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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.


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Infrastructure transformations: impact on river ecology

Humanising infrastructure
Subodh Shelke, 2024


This thesis examines the transformative impact of infrastructure development and material practices on rural landscapes, communities, and ecological systems, using the Purna River region in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, as a case study. Originally characterised by lush vegetation and active community engagement, the Purna River and its surroundings underwent significant changes due to infrastructural interventions and unsustainable resource extraction. 

In the past, the region relied on traditional mud houses, which responded with the environment, provided climate-sensitive living conditions, and met the agrarian community’s needs. However, the construction of a dam, designed to regulate water for agricultural purposes, failed to deliver its intended benefits, leading to severe alterations in the river’s course. This disruption caused considerable land erosion and the loss of fertile agricultural land, creating a cascade of economic challenges for the local community. Over the past decade, these ecological shifts have prompted a transition from mud houses to concrete structures, supported by the increasing dependence on the river for sand used in construction. 

This shift has not only strained the river’s resources but also introduced new environmental issues, such as erosion and water scarcity. The river’s degradation has severely affected the rural population’s socio-economic fabric and altered traditional practices that once centered on sustainable resource use. Through a combination of field surveys, interviews with local stakeholders, and satellite imagery analysis, this research explores the intricate relationships between infrastructure, community life, and natural resources. 



Read also under ‘Humanising infrastructure’:

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Humanising infrastructure



Humanising infrastructure
Aakash Bhanushali, 2019
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Food streets, as infrastructure for the city: a study of the Khau Galis of the city

Humanising infrastructure
Hetvi Lapasia, 2019
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Extensions: urban life beneath transit infrastructure


Humanising infrastructure
Keerat Kaur Gill, 2024 
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Infrastructure and altered spatialities: case of Pune metro


Humanising infrastructure
Samiksha Bhagde, 2024
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Dancing acts: street as theatre


Humanising infrastructure
Siddharth Chitalia, 2019
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