Future Fest: How Cultural Architecture Can Connect Communities With Sanjay Puri

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Cities of the Future should ideally be holistically planned for minimal traffic, sustainable materials, large landscaped spaces and everything accessible by foot or bike within a 1 km radius. Cultural architectural typologies — including religious buildings, museums, libraries, performance and exhibition spaces, and more — are widely recognized as community focal points. How would our cities be improved if architects approached other typologies, such as schools, housing, student hostels and shopping malls, as if they were cultural architecture?

In his presentation, Sanjay Puri, co-founder and Principal Architect at the A+Award-winning Indian architecture firm Sanjay Puri Architects, explores how expanding our definition of cultural architecture will help architects to connect communities and build stronger cities, piece by piece. He will do so with two case studies: The Rajasthan School, found in a residential township in the desert, and in The Street, an 800-room student hostel with a minimal footprint.

During this talk, you’ll learn:

  • How every building, regardless of typology, can be a driver of social interaction for building communities.
  • Strategies for achieving sustainability with zero carbon emission: from material choice to construction methods to lifecycle.
  • Why all inclusive development — as modules of various sizes that house all activities within minimal reach and the smallest possible footprint — is the way forward.

About Sanjay Puri

Sanjay Puri is the co-founder and Principal Architect at Sanjay Puri Architects. Since the firm’s founding in 1992, Sanjay has spearheaded dozens of award-winning projects, including everything from townships, schools, hotels, retail and office buildings. He has been at the forefront of creating innovative design solutions that are sustainable on a large scale.

Sanjay Puri Architects has been widely recognized as one of the best architecture firms of the past 30 years. The firm has been listed as one of Architizer’s top 130 architecture firms worldwide and was voted the Best Residential Firm of the Year at the 10th Annual A+Awards. The 72 people-strong firm strives for design solutions that are environmentally and culturally contextual, while also finding innovative new ways for people to experience these spaces


Check out more work by Sanjay Puri Architects on their Architizer firm profile:

Read More About the Firm

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