The Global StudioIn the Summer of 2007 the opportunity to participate in an International Studio comprising 27 nations of world came and I was lucky enough to grab it. The studio organized by Universities of Sydney, Columbia (New York) and Rome at Johannesburg focused on one of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, the Urban Poor. With Soccer World Cup approaching in 2010, the country has suddenly accepted harsh urbanism in order to make it more global or “world-class”. Inequitable development including the contradictions and counterforces at ground level are the hindrances in the true development process. The resources are limited and demands are high. With this basic understanding, the Global Studio aims at “building capacity” through a participatory approach. There were several projects carried out by 84 students of architecture and allied fields, the one very basic and parallel is elaborated here. Our Group’s Project was based on networking of existing Heritage structures and hence proposing a “Heritage Walk”. The community was involved at the input level in design and at a larger level of its operational feasibility. Overall, this heritage walk was seen as a tool for generating finances, hence improving the yard conditions and the LIFE.
GS link: http://theglobalstudio.com/saurabh-tewari/ Shooting Jozi link: http://www.shootingjozi.net/ |