SEA  
ARCHIVES  

Designed as a comprehensive resource on spatial thinking, experimental pedagogy, and academic practices, this archive serves as a record for reference and critical analysis. 

More than a traditional institutional repository, it is envisioned as an "Archive of Ideas," structured to mirror the conceptual and intellectual framework of SEA. The platform captures specific engagements, explorations, and pedagogical reorientations, expressing the school's distinct set of practices constituted by its students and teachers. 

The collection encompasses intellectual articulations—from course books and objectives to studio briefs and lectures—alongside a  documentation of student work, field studies, and thesis projects. Through this structure, the archive navigates complex inquiries into typologies, ontologies, and genealogies, while exploring themes of environment, urbanisation, futures, and ethics. It serves as a space for rethinking geographies and histories of type, offering the school's co-learning experiments and its ongoing articulation of space and form.


+ CORE COURSES
+ CULTURE STUDIES

+ CHOICE COURSES
+ SETTLEMENT STUDIES


Spatiality of beliefs

Forms for Spirituality, Religion and Capital
Gauri Shinde, 2024


 This study explores how spiritual beliefs and practices shape architectural design, creating sanctuaries that allow users to transcend the routines of daily life. Focusing on two contrasting spaces—Tulja Bhavani Temple in the heart of Tuljapur and the Dhamma Siddhapuri Vipassana Meditation Center on the outskirts of Solapur—this research examines how each site provides a distinct type of breakout for its visitors. Having grown up in Tuljapur, my early exposure to local religious practices sparked an enduring interest in how different spiritual spaces accommodate a diversity of beliefs and practices.

At Tulja Bhavani Temple, an annual influx of pilgrims from Maharashtra, South India, and even the North brings varied traditions and rituals. For instance, some pilgrims perform the gondhal ritual on the chabutra, which is a designated platform within the temple complex that creates a unique spatial atmosphere,and is distinct from other areas of the site. Examining how these diverse practices unfold in different spatial settings reveals the nuanced ways in which the temple functions as an escape for visitors, shaped by scale, use, and cultural beliefs.

In contrast, the Vipassana Center serves as a secular retreat which attracts primarily middle-aged and older participants who seek introspective, non-religious meditation experiences which focus on self-discovery. Here, the spatial design encourages a retreat from external beliefs, centering instead on inner awareness and personal transformation with a structured routine and practices rooted in mindfulness, this environment creates a distinct sanctuary that fosters a quiet, reflective escape, shaped by the unique, inward-focused principles of Vipassana.

Through semi-structured interviews, observations, and visual documentation, this research investigates the relationship between spatial characteristics and spiritual practices, exploring how each site offers a distinctive escape from everyday life. The study aims to deepen our understanding of how spatial design, shaped by spiritual practices, impacts user experience and creates meaningful, transformative environments.




Read also under ‘Housing and Typology’:

Image 1

What makes a home: a study of few homeless in Mumbai city

Housing and Typology
Aagam Shah , 2019

Image 1

Reimagining the transforming Basti


House and Typology
Shreyansh Gupta, 2018
Image 1

Of queering households


House and Typology
Trisha Salvi, 2018
To access the Thesis Works, kindly fill the following form with relevant details. 
SEA Archives 2014© by the School of Environment and Architecture is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.