Participants From 5 Countries Create Architectural Design Solutions

As a part of its initiatives to commemorate its silver jubilee year, Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Ansal University, Gurgaon, India's premier architecture school, has partnered with Deakin University, Australia to host the Intercultural Dialogue through Design (iDiDe) Workshop 2013, based on the design brief of Revitalising the Quarry Lands at Lal Kuan, exploring social, environmental and cultural realms of development to benefit the community residing in the area.

The unique master class design workshop, held as a collaborative study experience between schools of architecture from India,Australia and other regions, will see nearly 50 participants from India, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lankaparticipate in a two-week long intensive program beginning today.

The workshop designs will be exhibited at the Australian Embassy on 25th November to acknowledge the efforts and perhaps initiate a dialogue with the Indian Government to pursue the site at a different level and capacity from existing efforts.

Lal Kuan, a small village near the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, has been an active mining and quarrying area with a large number of stone crushers that have helped in building the infrastructure of Delhi. A Supreme Court verdict brought all the crashing and mining operations to a halt in 1992, but the architectural landscape of the area was tarnished with building contractors buying land at cheaper prices but occupational health hazards making the lives of the poor workers vulnerable.

According to Dr. Rupinder Singh, Dean, Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Ansal University, "We are proud to associate with Deakin University for the iDiDe international design workshop on Lal Kuan. Many former villages like Lal Kuan were flattened out to make our capital city of Delhi. We hope that the interaction with global counterparts during this program will not only provide academic exposure to our students but also inculcate in them the philosophy of providing the viable socially and culturally relevant architectural solutions."

Prof. Susan Ang, iDiDe coordinator, Deakin University, Australia said, "Intercultural Dialogue through Design is a key event in a Graduate level unit exploring contemporary practice within a global context through intercultural dialogue. The program provides academic engagement in formal partnerships with practitioners and professional associations across the South-East Asian region, with the workshop hosted annually across different institutions."

iDiDe was initiated by Deakin University Australia in 2010 with Malaysian partners. The International Education arm of the Australian government (AEI) has endorsed iDiDe as the best practice model of international mobility.

Source: PRNewswire (Press Release)