ACEDGE

MUD as a word has always been associated with settings of rural area. One would simply state the basic application but its versatile usage contradicts its nature. Is MUD a source of income? Or is it a cultural reminiscence? Is it a building material? Is it a structural component? Or is it a source of life? MUD is ubiquitous but seldom understood beyond its mystical properties. Yet, its physical nature has proved that it has to be seen beyond the standard and basic application. For aficionados of the built environment, this need translates into material, constructional, technological, and systemic evocations. We are bound to ask questions that look into the future - HOW should we build, WHAT should we build, What should we build with, WHO should we build with?  

At Sushant University School of Art and Architecture, we attempt to integrate these questions into a yearlong discourse around a material that has its genesis in the past, yet is versatile enough to respond to the technological challenges of the future – MUD. We delve into its making, its use, its potentials for hybridisation, urbanisation and universalisation – what we are calling MUD Futures. We bring together the People of Mud, deliberate on what is the Mud of People, all the while enquiring into WHAT IS MUD?

MUD Futures is a yearlong, multi-location conference that would bring together various institutions, experts and practitioners from across the world to discuss its origin, transformation and advancement as a quantifiable property. Discussions will delve into three larger themes: Origin, Transfer and Motor; and each theme shall have its own sub-themes to deeply understand mud.