After two decades of rich, fun and rather tormented work, made of ups and downs, partnerships, breakups and reunions like in a telenovela, I finally decided to establish my own practice, called with my own, not exactly memory-friendly, name.
Here's the office:
Lungo Dora Colletta 129
10153 Torino Italia
+39 3888789082
pensa@subhashmukerjee.com
Architecture is always a transformation of some existing condition: the best solutions are found in what is there. But a designer is not a neutral operator, and architecture also needs to induce emotion and affection.
All the projects shown here always try to obtain the minimum exciting* transformation of previous conditions.
Final results are never predicted, they are found, trying to produce fresh ideas with very weak stylistic constraints.
All my courses are designed to help students find their own way of being a designer. Easier to teach it than to do it yourself.
From 2011 I teach Project Methodology at NABA’s master course in Interior. Main project: "Forms of Life", an introspective representation of each student's biography, which is recalled and drawn as a diagram, then modeled into a three-dimensional form.
From 2013 I am an adjunct professor of Architectural and Urban Design at Architecture, Construction, City School, Politecnico di Torino. Main project: “Playing the Architects”, which discusses design methods through each student's almost actorial identification with a living architect at choice.
From 2016 I teach “Design degli ambienti” at IAAD (Torino) bachelor course in Interior. Main project: “Hyperreal”, the design - with minimum resources - of my own rented apartment.
2011-present
I have served for a few years as the vice-president of the Fondazione per l'Architettura Torino, attempting to reduce the puzzling gap between designers and professional institutions. I eventually decided to focus on design.
2017-2019
I was a founding partner - with Michele Bonino - of MARC studio.
MARC realized a considerable amount of architecture, re-use and interior projects.
The office's work was exhibited in venues like the Venice Biennale, Artissima Fair, the Royal Academy of Arts, the London Festival of Architecture, the Annali dell’Architettura e delle Città, Napoli.
MARC was a finalist at the Gold Medal for Italian Architecture (2009) and was awarded Torino’s Architetture Rivelate prize three times (2009, 2012, 2013).
It was a guest speaker at the UIA 2008 congress and gave lectures in Italy and abroad (Seoul, Moscow, Belgrade, Bruxelles, Mumbai, Beijing).
Works and projects by MARC were published on international books and magazines like “Casabella”, “A10”, “Abitare”, “de Architect”.
www.studiomarc.eu
2006-2016
I often represented MARC during a two year partnership with URBZ, an experimental collective specialized in participatory planning and design. The partnership, which worked in some of Mumbai's underserved neighborhoords, led to several research and design projects, including the construction of a few houses and the design of a mosque in the neighborhood of Shivaji Nagar.
2011-2013
I was a contributor of the “Book of Copies”, curated by San Rocco magazine and exhibited for the first time at the 13. International Architecture Exhibition. I also participated, with MARC, to the installation “Collaborations” curated as well by San Rocco, with an interpretative brass model of a project by Figini, Pollini and Terragni.
Two years before, we were invited by Luca Molinari to the exhibition “AILATI. Riflessi dal futuro”, Italian Pavilion. We produced an utopian installation with artist Nico Vascellari. It was titled "Meno Italia".
I was a tutor - with Michele Bonino - of the team coordinated by Pierre-Alain Croset, participating to the international workshop “Learning from Cities” curated by Francesco Garofalo. Our project, a proposal for a few gentle interventions on Mumbai's coastiline, won the Special Prize of the Jury. The Jury: Richard Sennett (president), Amyn Aga Khan, Antony Gormley, Zaha Hadid.
2012, 2010, 2006
One day we received an unexpected call from Mirko Zardini, the curator of "News from the Italian Interior", one of the main exhibitions in the Padiglione Italia. COEX was invited to exhibit three projects there. But COEX didn't exist anymore! We had already split up... Luckily our projects were exhibited anyway. Well, actually only two of them, as the model of the third one (a project called "Bath Invaders") never made it to Venice, as it crashed during its travel to the Giardini.
