Tag: Mixed use GM

Unfolding Access Through Foldable Habitats for Agariyas of Kutch

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Author: Kumud Balwant Shahi
Site Location: Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat
Institute: Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Architecture & Design Studies
Advisor: Ar. Niladwuti Chattopadhyay

Description

The Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) in Gujarat is home to the Agariya community, traditional salt farmers who migrate to the vast saline desert for nearly eight months each year (October-May) to harvest salt. During the monsoon (June-September), the Rann floods, forcing them to return to their native villages with their families and belongings.

Life in the Rann is defined by extreme climatic conditions and a severe lack of basic infrastructure. Temporary shelters provide minimal protection against intense heat, strong winds, and unseasonal rainfall. Women face significant challenges due to inadequate sanitation, while children’s education is frequently disrupted by seasonal migration. Although the government’s Rann Shala initiative, mobile classrooms operating from buses has improved educational access, its limited coverage leaves many children underserved. Water scarcity further intensifies these hardships, with potable water supplied by tankers only once every 30 days.

This proposal envisions a network of climate-responsive, deployable architectural interventions and permanent structure that address the community’s essential needs through adaptable housing, education, sanitation, healthcare, and shared community spaces. Designed to respond to the dynamic desert landscape, the project aims to enhance the resilience, dignity, and quality of life of the Agariya community while respecting their seasonal migration and traditional salt-farming practices.

Programmatic Objectives is to create a prototype for 26 Agariya families which includes:

Water Systems – Rainwater harvesting tanks.

Family Dwellings – Modular living units adaptable to different family sizes.

Community Space – A shaded gathering zone for social and cultural activities.

School Module – Beyond a classroom, a shared space that enables children’s education, women’s empowerment .

Clinic – Small first-aid and maternal health facility.

Dry Community Toilet –     Gender-segregated, eco-friendly toilets with waste composting.


Drawings

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Roots to Resonance: Identity, Indusion and Shared Prosperity

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Author: Patil Prajakta Prakash
Site Location: Garadolli, Karnataka
Institute: Yashoda College of Architecture
Advisor: Ar. Snehal Shedge

Description

Roots to Resonance is a cultural and community-oriented destination for the Siddi community of Garadolli, Karnataka, envisioned to promote equity, dignity, cultural continuity and shared prosperity. The project brings together community development and tourism to create opportunities for livelihood, learning, healthcare, cultural expression and social interaction.
The design grows from the existing landscape, climate and patterns of community life, preserving natural contours and mature trees while minimizing disturbance to the site. A central experiential axis connects the Sacred Tree, representing faith, with the Central Tower, representing Siddi identity, creating a sequence of spaces that gradually unfold through the site.
Open spaces, shaded pathways, courtyards and transitional areas become important social spaces, allowing movement between public, community and private experiences. The built forms are dispersed within the landscape, encouraging interaction while maintaining privacy and responding to the natural terrain and climate.
The project integrates a community hub, healthcare, learning and skill-development spaces, cultural areas, recreation and a resort. The resort creates livelihood opportunities through hospitality and cultural experiences, enabling the community to actively participate in and benefit from tourism.
By connecting people, place, culture and opportunity, the project uses architecture to strengthen community resilience while allowing visitors to experience Siddi culture with respect, participation and shared ownership.


Drawings

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Parai, Magal-eer(+leisure)

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Author: P. Preeti
Site Location: Watrap Pudupatti, Tamil Nadu
Institute: R V College of Architecture
Advisor:Prof. Meera Vasudev Srinivasan

Description

The project explores how architecture can intervene within the caste-divided spatial landscape of Watrap Pudupatti, Tamil Nadu, through the everyday lives of Paraiyar women. Rather than attempting to erase caste difference, it creates layers of democratic space that allow different communities to coexist while gradually challenging who can occupy, access, and control space.
At its core, the project establishes ownership as a foundation for leisure and agency. Land, therefore, is not treated simply as a site for a building, but as a means of reclaiming spatial autonomy. The architecture creates a sequence of public, collective, semi-private, and intimate spaces, allowing women to move between gathering, learning, performing, producing, resting, and governing.
The five fundamental rhythms of the parai become the project’s architectural syntax. Their patterns of repetition, pause, acceleration, and release are translated into spatial operations—compression and expansion, thresholds, courtyards, movement paths, gathering grounds, and moments of pause.
Rather than a singular monument, the project becomes a porous network embedded within village life. Open grounds, shaded courts, landscape, and transitional spaces allow everyday movement to flow through the institution. Architecture thus becomes a framework for ownership, visibility, leisure, collective expression, and coexistence, creating spatial loopholes within an existing caste hierarchy.


