Some Contextual Considerations When Designing for the Majority World
Visual Materials for Some Contextual Considerations When Designing For The Majority World
Mobility and Work
Ramprakash, who cannot use his lower limbs, is a successful tinsmith in a small town in North India . His busy, cluttered workshop or stall is one of over a hundred in a narrow crowded shopping street providing a range of goods and services. Each stall is about 3' above ground, which has dictated the design of his wheelchair to ease transfer to the low stool where he sits.
As shown in the picture the wheelchair remains parked in front of the stall because there is no other space for it.
Ramprakash 'designed' and built his own self-propelled wheelchair, which he uses to travel the one-mile distance from his home to the stall. He sits on a small wooden stool, which can be seen in the middle of the structure. The large box on the front is for his tools and food. The wheelchair is cumbersome and inefficient, and is propelled forward through the use of a bar, which has to be pushed up and down. The design is largely dictated by his knowledge of tinsmithing (although the welding was done by a friend), the materials available and what he can afford. Availability and affordability are two key components of the universal design principles when considering the majority world. As far as Ramprakash is concerned he has come up with an appropriate solution to his mobility problems within the confines of his environment and socio-cultural circumstances.
About half a mile away from Ramprakash's stall this workshop with a large sign has been making affordable made-to-measure wooden prosthetic and orthotic devices for over 50 years. Examples of the products lean on the wall facing the street. These include crutches, limb extensions for amputees, cosmetic hands and feet, etc. By Western standards these products are heavy, less functional, and frequently do not fit properly, which often results in painful skin lesions. However, these devices are affordable, available and sustainable . The manager is more than amenable to the customer coming back to have his designs readjusted, shaved off to be lightened or to have additional straps fitted. It should be noted that the majority of his customers lose their limbs in work-related or transport and traffic accidents.
Access to cheap crutches has allowed Vishnu, who has one leg, to travel to the city centre to work as a cobbler and shoe shiner, which enables him to be financially independent. He carries the tools of his trade in an improvised bag on his back.
Public and Private Transport
Legally this minibus, which travels between several villages to the town, should not carry more than 15 passengers. In practice it frequently travels with double that number to maximise income. The photo shows the overloaded bus and the passengers sitting on top usually only have each other to hold on to in case of sudden braking or collision. Accidents are frequent and often result in permanent injury. Travelling on top of buses, taxis, and trains is a common practice in most parts of the majority world.
In India , in terms of health and safety, public transport is meant to be strictly regulated. As the picture shows these regulations are generally ignored, and at times there are as many 'illegal' passengers on the top or sides as inside the bus. This can make it difficult to steer and puts a tremendous strain on the engine and brakes. Accidents are frequent.
The traditional one-horse carriage, which is mainly used by rural communities on the Indian sub-continent, is slowly being sidelined by motorised rickshaws, taxis and buses. The photo shows a man wearing a turban, holding his horse as it pulls a loaded carriage. It remains one of the cheapest, environmentally friendly and sustainable forms of transport.
Another major challenge to the livelihood of the one-horse carriage operator is the free rides provided by well-off farmers whodrive modern six-wheel tractors on their way to town to deliver produce or to purchase fuel, fertiliser, etc. Farmers are particularly honour bound to pick up fellow villagers.
Seasonal Work and Shelter
During the wheat and rice harvests in North India , in March and September respectively, a considerable number of seasonal workers migrate there from poorer states. They either live in makeshift 'tents' in the fields or on the periphery of towns. The latter gives them the flexibility of servicing several sites from one home base. The shelter or shatri is usually constructed of cloth or plastic strung over sticks and branches.
The group of seasonal workers shown in the picture have helped to harvest the rice and are busy separating it from its stalks. This is done by repeatedly hitting manageable sheaves of rice on an earth embankment. They usually work for ten hours a day for about $1.50 per day and are paid in cash or kind, such as grain, raw sugar or alcohol.
Picture shows the shelters for seasonal workers alongside a main road on the periphery of a town. The amenities are rudimentary, with no water, electricity, washing or toileting or cooking facilities. Inhabitants use water from the nearest well, pump or agricultural supply. For light they use the age-old, cotton wick oil-based terra cotta diva. Toileting is undertaken in the fields nearby and cooking is improvised on Primus stoves, dried cowpats or sticks and stones.
This is a typical well-constructed bamboo hut for a family of five working under seasonal conditions in the Guangdong province of China . At the appropriate time the same family moves from their village home to the hut in order to guard their fields or to start the harvest. Although it lacks all the usual amenities such as water and electricity, the hut construction is robust, traditional and adequate. Bamboo and atap leaves figure in some of the best vernacular architecture in South East Asia .
It is difficult to consider these occupants of a public pavement in old Delhi as seasonal workers. In fact, they are part of the great migration from rural to urban environments that is typical of the majority world. The photo shows the low metal railing that separates the living space from the foot traffic. This group has been living on the pavement for over four years and has established an ad hoc pavement 'eaterie' in order to enhance their income from general labouring. In inclement weather this extended family use large plastic sheets draped over the railings to keep the rain out. I was informed that three of their children were born on the pavement.
