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FAB-CITY: [Fashion, Architecture, Business City]Speculative brief for a Fabindia design and business innovation complex on the Sabarmati River, Ahmedabad

SO520: Final Assessment25 April 2012Candidate No. 64200

Figure 1. Photo collage of people and trade west (left) and east (right) of the Sabarmati River, including the CEPT urban design studio, residents of Ram-Rahim, and traders at the wholesale flower market. Image: Author (2012)

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Introduction

FAB-CITY is a private initiative by Fabindia to develop a socially-responsible design, production and

education hub at the site of the former Calico Mills in Ahmedabad - India’s sixth largest city and capital

of the western state of Gujarat. Fabindia launches FAB-CITY to advance its expansion into new

urban markets across India. Fabindia invites cross-sector and cross-disciplinary teams from the fields

of architecture, urban design, fashion, education, business, and technology to develop proposals for the

flagship FAB-CITY site – a multi-structure, publicly accessible complex along the southeast section of the

Sabarmati River. FAB-CITY focuses on the combined role of fashion design, architecture and business

to spark an inclusive urban development model that integrates informal settlements with a formal urban

design plan.

Founded in 1960, Fabindia is the largest Indian retailer of textiles, clothing and furnishings made using

traditional techniques and hand-based processes. Fabindia is rooted in a framework of ‘inclusive capitalism:’

sourcing products directly from over 80,000 rural craftspeople through a network of community owned

companies (COCs). Featured in a Harvard Business School case study (Khaire 2007) and recognised by Forbes

India for saving endangered handloom weaving communities by linking them with urban markets, Fabindia

is a global leader in value-driven retail innovation.

Fabindia has identified Ahmedabad, known as the ‘Manchester of India’ for its prominent textile industry, as

its first core urban site to pilot the FAB-CITY initiative. Ahmedabad is India’s fastest growing city and has a

rich history in textile production and the Gandhian social equity movement. In addition to its industrial and

cultural heritage, Ahmadabad is also home to world-renowned design and business institutes, emerging special

economic zones for technology, information services and manufacturing, (including a future Tata Nano

plant), as well as large-scale, municipal environmental upgrading. This context of rising services, production,

and urban design development offers a ripe prospect for Fabindia to forge a cross-sector collaborative

development project based on the principles of collaboration, coexistence and inclusive capitalism. Fabindia

invites teams to reconceptualise the 21st century business centre for the emerging Indian city - one that goes

beyond the archetypes of the Silicon Valley campus and the company town - to match the needs of creative,

entrepreneurial and socially responsible urban-based industries.

Ahmedabad

New Delhi

Mumbai

Figure 2. Source: Google Earth (2012)

Figure 3. Location of Fabindia stores in 35 cities across India. Source: Google Earth and Fabindia.com (2012)

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Developmental Priorities and Strategies

‘Common sense tells us that living together is profitable to all.”

- Pyarali Kapadia, spokesperson for the Ram Rahim Nagar Slum Dwellers Association (Kumar 2006)

The population of Ahmedabad is 6.5 million, and is expected to grow by 1.4 million in the next ten years

(Census of India 2011). Currently, Ahmedabad faces challenges to develop employment opportunities in its

formal economic sector after suffering setbacks in the post-liberalisation period. While the State has secured

many large-scale investments for Ahmedabad through its Vibrant Gujarat initiative, including commitments

of $450 of MOUs with trade delegates from 101 countries in 2009 (Vibrant Gujarat 2011), from the 1980s

onwards there has been a decline of the textile mills and a transition to less labour intensive industries. This

has contributed to the City’s economy becoming dominated by the informal sector (Breman 2004). At

the height of the textile boom (approximately 1890 to 1970), Ahmedabad was home to 66 large mills that

employed over 100,000 people (AMC 2006, 6). Currently, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has

identified 52 mill lands that have closed (Figure 5) and the number of those employed in textiles has dropped

to 44,000 (ibid, 34). Between 1965 and 2003, the number of factories has increased from 939 to 4,859, yet the

factory workforce has only grown by 13,624 - from 162,104 to 175,728 (ibid, 9). This minimal labour increase

is due to the dominant growth of factories in chemical and petrochemical, engineering production, and

metallurgy production, which require less labour than that of textiles and other consumer goods industries.

