A Prototype, by definition, is a typical example of something.

That is exactly what PROTOVILLAGE aims to be. An initiative of InteGreater and brainchild of Kalyan Akkipeddi, who, in a trend that is fast becoming popular with those who are opting to BE the change they want, quit his corporate job and went travelling across the country over the period of a year.

During this time, moving from the south right up to the north, Kalyan found that apart from the obvious poverty around; the statistics available on poverty was extremely dis-empowering. He found himself asking the question – Why is this number so important?  He also discovered that one of the main problems was the lack of access to expertise to come up with solutions and make them possible. Thus began InteGreater (more about it – coming soon). The main idea behind this venture was to bring together people with expertise, identify committed NGO’s, and serve as a common thread that brings them together.

Prototype began as a question posed in Kalyan’s mind – How does one define an ideal village? This began the quest to define this ideal village using a multi-dimensional approach which also looks at the definition of the desired state of being and more importantly, the word, enough. Another interesting route this project took was to create an “opportunity” get to that desired state and have sufficient access to factors that ensure dignity of life. While there is an infinite scope of extending this “desired state of being”, ProtoVillage decided to limit the possibility to ADEQUACY – which is achieving the desired state while maintaining the basic dignity of the people. The 12 dimensional approach to create a sustainable state of ADEQUACY have been defined as  -

Food Security

Water Conservation & Management

Shelter

Clothing

Healthcare

Energy

Income Generation

Education

Connectivity

Eco – Conservation & Disaster Management

Socio – Cultural Equality

Public Domain.

The force behind this idea being that “ If a multi-dimensional approach can comprehensively define  the poverty line, and effectively measure the population below it”, then team Proto believes that “ the definition of a desired state of being can be developed as a function of the same dimensions.” It is important to note that the idea isn’t merely about the supply of the above-mentioned dimensions but also the quality.  The 12 dimensions were arrived at from research and studies conducted by the team and the idea of ADEQUACY came from involving the residents of the chosen village-cluster.

One of the main objectives of this project is to document the development process into a robust theoretical framework that can be broadly replicated across the country. Having said this, there cannot be a formula-based approach and the proportions of each dimension cannot be defined. What Protovillage hopes to achieve is to define an outline, a broadly replicable framework of these dimensions that can be further tweaked and molded to suit each village-clusters individual requirements. This project also hopes to create a rural leadership model that will gradually take form and create an avenue for sustainable incomes for the villagers.

The village-cluster, currently being worked on, in situated in Andhra Pradesh. On asking Kalyan, how the village was selected, he said that they travelled to over 166 villages and chose this one primarily because he is familiar with the language. Given that they are currently in the experimental phase, it makes sense to chose a space that it more familiar than alien. It helps that this cluster has huge forested area in close proximity, giving them an opportunity to introduce the idea of social forestry to the villagers.

While Protovillage began as Kalyan’s idea and vision, he now plays the role of a gatekeeper. In his own words,  “I’ve brought people in, sent those who weren’t meant to be out and didn’t let the others leave”. The Protovillage team currently consists of peoples from various disciplines and with unique set of expertise, all of who are living of their savings and living their dreams. A small bunch of enthusiastic volunteers, who are more than happy to have people passionate about social innovations and participatory practices, on board.With 1091 days left to build the prototype of an Adequate Village Cluster, here’s wishing the project all the best with its endeavors. Anyone interested and willing to help can get in touch with the team at – kalyan@integreater.org or fra@integreater.org

To know more , visit – www.protovillage.org

The Mobile Activation Station by Holobiont

The Mobile Activation Station designed by Holobiont (Haruka Horiuchi & Frank Hebbert) has been selected as the winner by our three esteemed judges – Raul Smith Correa of ‘Faiscas‘, Soo-in Yang of ‘The Living’ and Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai. They win a grand or $1000 to make their idea come to life. The Mobile Activation Station is a portable reconfigurable table with built-in power distribution, lighting and storage. It turns empty stores into communal spaces. Once built, the Station will be available for short-term use in vacant storefronts along Rogers Avenue in Crown heights, Brooklyn.

The Bus Roots Project by Marco Antonio Castro Cosio

The second favorite project for the judges especially Soo-in is the Bus Roots Project by Marco Antonio. Bus Roots is a living garden on the roots of city buses. It brings life to a forgotten space and provides humans with a reminder to pause and let naturte help lead a healthier life.

Traffic Cones into Flower Receptacles by Daniel Ebuehi

The third favorite project for the judges, especially for Raul Smith Correa is the project by Daniel Ebuehi from Philadelphia. In an attempt to bring vitality as well as sustainability directly into the streets of Philadelphia – literally in the middle of the street – this scheme transforms the ubiquitous traffic cone into a flower receptacle that can be assembled to form a garden retreat.

