Infur- Seminar | Can the grassroots scale? Kampung upgrading in Indonesia by Kamil Muhammad

Coalitions and Contradictions in Kampung upgrading in Indonesia Progress in grassroots organizing for housing rights is often gradual, with major breakthroughs emerging after years of sustained work. In Indonesia, recent national and international recognition of community-led housing initiatives has created new momentum around scale. But what, precisely, can be scaled? This talk examines whether such efforts can move beyond individual projects, and the institutional tensions that arise when grassroots practices enter wider policy and delivery systems. Kamil Muhammad is the director of Jakarta-based architecture practice pppooolll and co-founder of Architecture Sans Frontières Indonesia. He led the architectural work for Kampung Susun Kunir (2017–2022), a cooperative housing project developed in collaboration with the Jakarta Government Housing Agency and a coalition of housing rights organizations. Kamil’s work spans research, organizing, and architectural practice within the context of informal urbanism. His work has received recognition including the LafargeHolcim Awards Asia Pacific (2017), FuturArc Prize (2024), and IAI National Architecture Award (2024). Kamil holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Melbourne.