Jadavpur Univ students in finals of architecture quiz 'Archumen'

Students Jadavpur University's of architecture department "" Suman Pal and Koushik Majumder "" were among the two teams from the eastern zone have made it to the finals of Archumen 2004, the architecture quiz to be held in Bangalore on November 6, 2004.

The east zone finals of Archumen 2004, the biggest architecture quiz in India, was organised by Ethos and Tata Tiscon at IIT Kharagpur.

Pal and Majumder would face challenges from teams from Delhi, Pune, Bhubaneswar. Mumbai and the south at Bangalore. The team from CET Bhubaneshwar who came in the first was the other team that qualified from the East.

This is the second consecutive year when Ethos is quizzing students on issues pertaining to architects, architecture and out built environment. Around 50 two-member teams from colleges offering architecture across Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa battled it out.

The national event has been conceived by Ethos, the brainchild of Gita Balakrishnan, a self-motivated architect. She said, "The aim is to arm budding architects and the architectural fraternity with knowledge that is out of the texts and made the world of bricks and mortar more interesting & stimulating for the general public."

She added, "Archumen came a full circle last year when the team from School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi walked away with the top honours at Grand Finale in Mumbai. The interest and the enthusiasm shown by the students gives me the confidence and reason to make this an annual event."

Archumen '04 is also being actively supported by the Young Architects Committee of the Indian Institute of Architects.

As a part of this event, the YAC organized interactions and presentations by students from different architecture colleges on topics such as innovative use of stainless steel in design and low-cost housing for the informal sector.

Vijay Garg, the chairman of the Young Architects' Committee of the Indian Institute of Architects said that "Archumen is in tune with IIA's basic philosophy - to encourage the study of architecture, to elevate the standard of arthitectural practice and by mutual support to promote the built environment".

In keeping with Ethos' resolve towork with young minds, Actionaid, through its Karm Yuva initiative, used this opportunity to create awareness among the youth about the poor and marginalized children and communities.