http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=114126
GIVING EXPERT GUIDANCE
Express News Service
Ahmedabad, January 15: Look’s who’s taking a leaf out of CEPT’s book.
Ahmedabad’s school of architecture is among the world’s five premier
planning institutions to help universities in South and South-East Asia
design and develop their curriculum.
City Design, a four-day workshop on urban development and planning
concluded at CEPT on Saturday. Representatives of the Katholicke
University of Leuven, Belgium; Technical University of Eindhoven, the
Netherlands; University of Morutawa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s NED
Univerrsity of Engineering and Technology participated in the workshop.
The meet was aimed at developing curriculum for post-graduate courses in
city design for the University of Moratuwa and NED University.
CEPT director Utpal Sharma said, “This is the first project on
curriculum development taken up by CEPT.”
The project has been funded by the European Union to foster regional and
multilateral networking between higher educational institutions in South
and South-East Asia.
Sharma said, “CEPT will provide theoretical solution to the universities
and also help them to modify designs according to conditions there. The
school will also guide them on projects.’’
CEPT’s planning experts are already helping Sri Lanka with a project in
tsunami-hit areas with suggestions and pratical guidance.
According to Dr Ir Andre Loeckx of the Katholicke University of Leuven,
“We want to get something new from these five premier planning
institutions. This is just a beginning and whatever we’ve seen in four
days is of high quality.”
On why the South Asian regon was chosen for the project, Loeckx said,
“We’ve worked in other regions like North and East Africa as well. We
thought that there is a need for urban development areas of the South
Asia. CEPT approached us for the project and things materialised.”
Professor Nimal de Silva, dean of Morutawa university’s Faculty of
Architecture said, “The expertise of all five institutions will be used
for curriculum development. For example, CEPT can help us with its
experience of earthquake.”
Leading figures in planning and architecture like Dr Balkrishna Doshi, Y
K Alagh, Charles Correa spoke at the workshop.
Nihal Perera, Associate Professor at Ball State University, Indiana (US)
said, “This will be a great project as people of the five partner
countries will work together. This will enable them to know more things.
It is always better to get the help of each other than try to establish
one’s supremacy.”