KRVIA MASTER'S THESIS - 2015

The graduating seventh batch thesis defense oscillated through various thoughts on urbanism. The range and responses are becoming wider and far open ended than predecessor. The idea of conservation is challenged with its limited framework and attempting it to be far more democratic in value appreciation. The queries were raised if conservation value system needs to acknowledge the static and dynamics of social imperatives. The conflict of old and new cities are inherent in Indian context and perhaps needs alternate framework and imaginations and such efforts and ideas are visibly percolating through the second tier city representatives. In conjunction with old and new urbanism the core issues of livelihood and heritage/ tradition remains central in recent research projects. Perhaps time will tell the depth of such investigation and its impact.

The ecology of waste and ecology of environmental systems are another set of research that has emerged over the period of five years and attempting to address the balance of preservation with development. It attempts to break the attitude towards urbanism that is constantly with the mindset of development, ignoring the valuable systems.

The notion of public and private or densities and amenities are an attempt to discuss the idea of “right to the cities”. The research is configured around the physical attributes of urban form, users, ownerships along with time and natural surveillance to such amenities. The research seems to reconfigure the incidental/ evolved urbanism with projected urbanism. These are apparetn issues/reality with most of the historic cities across the nation.

The spatial configuration, sense of place or identity is attempting to overcome the system analysis of urbanism by regulated bodies with spatial analysis. The research perhaps needs to address the issues of interpersonal competencies along with various social transactions. The distinction between public realm (spatial condition for transaction or interface) and public space (physical condition for pause) is still blurred but closely scanning the tactical responses on time scale.

The research needs to get further sharpen in key areas of Inquiry, Methodology & Representation. If distinction among data, information & knowledge is articulated somewhere in the process than impact of research and demonstration can have embeddedness with wider reaching consequences.