Conscious Cave | Sessions I, II, and III – Conscious Cities and Pandemics

Conscious Cave | Sessions I, II, and III – Conscious Cities and Pandemics
Zoom Webinar; And of course, there’s NO ENTRY FREE! 🙂
10 April, 2020

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The first issue that we’d like to delve into would be the one keeping us all locked indoors - the novel CoViD-19 which is spreading like wildfire and prompting people to retreat to their safe havens. The moral repercussions of imposing social distancing regulations and the challenges posed by social containment against every individual’s and community’s responsibilities, duties, and rights are some of the ponderings that we’d like to understand.

Session I: “Cities, Connectivity, and Coronavirus” - Why and How is this catastrophe unique? 

When: Apr 10, 2020 06:15 PM India 

Registration for Session I: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BANC_qlsTgOSi6WdcxKvDg

To what extent can ‘remote communication’ replace ‘close connection’? As we are now presented with unique and uncertain global challenges by nature, Conscious Bengaluru is determined to engage in discussion of the possibilities for evolving our Cities into more aware and responsive environments.

Session II: “City Planning, Resilience, and Pandemics” - A Critical Eye for the City’s Preparedness for Pandemics 

When: Apr 11, 2020 06:15 PM India 

Registration for Session II: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__lSoGObgS2iLk0JJYsE2bA

A city in its essence is the outdoors. With existing limitations, the “third spaces” or corridors are now turning into living nodes. Does this change the way we perceive “livable spaces” in cities?  As we battle to put forth strict countermeasures in controlling the current outbreak of the novel Covid-19 pandemic, we want to understand how can the conscious cities of the future be prepared to deal with a Pandemic.

 

Session III: COVID-19 Ground Reality, Dark Clouds, and Silver Linings 

When: Apr 12, 2020 06:15 PM India 

Registration for Session III: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0UN3mRctSNaygU1BIcg_VQ 

As the government enforces Lockdowns, curfews, and rules of social distancing - how are the individuals and communities dealing with the double-edged swords that these coping strategies bring? What are the effects of such measures on people’s physical, mental, socio-economic health? We all hope to come out of it stronger; what are the best lessons to learn from this situation that we are in? 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Access the speaker profiles here.

 

Upali Nanda

HKS Architects
University of Michigan

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Dr. Upali Nanda is Principal and Director of Research for HKS, a global architectural firm, where she is responsible for spearheading and implementing research projects globally. Upali has extensive experience leading research projects in design practice with a focus on the impact of design on human health and perception. She also teaches as an Associate Professor of Practice at Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and serves as the Executive Director for the nonprofit Center for Advanced Design Research and Education. Her doctoral work on “Sensthetics” has been published as a book available on Amazon.com. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and mainstream media and won awards for her research from the European Health Design, Interior Design Journal and EDRA CORE. In 2015, Dr Nanda was recognized as one of the top 10 most influential people in Healthcare Design by the Healthcare Design Magazine. Most recently, she was honoured by Architectural Record with the 2018 Women in Architecture Innovator Award.

Natalia Olszewska

Impronta

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Researcher and Practitioner in Neuroscience Applied to Architecture. Graduate in medicine (Jagiellonian University & Tor Vergata), neuroscience (Sorbonne Université & ENS), Brain and Mind studies (UCL), and ‘Neuroscience applied to Architectural Design’ (IUAV university). Works between disciplines with the aim to create insights that can change our architectural and urban environment and make it more people-centered. At work, combines deep care for people and their well-being with passion for architecture and design. Interested in the impact of architecture on different aspects of our lives: social, behavioral, health & well-being, and cognition.

Presented her NAAD master's degree thesis during the 2018 Biennale of Architecture in Venice. Published previously in the Journal of Science Informed Design, the 2020 Conscious Cities Anthology, and Intertwining. Together with Michal Matlon, co-authors Venetian Letter, a blog and newsletter on science-informed design.

Co-founder of Impronta, a neuroscience consultancy for architecture. Member of faculty at the 'Neuroscience Applied to Architectural Design' Master organized by Università IUAV and Politecnico di Milano.

 

 

B. S. Satyanarayana

Satya Bharathi Consultants

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A fast learner, inspirational leader & communicator with multidisciplinary skills

& experience in Industry, R&D, Academic & Government policy. The nature of work includes knowledge management, innovation, strategic planning & implementation, analytics, change management, creation of new labs & groups, with a focus on Sustainable & Inclusive technology and Make in India. This involved developing many new first of its kind technologies including Design and development of process technologies, instrumentation, and new products, from concept to implementation, & consultancy valued $ 50 million. Developed a unique pedagogy for linking teaching, multidisciplinary experiential learning, research, industry and societal engagement called the Five “I” Principle, integrating knowledge and skills. Facilitated Setting up over 50 industry based labs (valued over Rs 300 Crores) in Academic Institutes with national & international collaboration in the last 10 years. Establishing new teams, to manage the same training managers/ faculty /students. Published over 170 papers in journals and conference proceedings, and delivered over 200 invited & contributed papers.

