ABSTRACT
Kirtee Shah is a practising architect and the Honorary Director of the Ahmedabad Study Action Group (ASAG). ASAG is a non-government organization run by concerned professionals committed to using their skills for public causes, especially slum development, disaster rehabilitation, low-cost housing and policy advocacy. Kirtee has served on several expert committees and advisory groups for the Indian national and various state and local governments in the areas of housing, poverty and urbanization. He is one of the founders of the Ashoka Innovators for the Public, and was President of the Habitat International Coalition (HIC). He is currently assisting the government of India's '50,000 houses' project for the war victims in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. The interviews and supporting essays show built environment professionals collaborating with post-disaster communities as facilitators, collaborators and negotiators of land, space and shelter, rather than as 'save the world' modernists, as often portrayed in the design media.
