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The Centre for Conscious Design

Conceptualizing a Conscious Guwahati

October 26, 2021 – 11:00 am
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Located on the southern side of the river Brahmaputra, Guwahati is a gateway city to the other north-eastern states in India and is on its way to becoming a smart city. As a city being shaped by varied rulers, governments, communities it is not immune to the rapid urban developments taking place in it. The first Chapter of Conscious Guwahati is hence, focused on exploring and building awareness on how urban developments can be designed following principles of equity, agency towards the realization of community resilient mental health and well-being. Conceptualizing a Conscious Guwahati Chapter is taking into account the two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely good health and well-being and sustainable cities and communities. Understanding the identity of the residents that are connected with living, working and recreational spaces of the city through narratives, opinions would help in building an indigenous enriched foundational vision for a Conscious Guwahati. “Conceptualizing a Conscious Guwahati” will be a pre-recorded event incorporating opinions, discussions with an Architect, a Historian and a Psychologist, Mental Health expert along with a presentation of questionnaire findings that would collect responses from city residents.

This event is part of an event series

Explore the CCD's Designing for Life Framework

Hosted by

Conscious Guwahati

Organised by

Shravani Bhattacharyya
Dr. Manidipa Baruah
Dr. Manidipa Baruah
Dr. Manidipa Baruah is a Professor of Psychology, at Gauhati University. She is a Psychologist with a research interest in Neurocognitive, Environmental Psychology, Clinical, Psychotherapy, and Psychodiagnostics. She was awarded the Junior Short Term Fellowship Programme sponsored by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Best Performance Award for valuable services and contributions to the promotion of School Psychology Research in India. She has also been a Resource Person for various Institutes. She was also an examiner in the standardization process of testing children with Dyslexia in India, developed by (PEARSON PUBLISHING HOUSE, USA).  She was a Master Trainer and Supervisor of the Global Fund for Fighting Aids Tuberculosis and Malaria(Geneva) a  Project in the Department of Psychology from(2009 to 2015) where HIV/AIDS counsellors from Assam as well as the entire country of India were trained in the skill of HIV/AIDS counselling. She is actively involved in the recruitment of professionals in several public and private sector companies. She also delivers Invited Lectures in several organizations on various psychological issues as a Resource Person.
Avinibesh Sarma
Avinibesh Sarma

Avinibesh Sharma who is a professional art conservator-restorer working for Tata Trusts Art Conservation Initiative. Hailing from the town of Jorhat in Eastern Assam, Avinibesh is a heritage enthusiast, and desultory sketch artist and loves cinema, cricket and food. He is also the founder of a website called Vintage Assam – dedicated to the digitization of Assam’s forgotten past. He uses photographs, artefacts, memoirs and architecture to tell stories about the unique history of Assam. Besides documenting, conserving and restoring antique collections, he writes essays on heritage for newspapers, magazines and blogs.

Ranjib Baruah
Ranjib Baruah

Ranjib Baruah is the Principal Architect and Managing Partner at Designers Plenum who has been practising in Guwahati for 36 years. He is a life member of the Council of Architecture (CoA) India, a member of the Indian Institute of Architects and a Founding member and vice president of the Heritage Construction Society of Assam. Baruah has completed and engaged in heritage conservation works such as conservation, restoration, reconstruction of Chandrakanta Handique Bhawan at Jorhat, Four Heritage Buildings of Cotton College and conservation, reconstruction of Christ Church of Panbazar Guwahati in 2016-17. He also worked as an editor of the Association of Architect Assam Journal and Chitra Chinta-a monthly issue Journal on cinema for Guwahati Cine Club.

Maria-Monica-S-_-Profile-image-bw-300x300
Maria Monica Selvaraj
  • Founder and Designer at The Ordinary Design Collaborative  

Monica is an architect, researcher, and community engagement specialist with over seven years of experience creating impactful projects at the intersection of design, research, and social innovation. She currently serves as the Head of Operations at the Center for Conscious Design (CCD), where she focuses on fostering collaboration and championing people-centered practices to build inclusive, healthy, and resilient environments.

Monica also leads The Ordinary Design Collaborative (TODC), a multi-disciplinary design studio in India. At TODC, she works with a talented team to bridge art, design, and the built environment, delivering meaningful projects that bring communities together and drive social impact.

With experience working alongside NGOs, urban labs and local governments across India, Monica enjoys designing workshops and programs that help people connect with the spaces around them. She’s passionate about creating opportunities for communities to learn, engage, and feel empowered in shaping their environments.

Whether she’s designing spaces, curating events, or brainstorming innovative solutions, Monica loves collaborating with others to create positive change.

Shravani Bhattacharyya
Shravani Bhattacharyya
  • Member of the International Association of People-Environment Studies (2022-2024) Member of Emotion Focussed Therapy Network, India (2023-present) Member and Child Life Volunteer with Mission Smile, India (2015-present)  

Shravani Bhattacharyya is a Psychologist working towards the health and well-being of both people and places. Her research interest is at the intersection of environmental spaces and Mental Health, specifically rapid urbanizing spaces, place attachment, belongingness, urban open spaces, residential spaces and global concerns such as accelerated climate change.

Her academic background includes an MSc. in Clinical Psychology from Christ University, Bengaluru; a BA (Hons) in Psychology from Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi and a PGD in Urban Planning and Development from IGNOU, Delhi. She uncovered her interest in the dynamic interaction of people and space through her Master’s thesis work on qualitative explorations into rapid urban changes and their associations with Mental Health and Well-Being. In 2022, her research article, “Exploring Human Connections with Living Spaces during the Covid-19 Pandemic” was featured in the Culture Hong Kong edition, of China Daily.  She has been actively presenting her work at interdisciplinary international conferences focusing on topics from Environmental Psychology, Sustainability and Well-being since 2019.

As a  Chapter Representative of Conscious Guwahati with The CCD, she explored the importance of heritage identities of cities on the community’s well-being and solution-focused responses to city challenges from city residents’ perspectives in 2021. Her affiliation with The Centre for Conscious Design also inspired her to further explore the uses, satisfaction and improvement suggestions from the community on Open Spaces in Guwahati as a Project in Urban Planning and Development.

Shravani works through a phenomenological,  salutogenic and trauma-aware lens to support people in being conscious of the connections with their environment that can potentiate their move towards Health & Well-Being.

Aishwarya Narayana
Itai Palti - Intentional Spaces Headshot
Itai Palti
  • Founder, Hume Founder, The Centre for Conscious Design

Itai is a practicing architect, researcher, and multidisciplinary artist focusing on the relationship between people and place. He is the Founder of The Centre for Conscious Design, and Director of Hume – a Science-Informed architecture and urban design practice.

In 2015, Itai founded the Conscious Cities movement; a new field of research and practice for building environments that are aware and responsive, using data analysis, AI, tech, and science-informed design. For his work in advancing changes in the design profession, he was named by Metropolis Magazine as one of 2020’s ‘Game Changers’ in transformative ideas in Health, Social Justice, Technology, and Urbanism.

Itai carries out thought leadership and advisory roles in a number of other research and policy bodies, contributing to strategies that focus on systems change and the promotion of design as a socially conscious profession.

His work and writing has been featured internationally and he is a regular speaker at events focused on the built environment and human impact.

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