UrbanUp

or most people, BMW stands for aspirational, high-engineered cars. For artists, BMW also represents art and the support of art practices. This is thanks to the carmaker’s long association with art, which I have talked about in an earlier column. The BMW Art Car Project was born in 1975 when French race-car driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to paint a 3.0 CSL, which he subsequently raced at Le Mans. Other great artists who painted on BMW cars subsequently, though none of them found place on the race track, are the who’s who of art history: Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Jeff Koons and Olafur Eliasson to name a few. The list goes on.

Today, it is an annual prize and has been rechristened as BMW Art Journey, and the winner’s works are shown at Art Basel (Hong Kong, Basel and Miami). This year, guests gathered to celebrate the 18th BMW Art Car, commissioned by Chinese artist Cao Fei (this rising star was also a Yinchuan Biennale artist). She brought BMW into the virtual world by creating a digital rendition of her car seen in augmented reality.

At the UBS Forum in Basel, I had a good time chatting with the energetic cultural head of BMW Dr Thomas Girst, vivacious art world observer Jagdip Jagpal and Indian friends including Arti Kirloskar, architect-editor-publisher Samira Rathod and young artist Snehal Goyal. Everyone wanted to meet the new BMW Art Journey award-winner Astha Bhutail (I was a jury member for the prize). Though the art world outside India was abuzz and curious about this young Indian artist, it hardly made news in the Indian media. That is a reflection of this country’s approach to visual art.

On returning to India, I was supposed to be in Thiruvananthapuram. But, at the last moment, my meeting got cancelled. Though the cancellation was unfortunate, it opened up another exciting possibility for me. I was invited by old friend and gallerist Premila Baid for the opening of the new gallery at RMZ Ecoworld, Bengaluru, for Ravinder Reddy’s solo show and for the unveiling of the public art projects—all at the same venue, on the same day. RMZ Ecoworld, a huge project, is an enclave of IT parks and commercial SEZ and non-SEZ office spaces. It is the concept of collectors Anu and Manoj Menda, who head RMZ Corp.

This sprawl of a property was developed keeping art in mind. If you move through the campus you will come across works of art specially created for the project by some of contemporary art’s biggest names. Subodh Gupta had two pieces—’Dreams Overflowing’ and ‘Thosa Pani’—but I was especially struck by the second one, which, according to the artist, “is a representation of a tide of water in a frozen moment”. Simply spectacular. Visit the campus just to see it.

71-Subodh-Gupta-new Silver spring: Subodh Gupta’s work ‘Dreams Overflowing’

There is also Ravinder Reddy’s ‘Devi’, done in his trademark style, which, you could say, gives a feminine touch to what could have been a completely masculine edifice (an accusation often heaped against most of our architectural enterprises). The other artists who have created outdoor projects are Arun Kumar H.G., whose ‘The Link’ is a seated bull made from recycled heavy iron chains, Dhruva Mistry (‘Spatial Diagram – Vermillion and Crimson’) and Jayasri Burman (‘Dharitri’).

All the artists have stuck to their chosen language and medium, but scaled up the dimensions to titanic proportions. Visitors are aided by a neatly designed map which helps identify the works on the campus. The space also houses two amphitheaters and a gallery, which is burdened by small design oversights, such as a low ceiling. It should have had a high ceiling and tall vertical spaces. Yet, in its intentions and effort to showcase art, Ecoworld soars.