Our special thanks to the third and final judge who helped us make the final decision – Bijoy Jain from Studio Mumbai.

This competition would not have been possible without the generous contributions from these amazing people and friends :
Ravisharon Kaur
Ramakrishnan Subramanian
Rahul Pande
Kiran Kannacheri
Saravanakumar Velayudham
Sameer Kumar
Keerthik Sasidharan
Saad Tabani
Ritwik Dey
Giana Gonzalez
Sonali Sridhar
Jairam Ranganathan
Amit Desai
Priyanka Gupta
Shweta Mudgal

What is this competition about?
This competition is focused on design solutions that can change our immediate urban environment into places that we can truly inhabit. The first series of ‘The Grand Idea Initiative’ is called ‘INHABIT‘. The ultimate challenge of which is to create solutions that introduce fun, sustainable, and innovative ways people use public space. The intervention can be components that are spatial, graphical, digital or purely strategic. These ideas have to be US $1000 in budget and need to maximize the return in the shape of a built design solution.

Who should apply?
Anyone – You could be an architect, designer, a mad scientist, a housewife, a student or anyone else interested in making cool stuff for public spaces.

What kind of projects can be submitted?
Projects could be aimed at designing street furniture, environmental graphics, services, online communities, anything that changes peoples behavior to how a public space gets utilized.

Submission requirements
A photograph of the Site – The place of your intervention, preferably in your neighborhood
The Proposal – A 100 word design brief describing your project.
The Design – Your proposal in a visual format, e.g. sketches, drawings, photo collages, anything that clearly outlines what you propose to do.
The Budget & Timeline – Breakdown of the usage of the US $1000. A tentative installation/implementation timeline.

Please send all these requirements in a letter size PDF format. The number of pages in the PDF document should not exceed more that 4 pages.

What is the budget?
US $1000

Selection process
The selection of the final project will be based on creativity, innovative thinking, maximum impact and practical plan for implementation.

Our judges are -

Raul Correa Smith
Co-founder, FAISCAS
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture, Columbia University GSAPP

Raul Corrêa-Smith is a co-founder of Faiscas, a two-way cultural exchange channel geared towards boosting the architectural imagination between New York and Rio de Janeiro. Established in 2009 through Columbia University’s Graduate School for Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), Faiscas is an evolving hub for the facilitation of such exchanges. Raul earned his BA from the Taubman School of Architecture at the University of Michigan in 1998 and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University’s GSAPP in 2002 with Honors for Excellence in Design. Born in New York City and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Raul currently resides in NYC where he works at Studio Daniel Libeskind and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia’s GSAPP.

Soo-in Yang
Co-Founder of The Living

Soo-in Yang created The Living with David Benjamin in 2004. Using an open-source, collaborative approach, the architecture firm designs both handheld interfaces and urban-sized buildings. Work by The Living has received multiple international awards and has been exhibited and published widely. Their current projects include a 50,000 square meter mixed-use development in New Jersey, and a floating network of pods in New York’s rivers that sense water quality and presence of fish, then display a cloud of light that changes colors according to environmental conditions. Yang graduated from Yonsei University with a BE in Architectural Engineering and received Master of Architecture degrees from Columbia University. Yang teaches at Pratt Institute and at Columbia University, where he is the co-director of the Living Architecture Lab.

Where should the entries be sent?
Send your PDF attachments to agrandidea@designwala.org. Please include your name and contact information in the body of the email as well as on the PDF document. The subject line should be “Inhabit Competition Submission”.

Important Dates
Inhabit Competition kicks off – May 17th 2010
Deadline for Submissions – June 17th 2010
Winners Announced – July 17th 2010

For more information
Contact us at info@designwala.org

This competition would not have been possible without the generous contributions from these amazing people and friends :
Ravisharon Kaur
Ramakrishnan Subramanian
Rahul Pande
Kiran Kannacheri
Saravanakumar Velayudham
Sameer Kumar
Keerthik Sasidharan
Saad Tabani
Ritwik Dey
Giana Gonzalez
Sonali Sridhar
Jairam Ranganathan
Amit Desai
Priyanka Gupta
Shweta Mudgal

Other things to keep in mind
* This competition is open to people from all countries
* Since public intervention laws are different in different countries, please choose sites that have the potential to grow without   upsetting any stringent legality.
* The project money is NOT prize money but money to build something small and useful

About the Grand Idea Initiative
A Grand Idea Initiative is a 5 part series competition – INHABIT, LEARN, ORGANIZE, HEAL & SUSTAIN. The rest of the competitions will take place as soon as we raise the prize money for them.

Watch the trailer for ‘The Grand Idea Initiative’.