Aurospace
One drop of practice is better than an ocean of theories.
Aurospace is a unique international programme, established and led by Jateen Lad, teaching architecture and design graduates an ethical and future-oriented design practice through rare access to live social development projects.
Students first investigate hands-on pressing real world social and environmental issues affecting local communities on the ground. They are then guided to create ethical and resourceful design solutions before contributing a real build or fabrication on live project sites.
The programme has proven to be an inspiring and formative learning experience equipping students with a foundational skillset to meet the challenges of our climate and ecological emergency and extreme social, economic and spatial inequalities.
Aurospace provides experience of a genuinely multi-disciplinary approach to design practice – integrating detailed architectural and environmental design, engineering, construction management and building / making on live projects. Emphasised throughout are the ethical responsibilities of the designer to achieve innovations that are beautiful, low carbon but also relevant.
Using live construction sites as classrooms, students are taught fundamental skills before experimentation with new materials and techniques.
A basic toolkit is used creatively to achieve scientific precision in measuring topographic levels, setting out structures, foundation design, the science of masonry, mortar and plaster mixes, reinforcement design, formwork assembly, waste treatment processes and water management. Students will work with and learn from skilled site workers, fabricators, tradesmen and unskilled workers to develop, prototype, test and finally build their solutions.
Collaboration, clear communication, inclusivity and trust become normalised in everyday conversations in the studio and on sites. As is the confidence to work through any errors or challenges on the spot, on site.
Taking on the responsibilities normally dealt with by a quantity surveyor, project manager, contractor or a structural engineer has been a huge learning curve. It makes you consider things from a range of very different perspectives, which ultimately enriches the entire design process.
Megan Crouse
In addition, Aurospace provided rare project and site management experience. This teaches how the complex logistics of construction sites inform the design process and the sequencing of assemblies. Activities include the preparation of site schedules, programmes and valuations; contract ethics and the ethics of supply chains; negotiating and procuring materials; calculating and paying wages to construction teams.
Aurospace began in 2011-12, when graduates from the Manchester School of Architecture's stand-out 'Prototype' unit, taught by Ming Chung and Nick Tyson, came out to Pondicherry to learn ethical design practice under Jateen Lad. The programme's success has been driven by students' growing aspiration for hands-on practice of meaning and contemporary relevance. By expanding design education beyond the university studio into live scenarios students experience at first hand the power of architecture and design to uplift fragile communities and revitalise their environments.
The programme is supported by the generous facilities and encouragement of the Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry.
Aurospace provides an unrestricted access to a building site and allows students to witness the realisation of built form and construction techniques. This sort of exposure should be incorporated into architectural training from the very beginning.
Josh Rollin
[ ETHICAL PRACTICE | DESIGN EDUCATION | PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE ]
