Bringing knowledge and skills from their villages, generations of Dharavi residents have pushed the slum outside of their homes, streets and neighbourhoods. Isn't it time we recognize and support their efforts? We compile and republish two texts originally published by New Village Press in New York and Strelka University Press in Moscow. 

This article presents the Koliwada in Dharavi through the evolution of its built and natural environment, tracing the Koli's fight for their land, how the community is leading the development of their neighbourhood and our role in it. 

A look into the collective intelligence of Khetwadi’s steel artisans.

In the third part of this series, we explored the elaborate process that goes into embroidery (locally known as zari work).

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.

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

Study of the multifunctionality of houses in Sangam Gully through visuals

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.

We continue across the border to Karail, a basti (neighbourhood) in Dhaka, Bangladesh to understand homegrown settlements and their formation. 

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.

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)

What the world’s largest city can teach us about local development (The Hindu 16.02.2019)

A comparative study of both contexts

How did we lose the thread of context-driven architecture and planning? (The Hindu 31/3/18)

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.

The "Tool-house for the Future" workshop explores the possibilities of reimagining cities from the point of view of live-work arrangements.