Vadodara Navrachana university student honored with nomination of her thesis on "Social Housing" in the Charles Correa Gold Medal Award for best undergraduate thesis in the country

Kairavi Gandhi a student of SEDA, (Bachelor of Architecture Program at Navrachana University) was recently honored with a nomination of her thesis on "Social Housing" in the Charles Correa Gold Medal Award for best undergraduate thesis in the country. Her thesis was nominated in the top six in the country.

The Charles Correa Gold Medal is the most prestigious national level award for the best undergraduate thesis, and was established in the memory of one of the leading architects of the country, late Charles Correa. The award honors the most creative and innovative students thesis that address contemporary problems of the society such as environment, urban and social issues. Students that find out new ways to solve societal problems through their design thesis are honored by the Charles Corres Foundation.

The competition for the nomination and the Gold medal is intense as forty best colleges of the country compete in this award. Kairavi's thesis addressed a pressing concern of social mix and cohesion through her housing project in Vadodara. Kariavi was guided by Prof. Pratyush Shankar, Dean of SEDA, Navrachana University.

One of the biggest problems in housing in our country is the problem of segregation; where rich and poor people do not live together but rather stay in different enclaves. Kairavi designed a housing where socially and economically mixed community can live together. This was the unique challenge which she took up in her thesis. The jury members appreciated her design and her approach to address such a complex problem

The jury of the Charles Correa Gold Medal comprised of some of the topmost architects of the world. Jury was chaired by architect Dennis Pieprz from Boston USA. Other members of the jury included Gurjit Singh Matharoo, Bijoy Ramchandran, Shimul Javeri Kadri and Nedine Gerdts.