Lecture Series: Pankaj Vir Gupta

Monday, October 14, 2024
6pm - 7pm
Freeman Auditorium in the Woldenburg Art Center,
Tulane's Uptown Campus

This lecture is open to the public.

This lecture "Always ... the Light!" is presented by Pankaj Vir Gupta of vir.mueller architects, Yamuna River Project, University of Virginia and Tulane School of Architecture . The lecture is supported by the Allen Eskew Endowed Lectureship.

About the lecture: According primacy to the process of design, the work of vir.mueller architects evolves as a response to the particular character of each site and the particular culture of the context. At every scale, the projects emphasize the integrity of material and craftsmanship, establishing a fundamental relationship between the physical environment, and the art of making architecture. The professional work of vir.mueller architects has been widely published and awarded – in North America, in Europe, and in India.

Pankaj Vir Gupta is a founding partner of vir.mueller architects, in New Delhi, a firm encompassing architectural practice, design research and education. He is a licensed architect in the United States, and a registered member of the Council of Architecture in India. Pankaj Vir Gupta received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia, and a Master of Architecture from the Graduate School of Architecture at Yale University. 
 
Committing to the evolution of Indian architecture and urbanism,  vir.mueller architects are presently engaged in designing significant public projects across India. They recently completed the Humayun’s Tomb Site Museum for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, in New Delhi – the first contemporary museum in India to be built on a World Heritage Site.  The professional work of vir.mueller architects has been awarded and extensively published internationally.   
 
Pankaj  is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia, where he is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Yamuna River Project, a major pan-university research project.  Since 2012, he has been teaching Urban Design and Architecture studios entitled Re-Centering Delhi, and leading a research initiative focused on the revitalization of the urban precincts adjacent to the Yamuna river, creating a vital ecological center for New Delhi.   The Yamuna River Project project confronts the dilemmas of urban expansion in mega-cities, with an analytical, multi-disciplinary, research-based methodology, and facilitates a dynamic collaboration between the intellectual speculations (encompassing faculty and students in Architecture, Urban Design, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Anthropology, Public Health, Business, Economics, and the Humanities) - and a range of knowledge partners, including municipal authorities, political leaders, and non-government organizations.  
 
Most recently, he has co-authored (with Iñaki Alday) Yamuna River Project: New Delhi Urban Ecology (2018 Actar Press, New York & Barcelona).  This book encapsulates the research conducted over the past five years, offering an evidence-based analysis of the crisis afflicting the urban ecology of the Yamuna River in New Delhi. In 2018, the book was recognized as one of the top ten architecture books of the year by the German Architecture Museum (DAM). 
 
Pankaj has lectured extensively in Europe, in the United States, and in India.

Questions? Please reach out to Kristen Jones, Director of Student Affairs, at kjones41@tulane.edu.

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