Weaving our way through Zari workshops
In the third part of this series, we explored the elaborate process that goes into embroidery (locally known as zari work).
The Making of Leather Goods
In the second part of this series, we explore two leather workshops near the 90 feet road in Dharavi, to understand where and how all processes in the creation of leather products are carried out.
A day's work at Kumbharwada
In a new series, we re-explore the homegrown streets of Dharavi in search of local arts and crafts. First in the series- Dharavi's famous Kumbharwada
Multifunctional Buildings of Sangam Gully
Study of the multifunctionality of houses in Sangam Gully through visuals
Homegrown settlements of Cape Town
In this article, we travel to Cape Town in the western capes of South Africa. The homegrown settlements in Cape town have emerged from occupations of underutilized buildings and vacant lands in peripheries of the city. ‘Occupations’ in Cape Town act as points of contact and interaction between homegrown communities, grassroots housing movements, and the city’s planning institutions.
Basti of Karail
We continue across the border to Karail, a basti (neighbourhood) in Dhaka, Bangladesh to understand homegrown settlements and their formation.
Barrios of Bogota
More than a third of Bogota, the capital of Colombia, is estimated to be self-built by the inhabitants, mainly in the periphery of the city. In this article, we learn from Andrés Sánchez of urbz Colombia about the emerging forms of organisation and constant transformation in these self-built neighborhoods.
Why city planners need to add “recognition” to their lexicon
Neighbourhoods such as Paraisópolis in Sao Paulo, Cazuca in Bogota, or Dharavi in Mumbai are generically referred to as slums, even though they represent a more nuanced reality to their inhabitants. (The Hindu 20.07.19)
Learning from Tokyo
What the world’s largest city can teach us about local development (The Hindu 16.02.2019)
Weaving an urban fabric
How did we lose the thread of context-driven architecture and planning? (The Hindu 31/3/18)
50 houses 1 Territory | 50 CASAS 1 TERRITÓRIO
A record book of 20 houses built by the mason Ataide Caetite in the Paraisopolis favela, which reflects on how the economic and cultural dynamics are reflected in home construction and design.
Tool-House of the Future!
The "Tool-house for the Future" workshop explores the possibilities of reimagining cities from the point of view of live-work arrangements.
Homegrown cities
This experiment in affordable housing led to the co-designing and construction of a small house in Shivaji Nagar, in Govandi. A neighbourhood in Mumbai that is struggling against all odds to keep growing and improving.
Homegrown Things
We produced everyday-life objects based on the specific needs of residents and the skills available in the Shivaji Nagar area in Mumbai.
The Design Comes as We Build
urbz invited local builders from Dharavi to design the best possible house they could imagine. These designs were translated into physical models by artisans.
No Future
As part of the Future Architecture Platform, urbz was part of a series of exhibitions and lectures at the MAXXI in Rome, the House of Architecture in Graz, Oris House of Architecture in Zagreb and the Future of Architecture symposium in Ljubljana.