Reimagining Housing, Rethinking the Role of Architects in India

INVITATION to a BOOK TALK and FILM SCREENING

Reimagining Housing, Rethinking the Role of Architects in India

Speaker & Author:

Prof. Dr. Nadja-Christina Schneider

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Discussant:

Prof. Dr. İştar Gözaydın

İstinye University Istanbul

Monday, 24th February 2025, 19:00 at the Orient-Institut Istanbul

In her book talk, Nadja-Christina Schneider (Humboldt University Berlin) will speak about the current rediscovery of architects in India who have positioned themselves critically against modernist mass housing programs, as they were pursued by states around the world in the decades following the Second World War and seen as the most suitable solution to the housing question. Instead, critical architects such as Charles Correa, who will be introduced as an example of this group, have repeatedly advocated the pursuit of an architecture of place as an alternative option in the field of affordable housing.

After the book talk, we will watch and discuss the autobiographical documentary “Lovely Villa: Architecture as Autobiography” (2019) together. The director, Rohan Shivkumar, a trained architect and filmmaker, grew up in the housing estate in Bombay shown in this film which was designed by Charles Correa. His 32-minute film is a highly interesting reflexion about the relationship between architecture, everyday life, family, coming of age and the memory of ‘home’. “Lovely Villa” is also a wonderful example of how creative architects approach and use the medium of film to convey a new awareness of our built environment and thereby give us access to a conversation which no longer remains an exclusive discussion among experts in architecture, design and urban planning.

The book to be discussed is available open access:

https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/catalog/book/1381

Nadja-Christina Schneider is professor of South Asian Societies and Cultures at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Her disciplinary background is in South Asian and Islamic Studies as well as Modern and Contemporary History. Her research interests include cultural, media, gender and urban studies. “Reimagining Housing, Rethinking the Role of Architects in India” (2024) is her latest book publication, published open access by Heidelberg Asian Studies Publishing. Her other academic publications can be found at: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1076-1725

İştar Gözaydın is a professor of Law and Politics. She is also a founder of the Helsinki Citizen Assembly, a human rights organization in Turkey. She was a research fellow at the University of London and Birkbeck College in 2009 and she was a Fulbright Program scholar in the U.S. in 1986-87. Gözaydın has studied at the New York University School of Law and Georgetown University International Law Institute, and holds an LLD degree from the Istanbul University. Prof. Gözaydın also produces and presents a radio program aired by Apaçık Radyo (Open Radio), in Istanbul since 1995. Her latest book titled as Religion, Politics and Society in Modern Turkey: 1808-2023 was published in 2024 by Edinburgh University Press.

This event is free of charge, the event language is English. To join this invitation please register. Photos or videos will be taken during the event. By participating, you agree that these may be used on the OII website, newsletter and social media. The event will not be recorded.

VENUE

Orient-Institut Istanbul

Galip Dede Cad. 65, Şahkulu Mah., TR – 34421 Istanbul

Tel: +90 212 293 60 67 oiist@oiist.org

www.oiist.org

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