Itai Palti

Director The Centre for Conscious Design
Director at Hume

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Itai is a practicing architect and researcher focusing on designing with the human experience in mind. He is Director of Hume, a science-informed architecture and urban design practice backed by research at its Human Metrics Lab.

In 2015, Itai founded the Conscious Cities movement; a new field of research and practice for building people-centred environments that are aware and responsive using data analysis, AI, tech, and behavioural science in design. Itai is the Director of The Centre for Conscious Design, a think tank focused on using design to address urban challenges facing society today and in the future. The centre publishes open-access research and organises human-centred and science-informed design events worldwide.

A fellow at The Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health (editing its inaugural journal), and at the Urban Design Forum, Itai also carries out thought leadership roles in bodies such as Harvard and Brookings Institution and is on the Advisory Council of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture.

An alumnus of The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, Itai has worked alongside the late visionary architect Jan Kaplicky at Future System on projects such as the Ferrari Museum in Modena. His design work and writing has been featured internationally and he is a regular speaker at events focused on human-centred design.

Prof. Michael Batty

Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis - University College London

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Professor. Michael Batty is Bartlett Professor of Planning at University College London where he is Chair of the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA).

He has worked on computer models of cities and their visualisation since the 1970s and has published several books, such as Cities and Complexity (MIT Press, 2005) which won the Alonso Prize of the Regional Science Association in 2011, and most recently The New Science of Cities (MIT Press, 2013). His blogs www.complexcity.info cover the science underpinning the technology of cities and his posts and lectures on big data and smart cities are at www.spatialcomplexity.info . 

His research group is working on simulating long term structural change and dynamics in cities as well as their visualisation. Prior to his current position, he was Professor of City Planning and Dean at the University of Wales at Cardiff and then Director of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and the Royal Society (FRS), was awarded the CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2004 and the 2013 recipient of the Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud (generally known as the 'Nobel de Géographie'). In the year 2015 he received the Founders Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his work on the science of cities. In 2016 he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Town Planning Institute, and the Senior Scholars Award of the Complex Systems Society. He has Honorary Doctorates form the State University of New York and from the University of Leicester.

Anup Naik

Urban Frame Pvt. Ltd.
Institute of Urban Designers India - Karnataka Chapter

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Anup Naik is a trained architect and urban designer, and has been actively involved in the profession for 23 years. Along with his professional pursuit, he has been an academician and involved in teaching Urban Design and varied architecture subjects. He is extremely passionate about sustainable design and believes in creating unique, innovative and dynamic design solutions for the benefit of people, projects and the planet. He believes that the challenge for modern architects is to understand and utilize these ancient techniques in today’s context. He has been the driving force behind SpaceMatrix and Urban Frame’s holistic approach to green architecture, zero energy developments, Master planning and Urban Design. Under his leadership, the organisation is involved with various projects and across multiple verticals. Primarily dealing with Master Planning, residential, Transportation, Hospitality, Universities, High Rise, Health Care and specialised buildings. His work experience has spanned across various countries like Morocco, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Kenya, and Vietnam and across India.Anup Naik has been involved in several award winning projects ranging from master planning to high rise projects. He has taken a key initiative towards a holistic approach to green architecture and sustainable design and has 20+ years of professional experience.

Jwala Narayanan

Cognitive Neurology Clinic
The Greenoak Initiative

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Jwala Narayanan is a consultant neuropsychologist at Manipal Hospital and the Annasawmy Mudaliar General Hospital. Her clinical work involves working with people across the life span suffering with a neurological condition (e.g. stroke, brain injury, epilepsy, infections, dementia, etc.). Her research interests are in memory, bilingualism and neuropsychological rehabilitation. Most of her research has been in the area of dementia. She presently runs an enrichment program for healthy ageing and people with dementia. She recently received a grant from the Burning Man US to spread awareness on managing dementia and engaging with the community to get involved in the cause. 

Anirudh Chakradhar

Pragma Development Advisors

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Anirudh's expertise lies in research, project design and project management. Before founding Pragma, he worked for a multi-national consulting firm, and has provided advisory services to various Public Sector clients in several flagship projects such as the Smart Cities Mission. Anirudh holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Delhi, and a Master’s in Public Policy from the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. He is passionate about promoting inclusive & sustainable urban and human development.

