Read our profile on Social Design Collaborative in India

Swati Janu founded her studio in 2017 after volunteering to design a school for farm children along the Yamuna River in Delhi. It was an initiative that led to the founding of the Social Design Collaborative in 2019, now based in the Indian capital, where she co-leads a small team of architects, sociologists, social workers, activists and designers.

Meet Social Design Collaborative from New Delhi

“Central to our practice is creating inclusion within and through the built environment,” says Janu. “Cities around the world are structured according to socioeconomic inequalities that are reinforced by class, caste or race.” What role architecture and design can play in creating more equitable cities is the question that our practice seeks to answer. This required a variety of approaches ranging from advocacy for housing rights to co-creation of community spaces in informal settlements to public art festivals to gender integration in public spaces to counter-mapping that challenges top-down master planning in our cities. “

The interdisciplinary nature of the Social Design Collaborative means its work goes far beyond traditional building design. Examples include “Kaun Hai Master? Kya Hai plan?’ (Hindi for “Who is the master? What is the plan?”), a toolbox to make Delhi’s master plan accessible as part of the citizens’ campaign “Main Bhi Dilli” (Hindi for “I am Delhi too”); Grassroots cooperation and activation around the community-supported construction of schools, libraries, daycare centers and community halls; political advocacy and civic campaigns as well as curating public art festivals and exhibitions.

“I think globally and in India there is a dire need for diversity in our profession. “Whoever designs our built environment determines what kind of built environment we create and live in,” says Janu. “In India, about 60% of architecture students are women, but when they graduate in professional practice, that number drops to 20%.” And it’s a tiny percentage when you look at how many women are leading their own offices as chief architects . Not to mention, there is no transgender or non-binary representation on visibility platforms, from panels to publications.”

“If we want to create inclusive public spaces and equitable built environments, it is very important that we talk about diversity in our design studios and planning offices.” It is a similar story when it comes to racial diversity in our profession around the world. It took 42 years for a black architect to win the Pritzker Prize. Since its inception in 1979, only six women have been honored with the award. These are the conversations that I think are missing in our field today and need to be mainstreamed.”

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