Drawings

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Energy Commons: Reimagining Energy Infrastructure as a Place for Civic Engagement

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Author: Radhakrishnan M S
Site Location: Kaloor, Kochi
Institute: SEED APJ Abdul Kalam School of Environmental Design
Advisor: Ar. Chinchu Kumar Sreekandan

Description

Energy Commons begins with a simple question: why should the infrastructure that powers our cities remain inaccessible to the people who depend on it? Located at Kaloor, Kochi, the project reimagines an existing substation through a second enquiry: when changes in infrastructure leave spaces underused or inaccessible, does architecture have a role in giving them back to the city? By exploring the future typological transformation of substation infrastructure, the project opens up the infrastructure and its residual spaces and reclaims them as part of the city’s commons.

The project is organised around three connected cores: Infrastructure, Awareness and Making. The Infrastructure Core houses essential energy systems, including battery storage and distribution; the Awareness Core creates spaces to see and understand energy systems; and the Making Core supports manufacturing, repair and exchange of electronic goods. Three courts connect these cores, creating spaces for gathering, neighbourhood life and engagement with the energy system, while linking the project to the existing metro network and surrounding neighbourhood.

Rooftop photovoltaics, photovoltaic fac;ades and kinetic surfaces integrate energy generation into the architecture. Energy Commons transforms inaccessible infrastructure into an accessible civic resource-giving space back to the city and bringing energy into the everyday commons.

Drawings

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Habitat Continuum

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Author: Aryan Paranjape
Site Location: Saswad
Institute:IES’s College of Architecture
Advisor: Prof. Sanket Mhatre

Description

A landscape is rarely inhabited by one life alone. At Saswad, seasonal vegetation, wildlife and agricultural communities depend upon the same territory, yet each experiences and responds to it differently.

The thesis began with a simple question: Who are we designing for? Studying how people move, how wildlife adapts, how the landscape changes, and where these patterns meet revealed that the challenge was not a lack of space, but a lack of understanding.

This shifted the approach from “What should be built here?” to “What can design heal here?”

The project proposes a capacity-building centre organised around dialogue, understanding and care, bringing together a Public Interface, Research Wing, Rescue Unit, Rapid Response Garage and Dormitory. Each addresses a different need; from community support and field research to emergency response and sustained engagement. An adaptable Info Cart extends this intent beyond the centre.

The architecture follows the site’s contours, seasonal rhythms and existing patterns through clustered, permeable and minimally grounded interventions. Water systems, vegetation and open spaces become active parts of the proposal rather than residual landscape.

Inspired by the Chabutara, the project asks how architecture can make room for different lives without allowing one to overshadow another.

Ultimately, Habitat Continuum seeks to create a shared territory where different needs can find space, support and belonging.


Drawings

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Rural Development: A Holistic Approach to Healing, Learning and Creating, at AKOLE, Maharashtra

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Author: Manvi Yogesh Jondhale
Site Location: Akole, Maharashtra
Institute: D Y Patil Deemed to be University School Of Architecture
Advisor: Prof. Anita Shyam

Description

The project addresses the uneven distribution of essential services across the rural landscape of Akole by creating a shared environment where healthcare, education, and livelihood opportunities are brought together within a single integrated framework. Located in Katlapur, the proposal responds to the needs of surrounding villages by improving access to social infrastructure that is often concentrated in larger urban centres.
The design is organized around the Healing Spine, a continuous public pathway that connects a Rural Hospital, a School for Classes 1–12, skill development centres, artisan workshops, and community spaces. More than a circulation route, the spine becomes a common ground where healing, learning, and creating intersect, encouraging interaction across age groups, occupations, and social backgrounds. The project views architecture as a catalyst for equitable development by ensuring that essential resources are accessible, connected, and shared. Through a network of inclusive spaces and community-oriented infrastructure, it seeks to strengthen social well-being, create Opportunities for growth, and support a more resilient rural future. Rather than functioning as isolated institutions, the various programs work together to build a holistic ecosystem that empowers both individuals and the wider community.


