For complex projects in the public realm or at the scale of the city, actors become clearly differentiated, and hence the building of constituencies becomes crucial to engage different stakeholders in any project. This is often done through various media to put across ideas, and it is here that research and writing to communicate ideas of the city become an important part of the practice. In retrospect, publications become a way of creating partnerships, collaborations and friendships which serve to keep alive the conversations on the issues at hand and engagement with the work we do. Similarly, these publications then go out into the world beyond the project and have a life of their own. But, most critically, in hindsight they allowed us to expand our ‘sphere of influence’ and equipped us to speculate about the future, simultaneously creating an archive of the present. The acts of archiving and reflecting, as well as simultaneously speculating and being propositional, are critical for us to gain agency as a profession. For, by committing in writing, drawing our speculations, or even in discerning the patterns that surround us gives us an agency as professionals in society. If we do not have agency or find ways to establish agency, we will break down as a profession. This lecture will cover 30 years of Rahul Mehrotra’s research and writings in the context of his engagement as a practitioner as well as advocate for various issues concerning Architecture and Urbanism in India.
About Rahul Mehrotra:
Rahul Mehrotra is the founder principal of RMA Architects. He divides his time between working in Mumbai and Boston and teaching at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University where he is Professor of Urban Design and Planning and the John T. Dunlop Professor in Housing and Urbanization. In 2012-2015, he led a Harvard University-wide research project, called The Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral Mega City. This work was published as a book in 2014. This research was extended in 2017 in the form of a book titled Does Permanence Matter? Mehrotra’s most recent books are titled Working in Mumbai (2020) and The Kinetic City and other essays (2021). The former a reflection on his practice evolved through its association with the city of Bombay/Mumbai. The second book presents Mehrotra’s writings over the last thirty years and illustrates his long-term engagement with and analysis of urbanism in India. This work has given rise to a new conceptualization of the city which Mehrotra calls the Kinetic City.