Within Ahmedabad the informal sector comprises 77% of employment and 47% of the income of the total

urban economy (AMC 2006). These tertiary employment forms account for 100,000 jobs, 300,000 indirect

jobs and generate 40 million everyday (ibid 2011). The AMC’s development plan observes the unfair gap

between what the informal sector contributes to the economy as compared to the limited civic resources it

consumes: ‘the poor contribute to the globalizing economy of Ahmedabad as much as the non-poor. But the

poor do so without receiving the due economic or other civic facilities or services at par with the non-poor’

(ibid, 71). As the Ahmedabad City Development Plan 2006-2011 suggests, planners and policymakers must

put increased attention on strengthening the City’s ‘economic base,’ where jobs are most are needed (ibid).

Based on the AMC’s findings, Fabindia has identified job creation and opportunities for skills building and

entrepreneurship beyond the survivalist, makeshift strategies of the informal sector as a key development

Figure 4. Proposed Ahmedabad Land-use map 2011. Yellow: Residential, Purple: Industrial, Green: Agricultural.

Source: AMC (2006)

Figure 5. Location of closed mill lands. Source: AMC (2006)

Old Walled City

FAB-CITY site

AUDA ring road

Sabarmati River

International Airport

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priority. Fabindia proposes the creation of urban-based production models that hybridise new technology and traditional

artisan work in order to meet Ahmedabad’s employment needs and the company’s need to increase production for new urban

markets. To do this, Fabindia will partner with local design and business institutes, allowing students and faculty to use FAB-

CITY as a lab and studio for educational programmes, prototyping and fabrication, as well as contribute to the vocational

training of local residents and workers. Fabindia aims to train a new sophisticated labor force trained in collaborative design

and production skills, with a fluency in both artisan techniques such as hand weaving, dying and embroidery, along with

new technologies for digital screen printing and weaving of environmentally responsive fabrics. There is a high demand

for design education and trained designers nationally and a need for basic primary education and vocational training locally

(Bhosale 2010). FAB-CITY is a vehicle to meet this spectrum of educational needs, while also promoting Indian design

that is sustainable, urban-based, and brings prosperity to communities of diverse socioeconomic, ethnic and religious

backgrounds.

Driven by a rise in the new service industries since the economic liberalisation of the 1990s, Ahmedabad’s middle class

has been growing and increasing its influences over changes in the built environment (AMC 2011, 63). This demographic

shift is evident in the spatialisation of middle-class consumer lifestyles, including the City’s ten large scale and fifty small

shopping malls, and clusters of new gated communities in the western part of the City (Gujarat Vibrant 2010). In contrast, an

estimated 30% of Ahmedabad residents live in informal settlements (AMC 2006), and as a result of the Sabarmati Riverfront

Development project, approximately 11,000 of these residents have already been removed from their homes along the river to

housing on the periphery of the City (Desai 2012). NGOs estimate that the AMC will relocate a total of 40,000 families from

riverfront settments, all of whom are low-wage earners or are unemploymed, and 80% of which are Muslim (Chatterjee 2008).

In addition to harming the livelihoods of Ahmedabad’s poor who had used the river as a base for their livlihoods and lifestyle,

the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project imported cheaper migrant labour from Rajasthan for the initial demolition and

construction phase of the project, rather than employing the local under and un-employed (Chatterjee 2008).

Figure 6. Women spreading out saris to dry along the Sabarmati Riverfront. Source: Henri Cartier-Bresson (1966)

Figure 7. Completed area of SRFD promenade adjacent to the former Calico Mills site, currently used by residents as a place to deposit garbage and to defecate. Image: Author (2012).

