Inviting contractors from all over Mumbai to collaborate on designs for homes in Dharavi with residents, architects, and artisans.

The Sangam Gully Project collaborates with contractors from all over the city to further the vision and motive of ‘The Design Comes as We Build’ project.  urbz has been documenting communities, housing structures, and spatial interactions within Sangam Gully for more than a year now.  Sangam Gully is a narrow street in Dharavi that includes 16 houses that range in functionality from residences to workshops and toolhouses. To plan and develop such a diversified neighbourhood, a unique approach is required that would be conscious of the present and future needs of the residents. 

Contactors would reimagine the future of homes in Sangam Gully. Their designs would act as a realistic representation of the vision of the families or building owners. They will also be made into models by local artisans from Dharavi and presented to the neighbourhood. Many of the residents have confirmed that they wish to work with the designs produced.  

The project will play out in two phases; the first will be the selection of twenty contractors based on their motivation to participate and past experience. In the second phase, each participant will be assigned a house along with a briefing on the functions of the building and future requirements of the building owners. Since many of these contractors work directly on-site without the use of graphics and drawings,  our urbz team will be providing them with the technical support for designing. Their designs will then be visually expressed through models created by local artisans. The entire process will bring about an exchange of skills, innovative thinking, and a thorough understanding of the needs of Sangam Gully residents. 

The significance of this project is attached to its participatory and collaborative nature between residences or building owners, contractors, and artisans. In the setting of this project, local builders can go beyond their experiences by taking a different approach to their work. Urbz hopes to build on their intuition to produce constructive and valuable results in the context of homegrown settlements such as Sangam Gully. 

Please do recommend or connect us with contractors whom you know in your neighbourhood and could be potential collaborators on the project.