Talking Architecture at the IIC

A series of dialogues on architecture that explore alternatives to mainstream architecture current today.  Conceptualised by Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, the series, through interactions with practitioners and scholars, intends to engage with a wide variety of people - professionals and lay-persons alike. 


TALK 1 
THE DISCOVERY OF ARCHITECTURE













First in a bi-monthly series, structured around dialogues that endeavour to present and discuss the role of architecture in contributing positively to society and to culture. The series will focus on examples relevant to our context, and in doing so, bring to the fore issues that are universal in the creation of meaningful architecture. This webinar is dedicated to the memory of Professor M.N. Ashish Ganju, Founding Director of TVB School of Habitat Studies,Visiting Professor at the University of East London, U.K., and the Universita IUAV di Venezia, Italy; and co-author with Shri Narendra Dengle of the book, The Discovery of Architecture – A Contemporary Treatise on Ancient Values and Indigenous Reality 

Discussants: A conversation with Prof. Narendra Dengle, Architect, Educator and Writer, Former Design Chair, KRVIA Mumbai, and Academic Chair, Goa College of Architecture and PVPCOA, Pune Prof. Savyasaachi, Anthropologist, Professor and Former Head, Department of Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia Moderator: Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, Author and Visiting Faculty at S.P.A. Delhi 


TALK 2 
THE LEGACY OF MODERNISM

The second in the bi-monthly series structured around dialogues that endeavour to present the role of architecture in contributing positively to society and to culture. A talk by Snehanshu Mukherjee, architect, educator and writer, Adjunct Professor, Indian Institute of Art & Design, New Delhi Followed by: A dialogue with Srinivas Murthy, architect and Founder, Architecture and Design Foundation (India) Moderator: Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, author and Visiting Faculty, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi 


TALK 3 
INDIAN ARCHITECTURE: TRADITIONS, TEXTS AND PRINCIPLES

The third in the bi-monthly series of Talking Architecture, this talk by Dr Sudhir Lall -- Project Director of Vedic Heritage Portal & Bharat Vidya Prayojana and Senior Faculty, Kalakosa Division, IGNCA -- explains the contextual background of the Indian arts and the cyclic notion of time observed in Indic thought. And how this leads to architecture that is functional, aesthetically fulfilling and in harmony with nature. The talk will be followed by a dialogue with Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, Author and Visiting Faculty at S.P.A. Delhi. 


TALK 4 
CONSERVATION FOR THE COMMUNITY

The fourth programme in the bi-monthly series structured around dialogues on the role of architecture in contributing positively to society and to culture. A talk by Ratish Nanda, Conservation Architect and CEO, Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) in India. The presentation of initiatives will explain how conservation effort can be coupled with socio-economic development measures to improve the quality of life for local communities. The talk will be followed by a dialogue with Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, author and Visiting Faculty, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi.

TALK 5

MUD ARCHITECTURE TODAY

https://youtu.be/6De_4b61U0w


The fifth in the bi-monthly series, this talk by Rohan Nahar -- Architect and Faculty at Padmabhushan Vasantdada Patil College of Architecture, Pune -- will explain the relevance, durability and economics of mud architecture. And its challenges and potential in the context of contemporary architectural practice.

The talk will be followed by a dialogue with Dr Prabir K Das, Architect, Author and Consultant on Sustainable Architecture, and Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, Author and Visiting Faculty at S.P.A. Delhi. 


TALK 6 
A SEARCH FOR SUSTAINABILITY

https://youtu.be/DMtuAYGoYbU

The sixth in the bi-monthly series held on Saturday, 12 March 2022 at 4 pm, this talk is by Rajat Kapoor, Architect and an advocate of natural farming. The presentation will explain the links between farming and sustainable architecture - both as an outcome of traditional practice and community knowledge, as well as a method of generating socially and ecologically appropriate architecture and infrastructure today.
Followed by a dialogue with Snehanshu Mukherjee, Architect, Educator and Writer; Adjunct Professor, Indian Institute of Art & Design, New Delhi, and Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, Author and Visiting Faculty at S.P.A. Delhi.

