Project Sammaan Open Innovation Challenge!
Project Sammaan is a development project that seeks to create improved sanitation services for the urban poor residing in slums in India. The project is being driven by a consortium that consists of Quicksand Design Studio, Jameel Poverty Action Lab, & the city governments of two large cities in India. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
The name “Sammaan” stems from our belief that it’s very important to transform the user experience for these facilities from one heavily coated with shame to one of respect and dignity.
The project seeks to design & build 119 sanitation facilities in urban slums in India. Collectively, these facilities will have 1200+ toilets, bathrooms, spaces for washing clothes, and will benefit 60,000+ people. The project started in February 2012 and will last for 16-19 months at the end of which these toilets will be operational.
We are extremely excited to announce a design challenge that will open Project Sammaan to public participation. The Open Innovation Challenge seeks to discover radical ideas and new perspectives that will help us in our attempt to reinvent low-cost urban sanitation.
There are three design challenges that we are posing to you: Architectural Design, Dispensers at the hand-washing stations, and Waste Management within the facility.
Architectural Design Challenge
We have designed a facility based on the research conducted thus far and will share it with participants for this challenge. The key is to use the constraints provided as a springboard for ideas and to spin-off design directions from there.
The winner of this challenge will be awarded $2,000 USD.
Download the architectural brief by clicking here and additional reference materials here.
Hand-Washing Design Challenge
Within the current design, a hand-washing station has been placed such that there is one outside each toilet. The challenge is to design a system of dispensing soap in such a way that it builds off an already available product.
The winner of this challenge will be awarded $1,500 USD.
Download the brief by clicking here and additional reference materials here.
Waste Management Design Challenge
Waste Management concerns the disposal of menstrual waste as well as general refuse that is thrown in the various sections of a community facility, from the common queuing areas to within the toilet and bathing stalls.
The winner of this challenge will be awarded $1,500 USD.
Download the brief by clicking here and additional reference materials here.
Download all three briefs by clicking here.
UPDATE:
The deadline for submission has been extended 20/05/2012 08:00 AM IST!
For queries regarding the competition, email akshay@quicksand.co.in
Good luck!