Podcasts

Abdul Kalam Shaikh: इलेक्ट्रिशियन बनने का सफर

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The Gyaan Project x Matter

Abdul Kalam Shaikh

A conversation with Abdul Kalam Shaikh, an extraordinary electrical contractor who built his contracting practice on an understanding of what well-executed electrical and power services enable quality work on site.

With over 15 years of experience, Kalam has enriched many projects, including a few at Matter. His work is a constant reminder of the many hands that make a good building. This episode is an insight into Kalam’s practice, his ideas on electrical contracting work, and his passion for things done well.

Reference links

In partnership with The Gyaan Project <www.thegyaanproject.com>, these carefully curated episodes in the coming year are an invitation to question everyday practice, reflect on the ideas, values, and processes that shape our built world.

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PRAXIS Initiative

PRAXIS 27 | pk_iNCEPTiON

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An editorial project by Matter in partnership with Şişecam Flat Glass, PRAXIS investigates the work and positions of diverse contemporary architecture practices in India. Pooja Khairnar of the Nashik-based pk_iNCEPTiON speaks about a certain mutability of ideas holding deep personal and professional significance that travelled through time, experiences and cultures to shape ‘architecture’ for her. With careful definition and constant reflection, a vivid map of interactions with the city, meaningful dialogues with mentors, and self-introspective journey emerges to conceptually anchor and create a scaffolding for the studio’s growing body of work to be understood. The repertoire of projects thus created across scales demonstrate a sustained emphasis on multiple ways of cultivating cultural and aspirational exchange with communities, and on the notion of ‘expanding’ a brief based on a critical evaluation of what the project impacts and what is a ‘necessity’.

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Modern Heritage, Modern South Asia

MODERN SOUTH ASIA | Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

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MODERN SOUTH ASIA
A Visual Archive of South Asia’s Modernist Heritage

The Modern South Asia (MSA) series is dedicated to exploring modern architecture of historic importance in South Asia through photography-based books. The series will focus on architecture from the 20th century, designed and built by regional and international architects. Each book will provide the reader with an in-depth visual exploration of the architecture through contemporary photographs, architectural drawings, and newly commissioned writing by architects, thinkers, and academics. 

The MSA series is edited and photographed by Randhir Singh. The project is supported and published by Arthshila Trust.

The Campus as a Garden:
Doshi’s Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Essay by Kazi Khaleed Ashraf
Photographs by Randhir Singh

Speaking to a group of students at the campus in 2014, Balkrishna Doshi characterised the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (1983) as not a building. “Can you ‘see’ IIMB as a building?” he asked.[1] In saying this, Doshi was emphasising that not only is IIMB not a building, but the typical components of a building had also receded from view. “It is not visible because nature has taken over – so you see a wall here, a pillar there”. The project at IIMB sits against the predominant practices of producing spectacular or robust buildings, and ushers in the principles of what I describe as an architecture of complexity.

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PRAXIS Initiative

PRAXIS 25 | SOCIAL DESIGN COLLABORATIVE

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An editorial project by Matter in partnership with Şişecam Flat Glass, PRAXIS investigates the work and positions of diverse contemporary architecture practices in India. In this episode, Swati Janu of Delhi-based Social Design Collaborative emphasises on their idea of design and collectives as prisms to multiply opportunities to make architecture and its responsibilities accessible as a conversation to all; especially to those outside the purview of planning processes. The practice engages with an integrated approach to arrive at meaningful enquiries and possible opportunities at a more localised level, in tandem with the governance and power structures, community networks and the city. Architecture is conceived as a sort of node in the broader system. Swati, and her colleagues, Shreya Rajmane and Anushritha Sunil reflect on their processes and values that guide and conciliate technical and narrative tools to translate ‘projects’ across spatial, planning, advocacy, academia, art, writing, research and other diverse forms.

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Lectures

CONSTRUCTING THE SACRED OUTSIDE TRADITION

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A Srivathsan

A Recorded Lecture from FRAME Conclave 2019: Modern Heritage

In this lecture, A Srivathsan presents his view on the construction of Hindu Temples, and raises pertinent questions about the orientation of contemporary and modern architecture within this discourse. Using examples of temples built by young practitioners as a prism, he draws distinctions and similarities between what the sacred is and what is modern.

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