session 3

a Sphinx, a Cormorant & other Forests: Geographies of Imagination in Participatory Practices

Friday, 07 August 2026,
5 pm to 7 pm 

VENUE
School of Environment & Architecture
CKP Colony, Eskar Road, Borivali West, Mumbai 400 091

or join virtually via YouTube Live

Unpredictable climates carry a sea of imaginations revealing geographies and transient nature. Cyclic phenomena, with diverse rhythms: circadian, subliminal seasons, centurian, millenial and more—manifest measures of an imagination of time with memories of past, experience of present, and intuitions of future. From thresholds, spatial aspirations attempt to contemplate technological acts of inhabitation.

Drawing from creative practices of resilience and its lived experiences—the narrative engages in participatory, self-build, community rebuilding processes that lend themselves to contemplate liminal “architectures of practice” in uncertain times. An accretive habitat that organically grows over time.

Cormorants, cats and forests—inadvertently bear witness as the philosophical, humane, environmental, political, ecological, economic narratives and questions unfold with intuitions of our collective shared futures. Geographies of coastal sands, forests, mangroves, lakes, topographies, silt and fields, wetlands, riverine plains, dunes, sea, hills and deserts.

To bear witness also invites several reimaginations of histories, ideas, communities, governance, advocacy, policy, bio-diversity and ecologies of communion.


discussants

Durganand Balsavar
Durganand Balsavar is an architect, researcher, and environmental advocate (Artes Roots Collaborative / Avani, Calicut). His work spans participatory housing, disaster mitigation, environmental policy, and community-led design, including UNEP, Auroville TDC, and the Shenzhen Biennale 2026.


moderated by
Rohit Mujumdar
(SEA)


This lecture series is partially supported by Urban Centre Mumbai and is free and open to public.