President's message: Jugaad Urbanism takes Manhattan

By Margaret Castillo, AIAWhat would happen if New York grew in double digits, and the city's infrastructure could not provide fresh water, transportation, or sanitation to our new neighbors? Aside from the occasional snow-storm shut down, New York, fortunately, doesn't face such infrastructure concerns. But while we take Manhattan's grid for granted, many cities that are growing today are doing so without the equivalent infrastructure to support them. The Center for Architecture's new exhibition, Jugaad Urbanism: Resourceful Strategies for Indian Cities, looks at fast-growing cities in India, and finds solutions that come not just from city government, but also from the citizens of these communities, non-governmental organizations, entrepreneurs, and the international design community. The devised solutions make life better - better transportation, better sanitation, better habitations, and better access to energy - through smart, efficient design, and range in scale from a solar-powered rickshaw to new water filters and a plan for incremental housing. Someone said "It takes a village" to raise a child, but Jugaad Urbanism shows that it also takes a village to raise a city. This matters to New Yorkers because, in our ever-more global world, we'll have more and more connections to these fast-growing cities in the developing world, be they in India, China, or Brazil. It's up to us to understand how our new global neighbors live, and in India, Jugaad Urbanism proves that that it takes a lot of resourcefulness, flexibility, and innovation to move forward. The exhibition, which opens Thursday, February 10 and remains on view until May 21, at the Center for Architecture (536 LaGuardia Place, NYC, www.aiany.org), is itself worth a visit to Greenwich Village, but I encourage you to come for our related programs, as well. We'll be hosting Friday-night films, starting at 6:30, for the show's duration. The schedule is one part Bollywood, one part documentary. Together, the ten films paint a vibrant picture of contemporary Indian cities. We have a robust series of programs, on everything from high-rise developments to new construction practices and preservation, but the program I am most excited about is coming up on Saturday, February 12. This all-day (11a.m. - 5p.m.) symposium will look at informal settlements and low income housing in India. We're partnering with UN Habitat on the program, and representatives from the most important worldwide organization studying issues of housing, with the "goal of providing adequate shelter for all," will be introducing the symposium. Over the course of the day, three panels will explore different approaches to improving housing in Indian cities, by addressing informal settlements (self-made, off-the-grid neighborhoods), market-driven low income housing (TATA, who brought India the $2,000 car, is now doing houses), and industrial housing (what to do with the historic mill-workers' housing in Mumbai). The distinguished panelists, which include the managing director of TATA housing (one of the "Hottest Young Executives in India"), Swedish architects working in Pune with the NGO SPARC, and SOM's Senior Urban Planner and Senior Designer, will trade ideas about what works in India, and how housing will continue to develop. The conversation between these parties will be moderated by Reinhold Martin, Columbia University architecture professor who has conducted many studios in India. Of course, I need to thank our co-organizers and supporters. Jugaad Urbanism is supported in part by grants from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. We would like to thank these distinguished organizations and the many generous donors that have contributed to make the exhibition possible. For more information visit www.aiany.org. It takes a village to make a city - and an exhibition! Please join us for this important, groundbreaking show. Margaret Castillo, AIA, LEED AP, is the 2011 president of the N.Y. chapter of the AIA, New York, N.Y. Margaret Castillo, AIA, LEED AP