Session Highlights
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SAaTh (Sustainability in Action and Thought) one of the six pillars of Architects' Social Responsibility by Ethos Foundation | Arcasue will be the focus of this talk. Arcause SAaTh is supported by Mphasis F1 Foundation
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A lecture by Vishwanath Srikantaiah a.k.a. The Rain Man of Bengaluru also known as the Zenrainman followed by a lecture by Kalpana Ramesh - ‘Water Warrior’ known for The Rainwater Project.
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Vishwanath Srikantaiah is famous for his exceptional knowledge of Bangalore city’s weather patterns and monsoons. Kalpana Ramesh is awarded as the ‘Water hero’ by the Jal Shakti Ministry of India. She is also known for initiatives like Save 10K bores, Live the Lakes ‘and Blue Hyderabad.
About the Speaker
Vishwanath Srikantaiah
He is a storyteller, writer, and educator focused on sustainable water and sanitation. Along with his wife, architect Chitra Vishwanath, he runs Biome Environmental Solutions, a firm that specializes in ecological architecture, and Biome Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to water conservation, management, and sustainable sanitation.
In 1994, when Vishwanath and Chitra began building their home in North Bangalore, they faced the irony of having to buy water for construction, even though it rained frequently. This led them to set up a rainwater harvesting system in their home, which opened Vishwanath's eyes to its potential. He wondered why people in cities and villages weren’t collecting the rainwater around them.
In 1995, he started the Rainwater Club, an online space for discussions about rainwater harvesting. He also left his secure government job to focus entirely on solving water-related issues. Vishwanath credits his time at the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) for giving him the opportunity to visit many villages and towns, where he witnessed India’s growing water crisis firsthand in the 1980s and 1990s.
Kalpana Ramesh
Also known as the Water Warrior is a designer turned environmentalist, is widely known as the Water Warrior. accionvegana by the severe water scarcity in Hyderabad, she began raising awareness and promoting rainwater harvesting across the city. After five years of dedicated research and hands-on work, she founded The Rainwater Project, a social enterprise offering comprehensive water management solutions.
Kalpana is also a core member of SAHE (Society for Advancement of Human Endeavours) and has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards for her impactful work in water conservation.
In 2020, she was among seven women honored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Women’s Day. She was even invited to manage the Prime Minister's social media accounts to promote water awareness. Her accolades include being named a Water Hero by the Jal Shakti Ministry, the SCSC Award, HMA Women Entrepreneur of the Year 2021, and the HYSEA Award.
Kalpana was also featured on the cover of the Femina Coffee Table Book of Women Achievers in Southern India. Her impactful work with SAHE was documented in the film The Last Mile, which was showcased at the Better Cities Film Festival in Detroit, USA, in 2020.
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About Sense N Sensibility
Sense N Sensibility (SNS) is a lecture series by ACEDGE, to allow access to expert viewpoints, from across the globe. These experts would demonstrate, through their choices, experiments and lessons, multiple vantage points for developing and exploring design.
Sense N Sensibility is about integration and the big picture. We seek to dishevel the older notions of compartmentalisation of knowledge and introduce learners across the country to collaborative and interdisciplinary studies. Many of our speakers are experts from varied fields- a mayor, a grassroots social worker who works towards community empowerment, an engineer working to resolve water-crisis, sustainability experts, social scientists, travellers, industrial entrepreneurs, and many others.
The inaugural lecture for the SNS series was delivered by Architect George Ferguson, Past President RIBA (2003/5) and first elected Mayor of Bristol UK (2012-16). On the other side of the globe, Architect Ferguson, fought for the rights of a neighbourhood to remain ‘mixed’, against the monoculture promoted by developers.
The second lecture by Amit Pasricha celebrates the lesser-known built heritage of India and his Journey of the 'India- Lost and Found' Campaign.
The third lecture was by a Pritzker Jury member, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, also Brazilian Ambassador to India. He spoke about Pritzker winning Laureates from the countries of India, Brazil and Japan.
The fourth lecture was by Ar. Rafiq Azam of SHATOTTO Architecture of Green Living on Phenomenal Practice and Thought-provoking Explorations on the field of Architecture and recent Urban Interventions.
The fifth lecture was by Ar. Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan's first female architect. She spoke on lowering the Carbon Footprint: Humanistic Architecture for Post-COVID-19 World.
The sixth lecture by Ar. Krishna Rao Jaisim and Ar Narendra Dengle iterated the relevance and applicability of the underlying concepts of the Gandhian philosophy.
The seventh lecture conducted by Ar. Shirish Beri talked about the importance of architecture in shaping human behaviour.
The eighth lecture by Ar. Prasanna Desai and Ar. Amit Gupta elaborated on Design Research in Practice and Pedagogy.
The ninth lecture by Dr. Anupama Kundoo talked about the social and environmental duties of an Architect.
The tenth lecture by Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya was an edition to commemorate the Teacher's Day as he shared anecdotes and insights on Learning and Teaching in Architecture.
The eleventh lecture by Prof. Habeeb Khan, former president of CoA, was a deliberation to discuss NEP, Admission and, Exit test and much more.
The 12th lecture by Poonam Natarajan and Ar. Shivani Shah shared how Universal Design can be the guiding principle to shape our spaces inclusively.
The 13th lecture was by Jugadopolis, Ronojoy Sen and Shyamal Datta on Traditional Wisdom and Vernacular Architecture.
The 14th lecture focussed on Construction workers under the ShramA-Project Dignity. We spoke with Nari Puraskar winner Rani Mistry, Sunita Bhagat- a conversation of resilience, teamwork, and the skills of construction workers.
The 15th lecture was by Ar. Lakshmi Swaminathan on exploring the wisdom of Didi Contractor, followed by a discussion with Naresh Bhai on indigenous wisdom in contemporary architecture for World Indigenous People's Day.
The last SNS was a lecture by Neelkanth Chhaya, Riyaz Tayyibji, and Tridip Suhrud sharing insights from their book Gandhi’s Places: An Architectural Documentation. Discover the architectural significance and cultural impact of Gandhi’s key locations through their expert perspectives.