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Submitted by Prabhu on Oct 11 2024
Citation

This is Not A Slum: the World can Learn from Dharavi, World Policy Journal, Vol XXXIII, N2, Duke University Press, Durham, June 2016

Publication Author
MATIAS ECHANOVE
RAHUL SRIVASTAVA
Publication Date
Jul 01 2016

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DISPLACEMENTS Philippe Calia will present two projects he has been developing in Mumbai since 2015. The first, If The House, is a collective but unfinished project that takes a collection of damaged and destroyed family photographs as a departure point to offer a reflection on memory and erasure in the city. The second, Heptanesia, is a personal project which attempts to practice the city and scrutinise its subconscious through walking and photographing. He will ponder how the notion of displacement links these two projects, and how they have informed his collaboration with urbz and engagement in the Homegrown Street Project in Sangam Gully, Dharavi. Philippe Calia (b. 1985, Paris) is a visual artist based in Bangalore who primarily uses photography, video and text to engage with poetics of time and memory. His work has received several awards and has been exhibited in institutions, galleries and festivals across Europe and Asia. In India, he is represented by TARQ (Mumbai). In parallel to his practice, Calia runs Art Objects, a creative studio specialised in the documentation of art and cultural projects. Slide 2 : Video Still, Nishani Rah Jaegi Apni_BIND (2016) Slide 3: Decisive Arrangement (with Mahek and Kalim)_from the Heptanesia series, Philippe Calia (2024) Slide 4: The Homegrown Street Project, Philippe Calia for urbz (2026) 📅 16th Oct · 7:00 p.m 📍 urbz, Room No.7, Pasco Patil Chawl, Dharavi Koliwada Free entry. See you there!
THE HOMEGROWN STREET EXHIBITION IS OPEN TODAY AT 6pm❗️❗️❗️ The URBZ Mumbai team has spent the last days putting the final licks of paint on the walls, and we are very excited to invite you to the Homegrown Street Exhibition! Come and see the culmination of a seven-year project celebrating the skills, knowledge and ingenuity of Dharavi’s local artisans and contractors. The exhibition brings together seventeen participatory-designed and handcrafted multimedia models made using leather, glass, steel, wood, brass, cane, embroidery and clay. There is lots to see! Don’t miss the special opportunity to visit the models in the very neighbourhood where they came to life. Eveyone is welcome ⭐️ LOCATION 📍 Dharavi Koli Jamat Preprimary School Off Bandra Sion Link Road, Dharavi Koliwada OPENING TIMES Wednesday 23 September ⏰ 6:00–8:00 PM Thursday 24 – Sunday 27 September ⏰ 10:00 AM–7:00 PM See you soon!
Join us to celebrate the talent and skills of local builders in Homegrown settlements! The Homegrown Street project showcases the ideas and design imagination of artisans and local contractors. It is a tribute to the unrecognised talent of local contractors and artisans in Dharavi, Mumbai. Homegrown Street has produced 17 hand-crafted multimedia models of tool-houses from Dharavi, made using leather, glass, steel, wood, brass, cane, embroidery and clay. 🗓️ Opening - Wed. 23rd Sept. 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Thur 24th Sept - Sun 27th Sept 10:00 - 7:00 pm 📍Dharavi Koli Jamat Preprimary School, Off Sion-Bandra Link Rd, Dharavi Koliwada, Mumbai
Urban Design and The Homegrown City Talk by Matias Echanove @columbiagsapp, New York, July 20th 2026 The vast majority of human habitat worldwide is built by inhabitants, local artisans, and microfirms. The Homegrown City does not sit at the margin of urban development — it is the norm, in poor and rich countries alike. That reality demands a rethinking of architecture, urban design, and planning. Across the world, a new generation of practitioners is working with collective intelligence and local initiatives, drawing on participatory methods and developing new digital tools. This lecture presents cases from India, Colombia, Japan, France, and Switzerland, and argues that radical urban transformation emerges from polycrisis. The pressures bearing down on cities today make homegrown urbanism not just viable, but necessary. #thehomegrowncity
“The true experts of urban life are the inhabitants themselves” We are proud to announce that The Homegrown City: Reclaiming the Metropolis for its Users by Matias Echanove & Rahul Srivastava was chosen from 81 submissions received from across the world for the 2026 Pattis Family Foundation Global Cities Book Award. It is featured on Metropolis - World Association of the Major Metropolises, list of 10 Books Worth Reading This Summer !!! Have you read #thehomegrowncity yet? Here is what acclaimed author Amitav Ghosh has to say about it: “The brilliance of The Homegrown City lies in its emphasis on a simple but rarely acknowledged truth: that the true experts of urban life are the inhabitants themselves—the local builders, artisans, and families who, through sheer ingenuity and collective agency, shape environments in ways that official planning often fails to imagine.” The book published by @versobooks book in January 2026 can be ordered in digital and paperback editions from Verso and all other online bookstores.