Mihir Menda was all of a ninth-grader when he came up with the idea of affordable, clean housing for Bengaluru’s less privileged. On a brief visit to the watchman’s house close to his apartment complex, Mihir was appalled by the sad condition of the family’s living quarters. It was shoddy and small. Smoke from a gas stove filled the house. “I wondered how our watchman would always have a happy-go-lucky smile on his face every day, a smile that was such a huge part of my growing up,” remembers Mihir. This visit inspired him to read about housing and planning, with a greater goal of someday coming up with his own solution to the problems of space, infrastructure, and hygiene in urban housing. In December 2014, Mihir started putting pen to paper for UrbanUp. He wrote to Rahul Mehrotra, Professor of Urban Design and Planning and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, who focuses primarily on community building, and worked briefly as his intern in Mumbai. Armed with a blueprint of the project and better exposure to national and global housing issues, Mihir started writing to potential sponsors. UrbanUp received a generous donation of 1.5 acres of land off Sarjapur main road from a local landowner. The first funds came from an impact investor and the money granted was enough to bear the costs of phase I of the building project. The project is to have three phases with a total number of 126 homes and a community centre. Phase I is slated to be completed in August 2017 and Phase II by December this year. The target group is families with monthly incomes of Rs 15,000 or less. Applications were invited and, of the many that poured in, some were shortlisted. From those, a final list was made and family members interviewed. The vision is to create a model community that will imbibe and carry forward the values of sustainability and independent, dignified living. “It is a scalable and replicable model,” says Mihir over a telephonic chat. One avenue for raising funds is a quasi-equity approach. Each housing unit of 400 sq ft carpet area costs Rs 7 lakh. Each beneficiary family is to pay Rs 2 lakh as down payment and the rest of the money is to be paid at a monthly interest-free rate of 10 percent of the family’s income. Mihir feels this will provide residents with a sense of accountability and contribution to the community. UrbanUp has partnered with NGOs to provide skill-based and livelihood training to its beneficiaries. The community centre in the complex will serve as the main venue for training. The goal is to help set up a self-sufficient and self-sustainable community that will continue to keep itself running in future. Labournet is the skilling partner for the project and RXDX is the wellness partner. RXDX has an onsite clinic there. It also airs telemedicine programmes and trains residents in disease prevention.

The other notable thing about this urban residential project is its eye for eco-friendly detail. Twenty-five percent of the construction material is recycled products. Construction waste and spoil cement bricks are used, and the complex is being fitted with solar panels and rainwater harvesting equipment. With clean water and sanitation, no poverty, good health and well-being, affordable and clean energy, and others, UrbanUp meets 11 of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. For his contribution to community development, Mihir has received the 7th Annual Pramerica Spirit of Community Award. This award is given to the country’s most remarkable student volunteers. In May, he is travelling to Washington DC with his fellow awardee to represent India. Of his prize money, this 18-year-old says, “All of it will go into the crowdfunding programme.” UrbanUp’s challenges have been fundraising, risk management, and getting government approval. But with a threefold approach to raising money and with ample hard work, most of these hurdles have now been overcome, and Bengaluru can look forward to a housing complex with an outlook of change.

Mihir Menda from Mallya Aditi International School has rustled up an affordable housing initiative for the poor.

In Bengaluru, most of the school students are donning the entrepreneur’s hat at a very early age. These young minds are coming up with inventions that will have an impact on the society. Eighteen-year-old Mihir Menda from Mallya Aditi International School has come up with an initiative that aims to provide affordable housing programmes for the people living in shanty houses. “The whole idea started when I was in the ninth standard. I would always interact with my security guard and one day after my way back from school I got the opportunity to visit his house which is close to my complex. As I entered his house, it was heart-breaking to see his living conditions. I was surprised to see the man always wearing a smile on his face in spite of staying in unhygienic conditions,” he recollects.

Deeply moved by his watchman’s lifestyle, Mihir began thinking about people who can’t afford to stay in proper houses because their income is restricting them. That’s when this young founder of Urbanup spoke to his father about social and sustainable housing.“He was very supportive and I conceptualised the housing project and went ahead.”

While he was studying in school, he felt the urge to do something for the needy. Mihir says, “During my internship I got a chance to work under professor Rahul Mehrotra from Harvard Graduate School of Design. I contacted him to help me in building the project in terms of sustainable design. My main intention is to help the underprivileged sections of the society with an affordable housing solution to 126 families. I have targeted people of low income level so that they can achieve their dreams to live in a preferable environment”.

Mihir had shown interest in social work since his childhood days. “My grandfather did social work and I would accompany him. My parents do a lot of social work too and this inspired me too,” says the teenager who enjoys reading about disruptive technologies and innovations in sustainability.

Mihir balances his social work and student life so that his studies are not impacted. He says, “Everyday after school I would devote one hour and during the weekends four to five hours. During my exams, everyone would reschedule their meeting according to my exam schedule as my first priority is always my studies.” Mihir describes himself as enterprising, artistic, compassionate, athletic and inquisitive. “I am going to study engineering at Columbia University, New York. After completing my degree, I hope to network in this field to make my project successful by next year,” concludes Mihir.

