CapAsia I & II/ PolyArk XIV & XV

Hope you are doing well. As you know, CapAsia IV students helped begin rebuilding a tsunami-hit village in Sri Lanka last year. CapAsia got huge publicity in a number of local, national, and international publications. See http://capasia.net/iv/stories.htm As participants of first south Asia field studies, PolyArk XIV and XV (also CapAsia I and II), you guys were the dreamers –in a good way-- of this field study. It is a unique field study that no one in the USA offers. Now many otheres follow your footsteps; Wes and I have kept that tradition going.

We did a nice double-session on CapAsia at the ACSP regional conference held at BSU. Eric Davenport, Lynette Boswell, Nishit Somaya, and Don Treese talked about their CapAsia experience. Faculty from UW Milwaukee and U of Michigan, as well the Provost and the Asst. Provost of BSU talked about CapAsia. There are many graduate students from India and Nepal in both architecture and planning.

Remember Angie Furore and Carryn Peirce (Sami) received thesis awards? Last year, Claudia Canepa of MIT, a CapAsia III participant, received a national award –Don Schon Award-- for her master’s thesis completed on a subject that she began investigating during CapAsia, in Delhi. Gardner Smith of CapAsia III received a Fulbright to go back to India. Lynette completed a master's at the University of Michigan and is now a Fellow of the Genesee Institute. Josh Deyer is applying for grad school at U Penn and Columbia. In order to share our experience I have created this blog. Enjoy the blog-space and keep everyone informed of what you are up to. Also get to know the younger CapAsians who are foloowing your footsteps.

Thank you

Nihal

CapAsia III

Hope you are doing well. As you know, CapAsia IV students helped begin rebuilding a tsunami-hit village in Sri Lanka last year. CapAsia got huge publicity in a number of local, national, and international publications. see http://capasia.net/iv/stories.htm

Very recently, I had the opportunity to see Jae Eun, the author of the CapAsia song and the one who is very good at drawing snakes. She is naming streets in Florida after CapAsia. One is named Columbu St., not Colombo St.

Last year, Claudia received a national award –Don Schon Award-- for her master’s thesis. Gardner received a Fulbright. Chad began his graduate studies. Tony Gupta moved to Chicago and Sarah to Florida. In order to share our experience I have created a blog.

Enjoy this blog-space and keep everyone informed of what you are up to.

Best
Nihal

CapAsia IV

Hope you are doing well. I was in Sri Lanka last January. All houses have been handed over to Kalametiya residents just before the one-year anniversary of the tsunami. Wes and I visited Kalametiya in August last year with a faculty member from the University of Oregon and a PhD students from UC Davis. Wes's studio just completed some designs for the community center (or the communal area) of Kalametiya. I met Utpal and the Belgians we saw in Ahmedabad in Colombo in January (2006). Mansee is studying at Cambridge (UK). Enjoy this blog-space and keep everyone informed of what you are doing.

Thanks
Nihal