Sagar Shinde (MA 2012)

Sagar Shinde is an urban designer and architect.

In my undergraduate Architecture course, I learnt how buildings come together with respect to the end user, but it was the setting of buildings into the cityscape that really caught my interest. I was very keen to explore this further and the MA Urban Design at Cardiff University seemed perfect.

I returned to India after graduating and have worked in architectural firms, offering my services as an Urban Designer and Architect. As a rapidly developing country, India has a lot of large scale urban developments.

My experience on the MA course has helped me propose design which is site-specific, contextual to the surroundings and heavily backed by analysis – a huge advantage.

Studying at Cardiff was a life-changing experience – from getting the right exposure to current trends and concepts in the field, to the interesting mix of fellow students. The lecturers successfully ignited our minds. Since completing the course I tend to see cities in a whole different perspective, preferring to walk to explore the urban fabric rather than opt for transport.

For the research-based design proposal, I consciously chose a topic and site in my home town. I came up with a design proposal which addressed the cityscape and further condensed into design guidelines which could be adhered to in similar scenarios across the city. I am currently working towards the application of this with the help of the City Council.

In the future, I plan to start teaching what I learnt at Cardiff by being associated with a reputed university. I’d also like to start a research cell which could work towards collaborating with students and the city authorities on real projects, hopefully resulting in a better city to live in.