RSD 15 - Data in relation
VIRTUAL EXHIBITION
Infrastructure
Negotiating with Dust
Silent particles and the hidden stress of cities
KEYWORD
Tanmay Bhavsar ¹, R. Harihar Prashad ², Malavika AB ³, Lalrotluanga ⁴, Neha Mandlik ⁵
#systemic design #urban dust #air pollution
#policy and governance #environmental justice
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India
ABSTRACT
Dust seems to be everywhere yet nowhere in design. This project reframes urban dust in Indian cities from a harmless nuisance into a governable, systemic health risk. India attributes about 1.5 million deaths a year to air pollution, and in some cities road and soil dust contribute 41% of PM10. Yet no municipal department owns dust. Using Ahmedabad as a case, the study maps how dust is generated, moves, settles and affects people. It proposes three layers of intervention: policy and governance, awareness and behaviour change, and design and product intervention.
CREATIVE PROCESS
Over 10 weeks, the team studied dust as a lifecycle using the 5Ws and 1H. They ran dust-capture experiments with black sheets on campus, and mapped stakeholders through interviews and observation of street vendors, sweepers, construction workers, residents and doctors. A visit to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation offices showed responsibility for dust bouncing between departments. Comparing Indore, Beijing, London and the EU showed the gap between guidelines and binding law. This led to a giga map, a prioritisation matrix (difficulty vs. impact), and three proposals: the DustWatch reporting platform, awareness posters and a documentary, and Vayu, a craft-made case system that turns air purifiers into furniture.
IMPLICATIONS AND NEXT STEPS
The work is a design-led system analysis, not a validated solution. Expert feedback from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board showed that enforcement and continuous, tech-enabled monitoring matter more than the existence of regulations. The next phase requires a named municipal owner for dust, permit-linked compliance, sensor-backed enforcement, field pilots of DustWatch, and user testing of Vayu with artisan partners. The approach offers a replicable method for making other invisible urban pollutants visible and accountable.
References
CPCB & IIT Kanpur. (2016). Source apportionment of PM10 and PM2.5 in Delhi.
Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). How does construction contribute to dust pollution in Gurugram? https://www.ceew.in
IQAir. (2023). World Air Quality Report 2023.