Does hearing the word ‘slum’ conjure up an image of shanty, dingy places with sub-standard (or worse) living conditions like inadequate water-supply and insufficient sanitation facilities? The land of the ‘urban-poor’, informal settlers in their informal income-generation means ‘struggling’ to survive in their informal settlements- the Slums.
In the late 20th century, the stigma regarding slums had developed them into a threat for the urban society and the best solution seemed to be their eradication. That met with a lot of retaliation and worsened the already existing condition as the slum-dwellers were left with no other option than to resettle, most likely in places with worse conditions for living. It was realized sometime later that slums are an innovative mix of residential and commercial urban-systems.
Even today, slums are considered as urban corners unfit for living, but now the efforts to ‘improve’ on them focus on a study and analysis of their formation and functioning, social inclusion strategies, and affordable development or redevelopment projects.
The following are 10 Architects/firms working on the redevelopment of slums:
1. Prasanna Desai Architects
The Pune based firm specializes in Interior, Architecture, Urban Design, and Landscape Planning. Getting recognition for their ideas regarding housing scheme for CIDCO as the best housing in India with the JK Architect of the Year Award in 1993, among others, encouraged the firm to undertake various slum-redevelopment projects in regions like Kothrud, Yerwada, and Bhubaneswar. Their project of Slum Upgradation in Pune, under BSUP-JNNURM, focuses on rehabilitation of the slum within the existing urban fabric.
To know more: http://prasannadesaiarchitects.com/
2. Urbz
Founded in 2008, Urbz is an ‘experimental’ action and research collective with offices in Mumbai, Bogotá, São Paulo, Geneva, and Seoul. They work with citizens, associations, private clients, and local governments to develop and work with participatory planning and design strategy.
To know more: http://www.urbz.net/
3. Norman Foster Foundation
In May 2018, Norman Foster Foundation was invited by the government of Odisha, and Tata Trusts to develop the master plans for slums under Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission. The team visited the three sites for developing models of in-situ and greenfield development through community consultation and participatory planning exercises to design the slum space into a holistic liveable habitat.
To know more: https://www.normanfosterfoundation.org/norman-foster-foundation-to-design-master-plan-for-slums-in-odisha/
4. mHS CITY LAB
Founded in 2009, mHS CITY LAB works to improve the quality of informally built urban housing with a human-centered design approach. Their portfolio includes socially inclusive cities designed and tested as feasible solutions for safer housing for informal settlements. They have worked on projects like Sunder Nagari slum redevelopment as a part of the Rajiv Awas Yojana in Delhi.
To know more: http://www.mhscitylab.org/
5. Urban Nouveau
In 2006, Urban Nouveau got involved in the design and construction of a school in the slum of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro. The participatory design and construction approach they undertook during that project paved the way for their current design strategy. In 2008, architects Filipe Balestra and Sara Goransson were invited by SPARC India to design an incremental housing strategy that could be implemented in multiple urban slums. The architects developed a strategy that allowed the district to improve organically without any demolition or rebuilding. The Pilot project was implemented in Pune.
To know more: https://un.se/work/incremental-housing-strategy/
6. PK Das and Associates
When the Mumbai Airport Redevelopment Project was announced, the next big task was to arrange for the rehabilitation of the slum dwellers who had squatted around the runways. The sheer scale of the project was comparable to a fully-fledged urban renewal scheme- almost 82000 slum families were to be rehabilitated. PK Das and Associates started the project in 2008, planning residential units of 269 sq.ft. The project met with some unfavorable circumstances in the way and is yet to be completed.
To know more: http://www.pkdas.com/index.php
7. Urban-Think Tank
Urban-Think Tank was founded in 1998, by American architect Alfredo Brillembourg and Australian architect Hubert Klumpner as an interdisciplinary design practice dedicated to research and design concerning architecture and urbanism. They have worked in global contexts in informal urban areas. With projects like Metro Cable and Torre David in their portfolio, they aim to create innovative solutions to the practical problems of informal settlements and urban poor.
To know more: http://u-tt.com/
8. Anangpur Building Centre
Founded in 1991 by Ar. Anil Laul, ABC has worked on many demonstration projects in slum areas of Delhi, applying modern structural solutions to develop affordable housing strategies. In 2003, ABC won the World Habitat Award for its Jaunapur Slum Resettlement Scheme. The project deals with integrating slum-resettlement with sustainability while tackling the issues of shortage of land and other amenities.
To know more: https://www.anangpur.org/
9. Shelter Associates
Shelter Associates is a Pune based agglomeration of architects, social workers, GIS analysts, and community workers from different parts of the world. Working with urban poor, elected representatives, government officials, and CSOs, they aim to generate inclusive, effective, scalable, and sustainable policies and projects.
To know more: http://www.shelter-associates.org/index.php
10. M M project consultants Pvt. Ltd.
Mukesh Mehta PCPL specializes in Slum Redevelopment, Rural Development, and Urban Renewal projects. They focus on the prospects of inclusive growth, poverty alleviation, and sustainable development. They have an experience of over 500,000 slum structures in different parts of India, including the Dharavi Redevelopment project of 2004.
To know more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mukesh-mehta-950452aa/?originalSubdomain=in
