louiskahn

“The evolution of cities is barely ever linear and gradual. It follows an almost cyclical pattern of development that is highly influenced by political and religious currents.”

Karan Saharya recently co-taught a course called Reincarnating Cities with Vaissnavi Shukl, where he took a deep dive into the changing architectural articulations of heritage, nationalism and religiosity in the contemporary Indian urban space.

Karan Saharya graduated with a Masters in Design Studies from Harvard Graduate School of Design. He received the Gerald M. McCue Medal, the Best Thesis Prize as well as several research grants. Karan practises in New York and Delhi, and his current research lies at the intersection of urban conservation, place-making and cultural mapping.

If you are interested in Karan's research, have a look at a snippet of his graduate thesis: https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/project/2020-design-studies-thesis-prize-karan-saharyas-in-the-name-of-heritage-conservation-as-an-agent-of-differential-development-spatial-cleansing-and-social-exclusion-in-mehrauli-delhi/

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.