Collaborative Design Studio LLP

The Collaborative Design Studio is a multidisciplinary Mumbai based architecture and urban practice whose mission it is to find ways of proactively participating in the processes that are shaping our built environment towards making them more democratic and sustainable. Placing itself as an alternative to the object oriented focus of most architecture offices, it believes that a critical practice can only emerge out of a reconfiguration of the conventional model of professional practice. Bringing together the diverse strengths of its partners that include academia and research, planning, urban design, architecture, heritage, geographical information systems and cinema, it works in close partnership with a variety of actors, especially community and non governmental organisations to structure participatory processes of intervention within the built environment. Towards this, it is interested in structuring not only the form of built environment, but also in helping create sustainable modes for their maintenance and continued relevance. Based in Mumbai, it has an intimate knowledge of the city and the forces that are shaping it. With a strong belief in the power of collectives, over the years its partners have developed ties with a variety of actors and agencies in the city. These include members of the civil society, governmental organisations and bureaucrats, artists and filmmakers, and other practitioners working with the built environment. The Collaborative Design Studio has worked in a variety of different areas including infrastructure in the periphery of the city, self development housing projects, heritage and conservation, urban design, environmental planning and resilience.