Soumitro Ghosh, Naresh V Narasimhan, Pavitra Shankar, Ravichandar
Bengaluru is known for its iconic buildings – the majestic Vidhana Soudha, the striking, red High Court, Lalbagh’s glass house, among many others. Today, several of these spaces are integrated with people’s daily lives, enmeshed in the habits and heritage of the city. But apart from these structures which are relics of a royal and colonial past, ‘Namma Ooru’ is home to several new spaces and institutions which have become architectural and cultural landmarks in their own right.
The relationship between community interaction, institution building, and architectural design in urban spaces is dynamic and interactive. It bridges the gap between form and function, the social and the aesthetic, the spiritual and the commercial, as well as the public and the private. How do architects negotiate these boundaries between the ethos of new spaces and the sensibilities of an existing cityscape?
Join the brains behind Bengaluru’s new and upcoming landmarks, Soumitro Ghosh, Naresh V Narasimhan, and Pavitra Shankar in conversation with Ravichandar, in an investigation of the methods and madness that architecture affords in the urban realm, vis-a-vis building cultural institutions and social spaces for the city’s community.
This is a physical event at the Bangalore International Centre.
7, 4th Main Road,
Domlur II Stage,
Bengaluru 560 071
To register, please RSVP to hello@map-india.org
Bookings are closed for this event.
Architect
Naresh V Narasimhan is a practitioner and leader with over 38 years of experience in architecture and urban design. He is best known for his association with Venkataramanan Associates, an award-winning architecture firm based out of Bengaluru, which saw a meteoric rise under his leadership.
In addition to his architectural practice, his contribution to urban development as an urbanist, activist and creative entrepreneur has been far-reaching. As co-founder of Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF), co-founder of MOD Institute – an international collective of urban designers, researchers and curators, and founder of Numa Bengaluru, a co-working space and business accelerator, Narasimhan has fuelled a variety of progressive causes in the city. He also regularly advises government agencies on infrastructure development. He studied architecture at Manipal Institute of Technology, followed by further education at Harvard Institute for International Development. His interests range from studying the startup ecosystem, open data and institutional development to cinema, art, and popular culture.
Executive Director, Brigade Group
Pavitra Shankar is an Executive Director at Brigade Enterprises Limited. She has over 18 years of experience in consulting, private equity, and real estate development. At Brigade, she is responsible for the residential business strategy and growth, with a strong focus on customer experience and data analytics. Shankar is also spearheading the digital transformation of the company.
Before she joined Brigade, Shankar founded and ran Legion Real Estate in Menlo Park, California, and was responsible for portfolio analytics and fund operations at Rockwood Capital LLC in San Francisco. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Virginia and a Master’s in Business Administration in Real Estate and Finance from Columbia Business School, where she received the prestigious Alexander Bodini Real Estate Fellowship.
Shankar is a trustee of the Indian Music Experience, Bengaluru, a monumental and philanthropic initiative by Brigade that is India’s only hi-tech interactive music museum. Recently named amongst the 40 under 40 icons by Realty Plus, she is an industry thought leader and is carving a niche for herself as one of the few female leaders in the construction and real estate industry.
She is a classically trained Carnatic vocalist and has performed on stage in various genres of a cappella, choral, jazz, musical theatre, and soul.
Hon. Director, BIC
Ravichandar is currently the Honorary Director, Bangalore International Centre and is part of the core team that organises the Bangalore Literature Festival annually. He was co-Chair of the Karnataka Tourism Vision Group during 2013-2016. Since 2000, Ravichandar has been involved with pro bono initiatives with the State and Central Government on urban issues.
Ravichandar has a Mechanical Engineering degree from BITS, Pilani and an MBA from the IIM, Ahmedabad.
Architect
Educated at the School of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad, Soumitro Ghosh has earlier worked with Pritzker Laureate B.V. Doshi, R.J. Vasavada, Neelkanth Chaaya, K.B. Jain, Jaswant Singh, and others before beginning his collaborative multidirectional practice.
His practice with Nisha Mathew covers urban/people parks and memorials, a museum, hospitality, conservation, industrial facilities, corporate offices, religious and residential buildings as well as exhibition design, interiors, furniture, jewellery, art, and installations. Some of their noticeable projects in Bengaluru are the Museum of Art & Photography (2022), National Military Memorial, Freedom Park, Byg Brewski (Hennur) and Bob’s Bar (Indiranagar & Koramangala).
A juror at various forums, he has taught at the Bengal Institute, Dhaka, and has been the Charles Correa Design Chair. He is presently part of the Academic Council of Kamala Raheja Institute for Architecture, Mumbai. He began his journey of teaching with Kumar Vyas, founding member of NID, which he has continued over two plus decades now.
His personal interest lies in politics, philosophy, culture, and history, to understand the society we live in and design for.
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