Kamla Raheja Institute organizes exhibition on urban development at the city museum till July 12
MUMBAI, July 9, 2007: The Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies (KRVIA), an initiative of the Kamla Raheja Foundation and the Upanagar Shikhshan Mandal, which has been involved with research and education on architecture and urbanism, has announced the opening of an exhibition, titled ‘Make/ Shift Mumbai, Readings, Imaginations and Propositions’, of the Institute's Work on the City. The exhibition was inaugurated by Chief Guest Dr. Snehalata Deshmukh, Ex. Vice Chancellor, University of Mumbai at Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, (Formerly Prince of Wales Museum of Western India), Mumbai. The exhibition will be on display until July 12, 2007 from. 11 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. The exhibition will showcase its large repertoire of work on the city completed over the last 15 years.
Prof. Aneerudha Paul (M.Arch, Urban Design), Director, KVRIA, says, “Since the KVRIA institute's inception in 1992, a group of educationists, professionals and artists became involved in envisioning the direction of the school. Discussions on cities have been central to its academic investigations. Through its varied research and consultancy projects and through its undergraduate courses and its extra-curricular programmes, the KVRIA institute has actively engaged with the city and provided an important platform for debate and discussion. Espousing an interdisciplinary approach, its initiatives have ranged from mapping/reading the metropolis in multiple ways; to providing new spatial imaginations for the city through its academic work; to its advocacy work, which proposes alternative futures to the city's development.”
The college is now starting a Postgraduate programme in Urban Studies, offered as an Master of Architecture (M. Arch) degree with a specialization in Urban Design and Urban Conservation. The intention is to take its earlier initiatives forward by providing a platform for structured research and design at the postgraduate level.
The Exhibition, "Make/ Shift Mumbai, Readings, Imaginations and Propositions" is both a retrospective of the institute's work and an introduction to its Post Graduate programme. While the three categories Reading, Imaginations and Propositions are in many ways interconnected, they form an important structure through which to see the institute's work on the city. The work displayed through these above conceptual categories has been done through the institute's Design and Research Cell, its Urban Studies courses conducted in the fourth year of the B.Arch programme, its Humanities courses, the Final year thesis projects, and the Design projects undertaken from the first to the fourth year of the undergraduate programme, which engage in readings and interventions in the city at various scales and through multiple approaches.
KVRIA has now announced the Masters in Urban Studies Program with two streams of study: Masters of Architecture (M. Arch.) in Urban Design; and Masters of Architecture in Urban Conservation. The Post Graduate (PG) Program in Urban Studies will be a Council of Architecture approved course and is currently awaiting approval by the Mumbai University. The new courses are part of KRVIA’s endeavour to become an important centre for engagement, interaction and creation of knowledge on metropolitan urbanity, especially in the Indian context.
Prof. Aneerudha Paul (M.Arch, Urban Design), Director, KVRIA, says, “Since the courses are based in Mumbai, one of the prime metropolises of the country, KVRIA offers students and academicians an ideal laboratory to investigate the transformation that globalization creates in the urban landscape. Students will be provided with the opportunity to become involved with contemporary developments and ‘live’ projects in the city through the Research and Design Cell as well as through their interactions with bureaucrats and practitioners working in the field.”
Vikas Dilawari (M.Arch-Conservation), a leading conservation architect involved with the urban heritage conservation movement since its inception, adds, “Since Mumbai is a unique confluence of culture and commerce with many active projects, the institute has an advantage to empower its students to address this unique situation and to interact with practitioners and theoreticians with a multi-disciplinary understanding of contextual urban issues that our city is facing. KRIVA is well acknowledged in literary circles for its study & research. The courses will provide a strong literary and practical platform of interaction and knowledge which will illumine the sensitive development phenomenon and give the present conservation movement the much required impetus.”
The two courses will equip students to deal with the complexities of contemporary cities by broadening their knowledge base and enabling them to see the built environment not merely as physical form, but holistically as part of networks and systems. They can be successfully employed in the government sector, with development authorities, municipalities, policy making agencies, etc.; in the private sector, with real estate developers, large consultancy firms, and in the social sector with NGOs working in housing environment, conservation, etc. They can also practice independently as consultants.
Both Urban Design and Urban Conservation will have some lecture courses that are specific to their subject, and some that are common to both. The students in both the courses will compulsorily take up courses on planning technique, transportation planning, urban management and environmental planning that are now central to the debate of urbanism. Subjects that are compulsory to urban design would be urban morphology and history-theory of urban design. Subjects related to urban conservation would be archaeology, art and architectural theory, etc
The two courses, Urban Design and Urban Conservation, are divided into Mandatory and Optional courses. The Mandatory courses focus on critical issues that cities of the global south are facing such as urban housing, environment and conservation of resources. The course is divided into Studios, Lectures, Workshops Exchange Programs and Study Trips. The Design Studios, which form the core courses of the program, are on-site based studios that consist of intense groundwork and analysis, leading to design proposals. The Optional Courses will allow students to choose from a range of electives; including course in fields other than their own or opt for modules available in areas such as real estate planning, participatory planning processes, etc. The Exchange Programs are aimed at establishing relationships with Universities/Institutions in India and abroad, while the Study Trips will provide an opportunity for live case studies.