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b. Gujri Bazaar (Sunday Market) located on the riverfront near Ellis Bridge. Running for almost 600 years, the market exemplifies the historical connection between the informal economy and the river that defines the character of Ahmedabad.

c. The informal edge of the Jamalpur fruit and vegetable market that is set up near the entrance ramp of the Sardar Bridge and continues under the Jamalpur flyover. The market is located directly across from the wholesale flower market and at the northearn edge of the FAB-CITY site.

a. Sabarmati Riverfront construction site in area designated to be auctioned to private developers.

Figure 8. Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project with sites of existing and future commercial activity.. Sourcea: Map; Sreedevi Anand, CEPT presentation (March 2012) and Photos; Author (2012).

d. Western edge of the Ram-Rahim Nagar overlooking the Sabarmati Riverfront Development project site. The sand-filled strip along the built concrete edge is currently used as a cricket pitch by residents, and is designated in the SRFDC plan as open green space.

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FAB-CITY project founder and director Fabindia was valued in 2011 at $238 million. 50% of Fabindia is owned by its founder’s family, 42% is owned by employees, and 8% was recently acquired by L Capital (Mamgain and Sinha).

FAB-CITY executive board

FAB-CITY educational advisory board

FAB-CITY media partners

Figure 9. FAB-CITY core project partners.

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Figure 9. FAB-CITY core project partners.

Location & Development Framework

‘Illiteracy is high, but the economic interdependency of both [Hindu and Muslim] communities on each other has made them realise the importance of

humanism without having studied it in books.’

-Nalini Trivedi, professor of Sociology, H K Arts College in Ahmedabad (Dhattiwala 2006)

The FAB-CITY project site lies on the east side of Ahmedabad, bordered by the Sardar Bridge to the north and the

Ambedkar Bridge to the south (Figures 10 & 11). The 48-acre site lies in the mixed residential and industrial sector

of Damlinda. In terms of connectivity, a BRTS route runs to the south, and the Jamalpur flyover is to the north,

while paved roads facilitate delivery vehicles, rickshaws and automobiles to reach residents and a few still operational

textile mills. Since the late 19th century, the east side of the city has been the site of industrial development and has

become increasingly distinct in socioeconomic, ethnic and religious composition from the west section of the City.

The western side is home to an enclave of top educational institutes (including the National Institute of Design,

CEPT University and Indian Institute of Management), and middle class residential developments and amenities, such

as gated communities and shopping malls (AMC 2006). By linking the resources and programming of educational

institutes on the west with FAB-CITY site on the east, FAB-CITY will strive to spatially, socially and economically

integrate the east and west.

For the construction of the FAB-CITY complex, Fabindia has purchased the property of the former Calico Mills,

adjacent to the Ram Rahim settlement. This location will complement the existing capabilities and needs of the

people of Ram Rahim Nagar by integrating them into the future development of the Riverfront and the City. This 0.5

km long settlement of 23,000 Hindus and Muslims live in over-crowded, dense conditions, and have remained near

the mills that previously provided them with employment (Dhattiwala). The urgency to create jobs for Ram Rahim

residents goes beyond economic viability, and can be a means of preserving the peaceful coexistence between different

socioeconomic and religious groups (Breman 2004). Ahmedabad has a history of anti-Dalit and inter Hindu-Muslim

violence and rioting (Dhattiwala 2006). This includes the 2002 riots, which resulted in the deaths of approximately

2,000 people, the looting of businesses and religious structures, and the fleeing of tens of thousands from their homes

(Times of India 2005). Several studies directly link the outbreak of violence to the rise in poverty and marginalization

of lower caste Hindus and Muslims, who having lost their jobs at the mills endure intense competition to survive

in the informal sector (Burman 2005, Breman, Chatterjee). One of the only areas of the City where Muslims and

Hindus have consistently remained peaceful is the Ram Rahim Nagar (Figure 19). All of its religious buildings - one

Figure 10. Former Calico Mills site and future FAB-CITY project site; approximately 48 acres. Source: Google Earth (2012).

