Iqtedar Alam | Jamia Millia Islamia (original) (raw)

Papers by Iqtedar Alam

Research paper thumbnail of Ekistics & the City: 'Nature' Vulnerability Evaluation for Delhi

Research paper thumbnail of Landscapes as Museums: Staging and Framing Kashmir's Historical Geography

LA Journal of Landscape Architecture, India, 2022

The landscape of Kashmir exhibits a unique regional 'order' of settlement, culture, and agrarian ... more The landscape of Kashmir exhibits a unique regional 'order' of settlement, culture, and agrarian practices governed extensively by its terrain. The weftface of Kashmir's signature tapestry is characterized by a series of underlying interrelated patterns responsive to its ecological, social, cultural, and economic practices. These underlying networked processes are often understated in the planning process. Revisiting the valley as a ground for potential exploration of its neglected processes, embodied values, and traditional wisdom provides an insight into its experience-centered landscape. The 'object-people-engagement' network in an interconnected landscape, when observed using a multi-ocular approach, attributes values of a greater human-cultural system embedded in its mountains, karewas [table lands], caves, rivers, swamps, springs, lakes, agricultural fields, gardens, and settlements.

Research paper thumbnail of Towards an Architecture of the Indian Ocean

Routledge India eBooks, Mar 10, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Re-Visiting the Pedagogical Tools for Urban Design

Architecture Pedagogies: Concepts, Theories & Paradigms, 2019

As students advance through the higher levels of undergraduate architecture programs, they are co... more As students advance through the higher levels of undergraduate architecture programs, they are confronted with an increase in the scale of design studio projects. However, if the teaching methods and tools employed are not commensurate with this scale, students may find it challenging to grasp the change. A prime example of this shift is observed in the urban design exercise, which encompasses a broader understanding of public life beyond the scope of buildings and their materials. The subject delves into the relationship between building envelopes and the surrounding space and place, exploring design and strategy-related issues. Regrettably, traditional urban design instruction in the classroom tends to focus primarily on the end-product rather than the process. Nonetheless, it is crucial to update the tools and techniques employed in urban design education as society continues to evolve and impact the art of place making in response to urbanization's dynamic forces.

This paper examines the current methodology of teaching urban design at the undergraduate level, with a specific focus on the latest pedagogical tools incorporated in the B.Arch program at the Department of Architecture at Jamia Millia Islamia, as implemented by the author. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the importance of developing a pedagogical model for urban design educators based on the findings from a survey conducted among four batches of undergraduate urban design students whom the author taught over the past four years. The city is an ever-changing entity, and its understanding must be adaptable to provide holistic, just responses.

Research paper thumbnail of Ekistics & the City: 'Nature' Vulnerability Evaluation for Delhi

Research paper thumbnail of Landscapes as Museums: Staging and Framing Kashmir's Historical Geography

LA Journal of Landscape Architecture, India, 2022

The landscape of Kashmir exhibits a unique regional 'order' of settlement, culture, and agrarian ... more The landscape of Kashmir exhibits a unique regional 'order' of settlement, culture, and agrarian practices governed extensively by its terrain. The weftface of Kashmir's signature tapestry is characterized by a series of underlying interrelated patterns responsive to its ecological, social, cultural, and economic practices. These underlying networked processes are often understated in the planning process. Revisiting the valley as a ground for potential exploration of its neglected processes, embodied values, and traditional wisdom provides an insight into its experience-centered landscape. The 'object-people-engagement' network in an interconnected landscape, when observed using a multi-ocular approach, attributes values of a greater human-cultural system embedded in its mountains, karewas [table lands], caves, rivers, swamps, springs, lakes, agricultural fields, gardens, and settlements.

Research paper thumbnail of Towards an Architecture of the Indian Ocean

Routledge India eBooks, Mar 10, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Re-Visiting the Pedagogical Tools for Urban Design

Architecture Pedagogies: Concepts, Theories & Paradigms, 2019

As students advance through the higher levels of undergraduate architecture programs, they are co... more As students advance through the higher levels of undergraduate architecture programs, they are confronted with an increase in the scale of design studio projects. However, if the teaching methods and tools employed are not commensurate with this scale, students may find it challenging to grasp the change. A prime example of this shift is observed in the urban design exercise, which encompasses a broader understanding of public life beyond the scope of buildings and their materials. The subject delves into the relationship between building envelopes and the surrounding space and place, exploring design and strategy-related issues. Regrettably, traditional urban design instruction in the classroom tends to focus primarily on the end-product rather than the process. Nonetheless, it is crucial to update the tools and techniques employed in urban design education as society continues to evolve and impact the art of place making in response to urbanization's dynamic forces.

This paper examines the current methodology of teaching urban design at the undergraduate level, with a specific focus on the latest pedagogical tools incorporated in the B.Arch program at the Department of Architecture at Jamia Millia Islamia, as implemented by the author. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the importance of developing a pedagogical model for urban design educators based on the findings from a survey conducted among four batches of undergraduate urban design students whom the author taught over the past four years. The city is an ever-changing entity, and its understanding must be adaptable to provide holistic, just responses.