URBIZEN

I got introduced to Dieter Rams (Braun designer) first at one of the lectures at IIT Bombay. He has had immense influence on modern industrial/ product design. Rams came up with his own 10 Commandments of Design.  Architecture and interior design has much in common with industrial design, and the principles can be applied to architectural design also. Today, when the boundaries between disciplines is merging, it makes even more sense for the inter-disciplinary approach between various design disciplines. " Dieter Rams’ 10 Design Commandments 1. Good Design is innovative It does not copy existing product forms, nor does it produce any kind of novelty for the sake of it. The essence of innovation must be clearly seen in all functions of a product. The possibilities in this respect are by no means exhausted. Technological development keeps offering new chances for innovative solutions. 2. Good Design makes a product useful A product is bought in order to be used...

On May 09, 2014 The Collaborating Chambers, EMBARQ, IITB, Nagar, TISS, UDRI, WeSchool and Mumbai First jointly organised a talk by Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia titled "Transforming Our Cities". The talk was held at the BSE International Convention Hall in Mumbai. Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia is a well known economist and Chairperson, Board of Governors, the Indian Council for Research on international Economic Relations (ICRIER), heading its research programme on urbanization. She was also Chairperson of the High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure and Services (HPECUIS) during 2008-2011. The Report on Indian Infrastructure and Services by the HPECUIS addresses the issues of urban governance and suggests ways to bring about urban reform. Dr. Ahluwalia is Member of National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council and is on the Boards of a number of premier research institutes in India. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India in the year 20...

Urban areas hold a central position in the search for feasible climate change mitigation opportunities as a significant share of all the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is closely related to urban structures. This paper reviews the various methods and approaches to establish and quantify the relationship between urban morphology and energy consumption. The methods mainly use energy modelling, simulation, empirical data, geo-spatial mapping and 3D visualization techniques, or a combination of two or more of these. The results indicate that there is a direct correlation between urban form and energy consumption. Though there is substantial body of research on the subject, there is no definite and precise methods available to objectively establish the relationship. This is true especially for Indian cities.  To read the full paper (unpublished) .....