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Pir dargah, two masjids, five temples, and a crematorium - went unvandalised in the

2002 riots. At the western edge of the settlement, Ram Rahim features a Muslim

dargah and Hindu temple that were intentionally constructed side by side as a symbol

of peaceful coexistence. For its peace during the riots and ongoing coexistence,

Indira Gandhi recognised it with a National Integration Award in 2005 (Kumar).

Ismael Ibrahim Sheikh, vice president of Ahmedabad Youth Council (AYC) explains

that this peace will become precarious if young people do not have viable economic

opportunities: ‘If fundamentalist groups begin to sponsor jobs and offer money to

the boys [in Ram Rahim Nagar] then all our efforts will be in vain’ (Dhattiwala 2006).

Active NGOs in Ram Rahim Nagar include the Ram Rahim Nagar Slum Dwellers

Association and the AYC, in addition to the Ram Rahim Nagar Jhopadwasi Mandal,

which is a 21-member Hindu-Muslim peace committee founded in 1969 that actively

promotes coexistence amongst residents of different religions (ibid). As a counter

gentrification strategy, Fabindia is in the process of partnering with these NGOs to

secure the tenure of Ram Rahim residents in a MOU with the AMC. In exchange for a

guarantee of residents’ rights to remain, Fabindia will issue micro-grants for upgrading

the infrastructure of private homes and public areas to meet AMC Housing Department

standards. Currently, the AMC provides community taps and one primary school in the

area (Figure 12), but there are no electricity, plumbing or sanitation services in place.

Fabindia’s partner, the International Finance Centre (IFC), will lead an initiative to work

with the AMC and local NGOs in a public consultation process to plan and implement

a general infrastructural upgrading project. Successful precedents of slum upgrading

programmes include municipal and state initiatives in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Medellin,

Columbia and by the NGO SPARC in Mumbai (Slumlab 2012, SPARC 2012). Fabindia

will follow these cross-sector, community-informed approaches to development.

The AMC City Development Plan recognises the predominance of the informal

sector and the need to create employment opportunities and urban amenities for

this economic base to become integrated into the formal economy. Evidence of the

Figure 11. Site map of project area. Pink dots: university partners, Yellow dots: key markets and religious monuments, Green: Calico Mills site, Blue: industrial area with approximately five operating mills, Pink line: SRFDC planned ‘cultural mile,’ Yellow area: Ram-Rahim Nagar. Yellow line: route of BRTS route linking east and west. Source: Google Maps (2012)

Figure 12. Municipal primary school at Ram Rahim Nagar. The school consists of three unfurnished rooms and one small kitchen area. Image: Author (2012)

IIMA

NID

CEPT

BRTS route

Sunday Market

FAB-CITY

Flower Market

Fruit & Veg M

arket

Crematoriu

m

Dargha & Temple

Ram Rahim

Mill area

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City’s recognition of the informal economy is the Street Vendors Policy

2012, which designates various trading zones, granting approximately

80,000 street traders a legitimate place in the City (Dave 2012). The

defining urban regeneration project shaping Ahmedabad’s future is

the Sabarmati Riverfront Development, which is managed by a public,

project-purpose organization, the Sabarmati Riverfront Development

Corporation Ltd. (SRFDC). Construction began in 2004, to complete

the first phase of land reclamation, informal settlement removal, and

paving of the lower promenade that runs along both sides of the River

for 10.5 km. The result is the creation of approximately 185 hectares

of reclaimed land, 85% of which will become public infrastructure and

recreational and green spaces. While the designated ‘cultural mile’ on the

southwest section of the riverfront (Figure 11) plans to house museums,

performance and exhibition space, SRFDC has not issued specifications

for how this area will be integrated and accessible to the surrounding

urban fabric and the east side of the river In addition, SRFDC has

prioritised vehicular access to the river via roadways that will straddle

the promenade, while lacking plans for pedestrian access, including

considerations for the handicapped, elderly, or other pedestrians with

mobility constraints to access the lower promenade. These accessibility

limitations indicate that the overall design will favour a privileged,

recreational user. (Shah 2010). FAB-CITY will include designated areas

for street vendors, and will prioritise pedestrian integration and access to

the cultural amenities and riverfront adjacency that it will offer.

