AED Foundation
Sharing what public buildings teach us
An initiative of ARCH-EN DESIGN for students, teachers and young professionals: seminars, competitions, site visits and research.
Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur
Where we began
The formation years
ARCH-EN DESIGN began in 1984, a year after its founder, Ar. Ashok Kumar, graduated from IIT Roorkee with the gold medal.
The first decade was about learning to build for the state: residences for the Government of Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow, and then Kisan Mandi Bhawan, the Headquarters of the UP Mandi Parishad, commissioned in 1992 and completed in 1995. Those years set the way we still work: Architects and Engineers at one table, close to the site, answering to public clients and public budgets.
- 1983Ashok Kumar graduates in Architecture from IIT Roorkee with the gold medal.
- 1984ARCH-EN DESIGN is founded and registered with the Council of Architecture.
- 1988Residences for Ministers and senior officers of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, for the Estate Department.
- 1992Kisan Mandi Bhawan, Lucknow: a ten-storey Headquarters for the UP Mandi Parishad, set diagonally on its site.
- 1995Kisan Mandi Bhawan is completed.
What we learned
Why a foundation, and why now
Hospitals, Universities, Courts and offices shape everyday life, yet few students ever see how they are planned, built and run.
Much of what we know was learned on site, from clients, contractors and the people who use our buildings. Very little of it reaches a classroom. The AED Foundation is how we intend to give that knowledge back: to open our projects to students, to bring practitioners and teachers together, and to give young people a place to test their ideas on real questions.
Balance
Practice and Foundation, side by side
The practice
Designs and delivers public buildings, and brings real projects, sites and data to the Foundation.
The Foundation
Works with students and teachers, and brings fresh ideas, questions and future colleagues back to the practice.
How it will grow
Three steps
- 01 · Begin
A lecture series and site visits
Talks by our own Architects and Engineers and by guests, and visits to our sites under construction, with Schools of Architecture in Lucknow and Delhi.
- 02 · Grow
An annual design competition
One question of public Architecture each year, judged by practitioners and teachers, with the results exhibited and published.
- 03 · Deepen
Research, writing and mentoring
Case studies drawn from built public projects, shared openly, and mentoring and internships for graduates entering the profession.
Programmes
What the Foundation will do
- 01Seminars and lecturesTalks by practitioners, academics and the people who run public buildings, open to students and young professionals.
- 02Design competitionsIdeas competitions for students and young Architects on real questions of public Architecture.
- 03Workshops and studiosHands-on sessions with Colleges on site Planning, Healthcare and Campus design, building services and construction.
- 04Site visitsGuided visits to buildings under construction and in use, so students see how drawings become buildings.
- 05Research and publicationsNotes, case studies and data drawn from public projects, shared openly.
- 06MentoringGuidance and internships for students and graduates entering the profession.
Audience
Who it is for
- StudentsOf Architecture, Engineering and Planning
- Young professionalsIn their first years of practice
- Colleges and institutesPartners for lectures, studios and juries
- The publicAnyone interested in how public buildings are made
Get involved
Partner with us
Programmes, dates and calls for entries will be announced on this page.
Colleges, institutions and individuals who would like to host a lecture, judge a competition or propose a topic can write to us with “AED Foundation” in the subject line.