Importance of Research in Architecture
Hear what Ar. Prasanna Desai and Ar. Amit Gupta have to say about the importance of Research in Architecture !
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.
Our young designers need to have a holistic understanding of concepts, systems and processes. They should be sensitive and empathetic towards the needs of all strata of the society. They should learn to balance ecology and micro-environments on their sites. They should appreciate bottom-up planning proposals as well as participative processes. They should also understand the political scenario, be actively involved with the bureaucracy and suggest ways to improve central and local systems. We need our young designers to connect with one another, share ideas, have healthy discussions and passionately speak for their cause. Architecture and design will, thus, balance nature and culture. Young minds will learn to reflect upon ecology, archaeology, anthropology, psychology, aesthetics and technology to develop holistic solutions.
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.
About the Speaker
Ar. Prasanna Desai
Architect
Ar Prasanna Desai is an architect and urban designer. He obtained his B Arch in 1980 and M Arch (Urban Design) in 1983, both from SPA, New Delhi. he currently runs an architectural practice, Prasanna Desai Architects in Pune (India), which is involved with urban design issues emphasising the role of an architect in the Public Domain namely JNNURM BSUP Slum Rehabilitation work at Yerwada & designing of Safe & Socially Shared Streets leading to the creation of Healthy Hygienic & Humane Neighborhoods.
Previous Speakers
SNS 6.0,7.0, 8.0
Ar. Krishna Rao Jaisim
Ar. Krishna Rao Jaisim is an eminent name in the field of architecture. He completed his Bachelors in Architecture from Madras University in the year 1966. Since then he has been practicing architecture under the name Jaisim- Fountainhead. Prof Jaisim has authored and presented over hundreds of papers and his works have been published in international, national and state media. He has made over 1500 presentations on issues regarding architecture on international, national forums and multi-media. His contribution to the architecture field has been acknowledged and appreciated with various awards; JK Architect of the year 1992 award, JK Cements AYA - Chairman’s Award (20th AYA) to name a few among many.
Narendra Dengle
Narendra Dengle is a practicing architect, educator and writer. His works, since 1974 include rural and urban projects addressing contemporary cultural, environmental and aesthetic issues. He has been on the CAA's Re validation Committee and was member of the Charles Correa Gold Medal Jury for the best student thesis (2005-2016). His books include ‘Jharoka’(Marathi), 2007. "The Discovery of Architecture: a contemporary treatise on ancient values and indigenous reality" jointly authored with M N Ashish Ganju, 2013, and "Dialogues with Indian Master Architects" 2015. He has made films on Architectural Appreciation. He is on the faculty at the Building Beauty Program at Sant'Anna Institute in Sorrento, Italy, and Co-Chair of its Asian Advisory Board.
Shirish Beri
Born in November 1950, Shirish Beri graduated in architecture from School of Architecture (CEPT), Ahmedabad in Jan 1974. Instead of pursuing higher studies in the U.S he opted for living and working in the mountains near Kolhapur (with his father and brother's architectural firm in Kolhapur) from June 1974. Ar. Shirish Beri's works, which tend to reflect his values and concerns in life have been bearing their distinct mark on modern Indian architecture since 1975.
Shirish Beri feels that issues of sustainability can be aptly addressed only through the right attitudes and goals. His designs try to achieve an inherent sense of unity and harmony with various natural and man-made elements and forces.
He has designed a number of campuses for national & regional level institutions for research, rehabilitation, health care and education, along with various other types of buildings.
SNS 3.0, 4.0, 5.0
André Aranha Corrêa do Lago
Brazilian Ambassador to India
[email protected]
André Corrêa do Lago is the Ambassador of Brazil to India and has served at the Brazilian Embassies in Japan, Madrid, Prague, Washington DC, Buenos Aires, and at the Mission to the European Union, in Brussels. Ambassador Corrêa do Lago, a recognised architectural critic, is also a distinguished author of several articles and books, including on the work of Oscar Niemeyer, Claudio Bernardes, and Paulo Jacobsen, and on Brazilian modern architecture. He was the curator of the Brazilian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2014, and is the jury of architecture’s most prestigious award, the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Md. Rafiq Azam
Founder, SHATOTTO architecture for green living
[email protected]
Md. Rafiq Azam is one of the internationally acclaimed architects from Bangladesh practicing for the last 27 years and developed a remarkable style of his own. His practice name is “SHATOTTO architecture for green living” since May 1995. In 2004, Rafiq Azam participated in “Glenn Murcutt Master Class” and selected as one of the ten emerging designers of the world by “Urban Land”, USA in 2008. He has won a line of national and international awards for his architectural contribution.
Yasmeen Lari
Architect
Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan’s first female architect, is also a humanitarian and heritage conservationist. She graduated from Oxford Brookes University n 1963. She has built several landmark buildings in Pakistan and is considered among pioneers of Brutalist Architecture. After retiring in 2000 she is engaged in heritage management and humanitarian architecture.
She is the founder of Barefoot Social Architecture and Barefoot Incubator for Social Good and Environmental Sustainability devised to empower marginalized sections of society. She is best known as a proponent of zero carbon footprint conceptions that are drawn from vernacular traditions and incorporate tenets of social and ecological justice.
She is the recipient of Jane Drew Prize 2020, Fukuoka Prize 2016 and Pakistan national awards Hilal-i-Imtiaz (2014) and Sitara-i-Imtiaz (2006).
SNS 1.0 & 2.0
George Ferguson
Past President RIBA (2003/5) and first elected Mayor of Bristol UK (2012-16
George Ferguson secured Bristol’s status as European Green Capital 2015, as a founder member of Rockefeller 100 Resilient Cities and as a UNESCO Learning City. He has recently been appointed Bristol’s first International Ambassador.
From his Bristol based practice Ferguson Mann Architects he founded the UK wide group of architects, Acanthus, in 1986. He was also a founder of the Academy of Urbanism during his presidency of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
In the 90’s he developed the ‘Tobacco Factory’, a multi-use project, catalyst for the regeneration of South Bristol and a model for culture led city regeneration. He is also a restaurateur, brewer and social entrepreneur.
He has an international profile as an advocate for liveable cities and the global environment and has represented the European Commission, Eurocities, ICLEI, including at Paris COP21 and at the G7 2016 summit in Japan.
Amit Pasricha
Influencer
Amit Pasricha is one of the world’s celebrated panoramic photographers. He is well published and believes that photography, as the most powerful modern language of today, must be used to draw attention to those aspects that stand neglected.
Amit Pasricha’s lens looks at India the way few others do. One of the foremost panoramic photographers in the country, he uses a technique that stitches together multiple images to create a single image that is far larger or wider than a camera can capture, or indeed the human eye can take in at a glance.
A third-generation photographer, Pasricha, 51, has worked on several projects that have been turned into highly acclaimed coffee-table books. They include India at Home, a fascinating account of people from across India captured in their homes, and The Sacred India Book, which examines the role of religion in everyday life, all shot in his signature panoramic style.
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