The HECAR foundation seeks to focus public awareness on architecture, including heritage conservation and urban issues, through publications, talks, seminars, exhibitions, and scholarships.

Women In Architecture - 2000 Plus

Silent Sentinels - Traditional Architecture of Coorg

The Hecar Foundation is proud to announce the launch of its first book, Women In Architecture - 2000 Plus, documenting the dynamic work of women architects in South Asia. Twenty-six committed women architects from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and a representative each from Singapore and from Australia, speak about the ideas, emotions and beliefs that inspire their work.

Take a look at this book. No architect who wishes to be sensitive to current trends can afford to ignore it !

Women In Architecture 2000 Plus
- Brinda Somaya & Urvashi Mehta

Availability: The Book is currently available.
                 Not sold in Book stores.
No. of Pages: 160
Hardcover Edition
ISBN 81-7525-194-8

Price: Indian Rs. 1600/ US Dollars 35
*Shipping charges extra.
Special Price of Rupees 1200 for Educational Institutions and Bulk Orders.

'In dreams begins responsibility.' - W.B. Yeats

Few countries in the world offer architects such varied challenges as those of
South Asia. In the last few decades women architects have been responsible for
an enormous and diverse body of work,
which deserves wider recognition.
From low-income housing to large corporate and public buildings,
from urban planning to the restoration of heritage structures,
their creative solutions have entailed integrating the hi-tech
professional with the 'barefoot architect'.
Women In Architecture offers a cross-section of work from India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, together with some
representation from Singapore and Australia, to demonstrate how
women architects are steering a course between the imperatives of a
global culture and their own countries' rich design traditions.

Click here to read the Foreword by Mrs. Brinda Somaya, Chairperson- Women In Architecture.

Click here to read the Book Review.

Click here to order your copy.

Silent Sentinals
Traditional Architecture of Coorg
Concept and foreword by Brinda Somaya

The traditional buildings of Coorg, or Kodagu, are among the most striking cultural expressions of this distinctive region of South India. For centuries the belief systems, social bonds, and family rituals associated with these distinctive built forms ensured their preservation and the continuity of their place in the life of the community. These elaborate, handsomely built mud, stone, and timber structures served as physical testaments to the prosperity and wellbeing of Kodava families.

The fast pace of cultural change that is now sweeping India poses grave threats to traditional skills and indigenous built forms. The first task in conserving a cultural tradition is to document it thoroughly. Towards that end, this book documents the three major building types of Coorg architecture: the ainemane (ancestral house), the temple, and the independent house. In addition to providing a record of a distinctive architectural tradition, the book attempts to inculcate a fuller understanding and appreciation of the values, beliefs, and practices that shaped it. Out of this, we believe, will emerge the commitment to preserve and protect the tradition.

Availability:
The Book is currently available.
 Not sold in Book stores.
No. of Pages: 141
Hardcover Edition
ISBN 81-7525-679-6

Price: Indian Rs. 1200/ US Dollars 35
*Shipping charges extra.
Special Price of Rupees 1000/- for orders placed on website.

Click here to read the Foreword by Mrs. Brinda Somaya.

Click here to order your copy.