Figure 14. Figure ground showing future FAB-CITY site in green. As designated by the SRFDC, blue indicates an area with development rights to be auctioned and orange is dedicated to public infrastructure and institutions. Source: Sreedevi Anand, CEPT presetnation (March 2012)

Figure 13. A young Ram Rahim resident, Faisal, explores the former Calico Mills site that is linked to the rear courtyard of his home. Although all mill structures have been demolished, one smokestack, along with bricks and stones, remain for potential re-use in the FAB-CITY complex. Image: Author (2012)

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Community Collaborations and Roles

‘Our aim was to achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth between the company and the artisan.

Only through this can we ensure the survival of the craft. Unless the artisan has an incentive, he won’t continue his craft.’

- William Bissell, Managing Director of Fabindia (India Microfinance 2008)

Project Leader:

Fabindia

Based in New Delhi, Fabindia has 141 retail outlets in 35 cities across India (including four

in Ahmedabad), with additional locations in Dubai, Italy, Nepal, and Mauritius. Fabindia also

exports fabrics, clothing, housewares and an organic personal care line to corporate clients and

retailers in 33 countries around the world. The company functions on a model of ‘inclusive

capitalism,’ which connects artisan producers to contemporary urban consumers. To build on this

global market, Fabindia recently partnered with L Capital (the private equity arm of the LVMH)

to raise the equity needed to launch a new phase of its urban-based development (Balakrishnan

2012). The FAB-CITY complex in Ahmedabad will serve as a flagship as Fabindia prepares to

open 300 new small stores and 10 large furniture showrooms over the next four years in small

and medium sized cities across India (Mamgain and Sinha 2011). As the project leader, Fabindia’s

Managing Director, William Bissell will serve as the Executive Director of FAB-CITY Ltd., a

for-profit social enterprise that will oversee the construction, programming and production of

the FAB-CITY complex, manage the executive and educational advisory boards (Figure 9) and

ensure that programmes and production follow an inclusive development model and conform to

Fabindia’s sustainable and fair-trade compliance as set by the All India Artisans and Craftworkers

Welfare Association and Craftmark.

Executive Board

The FAB-CITY executive board will lead the capital campaign for the construction of the

complex, provide oversight of financial planning and management tied to core project

deliverables and ensure that an inclusive capitalism strategy shapes the economic growth

model, community programmes and business partnerships. The executive board consists of the

following partners and project investors:

FIgure 16. Detail of AMC proposed land-use 2006. Purple: light industrial, Green: open space, Yellow: residential. Source: AMC (2006)

Figures 15. Informal settlement areas in southeast sectors Source: AMC (2006).

FAB-CITY

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International Finance Centre

The IFC is part of the World Bank group, which has dedicated its largest investment portfolio of $7 billion to finance infrastructure and public-private partnerships

in India (IFC n.d.). IFC specialises in building inclusive growth models and fostering trade and investments within South Asia, including the Tata Mundra Project - a

4,000-megawatt thermal power plant in the port city of Mundra, Gujarat. FAB-CITY and Fabindia stores will source power from this energy-efficient project (Tata

2012).

Clinton Global Initiative

The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) is a platform for leaders from the public, private and civic sectors to address to the world’s most challenging development issues.

Fabindia’s relationship with CGI began in 2007, when William Bissell attended the CGI Summit and pledged to support 100 new micro-finance businesses, 100 new

small and medium sized businesses, and to add 100,00 new craftsmen as shareholders to Fabindia’s growing network of COCs (CGI 2012). CGI will assist in raising

capital among private philanthropists, garnering the support of global leaders, and promoting the FAB-CITY development model.