Drawings

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Loco Iron Cultural Park, Parel

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Author: Sanskar Khatri
Site Location: Parel, South Mumbai
Institute: Rachana Sansad’s Academy of Architecture
Advisor: Prof. Neha Panchal

Description

A jewel of Railway’s industrial heritage, the future of historic structures, the ecology, and the active industrial economy of the Parel Locomotive Workshop appears uncertain because of the Central Railway’s Parel Terminus proposal. This thesis critically analyses the idea of a terminus in an infrastructurally-exhausted locality, and attempts to make a counter-proposal: A cultural and ecological park for the people, open to all.

When the grounds of the Parel Loco Workshop become available for the public as the Loco Iron Cultural Park, they make quality recreation and cultural spaces accessible for all. This thesis sees equitability not just as designing for access and utility. Rather, it imagines equitability as designing for experience – experiences that can be garnered by the wealthy and the underprivileged; by children, adults as well as the elderly; by able-bodied and the differently-abled alike. True equity does not simply reflect through design decisions, it is lived in small everyday experiences through design thought. This project attempts to manufacture such subtle experiences, giving to each one what they demand at different scales – a space to rest, or a building to perform, or a job to sustain family.

Drawings

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InterVale: A Framework for In-Between Urban Experiences

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Author: Sara A
Site Location: Kakkanad, Kochi, Kerala
Institute: KMEA College of Architecture
Advisor: Asst. Prof. Megha Anil Kumar

Description

Kakkanad has emerged as a major urban corridor shaped by workplaces, institutions, housing and rapidly expanding transit infrastructure. Yet its growth has prioritised destinations and movement over the spaces between them. Roads, fragmented edges, residual land and discontinuous pedestrian networks create a city that is physically connected but unevenly experienced. For commuters, students, workers, residents and visitors, access to shade, pause, nature, interaction and public life remains dependent on where they move and what they can access along the way. The inequity therefore lies not only in reaching the city, but in who gets to experience it comfortably and meaningfully.
INTERVALE positions the in-between as the foundation of a liveable, walkable transit-oriented neighbourhood. Along the emerging Kochi Metro corridor, fragmented edges are transformed into a continuous public realm where transit, commerce, social life, nature and dwelling overlap. Walkable connections extend beyond movement to create opportunities to pause, encounter and participate, while the mixed-use layers support everyday needs within reach of one another.
Here, transit becomes more than a means of efficient movement; it becomes a catalyst for equitable urban life. By turning residual spaces into shared places and connecting destinations through a continuous network of everyday experiences, the project shifts TOD from a model of accessibility towards one of liveability, belonging and shared urban opportunity.


Drawings

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Banaras Hatt: Reimagining Urban Identity

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Author: Durgesh Naik
Site Location: Varanasi
Institute: Vivekanand Education Society’s College of Architecture (VESCOA)
Advisor: Ar. Abhishek Kadam

Description

Varanasi, known as the spiritual capital of India, is experiencing growing tourism and rapid urban development, which are reshaping its historic urban fabric. As new architectural typologies emerge, the city is challenged to accommodate contemporary needs while balancing the relationship between heritage and everyday life.

The project is a threshold between living heritage and contemporary architectural expression. In a city defined by sacred heritage, can contemporary architecture, through a deliberate dialogue of harmony and contrast, reinforce the relationship between people, place, and cultural identity? The design intervention is programmatic, proposing a mixed-use facility while positioning the visitor centre within the tourist network rather than an isolated location. The design responds to the dense fabric of Varanasi by easing out pressure on existing public spaces and introducing new public spaces and programs. The project establishes a new landmark that is not defined by visual dominance but rather by its social inclusivity and a new form of public space.

