International Conference on Architecture Year 2010 Read more>>

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ARCHITECTURE

YEAR 2010

Theme

'HEALTHY CITIES- SHAPING  ENVIRONMENT IN ASIAN CITIES'

"Throughout history men have molded their environment to express or to symbolize ideas - power, order, comfort, harmony, pleasure, mystery. The means by which this has been achieved have varied in scale and composition, from small gardens to complete cities...."

(Sir Geoffrey Jellico)-The Landscape of Man: Shaping the Environment from Prehistory to the Present Day)

'Shaping environment' for years has been the prerequisite of the field of architecture since past till present and intends to be a creative and responsible endeavor for future. The ' designed ' cities represented as a macro- landscape have also been a manifestation of man's will and capacity to shape the environment and its embedded tangible and intangible landscape components.

Asia as a whole represents a unique palate of geomorphological landscape, overlaid by manmade components since past till present, now facing complex developmental issues like depletion of natural resources, degradation of environment , rapid urbanization, growth of population, hybridization of cultural and economic policies and resultant lifestyles.

Asian legacies of nature and culture now expressed as a product of modernity is a significant concern to understand in today's global context. The shaping of natural and past manmade environments in Asian cities represents a myriad of design and planning responses based on these legacies, the aspirations and the challenges of the present generation.

The theme of the conference looks at the same in context of 'Asian Cities'. 'Asia', as an abode of rich natural and cultural environment, gives a significant opportunity to explore the past, present and future approaches(to) in shaping the  environment, especially in the manifestation and evolution of the 'Asian Cities'.

The conference will aim at taking a fresh look at the overlays of natural and manmade, tangible and intangible, for functional and aesthetic interventions and /or creations of living environments.

Bringing on a platform, new emerging approaches and theories, followed in shaping the environment is one of the important objectives of the conference.

The event will lay emphasis on understanding the thought processes, the approaches, the philosophies and the relevant examples in Asian environment.

The theme elaborates on the contextual responses to design, city planning with environment as a green infrastructure and landscape as a tool to enhance quality of urban life in Asian cities.

Participation

The conference will be held in the city of Pune, the cultural capital of Maharashtra State in India and will have eminent speakers from the field of architecture, landscape architecture, planning and from the supporting and complementary fields like education, environment, natural sciences, economics, city infrastructure, governance, sociology and art.

The event will give an opportunity to

• Professionals
• Academicians,
• Students (Undergraduate and Post graduate),
• Government authorities
• NGO's

from the above mentioned fields to present papers, participate, interact and to get a comprehensive insight into the life in Asian Cities.

SUB -THEMES

The sub-themes will initiate elaborate discussions on current issues and practices related to the theme. They intend to represent an array of planning concerns in the past, present and future related  to health of Asian Cities.

( Total 10 invited speakers for these 4 themes - 6 from 0utside India and 4 from India)

1.      TIME, SPACE AND PEOPLE - ( Core Team to identify the speakers- Prof.Swati, Prof.Sharveya, Prof.Chetan, Prof.Kavita, Prof.Ogale)

a.     Evolution and history

b.     Cultural Landscapes

c.     People's perceptions

d.     Heritage and health

e.     Timelessness

f.        Fourth dimension of 'time' in urban environments

g.     Education and awareness

2. LANDSCAPE URBANISM - (Core Team - Prof.Asmita, Prof.Abhay, Prof. Swati, Prof.Kanhere)

a.     Green infrastructure(open space structure)

b.     Infrastructure and accessibility

c.     Rural transformations and urban form

d.     Modernity and identity

e.     Urban renewal for public health

3.      PLANNING AND GOVERNANCE - (Core Team- Prof.Poorva , Prof.Shruti, Prof.Sujata, Prof.Vasudha, Prof Vaishali Angal , Prof Anagha Paranjpe)

a.     Implementation tools(master plan, rules, law, landuse, government initiatives, finance and economics, review cycles, etc)

b.     Natural resource management

c.     New tools for planning and resource mapping

4. URBAN EUTOPIA IN ASIAN CONTEXT - (Core team - Prof. Abhay, Prof.Shubhada, Prof.Sharveya, Prof.Nivsarkar, Prof.Poorva)

a.     New concepts in planning

b.     New born Asian cities