Being interested in local construction materials and methods, I found the fences in Nagapattinam fascinating – in their variety and intricacy. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of them. Here’s the result of my obsession:
From my journal while in Nagapattinam, India. I got up early for a morning walk – but I didn’t really have any other choice with the temple music blaring at 5am – or was it 4 or 4:30? A couple days ago I read a lifestyle editorial in the regional paper about three types of … More Kolam as a landscape
As outsiders, development workers assisting communities in the “global south” need methods for quickly understanding the critical issues facing the communities. Robert Chambers and others developed Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) as a method for development workers to quickly understand issues in rural villages from the villagers’ perspective, while also gathering some baseline data for future … More Participatory Rapid Appraisal
Community design – the idea that the best planning and design decisions happen when they are in consultation with neighborhood residents – has been described using many different terms: social design, social architecture, citizen participation, advocacy planning, plural design, design activism, activist architecture, and public interest design. I’d like to go through these terms, what … More Community Design – what is in a name?
Katherine Melcher 