Notes from an Alternative Journey – Living and working in the rural Himalayas

Aarti Dhingra has been in our Stuttgart office since February 2022. She is an architect from India and has a Master of Science degree in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design from the University of Stuttgart.

Before moving to Germany, she lived and worked in a small village in Kumaon in the central Himalayas of India, managing construction projects in remote rural areas on hilly terrain where resources, climate, working conditions, worldviews, and the concept of time are quite different from cities. In this talk, Aarti explains the deep relationship between rural Himalayan communities, their forests, their water sources, and their built environment. Highlighting the cascading impacts of invasive construction processes on the fragile Himalayan ecosystem which is fast changing due to climate change, she urges architects to re-think and build in a relevant, sustainable way.
Aarti gave a presentation in English as part of Indian Architecture and Society Talks, which is recorded and available to anyone.

Summary of video content >