ABOUT
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The Kathmandu Valley Cities 2.0 workshop will build on the previous workshop of 2023 where a similar theme was undertaken in the valley of Kathmandu and Patan. This year will be more focused towards understanding the role of water systems along with a larger idea of making of public places in the settlements of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.
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The historic medieval cities of Kathmandu valley managed to create an urban legacy that was remarkable for its times, marked by sophisticated architectural expression in timber and brick, innovative water structures like hitis, wells, ponds and water spouts that formed strong community-level spaces along with urban level public square in form of Durbar Square right at the heart of the city. These expressions of buildings, water structures and public spaces are amongst the most refined and bold examples of an urban order anywhere in the world making the Kathmandu valley an open-air museum of historic architectures and cities.
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The workshop will be organized under the following themes
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Water: systems and expressions
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Architecture as an urban device
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The idea of public
19-22 June, 2024
Onfield Workshop
WHEN
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The workshop is scheduled to be conducted in and around Hanuman Dhoka, Kathmandu Durbar square and Bhaktapur between 19-22 June 2024.
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The fee for the workshop:
Early Registrations
1st May '24 - 12th May '24
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Student* - INR 7000
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Professionals - INR 8000
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Regular Registrations
13th May '24 - 19th June '24
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Student* - INR 8000
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Professionals - INR 9000
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This workshop is ideal for students, academics and professionals from the field of Architecture, Planning, Design, Geography, History and Arts.
*A valid student ID is mandatory and has to be uploaded during registration.
**The workshop fee does not include accommodations, travel or food.
Snigdha Srivastava is a conservation architect and a graduate of SPA Delhi. She is currently an associate at Pratyush Shankar and Associates, Vadodara and is part of the CityLabs team. She is interested in urban heritage, specifically from the point of view of architecture and the city. She has carried out extensive research on the city of Vadodara on works on Robert Chisholm and the larger idea of institute and formation of public places. She is also interested in imaginative fiction and is a ferocious reader.
Vaibhavi Dave is an architect from CEPT University, Ahmedabad. She has been co-curating and coordinating Citylabs activities for many years. She is interested in Place-temporality and flexibility. In her latest writing, she explores the idea of a temporary city through the case of Durga Puja in Kolkata. She is also interested in research and the ideas of representation in architecture. Her research thesis looked into the question of recurring cases of utopian proposals in architecture and urban design at the time of socio-political unrest and their significance in history.
Team CityLabs India
RESOURCES
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Himalayan Cities: Settlement patterns, public places and architecture
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The book is a result of documentation and research on the city and architecture of the Himalayas. It explores the idea of settlements in the Himalayas and their relationship with their landscape. The underlying theme of the book is the relationship between natural systems and human ingenuity as projected through its built traditions. The book is illustrated by hand drawings by the author and his students covering examples of different parts of Himalayas such as Ladakh, Himachal, Gharwhal, Kumaon, Kathmandu, Dhulikhel, Mustang, Manang and Bhutan.
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Excerpts
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"...the landscape is not a physical innate category but a strong cultural construct of societies. The perception and modification of either man-made or seemingly natural is an interlinked phenomenon. The representation of a landscape in historic and contemporary discourses is as important as the physicality of the landscape itself..."
Title: Himalayan Cities: Settlement Patterns, Public Places and Architecture.
Author: Pratyush Shankar; Foreword by Julia A B Hegewald
Publisher: Niyogi Books
Language: English
ISBN: 978-93-83098-16-3
Prof. Pratyush Shankar, Dean of SEDA Navrachna University, Vadodara, India, is a practising architect and academic. Previously an Adjunct Professor and Acting Dean at the Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University, he is also a Visiting Professor at TU Darmstadt, Germany, and was a Senior Humboldt Fellow at the University of Bonn, 2015-17. He has written the book Himalayan Cities and his forthcoming publication is titled “History of Urban Form” for Oxford University Press. He has been closely associated with the students and young professionals for over 2 decades. For more information log on to www.pratyushshankar.com
CONDUCTED BY
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The participants will be guided by Prof. Pratyush Shankar and supported by the Citylabs team.