Shubhra Raje_Built Environments

Our proposal made it to the final stage of DCPA’s Off-Centre program for 2021. It was a privilege to develop the work with Mare and Eryc, and the amazing ensemble of actors I met through the process - GeRee, Laura, Buba, Brenton and Chelsea.

The works selected sound fascinating, and my best wishes to the winners.

Thank you to Charlie Miller and the team at DCPA for the incredible platform that supports experiments, and providing the space for vulnerabilities that must accompany any experimentation.

“Architects are interested in the origin myths of a building but not the life myths that sustain a building through a longer period of time…origin myths are great…but they are not sufficient to sustain collective storymaking and the importance of a building over a larger period of time.”

Riyaz Tayyibji

This week, we continue our conversation with Sarosh Anklesaria, Shubhra Raje, and Riyaz Tayyibji about the recent developments at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM) where controversial deliberations have led to the decision to demolish a large swath of dormitories on its campus designed by Louis Kahn, architect. While this decision has been temporarily halted, it has generated much conversation surrounding the value of experience, collective and micro histories, the role of empathy within the built environment, and changing the terms of engagement with a “growth” mindset.

95. Part II of Demolition of Kahn's IIM Dormitories with Sarosh Anklesaria, Shubhra Raje, and Riyaz Tayyibji — ARCHITECTURE TALK “Architects are interested in the origin myths of a building but not the life myths that sustain a building through a longer period of time…origin myths are great…but they are not sufficient to sustain collective storymaking and the importance of a building over a larger period of time.” Riy...

“When an import becomes indigenous what it means is not just a formal stylistic adaptation, but there is a very interesting back and forth in terms of how practices begin to evolve, emerge...it is far more interesting to follow the practice and the transfer of authorship....”
~ Shubhra Raje

The basic issue is: what is the value of collective/cultural memory? What happens when we privilege certain memories over others? This week, in Part 1 of a two part conversation, Sarosh Anklesaria, Shubhra Raje, Riyaz Tayyibji and Vikram Prakash discuss the recent developments at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM) where controversial deliberations have led to the decision to demolish a large swath of dormitories on its campus designed by Louis Kahn, architect.

94. Demolition of Kahn's IIM Dormitories with Sarosh Anklesaria, Shubhra Raje, and Riyaz Tayyibji — ARCHITECTURE TALK “When an import becomes indigenous what it means is not just a formal stylistic adaptation, but there is a very interesting back and forth in terms of how practices begin to evolve, emerge...it is far more interesting to follow the practice and the transfer of authorship....” Shubhra Raje

This Saturday, at 1pm.

A garden gate: making the enclosure of the gate.

Aparnaa Baggichi. Jharsuguda, Odisha (India). 2020.

Design Team: & .delasheras (architectural), .bl (structural), Jaycon Consultants (WSD)

Press on Karuna Stories, an initiative by the Olive Ridley Collective.
Hard Copy, Aug 26, 2020.

Beyond Numbers: Human Stories from the Pandemic | The Hard Copy Karuna Stories, a storytelling competition, asked creators to explore their feelings during the lockdown

The recording of the CoA Social conversation between Brinda Somaya & Shubhra Raje.

Thank you, Apurva Bose Dutta, and the rest of the CoA team for organizing the evening, and for the recording.

COA Social Live Stream

This Friday, August 14th.

COA Social Dialogues #8

Tune in to watch Brinda Somaya in dialogue with Shubhra Raje on ' Practice, interdependence and the Architectural imagination'

You can join the conversation on our page,

the conversation will stream live on COA Social page

A garden gate.

Trees become the elevation to the pavilion, lending grace to the ceremony of arrivals and departures.

The pavilion becomes a gateway to the garden beyond.

Aparnaa Baggichi. Odisha (India). 2020.
Design Team: Shubhra Raje & Manuel de las Heras (Architectural), B L Manjunath (Structure), Jaycon Consultants (WSD)

Field Notes, March-May 2020.

What lies ahead? Shubhra Raje on self-sufficiency, dependence and ecology STIR X ICA Pidilite present Design After COVID-19: Shubhra Raje delves into the narrative of ecology, understood as a web of relationships that make up context and correlation.