The project addresses equity through social inclusion, local economy, and cultural identity. It preserves and reinforces existing everyday local activities, creating collaborative spaces for local crafts, retail, and cultural activities. The project draws its architecture from Varanasi’s local material and cultural character, reinterpreting them through contemporary forms and expression to establish an identity rooted in place.


Drawings

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Macchi: Redevelopment of Sassoon Dock as Smart Maritime Hub

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Author: Umesh Santosh Lad
Site Location: Mumbai
Institute: School of Planning and Architecture, SPAV
Advisor: Dr. Prashanti Rao

Description

Mumbai’s ports and docks have played a vital role in shaping the city as India’s major maritime and commercial gateway. Among them, Sassoon Dock has historically supported fishing, trade, employment, and the livelihoods of the traditional Koli community. However, despite its economic and cultural significance, the dock today faces challenges of outdated infrastructure, poor hygiene, overlapping circulation, limited cold-chain facilities, inefficient waste management, environmental degradation, and vulnerability to climate change and rising sea levels.

While airports are modernized, metro corridors are digitized, and business districts are reimagined, traditional maritime infrastructures like Sassoon Dock remain spatially inefficient, environmentally stressed, and technologically outdated. Fish handling lacks hygienic zoning; circulation of goods and people overlaps chaotically; cold-chain integration is limited; waste disposal affects the harbour ecology. Despite being economically and culturally significant, the dock has not evolved with contemporary standards of resilience, logistics, or smart governance.

The Redevelopment of Sassoon Dock as a Smart Maritime Hub proposes a resilient, inclusive, and technologically integrated waterfront while preserving its cultural identity and traditional fishing economy. The proposal is organized into four interconnected zones: Heritage Core, Fish Market Zone, Community Spine, and Public Plaza. Adaptive reuse of cold storage building strengthens the heritage character, while upgraded fish markets, auction spaces, sorting, storage, and cold-chain facilities improve operational efficiency and hygiene.

The waterfront integrates blue-green infrastructure, including mangrove restoration, tidal wetlands, sponge landscapes, ecological buffers, and a public promenade. Smart systems for environmental monitoring, waste management, and building operations further enhance resilience.

The project envisions Sassoon Dock as a living waterfront where livelihood, heritage, ecology, and public life coexist, creating a future-ready maritime hub while safeguarding the identity and livelihoods of its fishing communities.

Drawings

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The Rising Gully: A Multipurpose School & Wellness Centre

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Author: Drashti Nandu
Site Location: Dharavi, Mumbai
Institute: Aditya College of Art, Architecture & Design
Advisor:Ar. Veena Takale,
Ar. Rita Nayak

Description

In Dharavi, the street is more than a path, it is a place to work, play, gather, trade, celebrate, and
connect. Yet, within an intensely dense urban fabric, these everyday actvites compete for limited
space, open leaving the narrow gullies overcrowded and open spaces scarce. This project asks whether
can a school become more than a school, and can architecture bring the life of the street into a shared
community space?
The proposal reimagines the primary school as a multpurpose community infrastructure, designed to
remain active beyond school hours. Learning spaces transform into workshops, exhibition spaces,
markets, and gathering areas, allowing the building to respond to the changing needs of the
community. Inspired by Dharavi’s interconnected gullies, the project extends the idea of the street
vertically through a continuous green ramp, connecting ground-level actvites to accessible rooftop
spaces for play, recreation, and social interaction.
Rather than replacing the character of Dharavi, the project seeks to translate its existing social and
spatial qualities into architecture, creating a place where education, livelihood, recreation, and culture
coexist, and where community life can continue throughout the day

Drawings

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Housing for the Urban Poor: A Landpooling Approach to Revitalize Vathuruthy Colony

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Author: Fathima P.V
Site Location: Willingdon Island, Kochi, Kerala
Institute: MES College of Architecture
Advisor: Ar. Vijaya Nhaloor

Description

‘Rooted in Reality, Responsive by Future’ is a design philosophy that begins by acknowledging the truths of an existing place, its people, building patterns, and lifestyle while shaping interventions that can adapt to future needs. It is about respecting the identity of a community while equipping it for resilience and growth.
In this rapidly urbanizing society, the chance of eviction for underprivileged settlement like Vathuruthy colony is high, often in the name of ‘development.’ This thesis challenges that approach, proposing an inclusive alternative for the Tamil migrant community on Willingdon Island. Established in the 1960s to support naval base construction, the colony has grown organically, developing strong social ties but also facing congestion, poor infrastructure, and flood vulnerability.
Through a land pooling strategy, the design reorganizes the fabric into cluster-based layouts that retain familiar spaces while introducing improved housing, shared public areas, and climate- resilient infrastructure. The approach ensures equitable access to resources, prevents displacement, and strengthens community identity, transforming Vathuruthy in a way that evolves from its past while preparing it for the future.