TALK 7 
Water Management Strategies in the Ancient Pandya Kingdom
















A talk by Madhusudhanan Kalaichelva, architect and heritage researcher. 

The presentation will explain the issues faced, and the strategies evolved,
by the Pandya dynasty -- whose kingdom functioned around the southern 
districts of today's TamilNadu -- in dealing with water management in 
dry and drought prone areas. 
Followed by a dialogue with Dr Partho Dutta, Historian, Author and Professor, 
School of Arts & Aesthetics;  
and Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, Author and 
Visiting Faculty at S.P.A. Delhi.  


TALK 8 
Designing for Rural Resilience















In this, the 8th talk of the series, Kalyan Akkipedi - engineer,
social entrepreneur and a fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network -
will present the transformative work he has been doing in Ananthapur 
district in AP.
Since August 2010, he has been leveraging local social leadership capacities
 in a remote drought-prone area of one of the poorest districts in India,
to co-create ProtoVillage -- the prototype of a resilient village. 
The talk will be followed by a dialogue with Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, 
Conservation Architect, author and Visiting Faculty, 
School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi.

TALK 9 
People. Place. Practice

A talk by Compartment S4, a multidisciplinary and collaborative design 
practice co-founded by 8 partners, with studios based in Ahmedabad and 
Mumbai. 
Their presentation will highlight participatory and people-centric approaches
towards architectural practice -- and how this impacts design thinking across
various types and scales of projects. 
Followed by a dialogue with Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, 
Conservation Architect, Author and Visiting Faculty at S.P.A. Delhi.


TALK 10 : 
Back to Basics through Usable Art
https://youtu.be/ZJme7Sr_A0E


A talk by Allan Schwarz: artist, craftsman, architect and environmental designer. Allan's life work, the Mezimbite Forest Centre, which he founded in Mozambique's Miombo Biome in 1994, is a unique grass-roots forest management system of “Conservation by Design", crafting usable art in the form of high quality and sustainable forest products. Allan is an elected Beautiful Soul Africa Fellow and Ashoka Fellow, and was recently acknowledged in a Penguin publication of the world’s 25 leading “Climate Warriors”.


Followed by a dialogue with Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, Author and Visiting Faculty at S.P.A. Delhi. 


Attendees to the session will find it useful to see this short film on Allan's work, made by Jessica Yu, when she was filming for NatGeo in Mozambique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQXuK8kH9UQ&t=215s


Talk 11: 
Simple rules for good living - our cities and their future 













A talk by Professor Ashok Lall, architect, teacher, author, and active proponent of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible design - in his architectural practice as well as in the development of academic curricula, teaching methods, and urban strategies. Professor Lall was chair of the Jury for the Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction, Asia Pacific Region, and is presently Design & Technology Chair at Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture (KRVIA) Mumbai.

Followed by a dialogue with Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, Author and Visiting Faculty at S.P.A. Delhi. 


Talk 12 :
The Way Ahead
https://youtu.be/awgiYZmuWho














The twelfth and 
final session in the bi-monthly series on architecture, is centred on a dialogue between several practitioners, teachers, activists and social entrepreneurs. 

They will discuss how we may take forward the key themes that have emerged from earlier sessions, to see how architecture can contribute positively to society and to culture, and enable us to move towards a more equitable and ethical way of building and living. The session is dedicated to Professor Ashish Ganju, and his lifelong endeavour to find answers to this question:
"The ability to create well-being in our habitat, a promise inherent in the knowledge base of architecture, is no longer taken for granted. How can this situation be turned around for public benefit?" (Ashish Ganju, 10th April, 2021)  

Introduced by Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, Author and Visiting Faculty at S.P.A. Delhi 

Moderated by Professor Snehanshu Mukherjee: Architect, Educator and Writer, Adjunct Professor, Indian Institute of Art & Design, New Delhi


 





  

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