Boston: America`s prestigious Harvard University has appointed renowned Indian urban designer and educator Rahul Mehrotra as tenured professor and Chair of its Department of Urban Planning and Design.
As professor of Urban Design and Planning, Mehrotra will teach studios and seminars on architecture and urbanisation in India, besides working with students on research projects related to infrastructure, historic preservation and questions of rapid growth and extreme urban
conditions in South Asia.
Graduate School of Design (GSD) Dean Mohsen Mostafavi said Mehrotra`s work as a teacher, practitioner, researcher and community advocate makes him "exceptionally qualified to
contribute to the GSD`s growing involvement with the challenges of urbanism around the world."
An alumnus of the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad, he graduated with a master`s degree in Urban Design from the GSD. He has taught at the University of Michigan and at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at MIT (2007?2010).
He has been involved in civic and urban affairs in Mumbai, having served on commissions on historic conservation and environmental issues.
He was also Executive Director of the Urban Design Research Institute.
"The GSD and the University at large will benefit from Rahul`s extensive experience and informed perspective on South Asian urbanism," Harvard`s Vice Provost for
International Affairs Jorge Dom’nguez said.
Harvard`s South Asia Initiative has also invited him to be part of its steering committee as it focuses on new areas of engagement in the region.
Mehrotra has written and lectured extensively on topics of architecture, conservation and urban planning in Mumbai and elsewhere in India.
His writings include co-authoring the book `Bombay - The Cities Within,` which covers the city’s urban history from the 1600s to the present and `Bombay to Mumbai-Changing Perspectives.`
His other publications include books on Mumbai`s Victoria Terminus Station.
In 2000, he edited a book titled `The Architecture of the Twentieth Century in the South Asian Region`.
PTI
