Architecture student wins prestigious award for thesis on ‘Reimagining Urban Rivers’

Akshansh Mishra, a final-year student at Apeejay School of Architecture and Planning, was recently awarded by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) for his thesis on re-envisioning heritage riverfronts in Kanpur. The NIUA and Namami Gange invited young undergraduate and postgraduate students to provide innovative solutions for urban river management in their third national-level competition on ‘Reimagining Urban Rivers’.

Talking about his thesis: Reworking Water Connect with Urbanisation: Heritage Riverfronts of Kanpur, Akshansh said, “When you talk of Kanpur, you usually think of an industrial city. But it is also home to various heritage structures including temples and ghats. There is a lot of history that dates back to the Indian independence movement. As someone brought up in Kanpur, a city that originated on the banks of the Ganga, I wanted to showcase an unexplored side of the heritage that thrives along the riverfront.

Also Read: AIT-SAP students put their best architectural works on display 

“Through my thesis, my purpose was to highlight the potential of an urban riverfront that people can celebrate. People’s participation is integral to the rejuvenation of a water body.”

The architecture student prepared the thesis under his guide professor Anand Khatri, Apeejay School of Architecture and Planning. “Professor Khatri helped me a lot,” Akshansh added. “He motivated me and guided me through my research.”

“Celebrating water — water wellness and the racial memory that connects us to our origin as a River Valley Civilisation — are very important aspects of our urban living. Water gives us the Blue Mind which is healthier and superior because it exposes us to the life within the water, the healing properties of water, and the life processes fostered by the benevolence of water. I must mention that this structured endeavour by the NIUA brings together the power of academia and makes it useful for creating knowledge. It adds to our understanding of the uniqueness of context in the Indian urban systems and shows us the path; preparing the streams of architecture and planning toward the right decision-making,” professor Khatri stated.

Akshansh was awarded Re 50,000 as a recognition of his hard work and to help him pursue his research.