Architectural design competitions are a level playing field for students registered for Bachelor of Architecture across the various architectural schools and colleges. These could be at a small scale – city, state, national and/or  international level. My claim for calling these a level playing field comes from an experience of being associated within an architectural school as a full time faculty and as an external juror for schools in Mumbai.

With the pandemonium of the 12th examinations just fading, students seeking admissions to Architecture gear up for the NATA (National Aptitude Test in Architecture) examination and the subsequent admission procedures. Architectural education promises not just creative exploration but also technical understanding to translate one’s vision into reality. However college syllabus and curriculum are not the only elements that shape one’s college experience.If you are still reading, that means either you

Existing city and context: The developed catastrophe  Architecture has been serving capital and architects are the tool to make that happen. Powers that control have found new ways to make friends with capital. And architects a powerful pawn in a rich game. The deepening collaborative privileged web has led to many persons avail of and take benefit of modernism. Housing in the city is moving towards the complete integration of services, necessities,

Today the world is a new and fresh day, the sun has risen and the sky lit with a new shade of daze. But under this vast open what do you see, I’m sure something that’ll make you flee. Streets with no people, but only moving machines, pursuing through and trying to break free. The never-ending queue of yellow-topped autos, red buses, dirty white and black cabs, and swarms of

Introduction In India right from ancient times buildings are schematically designed based on Vastu Purusha Mandala, Nav-graha Mandala, Nav-Rasa, etc. Kautilya has showcased many town planning modules based on “Eight Orientations and Vastu Purusha Mandala ”. But in Modern Era buildings are designed many times by overlooking the sun-path, climatic aspects, and wind directions. Majority of time such buildings rely on mechanical aspects to get comfort. Reality for Sustainability in

As India welcomes the 75yrs. of independence with “AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV” The faculty of Architectural fraternity celebrate with special hope! Our hope has bearings in the knowledge of space design, people, their history and ability to capture expanding technology.  Architecture entwines the old (history) while welcoming the new possibilities (technology) and challenges to shed dogmas (what is good design….?). Celebrations call for a glance backwards over our shoulders while

Darwin’s theory of ‘survival of the fittest’ has its bearing on how species interact and affect the population. This evolution theory has had the human race- who through the process of elimination has adversely affected the rest. This is at a scale where if life on earth equates to a year; the existence of the human race is merely the last 15 minutes of December 31st. Thus it becomes imperative

Humanities deals with the overall study of human culture and development. It does not just discuss ‘History of man’ per say, but also discusses the various human struggles of physical, social and thereby intellectual progression of man. As a child, I loved listening to my mother explaining the subject of history to me through stories exaggerating or probably emphasizing on the time-line of events in a certain chronology of ruling

There is an undying and crucial relationship between ‘cities’ and ‘water’ – as many river channels have been originators of human settlements. With cities continually turning their backs to such river systems, the Sabarmati Riverfront development project in Ahmedabad, Gujarat presented a case of ‘urban regeneration’ and ‘spatial restructuring of the city’ that envisaged extensive land reclamations on the riverbanks with its numerous beautification projects aiming at improving the city’s