About Competition
This is the second cycle of project lari as an international design-build competition, that once again seeks innovative proposals for movable-urban devices in the indian context. The quest is to reimagine street carts in order to support sewa’s initiative for itinerant women-led community health care, keeping in mind women as a target user group and exploring the potential of street vending as a legitimate economic resource, while re-evaluating the possibilities it offers in the construction of public space. The objective of the competition is to select an outstanding entry in order to detail, construct, and implement it in collaboration with chaal.chaal.agency.
This competition is focused on re-thinking the “lari” as:
>> a device that improves public space conditions in the context of Ahmedabad, in a frugal yet substantial manner.
>> a multifunctional platform, that serves as a device for selling LSM’s ayurvedic products, as well as creating health awareness and education.
>> an equipment that responds to the physical conditions of women, and not necessarily a generic human body; hence the low weight of the device becomes fundamental.
>> a feasible (buildable) object, which harnesses DIY technologies and materials to produce something new.
>> a frugal innovation that is also oriented to a capacity-building project within the community from a constructive perspective.
>> a sustainable design, that consciously utilizes and capitalizes on available resources in a responsible manner.
>> a scalable project, which could be eventually reproduced and improved within similar contexts, in order to enhance public space and health care conditions in different parts of India.
“Lari” is a Gujarati word that denotes a common street cart populating many urban contexts of India. Even though it usually consists of a wooden plank supported by a standardized metallic structure and four bicycle wheels, there are infinite variations that accommodate to dissimilar usages.
Requirements/Eligibility
Registered participants are expected to send their entries through the given Google Form before 23:59 IST, august 20th 2022. The Submission consists of three (3) different Items -which need to be in English- with no recognizable markings, logos or nomenclatures that could disclose the identity of the participants aside from the team code placed right top corner.
The total budget of construction should be a maximum of INR 25,000 including labor cost, manufacture, and materials. It is important for the proposals to be limited within this range, given the scalability and accessibility agendas of project lari. In order to ensure this, a bill of quantities will be required in the submission.
About the Organizer
CHAAL.CHAAL.AGENCY
We are a design-research collaborative project founded by Kruti Shah and Sebastián Trujillo-Torres, working between Ahmedabad (India) and Bogotá (Colombia). We specialize in experimental infrastructures, transformative design, and transdisciplinary pedagogy, locating our area of investigation in the intersection between equality and space. Working between India and Colombia has allowed us to enquire into issues and potentialities particular to the Global South, in the prospect of triggering larger transformations through evolving micro-operations, which usually involves students, allied organizations, and proactive communities. A practice envisioned towards more self-sufficient, equitable, and cohesive cultural environments.
A MANIFESTO
Our practice is based upon what we have loosely termed as a “Light Infrastructures Manifesto”. Through it, we explore a series of principles that are applicable to the practice of design-research in the built environment of the Global South. A game-plan to reflect and act upon urban infrastructures whilst contributing to disciplinary agendas in order to cover broader fields of intervention. For this, we investigate the political and poetic conditions embedded in infrastructures, framing them as a series of social, political and technological means to be re-appropriated and potentiated, in view of solidarity and social justice agendas. In itself, it constitutes a practical manifesto to “change the world without taking power” in contexts of informality.
Competition Website: http://chaalchaalagency.in/portfolio_page/project-lari-2022/
Submission / Key Dates
Registration Deadline: 20 August 2022
Submission Deadline: 20 August 2022
Winner Announcement: 20 October 2022