Gandhi Foundation

The Gandhi Foundation supports the work of community organisations and leaders embodying the philosophy of Mohandas K. Gandhi, with an emphasis on

promoting economic cooperation, nonviolence and social equality (The Gandhi Foundation n.d.). The Gandhi Foundation will lead communication and outreach

efforts with the Ram Rahim Nagar NGOs and ensure that training and employment opportunities are shaped by the needs and capacities of the residents.

L Capital

L Capital is a private equity fund that invests in consumer and lifestyle brands in Asia. L Capital will advise Fabindia on its urban expansion and branding strategy,

specifically on how to leverage the FAB-CITY facility to invite collaborations from fashion houses across Asia and Europe with an interest in expanding their

sustainable production.

Educational Advisory Board

Fabindia will select representatives from leading educational institutes to serve on an advisory board to set concrete educational deliverables and to design multi-

disciplinary courses and public education programmes. Local educational partners include: the National Institute of Design (NID), a world-leading design institute

with departments in textile, interiors, product and furniture design; Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University (CEPT), a top urban design and

architecture institute; and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), offering graduate and corporate education to advance management practices in

India and the developing world. In addition to local partners, FAB-CITY invites visiting faculty from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) based in

Delhi to provide special consultations and workshops for the advisory board, students, workers and the general public, as well as to coordinate student visits through

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industry internships, craft survey and documentation, and product development. NIFT will be responsible for working with L

Capital to broker relationships with Indian and international fashion designers that will select FAB-CITY as a site to conduct

product research and development. Lastly, Fabindia Schools will open a second franchise of its English language school (pre-

school through class XI) for residents of the Ram Rahim settlement. Fabindia’s current school in Bali, Rajasthan serves 1,000

students of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds - 40% of which are female (Fabindia Schools 2012).

Media Partners

Fabindia has commissioned three international and Indian media companies to engage with the advisory boards, students,

designers, community organisations and the general public to communicate project goals and progress, and to share ongoing

process documentation in the form of video blogs, SMS feeds, and temporary on-site media and learning installations. Media

partners include: Motherland, a magazine focusing on in-depth stories of Indian subculture and urban and rural lifestyles; Fast

Company, a progressive business media company with branches such as Fast Co.Design, featuring global stories of design,

architecture and business innovation; Superflux, a collaborative design and media production studio with bases in London and

Ahmedabad, specialising in the intersection of emerging technologies and everyday lifestyles.

Urban Development Strategy: Collaboration, Coexistence & Inclusive Capitalism

Cities are natural design labs. They incubate intense convergences and experimental collaborations that can positively transform

people’s lives. Cities are where diverse demographics share stakes in the same markets, where the affluent invest in the emergent,

where the deprived strive towards advancement, and where innovators invent the new that new consumers dream of acquiring.

Design can act as a tool to harness this convergence of diversity, demand, and density to foster new collaborations that improve

the urban collective. The challenge for India’s rapidly growing cities is to design spaces, goods and production systems embedded

in mutually beneficial collaborations amongst citizens of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The future of the Indian city is

rooted in this precise pairing of collaborative design and inclusive social betterment. Cities with severe income inequalities lead

to socio-spatial segregation and pose threats to economic stability (UN HABITAT 2009). Although India’s ‘new middle class’

has reached nearly 30% of the population (McKinsey 2007 and Deutsch Bank 2010), up to one third of urban residents across

India live in informal dwellings that lack basic infrastructure (The Economist 2010). As the middle class matures and increases its

influence as urban consumers and political actors, urban growth strategies must support improved lifestyles for all.

