Designing (In)Constant Infrastructures
by Chaal.Chaal.Agency
Bhuj, Gujarat, India
Project details
Year
2024
Project year
2023
Project website
Location
Team credits
architects
- Chaal.Chaal.Agency -
Kruti Shah,
Sebastian Trujillo-Torres.
contributing partners
- Chaal.Chaal.Agency -
Neha Phadtare
- Homes in the City -
Aseem Mishra,
Jay Anjaria.
- Sheri Pheriya Sangathan -
Mammad Lakha
Bhuj is a city and the headquarters of the Kutch district in Gujarat, India. It is renowned for showcasing the region’s traditional craftsmanship, such as bandhani embroidery, Rogan art and leatherwork. Local artists from nearby villages display their work for sale at ‘Bhuj Haat’, located near Jubilee Ground.
This project delves into the complexities of Indian urban life by examining street vendors as ‘(In)Constant Infrastructures’. These vendors are essential systems of provision and exchange, embodying both flux and continuity. In collaboration with the Sathwara women of Bhuj, the team prototyped a range of urban street carts designed to enhance their interaction with the urban environment and improve resilience to climate and economic challenges.
These prototypes, named in Gujarati, serve distinct purposes: the Nano (small) is a movable piece of furniture that replaces head-carried pots and buckets, featuring compartments for clothing and utensils, alleviating physical strain, and providing a resting space; the Vachlo (medium) is an enhanced street cart with a steering system that reduces abdominal strain and offers shade and storage; and the Motto (large) is a reimagined metallic structure maximizing space with adjustable levels for garment display. While these prototypes do not provide absolute solutions, they offer innovative alternatives for micro-entrepreneurs and enhance local public spaces.
The project draws on the rich material cultures of the region, focusing on modular, adaptable designs that maximize resource efficiency. It also integrates knowledge dissemination and community education on ecological issues, empowering individuals to engage actively in sustainable practices.
CHAAL.CHAAL.AGENCY, led by Kruti Shah and Sebastian Trujillo-Torres, is a collective of architects and urbanists that employs research by design and design by building to reimagine the contexts of its surroundings. Operating between Mumbai and Bogotá, the agency focuses on Global South urbanism, aiming to trigger transformative change through small, impactful interventions.
Dedicated to fostering social engagement, CHAAL.CHAAL.AGENCY integrates diverse methodologies, prioritizing the identification of marginalized communities and collaborating with grassroots organizations. This approach helps bridge the communication gap between local leaders and residents, acknowledging the agency’s outsider status.
By acting as allies rather than saviours, the architects leverage their expertise to address pressing environmental issues while respecting community autonomy. Their initiatives focus on participatory management, involving community members in all stages of design and implementation.
The agency emphasizes the importance of collaboration across different scales, combining bottom-up and top-down approaches to ensure scalability and consistency while remaining sensitive to local contexts. Recognizing the complexities faced by these communities, it believes in the power of transitory solutions to ignite long-term change.
In doing so, the agency aims to connect global concerns with local realities, addressing both planetary challenges and specific contextual issues. By prioritizing incremental, resource-centred interventions over costly architectural solutions, the team promotes environmental sustainability and encourages community resilience.
Central to CHAAL.CHAAL.AGENCY’s philosophy is the concept of aesthetics as a ‘Trojan horse’ for introducing less conventional ideas. By leveraging beauty, the agency seeks to engage individuals who may initially resist deeper discussions on complex issues such as infrastructure and social inequality.
Through participatory design, the agency captures the essence of local knowledge while promoting inclusive and equitable solutions. The architects view their work as a continuous learning process, informed by the urban environments in which they operate, and emphasize that design should be a collaborative effort that reflects the aspirations and needs of marginalized communities.
‘Designing (In)Constant Infrastructures’ addresses complex socioeconomic and ecological challenges through frugal-innovative design interventions. Focused on marginalized street vendors, particularly women facing systemic disenfranchisement, the project seeks to amplify their voices and experiences, fostering self-empowerment and advocating for their representation within urban development narratives.
The prize money will be allocated to research the functionality, adaptability and impact of the prototypes on both users and the urban environment. This critical evaluation will inform the redesign and production of a new series of devices, specifically tailored to meet the unique needs and context of the Sathwara women.
- Information for the project text was provided by Chaal.Chaal.Agency -
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Advisory Committee Statement
‘Designing (In)Constant Infrastructures’ receives the award for Local Scale for the innovative way furniture design is created to have an urban impact. It improves the bazaar culture, which is part of the everyday life of women vendors in the streets of Indian cities. By formalizing these informal street activities, the project offers an alternative to large infrastructures such as malls. The project points out activities that usually are overlooked by architects, by making mobile units of different scales, that can be used in different adaptable ways. The project is an example of how we can learn from urban informality.