AR3029
Towards a Critical Project and a Project of Criticism Situation: Sangath, Ahmedabad Unit Assistant Manthan Mevada
Faculty of Architecture AR3029 Spring 2021
4 th Year Abhinav J Tushar Kanoi
5th Year Dwij Hirpara Heer Shah Kanxa Shah Shreya Sharma Nilanshi Agrawal Yashmita Rao Aakash Bala M Nikhil Makhijani
Shubhra Raje
Kevin Low
The prevalent discourse on architecture positions the architectural project as a singular act, made separate from the continuity and collective condition of the environment which we are (still) in obligation to share. The studio challenged this tendency to iconize the architectural project within our disciplinary discourse by a persistent curiosity to understand it as a part of the built environment, assessing its viability and limitations through a systematic inquiry into the conditions and consequences of its design. This semester, through the discovery of relevant questions, the studio investigated Sangath, a project familiar to us through its reputation and the established narratives of its successes. Students identified problems inherent in the existing design by way of vital relationships it failed to consider. Subtle, yet profound intervention/s that resolved the identified problems followed, shifting the emphasis from design solutions derived primarily from the expression of form to that of solving problems of relevance, thereby rekindling the potential of program: the meaning of use and continuity of the built environment as an understanding of what constitutes critical architecture in service of responsibility over mere reputation
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