Anagha Speaks

About two weeks back, a collaborative workshop was conducted between the students of M.Arch Environmental Architecture, Dr B N College of Architecture and post graduate students of Dept of Architecture, Royal University of Fine Arts, Sweden. The idea was to brainstorm on Sustainability Planning measures that can be undertaken for a pilot study area in Pune. The area selected was the J M Road and Narayan Peth stretch on either side of the river Mutha, capturing the commercial newer face of Pune at J M Road and the old, heritage laden character of Pune at Narayan Peth. The experience was amazing! The exchange of ideas between students of the two countries was great to observe. While Indian students tended to be more realistic and grounded while thinking of proposals, Swedish students opened up a whole basket of options and opportunities for the area. The mix of the two was the outcome, thereby bringing many new and exciting dimensions to Sustainability planning for the pilot area in Pune...

In April 2009, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) had their annual convention in San Francisco. Under the umbrella of this event and in partnership with various orgnizations, a small exhibition was organized titled as '10 x 10 cities - Green Facts Challenges Futures. The exhibits were organized as datascapes showing the current challenges facing the 10 major North American cities, including San Francisco. The interesting part of the exhibition was the responses to these challenges by architects in terms of their green designs and planning of energy efficient buildings. The exhibition also showcased San Francisco's Environmental Action Plan aiming towards its Climate Change goals. The interesting and perhaps unique point about this exhibit was the effective use of visual language used in communicating green facts about cities. The 10 cities were compared on a 10 point Sustainability Scale, which included parameters such as garbage production, water consumption, air quali...