Contact – Community Design Agency

MAILING ADDRESS

Head Office
1st Floor, Deepjyot Bungalow,
39, Church Avenue,
next to Sacred Heart Church,
Santacruz West,
Mumbai,
Maharashtra – 400054

Regional Office
Snehalaya Pratisad Kendra, Lendkar Mala,
Balikashram Road,
Ahmednagar – 414001

GET IN TOUCH

Phone
+91 8976733655

Email
admin (at) currystonedesign dot com

3RGQ+3F Mumbai, Maharashtra

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Zaheer Choudhary and Ansari Mateen are talented yo

Zaheer Choudhary and Ansari Mateen are talented young boys from Govandi. One of them works during the day while the other attends junior college, but at night they are artists who write songs and harbour dreams of becoming professional rappers. They are being mentored by @drj_sohail @bruhhitssdanish and @tashthebeatboxer under the @govandiartsfestival, and with their help, the duo composed their own rap. Rehearsing till 1-2 am in the night for days, they performed in front of an audience for the first time in Delhi, a new city for them, and left everyone spellbound. Grateful to @defindia for inviting CDA to be a part of A-CODE and giving our mentees a platform to perform. Check out the coverage their performance received in today's @middayindia newspaper (swipe left)

Zaheer and Mateen are among the 45 mentees from Govandi receiving mentorship in a theme of their choosing - Theatre, Rap and Music, Public Art, Filmmaking and Photography - and are gearing up for the Festival in February to showcase their talent to the city and the world at large. Be a part of their journey, and follow and support the Festival at @govandiartsfestival

#celebratingcommunities #creatingjoy #IndiaUKTogether #SeasonofCulture #cultureconnectsus #rapmusic #mtvhustle #swiggy #mtvhustle #mtvhustle2 #hustlekarhaasilkar #hustlekesquadbosses #hustlewithbadshah #indianrapper #indianhiphop #artsfestival #communityled #youthled #britishcouncil #publichousing #affordablehousing #socialarchitecture #socialdesign

@govandiartsfestival and it's talented cohort of r

@govandiartsfestival and it's talented cohort of rappers and musicians were featured in the Times of India! What's amazing is that even though some of them were interviewed for the first time, their clarity and confidence in their work and vision made it very easy for them to talk about their experiences so far. We can't wait for everyone to witness the magic of these mentorships in February 2023. Mark your calendars and be a part of this critical journey, as the neighbourhood reclaims and establishes its own identity.

Click on the link in our bio to read the article!

#celebratingcommunities #creatingjoy #IndiaUKTogether #SeasonofCulture #cultureconnectsus #rapmusic #mtvhustle #swiggy #mtvhustle #mtvhustle2 #indianrapper #indianhiphop #artsfestival #communityled #youthled #britishcouncil #publichousing #affordablehousing #socialarchitecture #socialdesign

Catch Bhawna Jaimini (@jaiminibhawna), Lead - Comm

Catch Bhawna Jaimini (@jaiminibhawna), Lead - Community Development at CDA and co-curator of @govandiartsfestival, in Pune on Saturday, 15th October at 6:30 pm as part of @_theloftforum's interdisciplinary series on urban resilience. The event is free and open to all!

Venue: The Loft Forum, Boottee Street, Camp, Pune

#Pune #urbanresilience #communitydesignagency #communitydevelopment #slumredevelopment #publichousing #communityled #participatorydesign #socialdesign #socialarchitecture #mumbai

Shifting Perspectives: Learning the Language of Na

Shifting Perspectives: Learning the Language of Nature
Shifting Perspectives is a way to address "sustainability" and "regeneration" in our cities from the outlook of a non-human.

Our well-attended UN Urban Thinkers Campus: Language in the City Events are back for the Autumn!

Bio-leadership Fellows Amy Wilson and Gunter Wehmeyer are hosting the penultimate workshop that explores how to give voice to the language and qualities of non-human ‘Interbeings’ we encounter in and around our cities and beyond.

How do the choices we make in the design of our cities interact with the needs of other non-humans? How do we begin to understand the wider systemic effects of our interventions and actions?

Join us in a playful, expansive exploration on inviting non-humans to the table.
All are welcome! Click on the link in our bio to register.

Timezones: 09:00 EST | 14:00 BST | 15:00 CET | 18:30 IST

CDA's Managing Director Sandhya Naidu will be join

CDA's Managing Director Sandhya Naidu will be joining Dean Malcom Young in a conversation about affordable housing and will exchange experiences and insights at The Grace Forum at @gracecathedral in San Francisco on Sunday, 25th September at 9:30 am. Register for free to attend the event in person at the link in our bio and share with your SF friends and family!

Reposted from @gracecathedral

The Forum at Grace is back! This Sunday at 9:30 am, join Dean @malcolmcyoung in a conversation with @sandhyajnaidu about innovations in housing and community building, and what we in the housing-crunched Bay Area can learn by comparing and sharing perspectives and best practices in India. 🔗 in bio.

