[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing

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[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing

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  • Project Name: [Re]figuring Social Security
  • Student Name: Somesh Nadkarni
  • Softwares/Plugins: Rhinoceros 3D , Adobe Illustrator
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Excerpt: ‘[Re]figuring Social Security’ is an architecture thesis by Somesh Nadkarni from the ‘School of Environment and Architecture (SEA).’ The project explores how informal neighborhoods in Mumbai can promote social security through everyday practices, collective memory, and shared spaces. It aims to reimagine community life as adaptable and growing in negotiation with the city and forest, proposing an alternative future of inhabitation that preserves residents’ agency while creating resilient, interconnected, and socially rooted environments.

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Site Context

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The site is located on the fringes of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Malad (East), Mumbai
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
A multipurpose extension called the ‘verandah’ where people gather for small businesses and recreation
The site is located on precarious land at the edge of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, a vast forest in the heart of Mumbai that encompasses wilderness and historic landmarks. In 1995, a Public Interest Litigation was filed to clear unauthorized and permanent settlements from this area after it was designated a reserved forest.

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The ‘verandah’ being used as space for collective property
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The ‘verandah’ helps initiate conversations and interactions between people | The extreme polarity seen between the residents of Ambedkar nagar and the residents of the high rise tower in the background
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Cluster of homes that have been built by the residents over the years around a large Peepal tree
At the time, the government relocated approximately 45% of the households into rehabilitation projects. However, many residents eventually returned, as the new locations were difficult to access from their workplaces and created a sense of insecurity. Despite their strong cultural and livelihood ties to the forest, the declaration of the area as a wildlife sanctuary rendered all human settlement there illegal.

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Rehabilitation schemes usually destroy resident’s agencies and practices, making it difficult for them to rely on each other during the times of crisis
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The ephemeral and make-shift homes of the residents tackling the heavy monsoons of Mumbai
The proposed programs are envisioned at three scales. At the neighborhood level, the focus is on reorganizing dwellings around nodes of social security, incorporating facilities such as a clinic and nursery along the main spines. At the cluster level, these nodes are reimagined as community spaces, each defined by distinct practices and collective activities. Finally, at the unit level, the project redefines what it means to inhabit a forest, with incremental housing types designed to support the everyday practices, occupations, and domestic routines of the residents.

Design Process

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Case study 01 – “Housing as a process, and not a product” – John F.C. Turner
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Case study 02 – Examples of negotiation of the house with the land
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Case study 03 – The degrees of privacy, porosity and transparency in a home
The site is conceptualized as a “forest of landmarks, conversations, and continuous verandah spaces.” These landmarks serve as key nodes of social security and collective memory, as residents spend much of their time outside their homes.

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The site is seen as a forest of landmarks, of gossips and continual ‘verandah’ spaces. These landmarks act as collective memory of the society for navigating around the neighbourhood.
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Idea of a home and what does it mean to live in a forest? | Spaces of learning & play for kids
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Spaces of live & work for artisans
The design strategy begins with interventions at multiple scales. First, the redevelopment of these nodes strengthens their role as social anchors. The consolidation of existing paths and roads transforms them into continuous pavements that also act as bunds, mitigating surface run-off during heavy monsoons. These nodes function as extensions of the home, evolving into shared community spaces guided by the idea of “one home” rather than fragmented living. At the unit level, housing is perceived as incrementally adaptable, accommodating artisans’ practices, domestic chores, and small businesses such as imitation jewelry making or flower weaving.

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Iterations of housing modules placed around nodes of social security
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Street sections to explore how the modules respond to the forest as a backyard
A maternity health clinic is proposed in response to the high maternal mortality rates typical of informal settlements. Rather than operating solely as a medical institution, it is designed as a “live and work” space, integrating daily livelihoods and enterprises into its infrastructure. Similarly, a day nursery is envisioned as an extension of the existing cultural center. This space for “learning and play” provides children with care, security, and opportunities for interaction, while fostering social ties within the community.

Final Outcome

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Neighbourhood as a Forest of floating markers and ‘verandah’
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The idea of ‘one home’ becomes prominent and the homes spill over into the street
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Site Section
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Site Section
The density of the proposed neighborhood, along with the close proximity of dwellings, fosters everyday interactions among residents. Its interconnected and porous spatial form allows for freer movement, strengthens a sense of security, and enables collective vigilance as people look out for one another. These exchanges cultivate social ties and create meaningful entry points into each other’s lives. By contrast, state-led rehabilitation schemes disrupt these communal practices, replacing social security with notions of protection and privacy, which in turn generate feelings of isolation and alienation.

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The new configuration for a home incorporates the kitchen and a small shop as part of the main living area where live + work happens
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
There are varying degrees of public certain relationship with the ground where it creates unobstructed views from anywhere out into the street
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
As one keeps incrementing the house, it is capable of accommodating anyone from a couple to even existing joint families in the neighbourhood
Rather than imposing such lifeless schemes that uproot communities, this intervention proposes a speculative future aligned with the PIL process, where city infrastructure gradually integrates with the settlement. Over time, the neighborhood is also reabsorbed into the surrounding forest, transforming into a park structured around these social nodes and accessible to the wider city for leisure and recreation.

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The verandah sometimes becomes like an assemblage of collective property, furniture and cattle
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The nursery as a set of cascading butterfly roofs that create vantage points for kids to look from into the street and the forest
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
The clinic is a series of three interconnected butterfly roofs cut through existing dense plantation to create courtyards between the rooms
This raises the question of what becomes of the neighborhood after habitation. Demolition is unnecessary, as the design allows the forest to merge with the built fabric, enabling it to sustain itself while preserving the residents’ agency, practices, and cultural imprints within the landscape.

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Site Section
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
Site Section
Conclusion: Ultimately, the project envisions spatiality as a form of social security, strengthening community life through interconnected spaces. Rather than displacing residents, it proposes a future where the settlement adapts, integrates with the city, and gradually merges with the forest.

[This Academic Project has been published with text and images submitted by the student]

Site Context

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing

Design Process

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing

Final Outcome

[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing
[Re]figuring Social Security: Spatial Practices and Social Security in Informal Neighbourhoods of Mumbai | Architecture Thesis on Housing

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