urbz was born in Dharavi, Mumbai. Our first event in the neighbourhood was a week-long "Urban Typhoon" workshop in 2008 with about 100 participants coming from Dharavi Koliwada, as well as other parts of Mumbai, India, and the world. We had been invited by the Koli community to imagine an alternative to the first Dharavi Redevelopment Project. The Kolis were asserting the status of their settlement as a village, which predate the British and Portuguese colonisation of Mumbai.
Our friend and mentor Bhau Korde helped us organize the workshop and mobilize the community. Bhau rose to prominence in Dharavi during the 1992-1993 Mumbai riots - when he and fellow Dharavi resident Waqar Khan advocated for Communal Harmony between all the religions and castes present in Dharavi. At the end of the workshop, Bhau told us that it was a great event, but that now we would all leave and they would stay and nothing would change. This is when we decided to stay and opened our first tiny office on Dharavi's MG Road.
We have always kept in touch with the Koli community, which is now exempted from the Dharavi Redevelopment Project. After we moved our office into Koliwada, we made friends with more residents and artisans, including contractors who build homes in Koliwada. We started working with a few of them, helping design small houses, chawls, and community halls.
This collection presents construction projects that we have been working on for the past 4 to 5 years in Dharavi Koliwada.
Dharavi Koliwada, Dharavi, Mumbai
Lying in the heart of Dharavi Koliwada, the Koli Jamat Building offers the opportunity of a community gathering space to the residents in the dense urban grain of Dharavi, that majorly lacks public open spaces.
Looking back at one of the redeveloped chawls in Dharavi, we share the experiences of the people living in a space where staying inside gives the experience of being on the outside - thanks to special features such as the building’s location, orientation, ventilation, and natural lighting.
The article reflects on the lifestyles and aspirations of the residents of Jairam Sheth Chawl, in Dharavi Koliwada, Mumbai, and recognizes the contradictions in the type of homes they aspire to inhabit and the experiences and relationships they want to take forward from their current homes.
The article unpacks the design of the Pasco Patil chawl to study the gradual shift in levels of privacy, to house both commercial and residential spaces inside one building.
Revisiting the recently redeveloped Vithal Bhaskar chawl (a traditional residential tenement) in Dharavi Koliwada, Mumbai, to examine the impact of changes on daily life.
These projects have been re-developed by the residents in collaboration with local contractors and the urbz team.
We are excited to be working on a new architectural project in Dharavi Koliwada. Our friend, collaborator, and contractor Joseph Koli, approached us to work on his latest project - the redevelopment of a chawl owned by brothers Vithal and Bhaskar Koli.
