Tag Archives: Siddharth Menon
RESEARCH: MATERIALITY, EMBODIED LABOR & SOCIAL DIFFERENCE
Below is a selected list of readings that informed my thinking about the connections between infrastructure materiality, embodied labor, and social difference. These readings form a key part of my journal article – “Class, Caste, Gender, and the Materiality of Cement Houses in India” – published in Antipode (2023, 55 (2)). Truelove, Y. (2011). (Re-)Conceptualizing […]
LECTURE: CONSTRUCTING INDIA, CONSTRUCTING (IN)EQUALITY
I was invited to speak at TEDx NIT-Calicut on April 30, 2022. Many thanks to the organizing team, led by Varghese George and Vardhah Moidu, and the students of NIT-Calicut for a well organized and engaging event. Details about the event and speakers can be found below; https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/49316 https://tedxnitc.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TEDxNITCalicut/
PUBLIC: Remembering Didi Contractor, a Champion of Indigenous Styles in Built Environments
I wrote something for The Wire in memory of Didi Contractor who passed away on 5 July, 2021. Many thanks to Himanshu Burte for his encouragement. Please find the article here.
LECTURE: VALUING WATER- GLOBAL INEQUALITIES IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
On the occasion of World Water Day on 22 March 2021, I will be speaking about water and sustainable development at Beyond Square Feet: A triannual lecture series on Sustainable Development, organized by Asset Homes in Kochi, Kerala. Many thanks to Mr. Sunil Kumar, MD – Asset Homes, for the invitation. Please find details of […]
PUBLIC: SPACES WITH “NATURAL” HABITAT
The following interview was published in Sawdust on the occasion of World Environment Day where I speak about the need to deconstruct our understandings of “nature” and “sustainability” to include social relations, people, and labor. To read the complete interview please visit https://sawdust.online/interviews/sustainable-architecture/ Spaces with Natural Habitat “We need to deconstruct our notion of “sustainable architecture” […]
AWARDS: IJURR FOUNDATION STUDENTSHIP
I’m happy to announce that I am one of 9 recipients of the 2020 IJURR Foundation Studentship for my proposed doctoral dissertation research, titled “(De)Constructing Concrete: Capital, Nature, and Infrastructure in Urbanizing India.” More details can be found at here and here. (De)Constructing Concrete: Capital, Nature, and Infrastructure in Urbanizing IndiaIn August 2018, the coastal south […]
Workshop: Third Annual International Anthropology of Concrete Workshop 2019, Rice University
It was great interacting with critical scholars working on the relationship between concrete and society from different interdisciplinary perspectives on 2 March, 2019 at Rice University, Houston. A special thanks to Kali Rubaii for organizing the same and for the images. Details below. Ecopolitics of Cement and Concrete Third Annual International Anthropology of Concrete Workshop […]
Fieldwork: Regional Transformations
The following images were clicked by the author from a recent field visit to his research site in Kandwari village, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.
Praxis: Earth House, Himachal Pradesh
Location: Village Chandpur, Block Baijnath, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh Building Type: Guest House Architect: Siddharth Menon Design Team: Pappu Kumar, Uddham Singh, Pratap Chand, Hansraj, Roshan Lal, Meher Chand, Om Prakash, Deepika Amonkar Castes, Crafts & Communities: Gaddi stone cutters, Chamaar carpenters, Lohaar carpenters, Pandit slate cutters, Thakur-Rana labour, Chowdhury masons, Patiyaal painters, Masand labour […]
FIELDWORK: SIGNBOARDS OF MAHARASHTRA
Below is a collection of images of quirky signboards displayed along State highways in Maharashtra. I documented these during my 26-day bicycle journey from Mumbai to Kerala in February-March 2016.
Urban & Economic Geographer 