explores the response of residents in Peckham, an inner city London community, to the riots that took place in August 2011. On a boarded up shop window they created the ‘Peacewall’ - a mass of post-it notes declaring the nature of their relationships with to Peckham. The Peacewall became a national icon of post-riot renewal.

Mumbai is described as the city that never sleeps. Life is about strife, change, getting ahead, adapting to the city’s rhythms. People catch their daily overcrowded trains and buses to work through the heavy downpour of the monsoon, through terrorist attacks, and taxi strikes. Amidst this is a city being rebuilt. Mumbai is one of the most expensive real-estate markets in the world. We explore different aspects of Mumbai’s rebuilding through by juxtaposing the old buildings with new swanky highrises, slum relocation and subsidized homes. We examine Mumbai’s underbelly - who really benefits?