Namaste! I’m a global-Indian urban designer, rethinking ways urban design firms operate.

Hello Steemians!

My name is Sunjana Thirumala Sridhar

I am from India – yet I identify with countries and traditions from my own country and far beyond my country’s boundary. And that’s saying something, since India’s richness in diverse culture is epic. Be it language, traditions, festivities, art, clothing, daily lifestyle – ‘culture’ in its broader sense varies across India and is infinitely rich. 1652 spoken languages, a mind-boggling variety of cuisines and at least 80 major festivals celebrated through the year; to give you a smattering of an idea!

Yet, beyond my own country, I relate to a global culture - the Christian spirit of Christmas, the Iranian beauty of new year celebrations, the bustling festivities of the Brazilian Carnival, the wonderful madness of Mardi Gras and many more traditions and festivities and customs from around the world. And having lived in the melting pot of this global culture, (aka New York City), I’ve absorbed displaced fragments of values and traditions from the people I’ve met.

It has often made me question, in this time and age, does it really matter where we are from? Born in one country, yet a lifetime spent in many others; rooted to certain traditions, yet liberated by new ones; born a Hindu, but grown up simply human. I happen to belong to privileged community where being ‘displaced’ from my origins has brought richness to my life. Displace, however, can more often imply a forced situation, where thousands of people have been displaced by war, or where displacement of natural resources has caused decades of social and ecological strife. Displaced culture seems to be the closest to a potential ‘happy’ context, as far as I can imagine. (more on this in my next post)

A LIFETIME’S MISSION:

I completed my Bachelors in Architecture from India in 2009 and my Masters in Urban Design from Columbia University, NYC in 2014. The potential of problem solving through design is a restless addiction. Architectural design fed that addiction initially. Following which, urban design blew open the scale of influence which intelligent spatial design could have. I recall vividly the frantic pace of graduate school and professional work after – constant mapping, rolls of butter paper covered with scrawls of streetscapes, reading, researching...all with a deadline to meet, and more critically, a solution to put forth. Propose your project direction – justify your stand – Quickly. Quickly now. Right away - seemed to be the chant.

All the while it felt like there was not enough time and value being given to the most important issue – finding the right problem to solve. The right problem can be the one which is most critical for a conceived time frame or the one with the largest foreseeable impact. If we spent as much time defining and clarifying the problem, the solutions would be clearer and more easy to evolve.

As Eintein said, "If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it”

My introduction to Steemit was through Kirk Finkel ( @voronoi ) a fellow UD graduate and respected colleague. What struck a strong cord with getting on board, was his description of valuing the ‘process’ of a task as opposed to simply looking for the finished product. It relates to the ‘language’ I’m hoping to find myself.

This ‘mission’ is taking on a form of its own, with my research and design organization dedicated to the issue of finding the right problem to solve.

Joining forces with another fellow UD graduate, Nasim Amini, together we are working toward harnessing the collaborative intelligence of multiple disciplines. We analyze trends and history, data and perspectives - to identify urban design problems worth solving before they become too big to handle. Our focus is on 3 critical areas, the most significant ones, we feel are currently affecting our generation - displaced people, natural resources and culture. – More on this in my future posts!

A displaced population.

IN MY FLEETING SPARE TIME…

As a (relatively) new mother to a vivacious and energetic 18-month-old, any free time I have is unsurprisingly scant. Nevertheless, I have been following through with combining two personal passions of mine – furniture and pottery. Introducing… Ceramic furniture! This is a rare niche in functional furniture which beautifully overlaps with the artistic side of delicate ceramic ware. Highly influenced by Lee Hun Chung, whose work I deeply admire for its raw material beauty - I have been working on my collection of ceramic-furniture pieces and will have more to share about this in the coming year!

Lee Hun Chung – Ceramic-Concrete bench

On a separate note, having a baby is one of the most all-consuming changes you can make to your life. Your time, your mind, your beating heart are all irrevocably tethered to a little tiny human being, all set on making its own wild way into this crazy world. This is my miniscule shout-out to every mother, and a huge one to my own – for doing everything they can/could possibly do for their child, and managing to be their own sane person at the same time. I kid you not, it is not easy!

A DEAR-TO-MY-HEART PROJECT:

When the Indian Prime Minister Modi announced, a couple of years ago, his intention of converting India’s city’s to ‘Smart’ Citys – everyone all over the world jumped on the wagon, with honestly no clear idea or picture of what it meant or how it would happen. A sentiment very familiar to the Trump era of politics which America is watching unfold. While India has made stunning progress in education, space research, entertainment and boasts of individuals whose net worth exceeds the GDP of some nations, where we need more intelligence combined with sensitivity of the Indian culture - is toward its villages.

This on-going research venture is focused on developing India's villages through models of growth which combine traditional practices and modern technology.

"Smartening India's Villages, image by author"

GOING FORWARD…

I started out as an architect in 2009, fell in love with the 2 extreme scales of architectural design – the intimate scale of furniture and the urban design, and ever since, have been constantly oscillating between design and research in each area. My love for urban design is just as much as my fascination for beautiful and functional furniture. And this interest transcends traditional ways of design, and instead leans more toward the process of new practices in this highly collaborative field. Steemit and @sndbox are clearly platforms to bring my voice and voices of like-minded creatives out of the shadows. Here’s to many more such ventures and collaborations! Steam on Sndbox Steemians!!

The urban scale, project images by author

The furniture scale – S-Stool, designed by author

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