Anupama Kundoo's Design Process

"I start with sketches. But simultaneously, I initiate applied research, explore different material choices, and I never forget that the purpose of architecture is to create people-centric built environments that promote health, happiness and well-being... where the individual and the collective thrive together, in coexistence with the natural habitat."

Thesis Alignment for students

Work on a live Project in your thesis as per your schedule and pace.

  • Align your thesis with this project.

  • Get access to all research materials and lessons specially curated and delivered by Anupama Kundoo

Project brief: Line of Goodwill, Auroville

Line of Goodwill is a mixed-use project designed for 8,000 inhabitants, organised into co-housing clusters. It is envisioned in the context of Auroville’s planned city by its chief architect Roger Anger, in the context of a car-free mobility. With no private ownership of land, the project offers different experimental sharing structures. It rethinks the urban tower, where the human scale is otherwise lost after eight storeys. The gently descending cluster of buildings stretches over 800 m, resembling a hill that starts at the entrance to the city and culminates at the edge of the lake at the City Centre. Join this studio to work on this project at Auroville.

Course Outcomes

All participants will work on a High Density Housing project proposal at Auroville. The Studio will be introduced to the works, philosophy and urban visions of Architect Roger Anger through many published and unpublished writings and notes. Architect and Professor Anupama Kundoo has had the opportunity of a longstanding collaboration with him, and on the occasion of his centenary celebration, offers to share his legacy. Kundoo sees herself as a bridge between the former generation and the future generations, and would like to celebrate Roger Anger's reflections on the future of housing, through compiling and curating sketches, drawings, texts, models and other outputs of this into a travelling exhibition as part of the Architect Roger Anger's Centenary celebration.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    The Initiation

    • Welcome

    • Urban Design Principles in AV City Plan - Dreamweaving the Crown

    • Recent exhibition in Auroville showing our site model in 1:100 scale

    • Anupama in Conversation at her recent exhibition opening in Auroville, on Aug 2022

    • Auroville Tomorrow Town Planning.mp4

    • Introduction to the Site & context by Yashoda Joshi

    • New_Future of Water in Auroville
  • 2

    References

    • Background Study

    • Spreadsheet with Area Calculation

    • Base Maps

    • Satellite image

    • Concept Presentation- The Line of Goodwill

    • Studies on Energy, Electricity and Water

    • Digital Model- Assignment

    • Roger Anger - Research on Beauty

    • Rhino Model

    • Crown Guidelines
  • 3

    Exercises to conduct in the class

    • Research Topics

    • Common pool of references: Add your References to this Google doc to share with all

    • Your Vision, Our Vision

Do you want a curated base for your thesis?

Below are 3 things very unique to this self-paced course

1. Get mentored by Anupama Kundoo

Anupama Kundoo has curated this self-paced course on the future of high-density housing clusters for India. She is currently a Professor at the Potsdam School of Architecture, Germany, and the Head of Urban Design, at Auroville. She is the recipient of the 2021 RIBA Charles Jencks Award for her contribution to architectural theory, the 2021 Auguste Perret Prize for architectural technology, and the 2021 Building Sense Now Global Award from the German Sustainable Building Council. Her studios are based in Berlin in Germany, and Pune and Pondicherry in India. Kundoo’s rigorous research and experimentation with new materiality for architecture is the result of questioning basic assumptions, and construction habits that humanity has adopted during the long process of industrialisation.

2. Celebrate Roger Anger's Centenary

Imbibe the visions and strategies on future urbanism by Roger Anger, Auroville's Chief Architect (1923-2008), and take the opportunity to participate in an exhibition for Roger Anger’s Centenary celebrations. Roger Anger was a prolific architect who had executed over 100 large-scale housing schemes in post-war Paris before he was appointed chief architect of the international township of Auroville founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa, Sri Aurobindo’s French-born disciple, popularly known as 'The Mother' of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. They were the patrons of Golconde, India's first reinforced concrete architecture, a shining example of early modernism in 1938 by architect Antonin Raymond. In Auroville, Roger Anger realised a number of architectural projects including the Matrimandir, and was a member of Auroville's Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation.

3. Design Holistically

Use a Holistic approach, developing integrated thinking with definitive strategies for detailed output. We will work on Site Strategy, Infrastructural Strategy, Climatic Strategy - Passive, Green, etc., Social Strategy, Area calculation & Strategy, Environmental Strategy - Water, Waste, Energy, etc., Facade and Fenestration Strategy, and Materiality Strategy.

FAQ

  • What is excluded in the cost of this studio?

    The studio cost excludes cost of travel, accommodation, food and daily expenses if you plan to visit Auroville.

  • Is there a contact number I can call to understand this better?

    Do connect with us on +91 8369141413 during office hours, Mon-Fri