Happy New Year 2013

Dear All,
The year 2012 had been an eventful year for MIDAS. We had an extraordinary public exhibition of student work and a new batch of 80 students. MIDAS continued to be hectic throughout the year and engaged the students with various projects. We hope that the year 2013 will be a great year for us and a great place for learning architecture..... WISHING THE BEST 2013 TO YOU ALL AND THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT.
Prof. Jaffer AA Khan RIBA FRSA
Director
Marg Inst. of Design and Architecture Swarnabhoomi (MIDAS)

National Conference on Indo Saracenic Architecture of Chennai- By MIDAS

MIDAS-Marg Institute of Design and Architecture Swarnabhoomi will conduct a two day National Conference on " Evolution of Indo- Saracenic Heritage of Chennai" on the 16th of February. On the 17th a field trip is organized as a city tour. The objective is to understand the evolution of this style which impacted many a public buildings built by the British in India. The "Chepauk Palace" one of the pioneering buildings of this style was recently gutted by fire. Eminent historian Dr S Muthiah has agreed to inaugurate the Conference and deliver a key note address. The participants include, academicians, practitioners, historians and art enthusiasts. It is proposed to release a monograph during the inauguration which will showcase the photographs of this great heritage which needs attention, preservation and possibly some of them need revitalization to contemporary use like a "City Museum". 

Professor Jaffer AA Khan - at a Design Jury at the Bartlett for Studio of Peter Cook

Professor Jaffer AA Khan was invited to be a jury member for the French students jury at the Bartlett by Sir Peter Cook. The jury included several elite practitioners and academicians. Prof. CJ Lim of the Bartlett was also part of the jury. 

Professor Jaffer with Sir Peter Cook in London

Professor Jaffer AA Khan, Director of MIDAS-Marg Institute of Design and Architecture Swarnabhoomi Chennai, today met Sir Peter Cook, an iconic architect who was a founder member of ARCHIGRAM movement in architecture (1955-60). The meeting was at CRAB Studio in London on 30th November 2012. It is most likely that Sir Peter Cook will be a guest at MIDAS in 2013.

Fractal Workshop at MIDAS

Ms Takbir Fatima II conducted a three day Fractals.2.0 workshop at MIDAS from 24th to 26th at the Marg Institute ofDesign and Architecture Swarnabhoomi -MIDAS. The students enjoyed making the installations and experimenting new forms. The sample of the outcome is shown above.

Jaffer Khan at PRS-RMIT LUCA Presentation at Ghent Belgium

Jaffer AA Khan, spoke on "Coherence of Tradition in Practice" to an elite audience at Sint Lucas Architecture School on 25th November 2012. The lecture was part of PRS by RMIT-LUCA at Ghent Belgium.  He spoke about how- the coherence of tradition and culture and its intuitive responses to life and existence has impacted his work through three decades.

Fractals 2.0 Workshop by Takbir Fatima II at MIDAS -Chennai

Ms Takbir Fatima II, practising architect from Hyderabad will conduct her second workshop at MIDAS-MargInstitute of Design and Workshop , Fractal 2.0 "ONE TO MANY. The three day workshop on 24th to 26th November 2012 will involve the 1st year B.Arch students at MIDAS- Affiliated to Anna University. 

Professor Jaffer AA Khan RIBA
Director
MIDAS Chennai

Jaffer AA Khan Speaks at the IGBC International Conference in Hyderanbad 0n 31st Oct. 2012

Prof. Jaffer AA Khan Director MIDAS-Marg Institute of Design and Architecture Swarnabhoomi- addresses the international audience on " Urban Sustainability" as a part of the International Conference organised by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) at Hyderabad on 31st Oct 2012. Ms Elena M Berger of the US Department of Energy, Washington DC was the chief guest and Mr V Suresh, Chairman IGBC chaired the session.

Coherence of Tradition in Practice-Jaffer AA Khan FRSA

Coherence of Tradition in Practice - The speech at PRS Sint Lucas Architecture, Gent, Belgium by Jaffer AA Khan FRSA will outline his philosophy of understanding the Indian Tradition - which is the essence and spirit of his practice of Architecture.

Architecture is best not defined. The moment it is defined it looses its metaphysical character.....according to him

History of Architecture (Europeon) Model Making Workshop by MIDAS

The 14th to 16th of October was a busy day at MIDAS. The students of 3rd Semester Architecture were hectically involved in madel models of buildings from Early Christian to Baroque and Rococo Style. The work was done in groups and nearly one dozen models were done with indepth study of these buildings. The aim was to inform about the development of architecture in the Western World through the evolution of Christianity as a religion and the culturaland contextual determinantsthat produced that architecture. It was indeed great fun and learning......

TED Talks- Live from Bombay at MIDAS

MIDAS- beamed TED Talks live from Mumbai on "Free Cities" on 23th Oct 2012. Future talsk will be organised for the benefit of Students.

STUDIO SCENE AT MIDAS

The 1st Year B.Arch students at MIDAS - had a busy weekend on a 3D hands on cubic subtraction exercise. The student were asked to excavate cubic volumes of a brick size POP block. The result was an excellent outcome of 80 blocks of varied volumetric compositions. The students will further study light and shade and describe their design compositions.

