Abstract:-
In this talk, the long trajectory of concerns around climate, ventilation, and pollution in Indian cities will be traced. It will be suggested that urban air is usefully thought of as a ‘condition’ marked by varying degrees of risk through a gathering of different materials and their interactions over time. Given the circulation of air, its spatial boundaries are not easily demarcated. Therefore, air at different scales will be discussed – as the breath of individual bodies, the circulation of air within homes and on streets, the clean and polluted air of cities, and aerial matters as regional and planetary concerns. Attention will be drawn to energy use, architecture, comfort, and health-seeking practices as these have shaped our thinking about and response to urban air.