founders of the Institute of Urbanology
Matias Echanove & Rahul Srivastrava
Having worked on their obsessions in parallel worlds for several years, Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava joined forces through their blog airoots/eirut in 2006. They have since written extensively on urban themes and engaged in projects involving planning, pedagogy, technology and activism. They are the co-directors of the Institute of Urbanology, which has offices in Mumbai and Goa (India).
They are part of the urbz.net collective, which organized workshops in Tokyo, Istanbul, Mumbai and New Delhi. They have presented their work in forums and seminars such as TEDx, Urban Age, Just Metropolis, J-Store, and been invited by institutions such as Columbia University, the University of Tokyo, the Royal Institute of Arts in Stockholm and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity.
They have co-written a number of academic essays and commentaries for various publishers, magazines and newspapers including Oxford University Press, New Village Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Hindu, The Times of India, Time Out Mumbai, Art India and Indian Architect and Builder.
Matias Echanove studied economics & government at the London School of Economics, urban planning at Columbia University (New York) and urban information systems at the University of Tokyo.
Rahul Srivastava studied social and urban anthropology in Mumbai, Delhi and Cambridge (UK). His previous publications include an ethnography of urbanized nomads around Mumbai and a novel published by Puffin, Penguin India.
Advisers
Amita Bhide, Professor, School of Habitat Studies, TISS, Mumbai
Amitav Ghosh, Writer based in Brooklyn, Kolkata and Goa
Bhau Korde, Social activist based in Dharavi, Mumbai
Yehuda Safran, Philospher and Teacher based in New York, Boston and Paris
Trustees
James Ferreira, Fashion Designer, Khotachiwadi, Mumbai
Frederick Noronha, Cyberactivist, Goa
Abhay Sardesai, Editor, Art India, Mumbai