Tag Archives: Siddharth Menon
MATERIALITY, INFRASTRUCTURAL LABOR & SOCIAL DIFFERENCE
Below is a selected list of readings that informed my thinking about the connections between infrastructure materiality, infrastructural 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 […]
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/
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.
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 […]
AIIS SUMMER LANGUAGE PROGRAM, KERALA
I had the opportunity to participate in the AIIS Summer Language Program for Malayalam in 2020. AIIS offers intensive, immersion-based training in modern and classical South Asian languages at multiple sites in India. My 8-week intensive online training program was conducted by Dr. V.K. Bindu, the Program In-Charge of the Malayalam Language Program based in […]
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” […]
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 […]
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 […]
Himalayan 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.
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 […]
Siddharth Menon 