2004
Right after graduation, I was a founding partner, with Michele Bonino, Federica Patti and Martina Tabò, of architettura COEX, a little juvenile exploit. COEX, which was active for two years, produced a series of projects that were featured in international magazines like Abitare (with texts by Beppe Finessi), books and websites, like the glorious Arch.it curated by Marco Brizzi.
2001-2003
Right after graduation I taught “Architectural Design”, with Martina Tabò, at the USAC Italia international university exchange program.
I also was a teaching assistant of Pierre-Alain Croset and of Armando Baietto in several design courses at the Politecnico di Torino.
2001-2011
I graduated in architecture with a thesis titled “Dense City. An urban transformation in Mong Kok, Hong Kong”, with Martina Tabò. Our advisors were the intense Evelina Calvi (rip) and Carlo Olmo. Our co-advisor was Gary Chang, who then became a dear friend.
The Hong Kong experience was crucial to define some of the founding principles of my work: 1. the pleasure of working within tight limitations, 2. the section as a creative tool for solving problems.
Our thesis included an animation titled “100.000 in 1 km3”, which was played at the iMage Beyond Media, 6th International Festival of Architecture in Video, curated by Marco Brizzi and Paola Giaconia in Firenze.
2001, 2002
During the last years of university I could realize - together with Martina Tabò - a few interior projects. In spite of our total lack of experience, they never ended too disastrously. One of them was published on the international magazine Dwell, in april 2001. By the way, we learned about the acceptance of our project on the very morning we graduated.
Our very first project was my uncle’s apartment, still inhabited since 1997.
1997-2001
During my university years I attended several design courses abroad. These included:
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, independent research period, tutored by Cristiano Ceccato, Alvise Simondetti, Guy Westbrook.
Arkitekthøgskolen i Oslo (AHO), Erasmus program. Courses: “Bygg 3” led by Per Olav Fjeld, “Norwegian Wood” led by Christian Norberg-Schulz.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD), Career Discovery Program. Instructors: Heather Woofter, Yuyang Liu.
On my holidays I joined several EASA (European Architecture Students Assembly) summer meetings: Malta, Greece, Belgium-Holland.
1997-2000
I was born in Mussoorie, India.
When I was 8 months my family moved to Torino, Italy.
There, nobody could pronounce my name.
*Piedmontese for "half and half"
1974
Present:
Cecilia Bagnolatti, Giorgia Cavallo, Marta Mancini, Mr. X (administration)
Previous:
Allegra Battaglia, Matteo Borgna, Damiano Calcagno, Yvonne Forieri, Mattia Gola, Giorgia Greco, Giorgia Gueci, Andre Hidalgo, Stefania Iraci Sareri, Paritosh Kornepati, Mattia Lo Presti, Emanuele Pulieri, Federica Raunisi, Cecilia Riscaldina, Gabriele Romani, Ana Tinica, Matteo Villosio, Alessandro Zuccolo
FRED srl, Ingeo Associati, Corrado Curti, Riccardo Morello, Paola Salvetti, Rudy Savioli, Fionda, Beppe Giardino, Studioata, Studio Emanuel, Luca Arione, Federico Ottonello, VIBES srl, Chiara Martini
Finanziaria Internazionale Investments SGR spa, Im3d spa, Italmatch spa, REAM SGR spa, Siemens Healthcare spa, ASF Metrology srl, MIA - Milan Image Art Fair, Fionda, WIP - Work in Progress srl, Architectural Solutions srl, G*AA architetti, ICIS srl, IADA srl, Nuova Accademia srl, Politecnico di Torino, Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta, Città Metropolitana di Torino, Università degli Studi di Torino, Città di Somma Lombardo, Reggia di Venaria, ESCP Business School, and many (mostly) happy private clients...
*exciting = logical, respectful but not scared, showing-up slowly, functional after all.
p. iva 11130720011