Three day International Conference ICTOAD concludes at SMVDU

  • Jammu
  • 16 Apr 2017

Sustainable Architectural design the Way forward for urban planners: Chairman JKB

The huge wealth of architecture in the state of Jammu and Kashmir is a perfect blend of diverse cultures of all the three regions - Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh. There is need to follow the Japan model of using innovative materials that are light in weight but high on strength as the region was vulnerable for being in high seismic activity zone.

This is what J&K Bank Chairman & CEO Parvez Ahmed stated in his address as chief guest of the Valedictory function of the three-day “International Conference on Theory of Architectural Design - Global Practices and Local Milieu” organized by Department of Architecture and Landscape Design ( DoALD ), Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University ( SMVDU ), which concluded successfully here today.

The chairman urged upon the budding architects to focus on energy efficiency and minimizing the environmental impact during and post construction of buildings which shall take care of the sustainability of the planet in the longer run. He suggested for promotion of local manpower and architectural features as per the availability of material keeping in view the ecological and heritage of different regions of J&K State.

Stressing upon the challenge of use of land which was becoming scarce in urban areas due to rise in population and migration to cities Parvez Ahmed suggested for a paradigm shift in the urban planning by way going vertical with new materials and adoption of global practices with local adaptations.

Acknowledging the First such full fledged department of Architecture and Landscape Design in the state at SMVDU, Chairman J&K Bank envisioned  that it shall be the joint endeavor of the Bank and the University to actualize the confluence of trend and tradition in architecture in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, achievements of the conference were presented by Ar. J. K. Gupta, a renowned academician in the field of Architecture.

The third day of the conference began with parallel technical sessions and the thirty four delegates from all over the country made oral presentations of their papers on this day. Oral presentations were followed by Plenary Session – 02 in the post lunch period.

The conference saw a huge response and participation from almost all the states of India and abroad. It acted as a platform to present sixty five papers in all. Papers were presented in parallel sessions along with plenary sessions by India’s most renowned architects like Ar. Shirish Beri, Ar. Kalhan Mattoo, Ar. Jeet Kumar Gupta, Yatin Pandya among others. Representative of International Architect Ken Yeang, also came from Malaysia to address the conference. The monotony of the academic sessions was broken by an entertaining cultural night on first day and exciting and interactive heritage walk to Mubarak Mandi and Amar Mehal, Hari Niwas Jammu on second day of the conference. This series of activities came to an end with the valedictory ceremony presided over by, Ar. Abhiney Gupta presented the report of the conference and Ar. Aditya Kumar Singh, HOD DoALD, presented formal concluding address. Ar. Abhimanyu Sharma presented Vote of Thanks. Awards were presented to the winners of architectural design competition held in Department of Architecture and Landscape Design. Anuksha Amla and team, students of final year secured the first prize of Rs. 12,000/- and Karan Sharma and team was awarded the second prize of Rs. 8,000/-.
The conference was supported by M/s Kajaria Tiles Jammu and M/s Anchor (Panasonic) Jammu as title sponsers;  M/s Godrej (Interio) Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir Bank and Truwood Ply as event sponsers; M/s BASF India Ltd., M/s Cadd Centre Jammu, M/s WadBros Jammu, M/s Geberit Jammu, M/s CERA Jammu and M/s Kitec composite Pipes Jammu as sponsors; Conference Alerts as media partners; and Intach, SCI Archives, McGrawHill, IIA and COA as knowledge partners.