Relevance of the course from the point-of-view of India’s urbanization
In an increasingly urbanized world, cities occupy a central position in the future of our planet. As these metropolises expand, voraciously consuming the resources of the hinterland, increasing developmental pressures threaten to erase and rebuild their historic cores and other existing landscapes, many a times changing city fabrics, land uses and existing work and living patterns. Indian cities are experiencing these violent transformations and its landscape is changing rapidly. While the pace of these changes can be exhilarating, many often, the consequences can be tragic or simply out of sync with pre-existing conditions and peoples. Mumbai has been central in the worldwide debate on the future of cities. Being the largest metropolis in the country and its commercial capital, it is being touted as one of the most important nodes in the global network of urban agglomerations. The KRVIA, since its inception, has been deeply involved in issues concerning the city. And this initiative will help Indians perceive the results of increasing urbanization, create knowledge systems to understand and analyze them.
About KVRIA
KRVIA was first started in 1992 by the Kamla Raheja Foundation and the Upanagar Shikhshan Mandal along with a group of academicians and architects. Over the past fifteen years, KRVIA has become an important center for knowledge in Architecture and Urbanism. This has been achieved with the help of a professional supportive management and dynamic faculty. The institute has been continuously discussing and debating the agendas and methods for the construction of a critical course in Architectural education. The attempt has been to shift the conception of architecture from that of a ‘Profession’ to that of a ‘Discipline’. It has also been actively seeking methods to strengthen multi-disciplinarity by opening up to cultural productions that are often assumed to be outside the domain of architecture.
The core of the KRVIA has been the Bachelor of Architecture program with the Mumbai University. While the course structure emphasizes a very clear agenda for each year within the curriculum, the Institute has also embarked upon many initiatives to further the interests of the school in research and in practice. It is striving to become an important centre for research activity in the field of architecture in the future. The school has introduced the notion of a systematic research procedure at all levels in its present course structure and through The Research and Design Cell and The Fellowship Programme. In the past year the Research and Design Cell has undertaken and presented reports on policies for the redevelopment of cessed buildings in Mumbai, and has recently become involved in creating an alternative redevelopment proposal for Dharavi.
The Institute last year was awarded with validation from the Commonwealth Association of Architects. Over the years the institute has organized public lectures in the form of the Kamla Raheja Memorial Lecture Series at which eminent architects and intellectuals such as Anthony King, Edward Soja, Michael Tomlin, Shigeru Ban and Daniel Libeskind have spoken.
Make/Shift Mumbai Readings, Imaginations and Propositions
Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental studies (KRVIA) is exhibiting its work on the city of Mumbai from Monday July 9 th uptill Thursday, 12th in the Coomaraswamy hall of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Vastu Sangrahalay, formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum.
The exhibition titled "Make/ Shift Mumbai, Readings, Imaginations and Propositions" will showcase its large repertoire of work on the city completed over the last 15 years. Since the institute's inception in 1992, a group of educationists, professionals and artists became involved in envisioning the direction of the school. Discussions on cities have been central to its academic investigations. Through its varied research and consultancy projects and through its undergraduate courses and its extra-curricular programmes the institute has actively engaged with the city and provided an important platform for debate and discussion. Espousing an interdisciplinary approach, its initiatives have ranged from mapping/reading the metropolis in multiple ways; to providing new spatial imaginations for the city through its academic work; to its advocacy work, which proposes alternative futures to the city's development. The college is now starting a Postgraduate programme in Urban Studies, offered as an Master of Architecture ( M.Arch) degree with a specialization in Urban Design and Urban Conservation. The intention is to take its earlier initiatives forward by providing a platform for structured research and design at the postgraduate level.
The Exhibition, "Make/ Shift Mumbai, Readings, Imaginations and Propositions" is both a retrospective of the institute's work and an introduction to its Post Graduate programme. While the three categories Reading, Imaginations and Propositions are in many ways interconnected, they form an important structure through which to see the institute's work on the city. The work displayed through these above conceptual categories has been done through the institute's Design and Research Cell, its Urban Studies courses conducted in the fourth year of the B.Arch programme, its Humanities courses, the Final year thesis projects, and the Design projects undertaken from the first to the fourth year of the undergraduate programme, which engage in readings and interventions in the city at various scales and through multiple approaches.
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.