Anupama Kundoo

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Anupama Kundoo
Anupama Kundoo.jpg
Anupama Kundoo
Born (1967-04-24) April 24, 1967 (age 58)
Occupation(s)Architect, Professor
Years active1990–present

Anupama Kundoo is an Indian architect [1] and a descendant of Hatkhola and Manikganj royal family. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early Life and Education

Kundoo was born on 24 April 1967 [5] [6] in Pune to Bengali parents who relocated from Dhaka to Bombay. [7] Kundoo is a descendant of Hatkhola and Manikganj royal family via Peary Charan Sarkar [2] [3] and Bengal aristocracy via Judge [8] and former Dewan of Mayurbhanj Mohini Mohan Dhar Esq. [9]

Anupama Kundoo studied architecture at the Sir J. J. College of Architecture, University of Bombay and received her degree in 1989. She was awarded the Vastu Shilpa Foundation Fellowship in 1996 for her thesis on "Urban Eco-Community: Design and Analysis for Sustainability". She was awarded her doctoral degree from Technische Universität Berlin in 2008. [10] [11]

Kundoo established herself as an architect in Auroville in 1990 where she designed and built many buildings with "energy and water efficient infrastructure" adaptations. [12] She worked here from middle of 1990 till 2002. [13]

Kundoo taught at Technische Universität Berlin and later at Technische Universität Darmstadt during 2005. [14] She worked as Assistant Professor at Parsons The New School for Design, New York [11] until 2011 then moving to Australia as a senior lecturer in the University of Queensland. In 2014, she returned to Europe and began working at the European School of Architecture and Technology at the Universidad Camilo José Cela in Madrid. [15] Since 2024 she has been a Full Professor for Architecture and Design Methods at TU Berlin. [16]

Work

Her approach to building design is based on material research that minimizes environmental effects. [12] Her basic design approach is to use "waste materials, unskilled labour and local communities". [17]

One of the notable buildings built for her own residence is titled the "Wall House", built in a community area of 15 acres (6.1 ha) with a built-in space of 100 square metres (1,100 sq ft) constructed for one million Rupees in 2000, [12] in Auroville for communal living. [18] This house is L-Shaped in the plan, has a courtyard in the middle; while it is modern in concept it adopts traditional "vernacular" use of materials such as compressed earth, concrete, and steel. The bathroom is set in an open-to-sky design, with smooth merging with the interior and external spaces and landscaped, giving it both a modern and a regional appearance. [19] A full-sized replica of her Wall House was made by hand and exhibited at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. [13] New York Times called it as "a gem among rubble".

Another of her theme is "Liberty" which presents a reading place as a free library, a creation built with three types of trees fixed in the centre of a square space. The trees' trunks and branches are made from steel and the leaves made of salvaged books, with the floor made of concrete. This was exhibited at the Placa de Salvador Segui in Barcelona during June–September 2014. [20]

In 2024, Kundoo joined the judging panel for the Dezeen Awards alongside other prominent architects. [21] In the same year, she was part of the multidisciplinary advisory committee for the inaugural Ammodo Architecture Awards. [22]

Select Architectural Projects

Publications

Books
Papers [24]

Exhibitions

Awards

References

  1. Shinde, Renuka (30 December 2019). "15 Projects by Anupama Kundoo - Rethinking The Future". RTF | Rethinking The Future. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 Rao, R. Venkoba (1925). The Life And Work Of Bengal Zemindars Vol. 1.
  3. 1 2 Mitra, Rādhāramaṇa (1980). Kalikātā-darpaṇa (in Bengali). Subarṇarekhā. ISBN   978-81-86263-48-8.
  4. Mitra, Radharaman (1952). Kolikata - Darpan Parba 1. p. 275.
  5. "Anupama Kundoo: Pioneering Sustainable Architecture in India - Middle Height". 1 October 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  6. Wanjira, Mwiyathi (8 April 2023). "2023 UIA GOLD MEDAL & PRIZES - MEET THE JURY". International Union of Architects. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  7. "Anupama Kundoo's philosophy of architecture and everything". www.ribaj.com. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  8. Bhanja Dynasty of Mayurbhanj: Exploring the Contribution of Maharaja Sri Ram Chandra Bhanj Deo (1890-1912) Ghanashyam Giri, Volume 7, Issue 2, March-April 2025 International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research (IJFMR) pp. 8
  9. Mallick, Pravat (August 2024). "Prajamandal Movement in Mayurbhanja: A Subaltern Fight for Power" (PDF). Sampratyaya. 1 (1): 41–55. doi:10.21276/smprt.202408.1s1.a4. ISSN   3048-5851. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 April 2025.
  10. Anger 2009, p. 188.
  11. 1 2 "Anupama Kundoo Strauch Visiting Critic". Ithaca, New York: Cornell University. 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Tipnis 2012, p. 15.
  13. 1 2 Heathcote, Edwin (28 March 2014). "Anupama Kundoo's handmade architecture". The Financial Times Ltd. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. "Bricks and mortar". Anupama Kundoo. India Today. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. "The Architect is Present': biografía de Anupama Kundoo". Madrid, Spain: Arquitectura Viva. 14 March 2014. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  16. "Personaliameldungen aus der TU Berlin" (in German). TU Berlin. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  17. Haddad, Rifkind & Deyong 2014, p. 396.
  18. Architects 2001, p. 86.
  19. Desāi et al. 2012, p. 186.
  20. Pavilions, Pop-Ups and Parasols: The Impact of Real and Virtual Meeting on Physical Space. Wiley. 2 June 2015. p. 69. ISBN   978-1-118-82904-2.
  21. "Melike Altınısık, Michele De Lucchi and Anupama Kundoo are announced as judges for Dezeen Awards 2024". Dezeen. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  22. Fakharany, Nour (19 November 2024). "Ammodo Architecture Announces Inaugural Global Awards Recipients for Social and Ecological Innovation". ArchDaily. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  23. Srivathsan, A. (18 January 2023). "Revisit: Wall House in Auroville, India by Anupama Kundoo". The Architectural Review. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  24. "Anupama Kundoo". indian-architects.com. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  25. Stathaki, Ellie (31 March 2016). "Anupama Kundoo investigates affordable housing solutions at Roca London". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  26. "Anupama Kundoo awarded the 2021 RIBA Charles Jencks Award". Dezeen. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  27. "Anupama Kundoo Receives The 2021 RIBA Charles Jencks Award". ArchDaily. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  28. "THE AUGUSTE PERRET PRIZE FOR TECHNOLOGY IN ARCHITECTURE". International Union of Architects. Retrieved 5 January 2025.

Bibliography