Summer Fellows

“RELATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Adobe building, ritual, and healing” by Sarah Sao Mai Habib

  You can download Sarah’s report here.   “I believe the revival and contextual adaptation of adobe, earthen and woven architectural practices to be a move towards answering some of these questions. I believe this to be one way oppressed … More →

“FRUGAL CULTURE MEETS INFORMAL REPAIR ECONOMY IN AN INDIAN CITY: ‘A PERFECT MATCH!” by Himadri Das & Purna Sarkar

  You can download Purna and Himadri’s report here   “Jugaad is such an essential part of the informal repair network and it is ubiquitous in the Indian context. Jugaad, or fixing, addresses local problems and solves them with locally … More →

“AN OBTUSENESS TO NATURE – What Our Management of Dynamic Coastlines Reveals About Maintenance and Ecology” by Linda McIntyre.

  You can download Linda’s report here. “It would be easy to look at the current state of environmental maintenance and despair. But seizing, and trying to build on, these opportunities offer a way to advance toward a different ethos, … More →

Himadri Das

Himadri is an urbanist, academician and researcher based in Bangalore. His expertise is in Safe access and Urban design. Himadri was previously consulting with WRI India, where he was leading the sustainable communities team previously. He was the recipient of … More →

Purna Sarkar

Purna Sarkar is an activist, theatre in education (TIE) coach, life skills trainer and HR professional. She is a co-founder of an environmental sustainability initiative called Repair Cafe Bengaluru. The idea of repair was not new to her life, as … More →

The Altars Which Found Us

– by Sarah Sao Mai Habib     December 2020. We are living in a medical aid camp, mostly made of tent structures and a few trailers. We are a collective staffing this small space near the so called US/Mexico … More →

Maintenance As Self-Care

– by Linda McIntyre Hello again! It’s hard to believe that my fellowship with The Maintainers is winding down already. What an unanticipated pleasure it has been to collaborate with this community and learn so much from them, and from … More →

Repair (Café) workshops in a Repair Country : Part 2

– by Himadri Das and Purna Sarkar Please refer to Part 1 for the first part of this blog post. Salvaging parts for the sake of frugality or urban mining but not necessarily for the sake of circular economy. Salvaging … More →

Repair (Café) workshops in a Repair Country : Part 1

– by Himadri Das and Purna Sarkar India is a repair country. This phrase encapsulates many different layers of meanings. It suggests that repair is ubiquitous in Indian cities and wrapped up deeply in frugal culture. It seems very important … More →

Design, Care & Reparations

– by Sarah Sao Mai Habib Early in 2021, designers, architects, planners, educators, policymakers, and artists came together to reflect on the massive transitional time we live in: a year into the covid pandemic and a year after the most … More →