Dr. C. Naveen Kumar

National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Bangalore

Dr. C Naveen Kumar received his DPM (Diploma in Psychological Medicine) as well as MD Doctor of Medicine) in Psychiatry from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore. He has been a member of the National Academy of Medical Sciences since 2011. Currently, he is a Professor of Psychiatry at NIMHANS. He is also the Head of Community Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS. He actively consults on the works conducted by the Centre for Disaster Management, Forensic Psychiatry Services,  Telemedicine Services,Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Services, and Free Legal Aid Services at NIMHANS. His research interests pan across Electroconvulsive therapy and Forensic Psychiatry. He has over 180 Publications in peer reviewed national and international scientific journals and 20 ongoing Research Projects. Furthermore, he has been running community intervention programs in two rural taluks of Karnataka since the past decade: Thirthahalli and Turuvekere. Their team has been identifying and following up two cohorts of schizophrenia patients in these taluks. In addition to the service component, important public health relevant findings have come from these two cohorts. He has been contributing to the mental health capacity building in Karnataka, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim amongst other states

Gautam Prakash

Reap Benefit

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Gautam is the co-founder and chief problem solver at Reap Benefit. He has been the only non-engineer to be selected for Fab Labs MIT BITS ATOMS, USA. He has mentored some of our amazing Solve Ninjas to build local civic innovations like Waterless urinals, Air Quality monitor and lake quality monitoring system. He has been instrumental in developing the Solve Ninja App and Neighbourhood Dashboard.

Varun Hemachandran

Agami, India

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Varun is the Communications Curator at Agami, India. He is fascinated by communities and the glue that binds them. He has over eight years of advertising experience which has taught him how to sell to the masses and the importance of finely crafted communication. He joined Make A Difference as President in Chennai. Here he learnt how to mobilize young minds to serve the underprivileged. He then dabbled in the back and front offices of a start-up political movement. Again, mobilizing the public to support an unknown party; designing and crafting the narrative for local campaigns in Tamil Nadu and Delhi; managing the media; and supporting spokespersons during key televised debates. Of late he has been building communities around arts and entertainment, at The Bohemian House, and devising lucrative partnerships that elevate both the artist, as well as the organization, while keeping the community engaged week-on-week. In his spare time, he also works on a 3 year old, award-winning project, Talking Earth. His disruptive work at Talking Earth is helping communities use mapping tools to visualise civic problems and drive hyperlocal social impact to increase neighbourhood resilience to climate change. He has been a Namma Bengaluru Awards Social Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, and a GAP (Global Action on Poverty) Changemaker, for my work with Talking Earth.

Srinivas Alavilli

Oracle
Citizens for Bengaluru

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Srinivas Alavilli is a software engineer by profession but his passion for better governance turned him into a citizen activist. Srinivas has a BTech Computer Science from Andhra University and M.S Computer Science from Utah State University, USA. After working in Silicon Valley, California for a decade, Srinivas moved to Bengaluru in 2007.  He has been contributing time and energy to make our city a better place. Srinivas started Corruption Saaku! campaign in Bengaluru which later transformed into India Against Corruption, a nation wide anti corruption movement. Srinivas worked on several elections campaigns to get progressive candidates elected in a bid to change politics. Srinivas is one of the founders of the #SteelFlyoverBeda movement in 2016 that led to the formation of Citizens for Bengaluru referred to as CfB, a non political,  public pressure group with no office, no bank account and no office bearers. CfBs primary goal is to make Bengaluru liveable for all by mobilising and organising public protests for various causes. Srinivas strongly believes that when citizens act in a collective and focused manner with clear goals, impossible becomes possible. Politicians understand the language of numbers more than anything else!

Anupama Rao

Chandavarkar and Thacker Architects;
Independent Researcher

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An architect currently working at CnT Architects, Bangalore, India, Anupama’s focus is primarily on inspirations we draw from our built environment and how we use the evolution of character and our experiences that drive our intuition to shape architecture. She is also deeply passionate about music and photography and aims to layer and characterise parallels found in them through architecture.

Padmashree Satyanarayana

Design Director Conscious Bengaluru

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A Visual Designer and an Architect, Padmashree has an immense interest in the Intuitive Communication of complex ideas. Having worked in Architecture firms big and small, and on Design projects varying from Commercial launch campaigns of Locally sourced and created chips to Autonomous Vehicle branding designs, She's always fascinated by the power of messaging and communicating the intent of the creators to the consumer.

 

As the Design Director at Conscious Bengaluru, she focusses her efforts into making sure great Ideas and potent Discussions get the attention they deserve. With Heterodox and intersectional thinking back in the Public Squares of the world, and the Mediums of mass communication at it's best era yet, along with a huge population craving to learn and create through the powers of the new on-traditional Internet centres of knowledge, get in touch with her (padmashr[email protected]) to make cool and effective things together!

 

 

Shashwath Ravisundar

Student Researcher at Conscious Bengaluru
B.Arch Student, RV College of Architecture, Bengaluru

A graphic designer, travel fanatic, part carnatic musician, Shashwath is a student currently studying in RV college of Architecture, Bengaluru.

Shashwath believes that architecture is an interdisciplinary field which requires amalgamation of various fields, interests and would love to engage in collaborations with the same perspective. He also likes to explore architecture as an insert among various scales, from Urban policy, planning Urban design to detailing and interior design.