Architectures of Transition | Project Components
This session explored the motivation behind the State of Architecture in South Asia Project and its multiple components, such as the Emergent Practices lecture series, the publication that emerged from it, the conference, and the traveling exhibition. The insights from the project's research into patronage, methodologies, emergent technologies, and construction techniques were discussed, shedding light on how the humane and social aspects of architecture—characterized by participatory frameworks—are being approached by practitioners today.
Rahul Mehrotra is a Professor of Urban Design and Planning and the John T. Dunlop Professor in Housing and Urbanization at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. and the Founder Principal of RMA Architects, which was founded in 1990 and has designed and executed projects for government and private institutions, corporate workplaces, private homes, and unsolicited projects driven by the firm’s commitment to advocacy in the city of Mumbai. Mehrotra’s most recent books are titled Working in Mumbai (2020) and The Kinetic City and Other Essays (2021). This work has given rise to a new conceptualization of the city that Mehrotra calls the Kinetic City.
Devashree Shah is an architect who graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Design with a Master of Architecture II degree in 2023. She currently holds the positions of Coordinator of Inclusive Design in Public Transit and Inclusive Architectural Designer at the Institute of Human Centered Design, Boston. Her ongoing research project focuses on the repair of affordable housing (chawls) in Mumbai, featuring field studies and imaginative projections as its central components. She co-authored the book 'Architectures of Transition: Emergent Practices in South Asia' for the State of Architecture in South Asia project, which she is also co-curating.
Pranav Thole is a Harvard Graduate School of Design alumnus with a Master of Architecture in Urban Design (2023). He is currently working as an urban designer at ONE Architecture + Urbanism in New York, focusing on transportation and resilience infrastructure projects. He has been recognised for his interdisciplinary work, having been named a finalist in the ULI Competition in 2022 and the HUD Innovation in Affordable Housing Competition in 2023. He co-authored the book 'Architectures of Transition: Emergent Practices in South Asia' for the State of Architecture in South Asia project, which he is also co-curating.
Kaiwan Mehta is a theorist and critic in the fields of visual culture, architecture, and city studies. Mehta has studied Architecture (B.Arch), Literature (MA), Indian Aesthetics (PGDip) and Cultural Studies (PhD). Since 2012 he has been the Managing Editor of Domus India. Mehta co-curated with Rahul Mehrotra and Ranjit Hoskote – “The State of Architecture: Practices and Processes in India” at the National Gallery Modern Art, Mumbai and 'State of Housing - Aspirations, Imaginaries, and Realities in India'. Currently he is the Dean at Balwant Sheth School of Architecture, at SVKM's NMIMS University.