Exploring Gandhi’s Places
Ethos Foundation is delighted to invite you to a special event on the 1st of October, 2024 at 11 AM as we commence the 16th Sense N Sensibility lecture, dedicated to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi
Session Highlights
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A lecture by Neelkanth Chhaya, Riyaz Tayyibji, and Tridip Suhrud sharing insights from their book Gandhi’s Places: An Architectural Documentation. Discover the architectural significance and cultural impact of Gandhi’s key locations through their expert perspectives.
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SAaTh (Sustainability in Action and Thought) one of the six pillars of Architects' Social Responsibility by Ethos Foundation | Arcasue will be the focus of this talk.
About the Speaker
Neelkanth Chhaya
Mentor
Neelkanth Chhaya has been an academic and practicing architect for nearly forty years.
He has taught at the University of Nairobi, the Institute of Environmental Design at Vallabh Vidyanagar, and was a faculty member at CEPT University for over twenty-five years. He retired as Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at CEPT University in 2013. Subsequently, he has been an Adjunct Faculty at Srishti School of Design and also holds the position of Academic Chair at the Goa College of Architecture. His professional practice, spanning over 30 years, has dealt with institutional and residential projects across India. His practice has won many Architectural Design Competitions and has also won National Awards for completed projects. The practice is focused on culturally and environmentally appropriate design and has emphasised the innovative application of local skills and materials.
He has been invited to be a member of several committees connected to the built environment and is the coordinator of the Architectural Documentation work of the Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission.
He is a regular speaker at conferences in India and abroad. He is a member of the Boards of Hunnarshala and Khamir Craft Resource Centre, both of which are involved in empowering traditional knowledge and sustainable practices.
Riyaz Tayyibji
Riyaz Tayyibji is a practicing architect and partner at Anthill Design, a studio-based practice that has designed and built projects across the country. The practice is keenly interested in the particularities of program, locality and the potentials of building incrementally to slowly inhabit and nurture place.
Riyaz is actively involved in architectural documentation and research. He has been an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University and the Co-ordinator of the Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission set up to document the buildings made by and related to the life of M.K. Gandhi. He has written on Gandhi’s buildings and their implications for an alternative reading of modern Indian architecture. He has also restored a bicycle used by Mr. Gandhi.
Riyaz has curated exhibitions on the architecture and urbanity of Ahmedabad that have opened both internationally and in India. The most recent of these is The Stepwells of Ahmedabad: A Conversation between Water and Heritage, which opened at the Kanoria Centre for Arts and the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad in 2016.
Tridip Suhrud
Dr. Suhrud is a renowned scholar in the field of political science and cultural history. He has extensively worked on the life and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and the social and cultural history of modern Gujarat. Dr. Suhrud has translated various literary and social science texts between Gujarati and English. He was given the Katha Award (1999) and Sahitya Akademi Award (2010) for his translation work. Some of his recent work includes, multi-volume project of translating and editing the Diaries of Manu Gandhi in association with the National Archives of India and a twenty-volume archival project "Letters to Gandhi" at the archives of Sabarmati Ashram, Rashtravaad, Rabindranath Tagore, four volume Gujarati Novel Saraswati Chandra by Govardhanram Tripathi , Beloved Bapu: the Mirabehn-Gandhi correspondence (with Thomas Weber), Gandhiji Ni Rojnishi (with notes and introduction), Hind Swaraj ek Anushilan (in Hindi, 2014), Kavi Ni Choki, (Gujarati, 2012) a bilingual edition of M K Gandhi's Hind Swaraj (with Suresh Sharma) and works of Ashis Nandy and Ganesh Devy into Gujarati and novelist Suresh Joshi into English.He has been the Series Editor for Gandhi Studies, Orient Black Swan.
About Sense N Sensibility
Sense N Sensibility (SNS) is a lecture series by ACEDGE, to allow access to expert viewpoints, from across the globe. These experts would demonstrate, through their choices, experiments and lessons, multiple vantage points for developing and exploring design.
Sense N Sensibility is about integration and the big picture. We seek to dishevel the older notions of compartmentalisation of knowledge and introduce learners across the country to collaborative and interdisciplinary studies. Many of our speakers are experts from varied fields- a mayor, a grassroots social worker who works towards community empowerment, an engineer working to resolve water-crisis, sustainability experts, social scientists, travellers, industrial entrepreneurs, and many others.
The inaugural lecture for the SNS series was delivered by Architect George Ferguson, Past President RIBA (2003/5) and first elected Mayor of Bristol UK (2012-16). On the other side of the globe, Architect Ferguson, fought for the rights of a neighbourhood to remain ‘mixed’, against the monoculture promoted by developers.
The second lecture by Amit Pasricha celebrates the lesser-known built heritage of India and his Journey of the 'India- Lost and Found' Campaign.
The third lecture was by a Pritzker Jury member, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, also Brazilian Ambassador to India. He spoke about Pritzker winning Laureates from the countries of India, Brazil and Japan.
The fourth lecture was by Ar. Rafiq Azam of SHATOTTO Architecture of Green Living on Phenomenal Practice and Thought-provoking Explorations on the field of Architecture and recent Urban Interventions.
The fifth lecture was by Ar. Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan's first female architect. She spoke on lowering the Carbon Footprint: Humanistic Architecture for Post-COVID-19 World.
The sixth lecture by Ar. Krishna Rao Jaisim and Ar Narendra Dengle iterated the relevance and applicability of the underlying concepts of the Gandhian philosophy.
The seventh lecture conducted by Ar. Shirish Beri talked about the importance of architecture in shaping human behaviour.
The eighth lecture by Ar. Prasanna Desai and Ar. Amit Gupta elaborated on Design Research in Practice and Pedagogy.
The ninth lecture by Dr. Anupama Kundoo talked about the social and environmental duties of an Architect.
The tenth lecture by Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya was an edition to commemorate the Teacher's Day as he shared anecdotes and insights on Learning and Teaching in Architecture.
The eleventh lecture by Prof. Habeeb Khan, former president of CoA, was a deliberation to discuss NEP, Admission and, Exit test and much more.
The 12th lecture by Poonam Natarajan and Ar. Shivani Shah shared how Universal Design can be the guiding principle to shape our spaces inclusively.
The 13th lecture was by Jugadopolis, Ronojoy Sen and Shyamal Datta on Traditional Wisdom and Vernacular Architecture.
The 14th lecture focussed on Construction workers under the ShramA-Project Dignity. We spoke with Nari Puraskar winner Rani Mistry, Sunita Bhagat- a conversation of resilience, teamwork, and the skills of construction workers.
The last lecture was by Ar. Lakshmi Swaminathan on exploring the wisdom of Didi Contractor, followed by a discussion with Naresh Bhai on indigenous wisdom in contemporary architecture for World Indigenous People's Day.
Institutional Partners