Fabindia believes that a successful Indian city cannot be dominated by a single spatial typology or social class. As a leading global

retailer, Fabindia was founded on a philosophy of inclusive capitalism that cultivates mutually enriching links between rural

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producers to urban markets. As India’s increased urbanisation portends an urban future for the nation and the planet, Fabindia

will launch a new urban-based production strategy that integrates design, business development, education and job training, and

public engagement within one site. FAB-CITY aims to help the SRFDC meet its stated goals of creating vibrant cultural spaces

and revitalising inner urban areas. By developing a site adjacent to the riverfront that will be publicly accessible and integrated into

nearby residential areas, FAB-CITY will activate a section of the waterfront as a dynamic node that enriches Ahmedabad’s live/work

communities and integrates the informal economy with opportunities for formal employment, training and education. FAB-CITY

will operate on an inclusive development model, strategically locating itself adjacent to the Ram Rahim settlement in order to protect

its residents from forced relocation, and instead offering a way for them to be productively incorporated into the Sabarmati project

and overall future economic development of the City. This approach to inclusive development is ingrained in the DNA of Fabindia

as well as in its selected partners.

Design Strategy

Based on this philosophy, the FAB-CITY call for design proposals is divided into three sections: (1) Community Employment and

Lifestyle, (2) Fashion, Design and Business Innovation, (3) Site Design and Design-Build Programme. Each aspect of the proposal

invites interdisciplinary teams to imagine how the principles of collaboration, coexistence and inclusive capitalism can be translated

into architecture, design education and design production in the context of a renovated, former mill site.

Designers are encouraged to consider incremental, design-build strategies that allow students and community members to contribute

to building design and construction in ways that are responsive, flexible and based on sourcing local materials and labour. Design

precedents of community-driven, design-build projects include Lanternhouse by TYIN architects in Bangkok, and a historic

renovation project by NG architects in conjunction with Riwaq in Beizrit, Palestine (TYIN 2007 and NG 2009). In both of these

projects, architects, design students and community members worked collaboratively from start to finish, and community participants

gained assistance and skills to upgrade their own homes and other parts of their neighborhood, thus multiplying the impact of

project participation and disseminating architectural upgrading through the area. Additionally, proposals for environmentally sensitive

and sustainable building techniques will be favoured. Lastly, it is critical that the FAB-CITY complex feature pedestrian access and

integration to the upper riverfront promenades, and public green space connected with the surrounding residential area. In addition

to dedicated buildings for production and learning, publicly accessible areas will host temporary programmes such as exhibits,

vendors, markets and meeting and learning space, and indoor and outdoor spaces for production, training and public events. These

areas must be accessible by pedestrians with a variety of mobility constraints.

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Programme Strategy

Overall, design teams are challenged to reconceptualise the company town for the 21st century Indian City as one

based on flexible and responsive live/work integration, collaborations with educational and cultural amenities,

and integration across socioeconomic demographics. The site will invite students and design professionals who

may not otherwise have an opportunity to collaborate with residents of an informal settlement and vice versa.

Accordingly, programmes should integrate creative educational modules with design and research in ways that are

inviting and accessible to diverse publics. Proposals are encouraged to foreground the capacities and interests of

the partnering educational institutes and NGOs, and propose programmes that can achieve shared learning and

economic development goals. Educational and training programmes should address pressing urban development

issues such as employment, housing, sanitation, nutrition, sports and recreation and other factors that contribute

to the health and well-being of all site users. Proposals should consider how programme modules can also be

linked to enhance the identity of Ram Rahim Nagar as an economically, culturally and socially valuable area.

This includes strategies for positively impacting the public’s and municipality’s understanding and perception of

informal settlements, and how they can be integrated into formal development planning. There also is a potential

to contribute to an alternative narrative and image of progress to that of shopping malls and gated communities.

Proposals are encouraged to create spatial and programmatic strategies that are flexible for different types of

users and uses, as FAB-CITY will integrate making, learning and shopping onto one site. These programmes

and strategies have the potential to serve as a model that can be scaled up and replicated to other parts of

Ahmedabad and to other cities.

