The State of Architecture: Practices and Processes in India

In the Name of Housing was installed to coincide with the The State of Architecture: Practices and Processes in India held at the NGMA, Mumbai, between 6 January and 20 March 2016 under the aegis of the Urban Design Research Institute. The State of Architecture supported a constellation of other smaller-scale thematic exhibitions during the same time frame and of which In the Name of Housing, which focused on one of Mumbai’s perennial and most daunting questions, was a significant show. It added interestingly to the many research projects, books, and studies that have attempted to document, analyse, and represent the robust examples of different housing typologies in the city.

Along with the documentary drawings and photographs, sPare developed a series of analytical models, to understand issues of space organisation and infrastructure in residential building typologies they studied. This documentation is particularly pertinent today given the critical need to address the issue of housing in India. Since this subject is of immense interest to professionals and students alike, it is important to present these issues through an exhibition and a publication. The cases studied here range from residential typologies in Mumbai like the chawls (originally workers’ housing that have morphed into vibrant communities) to more hybrid examples such as the Swadeshi Market, which demonstrates an interesting multi use building. These Mumbai typologies challenge architects, planners and designers to test their imagination in thinking about affordable housing.

The research was used as a tool to inform investigation towards designing a mass housing project for which they were commissioned. Based on the readings of previously conducted research on housing and housing typologies in Mumbai, the research was developed along with a set of measured drawings of many case studies germane to the subject. The research represented examples that ensured that the publication could function as a handbook for academics as well as practitioners: designers could use it to compare and discern efficiencies and various ratios which can inform the process of other design exercises.

The book is available for order on Amazon.