Article Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle

An entrepreneur with a social cause at 14 while still in class IX? Sounds like something out of Ripley’s Believe It or Not. But the 126 homes at Rs 7 lakh each coming up off Sarjapur Road in Bengaluru suggest innovation can be ‘constructive’ as well. Mihir M Menda, who has just turned 18, is behind the project.
The founder and CEO of a social enterprise with the mission of devel- oping sustainable, social housing in India, Mihir is developing 126 homes in three phases. In the first phase, 30 are under construction with 48 each in the next two phases spread over 1.50 acres. The complex will have an outdoor play area as well. The homes come with a community centre to impart basic education and vocational training to beneficiaries. UrbanUp has partnered with NGOs to conduct digital education and skill development programmes, for preventive healthcare awareness, and to ensure sustainability of the project.

THE FIRST STEP
It all began in 2014 when Mihir was in class IX. A visit to a security guard’s home at his housing complex moved him. “Around Diwali, I visited the home of this guard who has been a part of my growing-up years. He used to play cricket with me and helped me with my cricket training. His home was around 200 sq ft where his family of six lived. Their cooking filled the home with smoke. They had power for about an hour a day, no clean drinking water and very poor sanitation. I was surprised that he had a smile on his face every day in spite of these living conditions. I wanted to make a difference to him and many others like him,” explains Mihir, who was selected as a national winner in the individual category for the project at the 7th Annual Pramerica Spirit of Communi- ty Awards recently. The project, incidentally, meets 11 of the United Nations’ 17 goals of sustainable development such as clean energy, sanitation and education.
With these objectives, he set up UrbanUP in January 2015. The name stands for urban issues and uplift — creating better living conditions. “I wrote to landowners asking for grants of land for the project. Among the four I reached out to, the fourth donated 1.50 acres of land,” says Mihir who was all of 15 then. “This was the first challenge. It took some convincing for someone to take a 15-year-old seriously enough to offer land.”

ECO-FRIENDLY
Things began to take shape with the land available for the project. “I wrote to Rahul Mehrotra, the dean of urban planning and design school at Harvard University. He is respected for his work as a social architect, for his designs that are both sustainable and as an architect who has de- signed social projects. In November 2015, I went for a design workshop that he conducted in Mumbai,” says Mihir.
Mehrotra helped to define the principles of sustainable design. “Usually, we build homes at a cost of Rs 2,500 per sq ft. Here we are building them at Rs 1,550 per sq ft. We are construct- ing with soil cement bricks made from the excavated ground. The philosophy is ‘sustainable and organic’. The technique is ‘cut and build’. All that is cut out during the excavation is used again in the construction work. Also, waste material that is usable such as tiles from large projects are being collected and used here. The community centre, for example, is built entirely with locally available material and bamboo,” says Mihir, now a class XII student reading maths, physics, chemistry and economics. The sustainable design elements are sup- posed to bring down the carbon foot- print as well.

AWARD FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE
Mihir M Menda was selected as a national winner in the individual category for this project at the 7th Annual Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards. He was presented with a gold medallion, certificate of excellence, cash prize of Rs 50,000 and a return trip to Washington in May 2017. In Washington, he will represent India in the global felicitation ceremonies for The Spirit of Community Award winners from all the participating countries.
I wrote to landowners asking for grants of land for the project. Among the four I reached out to, the fourth donated 1.50 acres of land. This was the first challenge. It took some convincing for someone to take a 15-year-old seriously enough to offer land

