As part of the artistic collective Samooha, we engaged with Van Alen Institute for a 3 day Design Charrettes exploring case studies that bring to the foreground the many issues facing Mumbai. Our focus was social life and civic activism in Mumbai’s informal settlements. We traveled to the north-eastern district of Mankhurd and focused on two settlements – one is a typical Mumbai slum settlement called Annabhau Sathenagar and the other a resettlement housing project called Lallubhai Compound.
We met with residents and activists for a walk through and had an interactive conversation led by members of Samooha, which includes architects, an anthropologist, Vyajayanthi Rao and activist, Santosh Thorat, from Sathenagar. Our aim was to focus on the needs of these communities and the ways in which architecture and culture can be leveraged to support critical conversations about social connectivity and infrastructure. The group then headed towards Studio Mumbai Architects wherein critical thoughts about architectural processes were discussed with Bijoy Jain. The event was followed by a workshop conducted at Studio Sunil Padwal wherein various professionals such as Sameep Padora, Rajeev Thakker engaged with the van Alen group and discussed the ideas of city infrastructure, policies, and strategies.
The following day was started with a series of work displayed by Studio POD. As a part of observing and experiencing the city’s infrastructure, the group took a ride in the Mumbai’s local train. The event was followed by an academic discussion at SEA wherein critical ideas of the student’s work was displayed. The group was then divided into three, for discussing their intervention strategies about the public space, social connectivity and public infrastructure of the city guided by the faculty of SEA.
The last day was summoned by photographer and social activist Rajesh Vora who previewed a guided tour of Versova for the group. The event was culminated by presentations of vivid ideas by the groups post which, The critics Rohan Shivkumar, Chief RERA reviewed them.
