Digital Sessions
Keeping the current COVID-19 situation in mind, we are reinventing our courses which are now enabled by digital learning. Explore these courses in different themes, curated by industry professionals. All the courses will have an intake of no higher than 20 participants.
Hyper Dense Environments
Vanishree Herlekar
With an average density of more than 275 persons per hectare (accounting for only built-up area), Hong Kong is one of the world’s densest cities. Topographical challenges coupled with rapid growth has led Hong Kong to embrace vertical living; where people, goods and services are concentrated in a tight footprint. This characteristic high density urban living in Hong Kong is largely viewed not only as desirable, but vital to its functioning as a global megacity.
Urban density of Hong Kong shatters the myth that people have cultural notions about use of space and density. While on one hand it has very little to offer in terms of personal built space, it more than makes up through its well-maintained public spaces, excellent network of pedestrian pathways and world class public transport.
This 7 day course gives the participant an understanding on liveability, sustainability and inclusivity in Hyper Dense Environments, taking the example of Hong Kong. Participants will apply the key lessons and learning from the class in the context of an Indian Metropolis like Mumbai. They will work in teams to explore context specific solutions in three areas: fostering and managing built density in core city areas, street network and pedestrian mobility, and access to green spaces and parks.
INR 3,500
FAQs on Hyper Dense Environments
- Urban planners
- Professional architects
- Architecture students
- Design enthusiasts
- People interested in city planning
By the end of the course, participants will get to apply the key lessons and learning from the class in the context of an Indian Metropolis like Mumbai. They will work in teams to explore context specific solutions in three areas: fostering and managing built density in core city areas, street network and pedestrian mobility, and access to green spaces and parks.
Each session’s recording will be made available to the participants, in form of private YouTube videos.
The participants will also be able to share information on a shared Google Drive folder, and an exclusive Whatsapp group. The participants will also have access to the curator on email and phone, for the duration of the course.
The course will utilise available open source resources including Google Earth (Aerial imagery, Street View and Terrain). Students will get an immersive experience of the city through planned walkthroughs and short exercises. Explorations in Google Earth will be supported with lectures, videos and additional reading material.
The sessions will be for 7 days, and between 1.5 and 3 hours on each day (between 5.30 and 7.30 pm). You can download the brochure for the schedule.
All the sessions will be recorded and uploaded on YouTube. The private links to the sessions will be shared with all the participants.
All the sessions will be conducted on Zoom. Certain sessions may also include break out rooms, where the batch will be broken into smaller groups to facilitate group exercises.
The participants who complete all the exercises will be given a certificate of completion.
Click on the Register button above, and fill out the application form. You will then receive an email with details on the next steps, including payment of the course fee. Once the payment is completed, your registration will be confirmed.
Introduction to Natural Building
Masons Ink Studio
India is at the wake of a new era as the country rushes towards an idea of modernity and development. Most often cost, aesthetics, speed of construction carries are given priority. It is therefore an urgent need to investigate sustainable, low-energy solutions for new constructions.
Mud as a material has been used as a construction material in India for thousands of years. Mud construction is now seeing a revival in the construction sector today through its earth warriors and natural builders and as a result, there are an increasing number of contemporary mud structures being built that act as the catalysts for change.
The course will cover all the basics of building with mud including the various techniques of earthen construction with case studies around the world while being informed by the traditional vernacular of the country. The course will include interactive sessions with earth builders around the world to understand the versatility of the material and to gain a worldwide perspective of the material. It will encourage hands on participation from the students through design charrettes on virtual platforms and easy DIY sessions. The exercises will be supported by live demos, presentations, videos and additional reading material.
INR 4,000
FAQs on Natural Building
Professional architects
Architecture students
- People in construction
Sustainability enthusiasts
People interested in building with natural materials
At the end of the course, you will have a clear and comprehensive understanding of the following:
- Earthen construction with an international and contemporary perspective
- Different construction techniques using mud
- Benefits of natural building
- Embodied energy and life cycle analysis
- Sustainability along the 3 verticals of environment, socio-cultural and socio-economic
Each session’s recording will be made available to the participants, in form of private YouTube videos.
The participants will also be able to share information on a shared Google Drive folder, and an exclusive Whatsapp group. The participants will also have access to the curator on email and phone, for the duration of the course.
The course will encourage hands on participation from the students through design charrettes on virtual platforms and easy DIY sessions. The exercises will be supported by live demos, presentations, videos and additional reading material.
The sessions will be for 7 days, with 2 hours on each day (between 5.30 and 7.30 pm). You can download the brochure for the schedule.
All the sessions will be recorded and uploaded on YouTube. The private links to the sessions will be shared with all the participants.
All the sessions will be conducted on Zoom. Certain sessions may also include break out rooms, where the batch will be broken into smaller groups to facilitate group exercises.
The participants who complete all the exercises will be given a certificate of completion.
Click on the Register button above, and fill out the application form. You will then receive an email with details on the next steps, including payment of the course fee. Once the payment is completed, your registration will be confirmed.
Cultural Landscapes - Ahmedabad
Ishita Shah
Ahmedabad has many tales to tell about its diverse ethnic communities, its trade and markets, its folk art and culinary experiments. The stories of these intangible assets not only arise from the heart of its old town but have travelled across the river and found new meanings in the developing cityscapes of Ahmedabad. Looking beyond the city inhabited by human societies, there is a realm of natural dwellings surrounding Ahmedabad where biodiversity thrives in spite of the harsh climatic conditions. Many such far away eco-spots and cultural edifices are also looked after by micro-communities which adorns the city of Ahmedabad another layer of cultural identity.
Through this learning expedition, we will collectively explore and discover these different layers of Ahmedabad’s cultural landscape, identify the different assets – tangible, intangible, natural and cultural – of its historical narrative and reimagine the heritage of Ahmedabad for its future generations. Over the course of ten days, we will discuss the concepts of cultural and natural heritage, engage with national and international standards pertaining to heritage conservation and preservation, and research to develop creative strategies for inclusive appreciation of Ahmedabad’s cultural identities. (image on the right from Jaimil Joshi)
INR 3,500
Share in the Sheher
Hrishikesh Pandit
Our current urban conditions are experiencing an evolution in sharing and gig economies. With newer lifestyle choices, family structures and economic challenges, car share services, co-working spaces and homestays are seeing growing demands. We further see these transformations in sense of ownership, time based usage and big data integration as a large part of urban living which transforms our traditional understanding of housing and home.
This workshop questions and rethinks housing of the future situated in a shared economy and using big data. It aims to explore the balance between individual vs communal, between mine vs yours and public vs private. All programmatic elements of a house are on the table for rethinking – living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, balconies, bathrooms, gardens, home offices, etc. – which demands a new model that questions what is shared and what is separated.
The participants will work on transforming an apartment prototype which will be ‘unmade and erased’ with reference to John Paul Ricco’s writing and ‘reassembled’ to a new architectural typology for the future of housing. The workshop intends to explore various ideas around community living and help participants develop their own design over the course of seven days.
INR 2,500
Design Thinking
Varuna Iyer
When looking at innovation, one of the main challenges faced by individuals and companies is the structure of thinking to find solutions to their problems. Design Thinking is aimed at providing that structure to find solutions which can be innovative and make the life easier of the individual or company. This course identifies the five steps of the process of design thinking, and the participants will get to work on finding a solution to a live problem using these five steps – Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test.
INR 7,000 (May 2-8, 2020)
