19-21 Sept, 2025
Onfield Workshop
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, India and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Real Estate Development. She is the founder partner of CityLabs and has been has been curating its activities for many years and has been part of previous writing workshops. Her previous writings focused on temporality, flexibility, and politics of space. Currently, her work explores the intersection of design, policy, and real estate - examining how these forces shape adaptive, equitable cities in the North American context
Team CityLabs India
Dhruv Raja is an urbanist and social researcher with expertise in urban development, community engagement, and spatial justice.
He holds an MSc in City Design and Social Science from the London School of Economics, where he was awarded the Cities Prize for Outstanding Contribution. His research explores how cities reflect and reinforce inequalities through race, religion, ecology, and spatial politics.
He currently serves as a Planning Officer at Bristol City Council, United Kingdom, assessing development proposals for the city of Bristol advocating for inclusive and sustainable city-making.
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
​
The participants will be guided by Prof. Pratyush Shankar and supported by the Citylabs team.
A Case of Vadodara
WHY​​
​
Indian cities are presently experiencing unprecedented transformation. The scale of this change has led to an abject neglect of the natural conditions and is leading to a massive environmental damage in and around the city. Unfortunately, there is a lack of clear scientific studies and absence of a systematic discourse on new urban development and its relationship with nature. The society collectively lacks the vocabulary to critique or even discuss new forms of urban design or planning. This gap needs to be addressed by a more detailed and conceptual understanding of the issues of Nature and Cities.
This workshop is a small attempt to address this gap and create a conversation around this topic while equipping its participants with the necessary skills and concepts to attempt to address the issue of urban development and nature in other cities of India.
​
​
​
RESOURCES
​
Himalayan Cities: Settlement patterns, public places and architecture
​​
This book is based on research and documentation, explores Himalayan settlements and their deep relationship with the landscape. Through hand-drawn illustrations by the author and students, it presents built traditions across regions including Ladakh, Himachal, Garhwal, Kumaon, Kathmandu, Dhulikhel, Mustang, Manang, and Bhutan, highlighting the interplay of natural systems and human ingenuity.
​
Excerpts​
"...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
​​​
History of Urban Form of India: From the Beginning Ti1900's 1900's
​
This book traces the historical evolution of Indian cities from the Indus Valley (3000 B.C.) to the present, highlighting key moments in urban development. With hand-drawn illustrations and case studies, it examines the past two centuries in detail, focusing on city structure, public spaces, institutions, and housing in India’s rapid urbanization.
​
Exc"rpts​​
"...Indian Princely states, around the turn of the century, experimented with modern ideas that were in tune with the local context. These distinctive visions of modernity aimed at social reforms, improvement in education, and a new way to imagine civic spaces and institutions, transforming society. Such initiatives of indigenous modernity created new cities and helped create a counter-colonial narrative..."
Title: History of Urban Form of India : From Beginning Till 1900's
Author: Pratyush Shankar; Foreword by Professor Rajan Khanna
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Language: English
ISBN: 9780199468096
ABOUT
NATURE AND CITIES is an intense onsite workshop which is a part of Writing Urban History series, and is to be held in Baroda Studio (Pratyush Shankar and Associated), Vadodara by CityLabs India. The workshop will address the larger question of city development in the context of the natural conditions of the region. In the case of Vadodara, the larger question of river systems, forest ecology and landform will be correlated with the nature of urban spatial topologies.
How do urban communities and the state approach and deal with the underlying ecological underpinning of a place and what are the set of assumptions and imaginations that are professed while undertaking urban development projects? And moreover, what role do the historical patterns of human- nature interaction play in decision making and approaches towards the future? These and many other interrelated questions will be addressed during the workshop.
​​
​
​
FOR WHOM
The workshop is ideal for academics engaged in research and teaching, scholars, practicing professionals, and students from Architecture, Urban Design, Urban Planning, and Environmental Sciences.
​Whereas the workshop focuses on developing writing skills, younger students can also choose to express their views through drawings and visualizations.
​​​
​
WHEN​
​
The workshop is scheduled to be conducted on-field between 19 and 21 Sept 2025.
​
The fee for the workshop is:
-
Early Registrations - INR 6500
1st Aug '25 - 31th Aug '25
​
-
Regular Registrations - INR 7500
1th Sept '25 - 19th Sept '25 ​
​
​
​
FORMAT OF WORKSHOP​​
​The workshop will cover various parts of Vadodara and its surroundings through documentation-based field work. This will be coupled with specific technical input lectures and will then be followed by time for participants to develop their understanding and evolve particular solutions.
The morning session will begin with a technical session at Baroda Studio, which Prof. Pratyush Shankar will conduct. This will be followed by site visits to pre-designated spots in and around the city that best exemplify the morning's discussions. The participants will then return to the studio to continue their exploration under the guidance of the CityLabs team.
​
The workshop's outcome will be a publicly shareable essay or an article.​​
​
Writing Urban History
Writing Urban History
Nature and Cities
SCHEDULE
​
DAY 1 - 19 Sept 2025
-
9:00 am - 9:30 am
Introduction to the workshop.
-
9:30 am – 10:15 am
Input lecture 1: Nature and Cities & Introduction
-
10:15 am – 11:00 am
Input lecture 2: Water and Urban Development case of Vadodara
-
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Site Visit: Vishwamitri Riparian zone Vadodara
-
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Lunch in old city Vadodara
-
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Site Visit: Key architectural interventions around Vishwamitri
-
4:00 pm
Meeting at Baroda Studio - Discussions
-
5:00 pm
Introduction to the problem​​
​
​​
​
DAY 2 - 20 Sept 2025​
-
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Input lecture 3: Cities, Nature and Public places
-
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Session 2: Discussion on the Design problem
-
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Working session of participants.
-
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Lunch Break
-
2:00 pm – 4:00pm
Site Visit: Suburban riverine - Rural settlements
-
4:00 pm
Reassemble at Baroda Studio - Discussion followed by Working session
​
​​
​
DAY 3 - 21 Sept 2025​
-
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Input Lecture 4: Narratives and Imagination - Nature and Cities
-
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Working session​
-
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Lunch Break
-
2:00 pm – 3:00pm
Technical talk
-
3:00 pm – 5:00pm
Participants present their final writing piece.
​
Contact us
m: +91-7228005459
a: Pratyush Shankar and Associates
53, Blue Garden, Chhapad, Bill- Chhapad Road
Vadodara. INDIA