Sameep Padora

sP+a

Sameep Padora is an architect and author. Born in Chamba, Northern India, Sameep Padora established his Mumbai based practice in 2007 after graduating from the GSD, Harvard University. The studio’s work has been widely published both in India and internationally. His practice has in the past received the Wallpaper Design Award for Best Public Building, Beazley Architecture Prize, Wienerberger Brick Award, Archdaily Building of The Year 2019, Wallpaper Design Award for House of the Year, as well as the Architectural Review’s Emerging Architecture and the AR Library Commendation Awards. Besides the architectural practice, Sameep also runs a not-for-profit sPare that research issues of urbanization in India with a focus on housing. sPare’s research publications: In the Name of Housing, How to build an Indian House and (de)Coding Mumbai are projects attempting to unravel the production of affordable housing in Indian cities. Sameep is also one of the co-founders of the Bandra Collective, a group of six architects engaged with the design of public spaces in Mumbai.Sameep serves on the academic boards of a number of educational institutes and is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at CEPT, Ahmedabad.

Kailasa Rao

School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal

Dr. Kailas Rao M., currently serving as the Director of the School of Planning and Architecture in Bhopal and a Member of the National Monuments Authority under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, is a distinguished architect and scholar. Holding a Ph.D. from Manipal University, his research focuses on architectural pedagogy with a specialization in traditional Indian temples. His notable contributions extend to digital documentation and heritage conservation, where he has led conservation efforts for various monuments in Karnataka. Dr. Rao's expertise includes the application of advanced technologies such as Lidar, White light scanning, and Aerial photogrammetry. His significant accomplishments involve 3D digital documentation of numerous temples, stepped wells, and fortifications, supported by research grants and awards. Notably, he played a key role in the aerial photogrammetric documentation of temples in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh for the PRASADA project of Cardiff University. Dr. Kailas Rao M. has a prolific publication record, with articles on stone alignments, digital documentation techniques, and parametric principles in ancient Indian temple forms. Dr. Rao has left an indelible mark in the field of architecture and heritage conservation.

Seema Bawa

Department of History, Delhi University

Seema Bawa is a professor specializing in History of South Asian Art and Culture at Department of History, University of Delhi. Books written by her include Gods, Men and Women: Gender and Sexuality in Early Indian Art and Religion and Art of the Chamba Valley, A.D. 700-1300 and has edited book Locating Pleasure in Indian History: Prescribed and Proscribed Desire in Visual and Literary Cultures. The areas of research focus on Indian Art Ancient Indian Art and Iconography; Western Himalayan Art and Religion and Modern and Contemporary Indian Art. She was the recipient of DAAD Fellowship to read at the University of Bonn. Her research includes narrative depiction of Ramayana and visual hagiographies of Gandhi Gupta and Post Gupta Shivaism in Northern India. She has lectured extensively in India and abroad on Indian art, architecture and Her research papers on early Indian sculptures and architecture have been published in many journals. She writes on contemporary Indian art and culture for national newspapers, specialized journals and magazines, has edited ARTimes and curated shows including the Decorated Cow: Sidharth and Shatadru: Feminine Sensibilities in Indian art for Lalit Kala Akademi. Her application of academic knowledge in curation of art exhibitions, workshops, art writing for popular and specialized publications, theatre design and compiling contemporary Art History.