Drawings

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Revitalization of Benarasi Karigari

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Author: Priyal Patel
Site Location: Vishwanath Gaali, Varanasi
Institute: MIT School of Architecture, Pune
Advisor: Dr. Neeti Tirvedi

Description

The handloom industry of Benaras has served the livelihoods of over 75% of the population, predominantly comprised of Muslim weavers, for more than 400 years. The craft is developed as a legacy of their ancestors, continued by successive generations. However, the lackadaisical view towards the weavers in Benaras have forced them to live in a sub- human environment, creating an adverse impact on the craft of handloom weaving, leading to migration of weaver’s community to the periphery. The craft is facing the threat of extinction due to the exploitation of weavers by Gaddidars (traders), and growing usage of power looms, which enable faster and more cost-effective production.
Housing Conditions: Due to insufficient income, multi-weaver families live in overcrowded and uninhabitable conditions, sharing the same limited space for both domestic activities and weaving production. According to the research and documentation of existing dwelling units in Vishwanath Gaali, we observed the need for a space which would incorporate the weaving activity separately along with the domestic work.
The Aim of the Project: The aim of the project is to commercialize hand loom weaving by bridging the gap between the weavers and the local community in the old town of Varanasi. The intent is to create tangible spaces for intangible interactive experiences that engages both residents and weavers, bringing the craft into the public realm by showcasing it on the streets of the city. By integrating tangible aspects of urban design with the intangible cultural heritage of weaving, the initiative seeks to safeguard the weaver community within the old town, thereby preserving the essence of traditional hand loom craftsmanship.
The Site Plan: The design of the site plan is inspired from the process which is involved in pre and post weaving activities. The project aims at creating a weavers walk which would involve the experience of viewing the processes of weaving by the tourists. The weavers would also be provided with stalls at the end of the walk where they can display their art and sell their products together. The design of the site plan is done in a way to encourage the weavers to carry out activities such as washing of threads and dying work done together in the central area of the site. This would ultimately connect the local weavers to their potential clients simply without an interference of the traders. This also involves an additional source of income for the women to run food stalls along with their weaving studios. This would inculcate in them, a sense of inclusivity and security within the community of the old town of Varanasi and ultimately preserve the age-old craft of handloom weaving.

Drawings

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The Metamorphosis of Worli Koliwada

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Author: Srilekha Malladi
Site Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Institute: Dr. D.Y. Patil School of Architecture
Advisor: Amit Shirke

Description

The Metamorphosis of Worli Koliwada reimagines one of Mumbai’s oldest fishing villages as a resilient, community-driven waterfront. Caught between the pressures of redevelopment and the weight of heritage, the project proposes an alternative future, one that protects cultural memory while enabling growth.
The design unfolds through co-creation with the Koli community, embedding their lived routines, rituals, and occupations into spatial strategies. Instead of erasing the dense gullies, the project strengthens them through phased development: incremental housing upgrades, flexible public spaces, and resilient infrastructure. The seafront transforms into an amphitheatre and marketplace, where daily livelihood meets collective leisure. A folded plate roof inspired by fishing nets symbolises the dialogue between tradition and contemporary construction.
At its core, the thesis argues that urban design is not about replacing communities but amplifying them. By merging heritage, resilience, and equity, the project sets out a model for how Mumbai’s indigenous settlements can thrive amidst rapid urban change.

