On Reincarnating Indian Cities / Karan Saharya

Architecture Off-Centre

“The evolution of cities is barely ever linear and gradual. It follows an almost cyclical pattern of development that is highly influenced by political and religious currents.”

Karan Saharya recently co-taught a course called Reincarnating Cities with Vaissnavi Shukl, where he took a deep dive into the changing architectural articulations of heritage, nationalism and religiosity in the contemporary Indian urban space.

Karan Saharya graduated with a Masters in Design Studies from Harvard Graduate School of Design. He received the Gerald M. McCue Medal, the Best Thesis Prize as well as several research grants. Karan practises in New York and Delhi, and his current research lies at the intersection of urban conservation, place-making and cultural mapping.

If you are interested in Karan's research, have a look at a snippet of his graduate thesis: https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/project/2020-design-studies-thesis-prize-karan-saharyas-in-the-name-of-heritage-conservation-as-an-agent-of-differential-development-spatial-cleansing-and-social-exclusion-in-mehrauli-delhi/