Live report from Designyatra in Mumbai, Day #2
On the 2nd day of the Designyatra conference, students of the Mumbai architecture school KRWA take a group of tall white Dutch people into the biggest slum in Asia. Yes, it's an uneasy experience, and a marked contrast with the luxury of the Mumbai Marriott, venue of the Designyatra conference. But this is no tourist visit: the group has come to see the results of the work of the school in this area. The visit is followed by a presentation of new research and plans and a debate led by Ole Bouman, director of NAi, leading to an agenda for future collaboration between architecture professionals from India and the Netherlands.
Education-NGO collaboration
The KRWA school for architecture in Mumbai facilitates 35-40 students. Part of their curriculum consists of research into the reality of the city, in collaboration with local NGO's. The research culminates in plans for the redevelopment of the Dharavi slum, a huge area in the middle of Mumbai, that can be used as alternative proposals to the plans of project developers.
Work with the community
Within the framework of the SRA (Slum Rehabilitation Authority) the university opts for a community driven approach. "We want to work with the community", say the teachers. "No masterplanning but small scale, low maintenace design for a more humane environment, in which the density of now FSI 4 can be controlled by financial viablity through involving the community." What is added to the RSA-plan by project developer Mukesh Mehta in concreto is a set of rules, for example bringing the space in between buildings from 3 meters to 12 and limiting building height to a maximum of 7 floors.
Trust production
So how do we do that, work with the community? "Is there a financial structure for this collaboration?" asks Jos-Willem van Oorschot of VenhoevenCS. "These people have invested for 60 years in their environment, not only with money." People don't trust the architect far enough to give up their house for a new promise. "In India you can only trust women with money", says architect Shantanu Perodi. "To have a viable financial model you first need to organize savings groups with women." The initiative for this needs to come from the architect, if he wants to see his plans realised. Trust is the key to connect with the community and get plans built. Therefore a necessary skill for architects working in this field may be called trust production.
Designer in disguise
The count of 40 people in the room, amongst them many prominent Indian architects, shows the determination to engage with design through collaboration with the people as opposed to a slum rehabiltation model driven by builders. "If it takes a Dutch delegation to get the local architects together in one room, so be it," says architect Shantanu Poredi. "We have no voice in Indian building society, only 5% is built in collaboration with architects. We need to decide now if we want take this role as not only designers but as activists and entrepreneurs, and are willing to do it pro bono." Voice are raised and the discussion almost gets personal. Ole Bouman: "Redefine the paradigm of the discipline, be a designer in disguise."
IN-NL dialogue
So what can be shared between IN and NL on a more strategic level? For example, what can the Dutch learn from the Indian approach when addressing the 40 problem areas in the Netherlands appointed by the government? "Think about local strategies that can be translated globally," says Ole Bouman. "What can India offer the international architecture discipline?"
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[reported by Ingeborg van Lieshout and Christine de Baan]
Read the other reports from Mumbai here:
