Surge-'The JJ Bulletin' is the college newsletter which has updates about the various academic and cultural events and activities in our college in an academic semester.
In this issue, we have covered the activities of the college in the academic semester of February, 2022 - May, 2022. And as during this period we shifted back to the campus, this issue consists of all of the academic and cultural activities that were brought back to campus during. The collection of achievements of our students, faculty and alumni is also updated over at The Repository page.
We are also thrilled to present the first project of our exploration team, The Inquiry. Read on to learn more about it all!
THE JJ BULLETIN - MAY'22
Campus Reopening
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On 2nd March, 2022, after nearly two years of online teaching and learning, the campus was brought to life again, bustling with excitement and a lot of hope for a new chapter in the college life. Students of the first year and second year were especially ecstatic since they only experienced college life virtually until now. It felt surreal to come back to what we once perceived as 'normal'.
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Arcus 2021-22
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As a part of our tradition, we host our annual college cultural festival- Arcus. This festival encourages the students to explore their skills beyond the set curriculum and develop holistic thinking.
We were thrilled to have Arcus 2021-22, back on campus again! With the theme of Kaleidoscope, the festival consisted of various events like a talent show, ,fiesta and even some interesting workshops. A sports week was also organised with equipment sponsored by Decathlon, a leading sports brand. The festival had students across all the years participating in it and proved to be a reprieve from the academia. |
The Inquiry -
issuu.com/surge-theinquiry/docs/in_15-_an_exploration_of_our_neighbourhoods_The InquiryOne of the many things the pandemic made us realise is the importance of the quality of our built enviorment. This quality can be looked at a personal as well as an urban scale. How do our cities respond to the growing needs of modern lifestlye? And do the urban models of the city develop with time?
With our first explorative project, we wanted to explore the concept of a 15 minute city in our own context, that is, in the city of Mumbai. This was done by going out and about our own neighbourhoods, taking 15 minute walks, and observing everyday things we might have ordinarily overlooked. And to document this process of exploration, we created a set of mind maps to portray the various emotions of the neighbourhood, thus assessing the quality of life at a personal level. To view the whole project, click here. |
Highlights from the Repository -
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'The Repository' is a section in our website highlighting the achievements of our students, faculty and alumni in the various competitions and events they engage with.
Here’s some of the recent additions to The Repository-
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Life through Pandemic - Exhibition and Covid Memorial
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The 'Life Through Pandemic' exhibition conducted from 4th-8th April 2022 in Claude Batley Gallery brought us some interesting anecdotes from the Batch of 2023 who offered a sneak peek into their lockdown days filled with frustration, expectations and hope.
The exhibition came out of coursework for third-year students in 2020, under the mentorship of faculty members, Mustansir Dalvi and Kalyani Mokasdar, as they conveyed their share of experiences about the then-ongoing pandemic situation. The students worked in groups, infusing their ideas, overlapping familiarity, and resonating perspectives and thoughts, creating an amalgamation expressed through various mediums, like poster art, a board game, an anthology of short stories, etc. As part of the exhibition, we also created a Covid-19 Memorial for the people associated with our college who succumbed to the pandemic. Faculty member Late Dr. Sushama Joglekar, alumnus Late Ar. Mrinmoy Chang, and family members of 15 students are among them. Newspapers like Mid-day and Indian Express featured the exhibition headlining 'Lockdown Perspectives' and 'Student exhibition in Mumbai recalls pandemic memories,' explaining the importance of reflecting on the past to build a future through the students' work. |
Manan- with Ar.Prasanna Desai
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Ending the third edition of our talk series- Manan, we were honoured to have had Ar. Prasanna Desai shared his work with us. The talk included insights into urban design and how as architects and designers we could engage with the contemporary urban realm. Prasanna sir’s practice is based out of Pune and he presented some of the urban interventions his firm has worked on. What made the presentation different from the previous ones was the way he engaged the attendees and made the talk quite interactive throughout.
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I-Square Competition 2022
The I-Square Competition is a platform for students to explore the world of design and reimagine and interpret it in their unique way.
The participants were given a panel from the previous batch’s design studios that they were to present to the jury with their own interpretations. This year's competition featured a unique concept in which contestants were guided by mentors throughout. Experienced professionals such as Ar. Vishal Pawar, Ar. Pooja Ugrani, Ar. Yaman Banerjee, Ar. Madhushree Bose, and Ar. Bhavin Patel presided as mentors for the contestants. The competition had a total of six teams, each consisting of a student from the second and third years. The competition commenced on February 5th and ended on February 6th with Prof. Mustansir Dalvi, Ar. Kalyani Mokasdar, and Dr. Aparna Dwivedi served as jury members, with each team receiving approximately 30 minutes of presentation time and a Q&A session with the Jury members. Results will be released soon! |
Wall Art on Campus by French Artist, Skio
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Bonjour India 2022, organised by Alliance Frances, presented a Street Art Festival this time and from 11th to 14th of April, the French artist Nicole alias ‘Skio’ came to Sir J.J. College of Architecture to paint a mural on the New Building wall of the campus along with student volunteers. He was accompanied by photographer Aline Rabusseau.
The wall art depicts an Indian woman with her face partially hidden against a backdrop of geometric patterns influenced by modern architecture.`The idea behind hiding the eyes of the subject is to accentuate the aspect of anonymity in urban lives, where a mass of people throngs a street as strangers," said Skio. We were grateful to have had Skio and Aline come to our campus and create this lasting token of cultural fusion. |
Campus Clean-Up Drive
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The Clean-up Drive is an initiative towards the betterment of the campus. Commencing in the college on 3rd April, 2022, the first drive was conducted by alumni and students. It aims to clean and renovate parts of the campus to maintain its heritage beauty. The alumni and students joined hands and cleaned various parts of the campus such as the sports ground, areas near and behind the Old Building, and the Circular Forum. Another important aspect was the participation and support received for the drive, with a satisfactory outcome. We hope to carry forward this initiative in the coming years to revamp our campus.
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Marathi Vanmay Mandal- Kaladhara
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ऑनलाईन पध्दतीत मराठी वाङ्मय मंडळाच्या फलकाचे उद्घाटन तर झालेच होते, पण, ऑफलाईनची मजा तर वेगळीच! म्हणूनच मराठी वाङ्मय मंडळाने ११/०३/२०२२ रोजी वाङ्मय मंडळाचा फलक उद्घाटन सोहळा आणि पारंपरिक दिन आयोजित केला. महाविद्यालयाचे ज्येष्ठ अध्यापक श्री. मुकुंद आठवले यांच्या हस्ते उद्घाटन झाले.
प्रत्येक वर्षाप्रमाणे मराठी वाङ्मय मंडळाने दिनांक ०५/०३/२०२२ रोजी मुख्य कार्यक्रम कलाधारा : प्रवाह कलेचा याचे आयोजन केले होते. प्रायोगिक कलांची उत्क्रांती ही मुख्य कार्यक्रमाची थीम होती. कार्यक्रमाच्या काही दिवसाआधी विविध स्पर्धांचे आयोजन करण्यात आले. सर्वच स्पर्धांत विद्यार्थ्यांकडून उत्तम प्रतिसाद लाभला. कार्यक्रमात नाट्य, नृत्य,गायन, वादन यांचा मुक्ताविष्कार पाहायला मिळाला. प्रायोगिक कलांमध्ये काळानुसार झालेले बदल या कार्यक्रमातून अनुभवता आले. The Marathi Vangamay Mandal organised the Board Inauguration Ceremony and Traditional Day on 11th March, 2022. These also marked one of the first cultural events on campus after the pandemic! This year, the board was inaugurated by our esteemed faculty member, Dr. Mukund Athavale. The Mandal also organised it's main event Kaladhara: Pravah Kalecha on 05th March, 2022. The main theme of the program was the evolution of the experimental arts and culture. The event was preceded by various competitions. Muktavishkar, freedom of expression through drama, dance, singing and playing various instruments were highlights of the event. Click here to watch the recording of the event. |
Campus Tour
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Our college has a campus with heritage status, with buildings of historical, educational, social, and architectural significance.
To familiarise everyone with the history of the college, Prof. Mustansir Dalvi led a campus tour organsied by the Asiatic Society on April 2, 2022 and gave an overview of the different architectural styles seen on campus. It was a fantastic opportunity and great learning experience for first and second year students to learn about the heritage of the college. |
Semester 2- Banganga Sit Visit and Design Intervention
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On the 5th of April, first-year students (Batch of 2026) went on an exciting site visit to Banganga and Walkeshwar Temple. The site visit commenced at 8:30 am where the professors discussed the temples and the tank's religious significance. The students witnessed Ghat-style houses and stone temples with excellent craftsmanship as they wandered through the alleys of the neighbourhood, studying the architectural features surrounding the tank.
Students had an opportunity to interact with a resident who discussed the mythological background behind the origin of the water spring. Students were to design a traditional, Hindu-style pavilion in the tank as a design intervention, based on the site's surroundings. |
First Year Study Tour
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From 9th May to 12th May, 2022, the First Year students went on a three day study tour to Wai-Mahabaleshwar to view the historical marvels and experience ancient Indian temple architecture.
The students visited some great architectural landmarks like Nana Fadnavis Wada, temples on Menavali Ghat, Panchganga Temple and more. They also visited the MTDC guest cottages and Governor’s Bungalow along with the Vienna lake. Study tours are an essential part of our course and this being one of the first study tours to take place after the pandemic, it proved to be an incredible learning and exploring opportunity for the students. |
Semester 4- Electives
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Semester 4 Electives were conducted from 11th-14th of April, 2022. Here the students had the opportunity to choose from various studios that helped them explore the allied fields of design.
‘Natural Paints’, was an elective conducted by Mr. Anand Bhave. The elective focused on the hands-on experimentation of making natural colours, discussions regarding the application, including surface preparation, their longevity, pigments, adhesives, exploring utilities, and application of natural paints. ‘Advance Set Design’, was conducted by Ar. Sarang Patwardhan. The purpose of the elective was to understand design strategies and considerations, techniques, costume, and graphic design involved during theatre plays and films. Ar. Devyani Upasani conducted the elective ‘Leveraging Landscape Settings'. The elective dealt with understanding the knowledge of site selection which enabled the earlier generations to sustain and succeed by aligning themselves with nature. Ar. Vrinda Seksaria led a fascinating workshop on 'Cyanotypes,' a traditional photographic printing process. It was used in the last century; as a simple and low-cost means of creating drawings and diagrams referred to as Blueprints. Such electives are conducted every year in college, giving a holistic learning experience to the students. |
Semester 6- Music Institute, College Project
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The Semester-6 College Project assignment consisted students trying their hand at proposing the design for a Music Institute at Kalina University. The proposal was brought to us by Mumbai University through our dean, Prof. Rajiv Mishra and this project was guided by our faculty member Ar. Kalyani Mokasdar and aimed at addressing the lack of dedicated institutions for music in Mumbai. During the course of the assignment, we unfortunately lost one of the greatest Indian singers, Lata Mangeshkar and many of the designs were made in tribute to her.
After her demise, many newspapers published articles about the university and government’s decision to honour her by naming this college as ‘Bharat Ratna Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar International Music College’. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-news/international-music-college-in-mumbai-to-be-named-after-lata-mangeshkar-101644422136717.html |
Semester 8 - Internship
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Learning architecture involves a variety of experiences, from creative expressions to technical details. One of these is the professional practice experience that students in the Fourth Year get through their internship. Most of the students enter with anticipation to know about how a practice actually works, and are eager to learn from this experience.
The students in the current Fourth Year sought internships at various firms in Mumbai and beyond, in cities all over India. |
Semester 10- Thesis Jury
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The architectural Thesis, which is to be completed in the Fifth Year, is a culmination of knowledge and experience gained by a student throughout the course. It might reflect the aptitude of an individual or even an inclination of the student towards the particular subject of interest.
Preceded by extensive research, all the aspects right from choosing a site to coming up with a list of specifications are considered and decided by the student under the guidance of a faculty. The thesis project in no way is less than a testimony of the five year academic life of a student. After a gap of two years, the students had an offline jury this time with their projects presented on a screen in front of the jurors. The jury saw a very wide range of thesis topics this year as well and also the efforts of all the students that were put into the digital presentations. |
Contribute to our Newsletter!
If you’re a student at our college and would like to be a part of Team Surge and volunteer as a writer for the newsletter or to be a part of the exploration group for The Inquiry, do contact us at- [email protected]
To enter your work for The Repository, email us at- [email protected]
Here's a list of our current contributors-
Editors-
Ayushi Thakur
Sridharan Narasimhachari
Aditi Kadam
Suchi Jain
Writing Team-
Gandhali Dixit
Trevin D'Souza
Aditya Wad
Shreyansh Dayma
Sanjivani Patil
Ayushi Jadhao
Saumya Kenkare
Darpan Shah
Rushikesh Londhe
Neel Oswal
Gunjan Kaul
Rhea Oswal
Anaya Chavan
Sanjivini Patil
Sakhi Mishra
Ruchita Punwat
Priya Guthale
Execution Team-
Soham Lahane
Tapasya Vagal
Srushti Sawant
Saniya Khatwani
Khushboo Mankani
To enter your work for The Repository, email us at- [email protected]
Here's a list of our current contributors-
Editors-
Ayushi Thakur
Sridharan Narasimhachari
Aditi Kadam
Suchi Jain
Writing Team-
Gandhali Dixit
Trevin D'Souza
Aditya Wad
Shreyansh Dayma
Sanjivani Patil
Ayushi Jadhao
Saumya Kenkare
Darpan Shah
Rushikesh Londhe
Neel Oswal
Gunjan Kaul
Rhea Oswal
Anaya Chavan
Sanjivini Patil
Sakhi Mishra
Ruchita Punwat
Priya Guthale
Execution Team-
Soham Lahane
Tapasya Vagal
Srushti Sawant
Saniya Khatwani
Khushboo Mankani