CROWD-FUNDED WORK
In April 2016, UrbanUp began inter- viewing beneficiaries for house allotment. The beneficiaries were chosen based on their education, number of senior citizens in the family, and the positive impact empowering them would potentially have on society. A household income of below Rs 15,000 per month was an underlying criterion.
From May 2016, the trust had begun receiving large funds in donations with a tax benefit under section 80G of the Income Tax Act. In July 2016, the beneficiaries got a viewing of the site. The occasion was marked by planting of trees in the neighbourhood. A school in the locality was refurbished with a toilet and fresh coat of paint at a cost of Rs 1.50 lakh. The ground-breaking ceremony followed in September 2016. The finance for the project has come from crowd-funding, pooling of capital by beneficiaries and impact investors. The beneficiaries have to make a down payment of Rs 2 lakh against the total amount of Rs 7 lakh, and the rest in instalments of Rs 1,500 per month over the next 5-10 years. This comes to around 10% of their monthly in- come. The entire payment is inter- est-free. “The Rs 1,500 they pay goes into the construction of the next phase of the project. After the final phase is complete, it will go into financing the next project,” says Mihir.
Various impact investors also contributed in kind (services and materials to be used in the project). He engaged a local contractor who build a relationship with the village panchayat by improving the school. The panchayat also helped to obtain the permits for the project. “I plan to take this concept across India. My first target is three projects in three cities Bengaluru (phase one construction in progress), Chennai and Hyderabad over the next five years. I am in talks with landowners in the other two cities,” says the aspiring engineer.

ARTICLE COURTESY: Posted on August 1, 2017January 3, 2022

UrbanUp aims to create sustainable, affordable housing for more than 100 families in Bengaluru.
Mihir Menda was all of a ninth-grader when he came up with the idea of affordable, clean housing for Bengaluru’s less privileged. On a brief visit to the watchman’s house close to his apartment complex, Mihir was appalled by the sad condition of the family’s living quarters. It was shoddy and small. Smoke from a gas stove filled the house. “I wondered how our watchman would always have a happy-go-lucky smile on his face every day, a smile that was such a huge part of my growing up,” remembers Mihir.

A dream
This visit inspired him to read about housing and planning, with a greater goal of someday coming up with his own solution to the problems of space, infrastructure, and hygiene in urban housing.
In December 2014, Mihir started putting pen to paper for UrbanUp. He wrote to Rahul Mehrotra, Professor of Urban Design and Planning and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, who focuses primarily on community building, and worked briefly as his intern in Mumbai. Armed with a blueprint of the project and better exposure to national and global housing issues, Mihir started writing to potential sponsors.

On the way to reality
UrbanUp received a generous donation of 1.5 acres of land off Sarjapur main road from a local landowner. The first funds came from an impact investor and the money granted was enough to bear the costs of phase I of the building project. The project is to have three phases with a total number of 126 homes and a community centre. Phase I is slated to be completed in August 2017 and Phase II by December this year.
The target group is families with monthly incomes of Rs 15,000 or less. Applications were invited and, of the many that poured in, some were shortlisted. From those, a final list was made and family members interviewed. The vision is to create a model community that will imbibe and carry forward the values of sustainability and independent, dignified living. “It is a scalable and replicable model,” says Mihir over a telephonic chat.
One avenue for raising funds is a quasi-equity approach. Each housing unit of 400 sq ft carpet area costs Rs 7 lakh. Each beneficiary family is to pay Rs 2 lakh as down payment and the rest of the money is to be paid at a monthly interest-free rate of 10 percent of the family’s income. Mihir feels this will provide residents with a sense of accountability and contribution to the community.

For health and happiness
UrbanUp has partnered with NGOs to provide skill-based and livelihood training to its beneficiaries. The community centre in the complex will serve as the main venue for training. The goal is to help set up a self-sufficient and self-sustainable community that will continue to keep itself running in future. Labournet is the skilling partner for the project and RXDX is the wellness partner. RXDX has an onsite clinic there. It also airs telemedicine programmes and trains residents in disease prevention.
The other notable thing about this urban residential project is its eye for eco-friendly detail. Twenty-five percent of the construction material is recycled products. Construction waste and spoil cement bricks are used, and the complex is being fitted with solar panels and rainwater harvesting equipment. With clean water and sanitation, no poverty, good health and well-being, affordable and clean energy, and others, UrbanUp meets 11 of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Looking forward
For his contribution to community development, Mihir has received the 7th Annual Pramerica Spirit of Community Award. This award is given to the country’s most remarkable student volunteers. In May, he is travelling to Washington DC with his fellow awardee to represent India. Of his prize money, this 18-year-old says, “All of it will go into the crowdfunding programme.”
UrbanUp’s challenges have been fundraising, risk management, and getting government approval. But with a threefold approach to raising money and with ample hard work, most of these hurdles have now been overcome, and Bengaluru can look forward to a housing complex with an outlook of change.

Article Courtesy: https://yourstory.com