Figures 17 & 18. Portraits of textile workers, street vendors and Ram-Rahim residents that were interviewed by CEPT and LSE students in initial site research. Image: Daniela Gorny and Author (2012)

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Submission Requirements

In addition to the design proposal, each design team will submit a video (maximum length of 3:00) introducing

themselves and elaborating on how the theme of collaboration, coexistence and inclusive capitalism relates to their

professional practices. Selected teams will present their proposals in Ahmedabad to members of the executive and

educational advisory boards, and in a public exhibition with opportunities for feedback from partnering institutions,

NGOs, students and residents. In addition to printed materials and models, all proposals must be submitted in digital

formats for publication on the FAB-CITY website.

(1) Community Employment and Lifestyle

In consultation with selected faculty from CEPT and designers at Superflux, proposals will include the following:

a. Skills inventory and socioeconomic needs assessment of a sample population of Ram Rahim Nagar residents.

Specifically, this involves rich ethnographic study, photo and video documentation, mapping and diagramming of Ram

Rahim Nagar residents’ live/work modules (i.e. what services/amenities/resources they utilise on a daily basis, how the

urban fabric of Ram Rahim Nagar is integrated into or isolated from the Sabarmati Riverfront and other parts of the City,

previous and current employment structures and job skills, etc.);

b. Site research, mapping, and photo and video documentation of the demolished Calico Mills, and inventory of materials

and structures that can be re-purposed for use in the new complex.

(2) Fashion, Design and Business Innovation

In consultation with selected faculty at CEPT, NID, NIFT and IIMA, propose educational modules and curricula that

(1) integrate design-build and design training for students and workers; (2) sustainable production and (3) small and

medium size business development modules. Overall, proposed modules should aim to apply Fabindia’s COC model to

advance the economic prosperity of designers and workers in ways that balance environmental impact and result in a fair

distribution of profits. Proposal must include the following components:

a. Sample curricula for inter-disciplinary semester-long courses and special workshops in fashion, business, and product

design;

b. Sample programme for design training and design-build projects that includes pedagogical approach, evaluation

methods, and materials that are sourced locally and are renewable;

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Figure 19. Western edge of the Ram-Rahim Nagar, (see location on Figure 11). At centre is a Muslim dargah shrine and a Hindu Hanuman temple, which were inten-tionally built side by side as a symbol of co-existence in the 1970s (Burman). Image: Jorge Martin (2012)

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c Sample business plan for small and medium size businesses incubated through workshops, educational partners and relationships with local and

international designers.

(3) Site Design and Design-Build Programme:

The site must accommodate the following components:

a. Fabindia school for 1,000 students (primary to grad XI) for Ram Rahim residents;

b. Outdoor and indoor studios, library and cafeteria that will be used by approximately 500 students and workers;

c. Large retail area and cafe for a Fabindia clothing, furnishing, and textiles store;

d. Office, meeting and studio space for 50 employees of Fabindia;

e. Auditorium and event/exhibition space that is partially outdoor and linked to the public green space along the riverfront (to accommodate 1,000

inside and 3,000 outside);

f. Production space to accommodate textile and fashion equipment and handcraft work stations for 500 people;

g. Park and recreation spaces that include public amenities;

h. Pedestrian routes, access and configuration that connects to nearby religious buildings, residences, small businesses and other local institutions.

The following are required to present the design scheme:

a. 1:5,000 scale urban design proposal illustrating land use, building configuration, pedestrian and vehicular access and relationship to the Riverfront;

b. 1:2,000 scale urban design scheme;

c. 1:500 scale urban design scheme detailing of spatial design of training and production facilities, public events and outdoor learning spaces, and design

studios;

d. Urban design guide that includes sketches, diagrams and mappings for the site including access by pedestrians, vehicles and public transport,

landscape, and energy and waste management infrastructure;

e. Urban design process guide that includes methodology and philosophy of sourcing labour, materials and incorporating training and learning

opportunities within the design-build process;

f. 3-D and video representations of the spatial design concept.

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