In Indian mega cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, more than 50% of the population live in informal settlements. 3×4 meters is the plot size provided in some resettlement colonies, the result of a government initiative which relocates people within informal inner-city settlements to vacant land on the periphery. 3×4 looked at informal settlements differently, where informality is not viewed as a problem, but a promising new model of urbanism.
3×4 created an immersive, telematic environment by merging two identical 3×4 metre room installations at KHOJ International Artists Association, Delhi and Southbank Centre, London, to provide a playful, sensorial exploration of new hybrids of digital space. Audiences in Delhi, London and across the globe could co-create these mixed-reality scenes via http://www.3x4m.org, and explore the qualities and values built through self-organised communities that are lost in the resettlement process. From informal settlement dwellings to contemporary compact interior designs, micro living solutions and imagined worlds, this transnational dialogue intended to set an aspiration for developing metaspace platforms in the global South.
3×4 was a collaboration between Professor Paul Sermon at the University of Brighton, Dr Claire McAndrew at The Bartlett, UCL, Swati Janu, a Delhi-based Architect, and Vivek Muthuramalingam, a Bangalore based photographer.
The project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of a broader collaboration between UnBox, British Council and Science & Innovation Network.