Drawings

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Parivartan: Re-imagining Slum Living of Bandra

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Author: Adburrab Ansari
Site Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Institute: Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Design, Integral University
Advisor: Zeba Nisar

Description

Parivartan: Re-imagining Slum Living is a people-centric redevelopment proposal for the dense informal settlements of Bandra West, Mumbai. Rooted in the philosophy of People-Centric Urbanism and guided by the framework of Regenerative Urbanism, the project envisions a future where slum redevelopment is not merely about housing provision but about enhancing quality of life, preserving community identity, and fostering socio-economic growth.

Through inclusive planning, the design integrates mixed-use vertical housing, accessible public amenities, and vibrant green spaces at both ground and podium levels, ensuring a balance between private comfort and shared community life. Cultural values and lifestyle patterns of residents are retained through flexible housing layouts and active open spaces that encourage interaction.

Sustainability is embedded through modular construction, climate-responsive design, and integrated landscape planning. By addressing housing, livelihood, and ecology together, Parivartan becomes a replicable model for equitable and resilient urban transformation—demonstrating how architecture can be a tool for social upliftment while shaping a more inclusive urban future.

Drawings

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Colony to Community: Redevelopment of Antulenagar Leprosy Colony

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Author: Bhavya Shah
Site Location: Pune, Maharashtra
Institute: IDPT, Sarvajanik College of Engineering and Technology (SCET)
Advisor: Niraj Naik

Description

Leprosy is one of the oldest known diseases to mankind, which has forced thousands of cured individuals into isolation, giving rise to colonies like Antulenagar, Pune. The cure has been established half a decade ago, but the stigma persists, leaving these individuals and their family members excluded from the city’s social and urban fabric.

The thesis takes Antulenagar as a site of redevelopment and reintegration. The master plan envisions an accessible housing premise addressing the special needs of the residents, focusing on accessibility and adaptability.

Shared facilities, including a communal kitchen and dining, are designed to encourage interaction and support amongst the community, while barrier-free access ensures every resident is included in every space. The surroundings are proposed to be liminal spaces for the neighbourhood, serving as social buffers, reconnecting Antulenagar with its neighbours, slowly dissolving decades of stigma. Antulenagar is more than just the built form. It is an effort to promote dignity, belonging, and equality. Antulenagar aspires to stand as a replicable model for India, aiding in the redevelopment of other marginalised colonies into inclusive neighbourhoods.

Drawings

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Siddi: Preserve, Empower, Thrive – Community-driven Architecture in Ahmedabad

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Author: Habib Rehman Akhtar Khan
Site Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Institute: Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Architecture and Design
Advisor: Harish Shetty

Description

The Siddi Community Centre is envisioned as a place of dignity, belonging, and opportunity for a people often pushed to the margins. The Siddis -Africans by origin, Indians by nationality have lived in Gujarat for over four centuries. They built forts, carved Ahmedabad’s iconic Siddi Saiyyed Jali, and enriched India’s cultural fabric. Yet today, many struggle with poverty, exclusion, and invisibility, with little access to education, healthcare, or secure livelihoods.
Many remain unaware of their Scheduled Tribe rights, while issues like gambling and exploitation weaken unity. Hope lies in the younger generation, eager for education and change.
This project responds by asking: who are we designing for? The answer lies in co-creating with the community. Set on a 29,000 sqm site along the Ahmedabad riverfront, the design steps with contours and draws from idea of Correa’s incremental grid, Kéré’s ventilation strategies, and Fathy’s brick vaults. Each 12 × 20 m module, supported by RCC beams and brick piers, integrates services, harvests rainwater, and anticipates growth.
Programs emerge from lived realities – a healthcare block for women and children, a community kitchen inspired by Hirabai Lobi’s struggle, schools woven with skill centers, and courtyards for Dhamal dance, weddings, and festivals. Sunken exhibition spaces become hubs for dialogue and livelihood, while sports and women’s training centers unlock future potential.
This is not charity. It is architecture as equity, preserving heritage, empowering livelihoods, and nurturing cultural pride for generations to come.