#sanfrancisco #bayarea #gracecathedral #communitydesignagency #affordablehousing #graceforum #housingcrisis #communitydevelopment #participatorydesign

Natasha Sharma (@fliesinmycurry), Lead Public Art

Natasha Sharma (@fliesinmycurry), Lead Public Art and Design at CDA, was invited to be part of a panel discussion at @rizvicollegeofarchitecture's Archfest, on the theme of Tradition, Transition and Transformation, structured within the Japanese concept of Kaizen, which means incremental growth. In an engaging discussion with co-panelists Ashwin Tahiliani @urbankeeda (Architect and Urban Designer) and Anushka Gupta @anushkagupta5 (Historian and Writer), Natasha talked about how the work at CDA ushers change through a slow, contextual and sensitive process, and the approach and challenges associated with using art as a way to connect with communities.

Reposted from @rizvicollegeofarchitecture

The second day of Archfest started on an interesting note.

Following the theme of Kaizen - the incremental growth; the program was based on the idea of Tradition, Transition & Transformation.

The occasion was graced by three speakers who come from different walks of life and discussed their works related art, architecture, urbanism, history and communities.

The speakers were -

Natasha Sharma from Community Design Agency; whose work traversed in the lines of community based planning and design outputs.

Ashwin Tahiliani aka Atlaskeeda; an Architect and an Urban Designer with a knack for traveling and bringing out the narratives of the people, space & activities.

Anusha Gupta is a historian who’s keen interest in photography ledger to explore the heritage, history and histrionics of the city of Mumbai.

Each panelist shared their works and experiences from the fields and brought a new and layered perspective to the notion of Tradition, Transition & Transformation.

The next part of the session was a panel discussion with our three speakers and was moderated by our faculty Daksh Jain. The house was open for discussion where the students and the faculty interacted with the panelists.

#rizvicollegeofarchitecture #slowart #communityengagement #artanddesign #communityled #communitydesignagency #socialdesign #socialarchitecture #participatorydesign #publicart #publicdesign

On 20th August, a cohort of students from School o

On 20th August, a cohort of students from School of Environment and Architecture (SEA) (@sea_edu) created a pop-up neighbourhood museum in Natwar Parekh Colony of Govandi, an eastern suburb of Mumbai. The pop-up museum was the outcome of a four week long allied course on participation and community engagement in design processes, taught by Bhawna Jaimini (@jaiminibhawna) and Rohini Singh (@rohini9247) from CDA. The curriculum focussed on recording oral histories and ethnographic observations to create a living archive of communities living in the neighbourhood.

This four week studio was an exercise in challenging the hegemonic gaze through which stories of neglected and marginalised neighbourhoods are told and perceived. Students spent multiple afternoons with the residents, listening to their stories, aspirations and dreams which then collated into exhibits. The residents were filled with pride and were very emotional after looking at their stories represented through different forms at the pop-up neighbourhood museum. The museum also gave them the opportunity to learn about the struggles and triumphs of their neighbours, which they weren’t aware of before.

In the last six years of working with the community of Natwar Parekh Colony, we realised that people living on the margins are not looking for experts to change their lives. They have struggled and strived through many challenges and adversaries on their own. However, there is value in fostering relationships that are based on hearing without opinions and listening without judgement. This is all we wanted the students to learn through these four weeks and we hope
we succeeded in doing that.

Photos courtesy: Neel Bothara

#oralhistory #communityarchives #communityhistory #popupmuseum #neighbourhoodmuseum #communityengagement #Mumbai #communitydesignagency

Swapnapurti: dreams fulfilled This film captures

Swapnapurti: dreams fulfilled

This film captures our holistic approach towards slum redevelopment, tracing the journey we undertook with the residents of Sanjaynagar, their hopes and aspirations for a better tomorrow, and finally seeing our collective vision come to life. This is the first of 8 buildings and CDA's journey isn't over, but the dreams of 33 families in Sanjaynagar have finally been fulfilled.

@currystonefdn @snehalayaindia @wearerangde, Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation and PMAY-Urban

#slum #slumrehabilitation #maharashtra #communitydevelopment #communityled #communitybasedesign #participatorydesign #communityrepresentative #sustainabledesign #socialarchitecture #socialdesign #slumredevelopment #affordablehousing #communitydesign #communitydesignagency #communitydesignforall #construction #projectmanagement #housingforall #CSF #currystonefoundation #womenhomeowners #socialhousing #PMAY #financialinclusion #SDGs #SDG11

Join Natasha Sharma (@fliesinmycurry) and Bhawna J

Join Natasha Sharma (@fliesinmycurry) and Bhawna Jaimini (@jaiminibhawna) from Community Design Agency today for Urban Thinkers Campaign's upcoming roundtable event, as part of the @worldurbancampaign, around how cities can speak a more inclusive language!

Date: 7th July
Time: 6:30 pm

Free registration! Link is in our bio.

More details below!

Reposted from @assoc_of_collaborative_design
What tools can help our cities "speak" a more #inclusive language around #gender and #identity?

FREE roundtable event

Featuring:
Bhawna Jaimini + Natasha Sharma, @communitydesignagency
Diana Parra, Undersecretary of Care and Women's Equality, Mayoral Office, Bogotá
Jane Wong, @dsdha_architecture

https://www.theacd.org.uk/events

This is an ‘UrbanThinkers Campus (UTC)’ event, part of an initiative of the @worldurbancampaign driven by @unhabitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme). Partners: @aiacommunities @communitydesignagency @landscapeinstitute @bioleadershipproject

#coDesign