The Handstorm workshop brought together various actors from all around the world to build things that could improve the neighbourhood based on discussions with residents and with the help of local artisans

The coming together of speculation-driven real estate development and the idea of “public space” has produced weird urban species.

Exploring the visual anatomy of Dharavi's fishing village

Based on a multi-year research with the Mobile Lives Forum on the linkages between Mumbai and Konkan villages this essay, first published in the magazine FuturArc, describes an Indian model of urbanization.

More than a third of Bogota, the capital of Colombia, is estimated to be self-built by the inhabitants, mainly in the periphery of the city. In this article, we learn from Andrés Sánchez of urbz Colombia about the emerging forms of organisation and constant transformation in these self-built neighborhoods.

Pushpa has been living in Dharavi since she was born. Our day starts with her bright smile as she sells pulses right outside the urbz office. We recently had a little chat with her.

On May 9 - 10 urbz brought together collectives and institutions in Cali, Colombia. This is part of a 6 months project to develop a system to promote locally driven initiatives. 

Handstorming is the alter-ego of its more cerebral version and geared towards a collective hands-on experience that makes and constructs in real time and space. It was the main mode of operation in our workshop with NYU AD students and produced some impressive and practical tools and objects.

Architecture academics makes it difficult for the student to understand the practicality of the profession. This hands-on approach was taken by urbz and the team so that the students could understand the depth of it.

Since 2016, students of the Engineers for Social Impact studio at NYU AD (New York University's campus in Abu Dhabi) have spent one week handstorming in Dharavi, Mumbai. The idea is to research, observe, ideate and handstorm during the week-long workshop, the learning of which are further researched and developed in the studio upon their return to Abu Dhabi. These annual Handstorm workshops in Dharavi generate incremental innovations that improve the quality of life in this massive settlement.