Study Tours
Study Tours conducted during 2017-18
NIA Students @ Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh 07th July, 2017 – 15th July, 2017 One of the Study Trips undertaken by the Nitte institute of Architecture during this summer was a trip to Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh. 15 students from second and fourth semester, accompanied by three faculty.
Currently there are about 200 houses and parts of the steep mountain slopes are cultivated as farmland by creating terraces and guiding the melting water of the mountains towards these terraces. Students documented the streets and houses: which materials are used and how do they respond to the harsh climatic conditions, at Nako – village at an altitude of approximately 3,500 meters above sea level. Students interviewed local people to gain better understanding of their culture, history, and daily life. A lot of the old traditional houses are now abandoned and they will soon fall apart, which makes our documentation even more valuable.
After 4 days in Nako, journey moved on through Spiti Valley, following the river deeper into the breathtaking landscapes of the Himalayas visiting Tabo monastry, an ancient mud structure with beautiful wall paintings and Dhankar, where the monastery is at the edge on a cliff. A surreal landscape of wildly shaped rocks, dotted by white iconic hoses of which the students documented as part of their study.
NIA Students @ Jaipur Study Tour
15th July, 2017 – 24th July, 2017 Nitte Institute of Architecture conducted Summer Program to facilitate learning beyond the class rooms. Part of the Summer Program was a two week Summer Study Tour where 46 students from second and third year visited Jaipur. The trip was combination of workshops, heritage walks and on-site documentation. The main intension of the trip was to explore, learn and express the climate responsive techniques and how they are integrated in the built form of residential spaces in the historic city of Jaipur relative to human scale and activity. Students got an opportunity to explore varied aspects of Dhundhaar Architecture in terms of its grandeur aesthetics and construction techniques across the heritage monuments at Amer Fort, Ghat ki Guni, City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Jal Mahal and Hawa Mahal. Corresponding to this they also got an opportunity to understand how contemporary buildings like Jawahar Kala Kendra and Pearl Academy, take aspects from the historic monuments and respond to hot and dry climatic conditions prevalent in the region. The study in the region was conducted under supervision of eminent landscape and conservation architects of Jaipur where students came up with on-site drafted measured drawing and sketches.
Study Trip to Kolar
09th – 13th August, 2017 As part of vertical architectural design studio, 22 students from second and third year visited Kolar for site analysis and documentation. The studio concern dealt with water scarcity in the geographical extents of Kolar. Students documented settlements of Teerahalli and temple complex of Antaragange to understand the context of water table in the region. The documentation at Kolar culminated into an institutional design of Centre for Hydrogeology.
Study Tour to Hampi
24Feb-2nd March, 2018 29 students of first year of Nitte Institute of Architecture visited architectural sites in North Karnataka to understand and experience rich Temple and Subterranean architecture of Vijayanagar empire and neighboring places. The study was done through extensive sketching and discussion on the spatial narratives in Traditional Indian Architecture.
Study Tour to Shringeri and Chikpete
4th March – 9th March, 2018 NIA conducted a visit to Chickpet and Shringeri was conducted as part of Architectural Design Housing studio for second year students to study and understand human settlement. Site analysis and documentation was conducted to explore the possibilities of housing - one being an oldest market place with a dense set of housing existing within them as part of a busiest metropolitan city another as a contrast of a historical temple town with traditional housing systems. Aspects like the threshold, the relation of the street and the built form elements, edges and periphery of a locality, family structure and community mapping (40-60 household) were documented across the study tour. The visit also involved a visit to IIM Bangalore and a session with architect Navnath Kanade to have deeper understanding of housing design.
