Abhay Narasimhan is a student of Architecture and Urban Studies at the University of Southern California and is interested in exploring alternative spatial systems through the lens of architecture, urbanism, and sociology.
Recently, during a stint working with urbz in Dharavi, Mumbai, he became curious about everyday magical and political acts, and how they might transcend impositions of hierarchical order. In response to this curiosity, he authored a pamphlet, “Move! Prose and Poetry on Dharavi and the City”, that explores the multitudinous and enabling nature of “homegrown” forms in Mumbai. He seeks to understand “how homegrown communities return agency to the individual in the city”, often as a reaction to normative, technocratic space-making techniques.
He is also interested in walking as a method to understand the city, and is deeply inspired by situationist ideas.
His previous written works deal with the IT-led growth in his home city of Bengaluru and its impact on housing types within the city.