Archicrafts > About Archicrafts

Preamble:

Built environments in India were designed/constructed by master carpenters and guilds of craftsmen till the advent of the modern era. The modern discipline of architecture is, therefore, relatively young, emerging only during the British rule. In spite of there being three wings of a discipline: practice, teaching and research, practitioners dominate the field of architecture while the crucial research component is relatively neglected in India. There is a lacuna in several areas of study and it is not easy to find well-researched and documented publications or analytical studies on the Indian design sensibilities that are historical, regional or critical in nature. This limitation is acutely felt in the areas of teaching where a heavy reliance on western publications still exists, especially in courses on theory, history and technology. With the information revolution and growing globalization, there are going to be tremendous changes in the future in the discipline of architecture and we require sustained research and other activities to keep up with it. Our organization is engaged in practice, research and documentation during the past 25 years, developing a focus on vernacular and colonial architecture as well as gender and the built environment in India. It has also conceived and prepared architectural exhibitions.

The goals of Archicrafts Foundation are:

Undertake research in architecture in the context of India in particular and South Asia in general.
Create documentation archives of photographs, drawings and other materials such as maps for South Asian architecture.
Build academic and research bridges with like-minded scholars and teachers.
Provide alternative educational experiences through workshops and architectural tours for students and teachers of architecture.
Create a link between the community and the discipline of architecture while developing a focus on women and children.
Design awareness oriented exhibitions and documentaries related to the built environment.

Activities

To prepare and publish studies and monographs related to vernacular, colonial and contemporary architecture in India
To deliver lectures at architectural institutions
To conduct and guide workshops and study tours/field trips related to Indian architecture
To organize local, national and international exhibitions with drawings, models and photographs on the above-mentioned subjects
To get involved with urban conservation through projects, publications and other related activities

Profiles of Principals

Miki and Madhavi Desai have an M. Arch. from the University of Texas at Austin, USA. They are co-authors of Architecture and Independence: The Search for Identity: India 1880 to 1980, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1997 with Jon Lang. The same team has authored a research report titled "The Cultural Expression of the Bungalow in India: The Colonial Legacy and its Post-Colonial Manifestation which was supported by a collaborative research grant from the Getty Foundation, USA, 2006-2008. MIki and Madhavi have also received Research Fellowships from the Indian Council for Social Science Research, New Delhi.

Miki is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, 2000 and the Graham Grant, 2005. He is also the author of Architekture in Gujarat, Indien: Bauernhof, Stadthaus, Palast, an Exhibition Catalogue, the Rietberg Museum, Zurich (1990). He received the EARTHWATCH fellowship in 1996. He has taught and lectured at many universities in Europe and the USA.

Madhavi received the senior research fellowship at the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture in MIT, USA and Sarai, New Delhi. She is also the author of Traditional Architecture: House Form of the Islamic Community of the Bohras in Gujarat,Council of Architecture, Pune, 2007 and the editor of, Women and the Built Environment in India, Zubaan, New Delhi (2007). She has lectured at many universities in Europe and the USA.