When the vision comes first

by Shagun Singh
The Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation for an upcoming National Institute of Design at Jorhat in Assam. It is one of the first of four which are in the pipeline for the next 11 years. The government has allocated a good amount of funds towards this initiative. A request for proposal has [...]
Gaining ground – making a new homeland : Understanding Parsi architecture through Parsi people

by Shagun Singh
A new publication on Parsi housing in India, was recently released by the SID Research Cell, Center for Environmental, Planning and Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad. The book that has been titled – ‘Gaining ground – Making a new homeland’ is a set of explorations based on history, migration, growth, architecture and lives of the Parsis in [...]
Most expensive house in the world – wasteful or lavish self-indulgence?

by Jasem Pirani
A few years ago who would have imagined that the most expensive house in the world would be in Mumbai. But then India is full of surprises – on one end you have the most expensive house in the world at the same time 42% of India’s population is below the poverty line. In the [...]
The Sustainable Urbanist – Jyoti Hosagrahar Part 1
by Shagun Singh
Jyoti Hosagrahar is faculty at Columbia University, New York and Director of Sustainable Urbanism International at Columbia University, and Bangalore, India. Architect, planner, and historian, she advises on urban development, historic conservation, and sustainability issues in Asia. Her research interests include urban heritage, cultural and environmental sustainability of cities focusing on the intersections of nature, [...]
A Grand Idea | Inhabit – winners announced

by Shagun Singh
The Mobile Activation Station by Holobiont The Mobile Activation Station designed by Holobiont (Haruka Horiuchi & Frank Hebbert) has been selected as the winner by our three esteemed judges – Raul Smith Correa of ‘Faiscas‘, Soo-in Yang of ‘The Living’ and Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai. They win a grand or $1000 to make their [...]
A Grand Idea – Inhabit Section Finalists

by Shagun Singh
A Grand Idea -Inhabit Section competition culminated on June 17th. A lot of interesting entries came pouring in from all round the world. The ones published are a few that stood out. Our judges Raul Smith Correa from FAISCAS and Soo-in Yang from The Living are going over the entries and plan to pick a [...]
“A Grand Idea – Inhabit” Competition Brief

by Shagun Singh
What is this competition about? This competition is focused on design solutions that can change our immediate urban environment into places that we can truly inhabit. The first series of ‘The Grand Idea Initiative’ is called ‘INHABIT‘. The ultimate challenge of which is to create solutions that introduce fun, sustainable, and innovative ways people use [...]
Jay Thakkar : Bringing vernacular architecture to a wider audience

by Shagun Singh
Jay Thakkar’s first book, Naqsh, is reaching out to individuals from varied backgrounds and his second, Matra, was just named ‘Best written work on Architecture 2009’ by India’s ‘Foundation for Architectural and Environmental Awareness’. Jay Thakkar, author, designer and faculty member of the School of Interior Design at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, talks to Designwala about [...]



