Arunava Dasgupta visits HCTS as Erasmus+ Fellow

Dasgupta’s visit is made possible through a Mobility scholarship awarded by the
Erasmus+ programme SWAGATA.
SWAGATA consists of the
University of Cologne, the
University of Göttingen, and
Heidelberg University, as well as their branch offices in New Delhi, and aims at strengthening collaboration between Germany and India. The alliance’s goal is to facilitating collaborations in research and research-based teaching on urban transformation processes between the Global South and North. With
Prof. Brosius, he seeks to build up a network of South Asian partners in Higher Education to develop interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and researching on urban place-making in South Asia.

Prof. Arunava Dasgupta is an architect and urban designer currently engaged as head of the Department of Urban Design at the
School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi. As a founding member and former secretary of the
Institute of Urban Designers – India (IUDI), he has been actively promoting the idea of holistic urban design, while creating alternative development frameworks using community participation as a central tool for local area design. He has also been involved in multiple projects at urban scale for a range of Indian cities as adviser and consultant to various state and municipal government agencies. For 20 years, and through applied research in rural and urban Himalayan settlements, he has been pursuing the larger role of architects and designers beyond the city, while providing advocacy and design consultancy services to government departments towards the formulation of sustainable development guidelines for settlements under transformation.

Within the academic arena, Prof. Dasgupta is currently involved in initiating Urban Form Labs for developing inter-disciplinary, experimental, research-by-design methodologies for students. He has lectured at many institutions in India and in countries across the world, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, China, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Australia amongst others. He is a member of the Board of Studies for programs of architecture and urban design within Indian Universities.