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2012

Dear Friends
Please accept my wishes on the Festival of "Ganesh Chaturthi" and let the blessings of Ganesha be showers to all and bring peace and prosperity to our Nation-Jai Hind
Jaffer AA Khan
Director
MIDAS

Renowned Architect Chitra Vishvanath Speaks at MIDAS-as a part of FEAT

Ar.Chitra Vishwanath, Principal Architect & Managing Director of Architecture Biome lectured at MIDAS addressing the budding architects on the need to evolve ecologically responsive architecture.

Her practice is widely known for its eco-sensitive building design specialisation in Earth Architecture and transforming the traditional building techniques relevant to urban settings.

Architecture Biome is also involved in giving strategic consultancy towards issues of water, sanitation, alternative energy and consulting for other architects in making their projects ecological.  Biome also conducts workshops for school children, college students and does training in rainwater harvesting and building techniques.

Ar.Chitra spoke about the global scenario of Carbon footprint and the increasing CO2 emissions. The role of the construction industry in contributing to the solid waste and hence the onus on the architects to produce responsible building designs. The lecture covered the use of waste products in building construction and need for the necessary expertise to implement the good ideas.

The veteran architect reviewed the III Semester student works on their Primary School Design and encouraged the students to evolve as sensitive leaders in the profession.

MIDAS at URBAN MELA by MOD Institute Berlin in Chennai

MIDAS involvement in Indo German Urban Mela

MOD Institute, an international collective of architects, designers researchers, curators and practitioners with engaged interests in urbanisation process in india had organised discussion sessions on critical urban challenges on the topics 'Our Water', 'Our Waste' and 'Our City' as a part of the ‘Chennai Urban Campus’ during the Indo-German Urban Mela at the YMCA grounds Nandhanam.  Mr.Tile Von Damn, political scientist at the MOD Institute invited Professor.Jaffer A A Khan, Director-MIDAS to moderate the session on  ‘Our Waste’ on the 30^th August 2012.

Prof.Jaffer A A Khan established the context of the discussion highlighting the concerns of waste generated in the city and the onus on the citizens towards reducing the same and invited the speakers to present their views.

Ms.Karin Sandeck, Bayerische Oberste, Baubehorde, Munich presented her experience and the practices of Urban Waste Management System of Germany. The presentation deliberated on the successful reduction in waste generation by imposing payment systems to the citizens for disposing the waste generated by them.  Ms Kristin Stegar from the Indo German Centre for Sustainability, IIT Madras, Chennai presented on the Waste management system developed and successfully implemented within the Indian Institute of Technology Campus in Chennai. Prof.Jaffer concluded the session highlighting the Indian traditional values and the culture which has always embodied sustainable in the lifestyle of the people.

The presentations were followed by an enriching discussion session with active participation from faculty and students of MIDAS. Architect Balaji, Assistant Professor – MIDAS, shared his experiences on working with the rural communities and the need to create awareness at the community level in enforcing their rights through the local bodies. Ms.Shwetha, II year student of MIDAS elaborated the initiatives of the ‘ECO CLUB’ at the college campus at Swarnabhoomi on waste reduction, reuse of waste material and the ‘Square Foot Gardening’ ventures.

Apposite to the topic of discussion, the Director, Faculty and the Students of MIDAS presented a 4’x4’ mural out of waste material to Mr.Karl  Pechatscheck– Director, Gothe Institute. Mr.Karl and Ms.Senya Muller, Gothe Institute also appreciated the student volunteers of MIDAS for their week long involvement in the workshops titled ‘Dream Ciry in the Clouds’ during the Chennai Urban Mela.

Professor Jaffer AA Khan Chairs Session on "Urban Waste"

Prof. Jaffer AA Khan Director MIDAS and a practicing architect heading Jaff Design Studio in Bangalore and Chennai will chair a session on Urban Waste organised as a part of Urban Mela by MOD Institute Berlin and the Gothe Inst. Chennai. The venue will be YMCA grounds at 1030 am on 30th Aug. 2012.

Jaffer Khan's maiden lecture for batch 2012-13

Professor Jaffer AA Khan RIBA,commenced the batch 2012-13 of B.Arch at MIDAS with his maiden lecture on "Elements of Design" and the "Principles of Design". The lecture was for 60min. at the first floor lecture hall at MIDAS.
The lecture comprised of information on understanding of design and the essential requirement of knowledge to distinguise from "Good and Bad Design".

Prof. Jaffer AA Khan - Conducts Design Crit for 3Sem B.Arch at MIDAS

Architectural Design Crit is the most toughest thing. The recent design criticism on the "School Project" for 3rd Sem B.Arch students of B.Arch at MIDAS was conducted on 17th Aug. 2012. The crit session started at 9.00 am and went on till 16.00 pm. The other design faculty/ studio incharge were present. The overall performance was satisfactory, however some the designs were excellent and far beyond that one would expect for a 2nd year student of B.Arch. It was indeed a hard crit. The followup will be on 21st Aug. 2012.