Drawings

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Beyond the Box: Apdapting IKEA’s Design Language to Gurugram’s Cultural Heritage

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Author: Nazni Yoonus V
Site Location: Gurugram, Haryana
Institute: DG College of Architecture
Advisor: Indu Sreenivasan

Description

Beyond the Box: Adapting IKEA’s Design Language to Gurugram’s Cultural Heritage explores how a global retail giant can evolve to reflect local identity. IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, is known for its standardized, functional, and cost-effective store design. While this model ensures brand consistency, it often leads to placeless architecture. Gurugram—a rapidly urbanizing, planned city dominated by high-rises and modern glass facades—presents an opportunity to question this approach and reintroduce cultural depth into retail architecture.

In recent years, IKEA itself has begun to move away from the “one-size-fits-all” model. IKEA Vienna, completed in 2022, is a prime example, designed as a compact, urban-friendly store with terraces and green facades—demonstrating how the brand is evolving to respond to its context Inspired by this evolution, the project proposes an IKEA for Sector 47, Gurugram, on a 9-acre site with a built-up area of 45,651 m². The design integrates Mughal architectural principles—arches, symmetry, domes, and courtyard-like pause areas—enhancing cultural resonance and enriching user experience.

The design addresses common challenges in IKEA stores—long circulation paths, wayfinding issues, and limited cultural connection—by introducing clear navigation, pause zones, and social spaces. The outcome envisions an IKEA that is not just a retail destination but also a cultural landmark: one that balances efficiency with rootedness, global identity with local heritage, and commerce with community.

Drawings

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The Community-centric Livelihood Hub

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Author: Parindra Sur
Site Location: Shantiniketan, West Bengal
Institute: Techno India University
Advisor: Sayan Chatterjee

Description

This thesis investigates the potential of architecture to serve as a catalyst for socio-economic development in rural India through the creation of a Community-centric Livelihood Hub in Shantiniketan, West Bengal. The study addresses the challenges faced by rural artisans—particularly in infrastructure, visibility, and sustainable livelihood—by proposing an architectural intervention that integrates traditional knowledge systems with contemporary sustainable design principles.

A mixed-method research approach was employed, combining site observations, stakeholder interviews, and literature review. Comparative case studies of Auroville (India) and METI School (Bangladesh) informed the design philosophy, highlighting models of participatory, environmentally responsive, and culturally rooted architecture.

The final design comprises multifunctional spaces including training centers, market areas, artisan residences, and community halls—organized around vernacular spatial principles and constructed using local, climate-resilient materials. Emphasis is placed on passive design strategies, community engagement, and the preservation of the local Baul and artisan culture.

By contextualizing architectural design within the framework of rural development and cultural continuity, this project contributes to a replicable model for sustainable rural transformation. It demonstrates how architecture can bridge the gap between tradition and innovation while empowering local communities.

Drawings

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From Mortal to Eternal: Spatializing the Ghat as a Ritual and Reflective Space

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Author: Ananya V
Site Location: Srirangapatna, Karnataka
Institute: School of Planning and Architecture, Mysore
Advisor: Ar. Srikanth K.S

Description

This thesis reimagines the sacred riverfront of Paschimavahini, one of the rare west-flowing stretches of the Kaveri. The site is historically significant as a traditional pilgrimage destination and a place where families perform post-death rituals and rites of passage connected to the cycle of life, death, and memory. It proposes an inclusive, multi-level ritual landscape that honors Hindu non-cremation death rituals such as shraddha, tarpana, pinda pradana, and asti visarjane. The project highlights the quieter yet important practices of remembrance, offering, and connection to ancestors.
The design presents the riverfront as a living ritual spine. It is not just a place for tourism or urban renewal but a sacred ecology where death, memory, and nature are intertwined. The architecture explores multi-level ritual experiences, from horizontal ghats to vertical structures like treehouse-inspired pavilions. These features symbolize the layered journey of the soul while engaging with the river’s edge, water, and vegetation in a sacred way.
In light of Paschimavahini’s cultural and spiritual significance, the proposal ensures the dignity of both human departure and natural cycles. The design emphasizes spatial fairness and inclusivity, providing equal access and respectful spaces for marginalized groups such as widows, poor families, and the elderly, who are often left out of death-related practices. Ultimately, this thesis reweaves death, nature, and memory into a sacred space. Here, ritual architecture goes beyond mere functionality to reflect tradition, ecology, and the dignity of departure.

Drawings

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