The architecture of the NYC Laundromat is a direct reflection of its resource abundant, labour deficient process. It requires space to ac- commodate a certain number of machines with identical dimensions and predictable behaviors. A rehabbed ground floor of a row house will do just fine. The Laundromat on Smith Street in Brooklyn is a typical example. Besides the overflow of glaring fluorescent light- ing from the large storefront window, there is very little that gives away the activities that occur inside. The interior contains two rows of machines with a centre aisle. Washing machines are towards the streetfront, while dryers occupy the back of the space. The floors, walls and ceiling are a ragtag composition of vinyl and acoustic tiles, in order to provide an economical and acoustically sound enclosure. The architecture of the New York Laundromat is, for the most part, fairly discreet. In both the Dhobi Ghat and the Smith Street Laundromat, space is generated not only by the physical form, dimensions, and organisa- tions of men and machines; it is also a direct result of varying degrees of access to water and energy. Because the Dhobi Ghat has to be a physically open space in order to function, it is possible for the aver- age passer-by to peer down on the space and witness the chaotic col- lection of people and clothes, wet and dry. The sound of laundrymen bellowing each other and the smell of dirty cloth and caustic soda
contribute to the public assault of one’s senses. The Ghat’s location next to the train line allows the activity of clothes-washing to be a landmark passed on the commute to and from work. In more ways than one, the Dhobi Ghat asserts itself onto its city. In fact, this kind of emphatic claim of urban space is typical of Bombay locals. When given scarce resources, countless Bombay residents take matters into their own hands. They claim the space of their city as their own, not just for washing and drying, but also for cooking, eating, sleeping, bathing, entertaining, defecating, urinating, and cremating. Bombay is a city of perpetual urban aggression — each individual carrying out in public what they cannot do in private. In New York, on the other hand, the introverted nature of the Smith Street Laundromat betrays its city’s tendency toward privatisation. The abundance of resources in New York affords a city that is luxu- rious enough to individualise almost everything, including access to a washer and dryer. Everyday mundane chores such as washing and drying clothes don’t require the effort they do in Bombay and are mostly kept out of the public realm. Why air dry outside when there is plenty of electricity to machine dry inside? In fact, it is so uncommon to see clothes hung out to dry in New York that on the rare occasion that it actually happens, it often induces outcries from neighbours. Hanging laundry in New York today is seen as a sign of a neighbour-
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