Why Are We Designing Poorly For The Poor?
Indian Architect & Builder|April 2018

Prasoon Kumar is an urban planner and architect with over 10 years of international design experience with his work spanning Asia, United States, Africa and Australia. In 2013, he co-founded billionBricks, a non-profit design studio which innovates shelter solutions with a vision to end homelessness in the world. He leads multidisciplinary teams, engages with communities and stakeholders to provide for high quality shelters to the poorest communities, creating opportunities for them to emerge out of poverty. Since its founding, billionBricks has rehabilitated more than 4000 homeless through its work.

Shriti Das
Why Are We Designing Poorly For The Poor?

India’s GDP has increased from US$ 36.536 billion to US$ 2.264 trillion from 1960 to 2016. During this time-period, the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991 created added opportunities for private and foreign sectors. Yet, poverty and homelessness has only multiplied. The Millennial Development Goals in 2000 enlisted ‘eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015’ as the first goal. The big change is yet anticipated. The challenge of homelessness is multifaceted. Urban-rural migration, refugee crisis, displacements coupled with unemployment, poverty and low wages are the basis of the housing crisis that glares countries and governances in the face. The frameworks to address these entities are controlled by the larger stakeholders – the policy makers, financial institutes, politics, and land-laws and so on. The bottom-line remains that the poor cannot afford homes. This demand is immediate and glaring. A single organisation or body cannot resolve or even address these complex issues and agendas. If dependency on the larger frameworks were to be reduced or even eliminated entirely, can design strategies tackle the predicament objectively and tangibly?

This story is from the April 2018 edition of Indian Architect & Builder.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the April 2018 edition of Indian Architect & Builder.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM INDIAN ARCHITECT & BUILDERView All
Interlacing Perspectives
Indian Architect & Builder

Interlacing Perspectives

‘Meraki-2019’ A visionary Seminar series presented by Dr.Baliram Hiray College of Architecture, Bandra(East), Mumbai.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2019
Facilitating A Community Through Architectural Practice
Indian Architect & Builder

Facilitating A Community Through Architectural Practice

The humble, self-designed, self-built and organically planned home built by the majority of the world population rarely gets appreciated and critiqued as a viable lesson in architectural design.

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2019
The Art Of Solving Problems Creatively
Indian Architect & Builder

The Art Of Solving Problems Creatively

The practice of architecture is perhaps incomplete without the complement of a variety of other arts.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2019
Upcycling towards a playful tomorrow
Indian Architect & Builder

Upcycling towards a playful tomorrow

Play is like the middle child, often forgotten, and always taking a back seat. For young kids, play can simply be running around, armwrestling with friends, building sandcastles on the beach, or singing popular music tracks in the shower.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2019
Balancing The Poetics And Pragmatism Of Everyday Design
Indian Architect & Builder

Balancing The Poetics And Pragmatism Of Everyday Design

Humanity is faced with an oxymoronic crisis. The crisis involves the earth, the environment, impending looms of climate change, deforestation, loss of species, dwindling resources etc.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2019
Just Give Me Some Space: Discussions And Beyond
Indian Architect & Builder

Just Give Me Some Space: Discussions And Beyond

Just Give Me Some Space (JGMSS) is Suha Riyaz Khopatkar’s debut book that paints a portrait of the dynamic life of an architecture student.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 2019
The Next In Vernacular Architecture
Indian Architect & Builder

The Next In Vernacular Architecture

Architecture has become a capitalist.

time-read
5 mins  |
IAB October 2019
Rethinking The Future: Architecture And Its Education
Indian Architect & Builder

Rethinking The Future: Architecture And Its Education

“I want to be like animals, the bird makes a nest in one or two days, the rat digs a hole in a night, but intelligent humans like us spend 30 years to have a house, that’s wrong.” - Jon Jandai

time-read
10 mins  |
IAB October 2019
Uniting The Human-Scale With The City-Scale
Indian Architect & Builder

Uniting The Human-Scale With The City-Scale

London-based architect Usman Haque is famed for his interactive architectural systems, and for his exploration of newer, more effective ways of creating human engagement and interaction through his designs. Indian Architect & Builder caught up with him, to quiz him on a variety of topics such as his journey as an architect, his inspirations and philosophies, architects using the digital revolution to their advantage, and more!

time-read
6 mins  |
IAB October 2019
Framing spaces
Indian Architect & Builder

Framing spaces

Almost every architect also doubles as a photographer or at least an enthusiast.

time-read
5 mins  |
IAB October 2019