Chitra K Vishwanath and S.Vishwanath.

At the heart of de-growth is the concept of reduction to the bare minimum for survival. Our presentation talks about bringing about change in a subtle manner without being radical/revolutionary and bring the change through lifestyle decisions which make the person responsible. In India the current rallying cry is of development. Development which involves lot of building activity for homes and other infrastructure demands materials to build with. There is never any comprehensive policy discussion on where these construction materials would come from? Images are made of cities created with verdant greenery, water bodies and large buildings with glass and concrete. The south Indian city of Bengaluru has seen a massive growth in population and economics over the last 25 years and is the very epitome of the Indian model of economic growth to catch up with the rest of the world. Here as part of our practice in www.biome-solutions.com we have been working almost coterminous with this period described as ‘liberalization’ of the economy in an architectural practice which questions the consumption led economy and argues for the circular economy. Homes and institutions built with earth, excavated from the site, are a hallmark. The buildings also harvest rainwater, a portion from a clean roof for drinking and cooking purpose, and the rest for other uses. Waste-water is reused using simple biological systems of cleaning using reeds. A source separating Eco-san toilets makes sure that even human waste is reused on the site itself.

This media entry was a contribution to the special session „Degrowth – an Indian take from Bengaluru, South India“ at the 5th International Degrowth Conference in Budapest in 2016.