SUDESHNA SEN
Photo credits to Sasaki. Portrait courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
Urban Designer at Sasaki
Masters of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard Graduate School of Design
Bachelor of Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology
Originally from Kolkata, India, Sudeshna is interested in technology within the socio-political context of urban space and mapping tools to investigate the intersection of design and policy. She primarily works as an urban design professional where she has worked on a range of multi-scalar projects both in the US and internationally. In her personal time, she is interested in engaging in the urban discourse in India through both educational and research pursuits. She teaches lectures in online courses through AUDA academy where she teaches courses in introduction to urban design as well as digital techniques to students and professionals who are interested in pursuing urban design. Her academic research work has included policy analysis and data visualization on the Smart Cities Movement in India and agrarian urbanism in China.
Making Up Space
What inspired you to pursue architecture?
Growing up in the city of Kolkata inspired me as a child. The bustling nature of the public realm and the experience of moving through an urban environment that was rich in history and diverse in population pushed me to pursue studies in architecture as it seemed like the most natural choice to make an impact on the built environment. Through my undergraduate years in architecture, the focus on the metropolis reframed my understanding of architecture as a part of the larger socio-political system and investigate the potential of a single site within much more complex networks and hierarchies of power structures. My first job out of undergraduate school was with PAU studio in New York, a design firm focused on humanist urbanism and advancing the city of the future. The knowledge accumulated through my job pushed me to acquire my Masters of Architecture in Urban Design at the Harvard GSD which led me to truly learn to approach design as a process and as a framework rather than a static vision. Urban design taught me to think of my role as a mediator rather than an expert, facilitating collaborations and conversations, rather than dictating plans.
The belief that architecture has the potential to change the world was reframed in my mind throughout the years where I learned to understand architecture is an instrument of power that functions under the hand of capitalism. Acknowledging the position of the profession as well as the designer has allowed me to contribute to a conversation where we can humbly strategize how design can truly contribute to global issues today.
Collective Housing for Los Angeles. Collaboration with John Crowley, Fall ’17, Harvard GSD. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
What is the most important thing that you learned in the past year?
The past year has taught me the importance of constantly educating myself and carving out time to delve into questions of research that continue to push the limits of the discipline. It has been interesting to graduate from school quite recently and move into the professional sphere which very quickly transitioned to remote work. Moving between these phases quite quickly constantly kept me repositioning myself between my professional and personal sides. While in school, I was constantly exposed to new conversations and research work done by my peers as faculty, professional life has allowed me to have some space to rediscover my personal interests as well as the politics of engaging with real-world issues.
While school naturally keeps critical issues and questions afloat on our minds, in the midst of professional life, we have to be more intentional about engaging ourselves in the current discourse of our interest. This reflective time has become important to also allow me to read and truly absorb the history and theoretical material that I am interested in in order to continually expand my research interests and continue to refine my purpose within the design discourse.
Rethinking the Eastern Waterfront in Mumbai. Spring ’18, Harvard GSD. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
Block and Land Ownership Models for Gender-Focused Planning for Barrio La Favorite in Mendoza, Argentina, Fall ’18, Harvard GSD. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
What are some architectural organizations (or specific person/role model) that helped you learn to overcome an obstacle? How did they?
Unfortunately, I have never found a suitable architectural organization to help me with a professional obstacle or function as a support system. Career services and/or mentorship roles have lacked in their capacity throughout my education. The greatest support I have found is through my peers - especially in graduate school. GSD brings in people from a vast array of experiences and geographies who carry a plethora of knowledge about being a designer in the field. It is through sharing and communication with my peers that I have been able to make the best choices in my career and refine my interests and purpose as a designer.
I would also like to mention Stephen Gray, an Associate Professor at GSD who has really shown me what it means to be a mentor and an educator in the urban design field today. Stephen carries a passion for justice and equity in the built environment that he not only applies to consult on built projects for both the public and private sector but also uses his knowledge to critique student work and conduct academic research. Shaping all spheres of his academics, professional work, what I find even more respectable is that Stephen remains fair, approachable, kind to his students - applying the principles to his inter-personal relationships as well. He served as my mentor when I taught at Design Discovery Program at the Harvard GSD during the summer of 2019. Stephen’s advice and demeanor helped me to learn to trust my voice, remain conscious of the power and gender dynamics in any given exchange, and approach issues with empathy and openness.
Infographic analyzing priorities of investment in urban projects under the 100 Smart Cities project in India, Graduate Thesis, Spring ’19, Harvard GSD. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
World Map investigation sources of foreign investment under the 100 Smart Cities Mission in India, Graduate Thesis, Spring ’19, Harvard GSD. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
If you were given the opportunity to repeat the year, what is one thing you’d do differently?
As a woman, both in the design field and in this world, it has been a learning experience for me to find the space and courage to voice my thoughts and makeup space. Fighting the instinct to remain invisible and silent, I have been pushing myself to attribute value to my experience and this is very much a work in progress for me. While I may have taken some strides in this direction over the past decade, it is still something I continue to struggle with, sometimes, even despite the support given to me.
To me, an urban designer functions in society as a professional who designs projects but also supplements that work through research publications and advocacy work. If there is one thing I’d do differently this year, it would have been to take greater initiatives to create more visibility for my work through submitting my thesis and research work to research journals, publications, etc. It is an important step for any woman of color to push our work to the forefront and highlight design issues through our experience and view of the world.
Sudeshna Sen presenting her thesis project, Interrogating Smart Imaginaries in India, Spring ’19, Harvard GSD. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
As you reflect on the past year, what did you discover as your biggest strengths?
The past year has been a blur to us all, but working remotely has provided me with some unique opportunities of being flexible with my hours and learning a greater work/life balance.
A fortunate opportunity presented itself to me when I was invited to teach as a lecturer for an online course through AUDA Academy, which aims to introduce the fields of Architecture and Urban Design to students across the globe before they step into higher studies and professions. The courses in the Academy are designed to inspect and rethink the paradigms of design and its intersection with the social, cultural, economic, and environmental fabric of the city, at multiple scales and scopes. The workshops are designed to inform students in the coordinated learning of concepts, approaches, expressions, research techniques, and representational strategies of the pedagogy and practice of Architecture and Urban Design.
My experiences with teaching at the Design Discovery program in summer ’19 as well as with the AUDA have been meaningful experiences since it allows me to constantly redefine my approach to urbanism and also dedicate time to creating a curriculum that attempts to cover the most critical and foundational content for urban design. Having the space to interact with students in India has also been an enlightening experience because it has helped me understand the pedagogical differences between studying in South Asia and abroad and allowed me to reflect on my own education and begin to formulate how I can contribute to my home country both through practice and pedagogy by bringing in a unique view of decolonized spaces, gender planning experience, and community engagement as issues that could greatly benefit the South Asian design and planning context.
Sudeshna was a founding member of UD-ID, a blog, and a student group at Harvard GSD which aimed to be a platform where students can have open conversations about the practice and discipline of urban design. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
Sudeshna with her students in Design Discovery Program at the Harvard GSD, Summer ’19. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
In terms of rising concerns and problems (in the architectural profession) over the past year, what is one change that you wished would happen and it did not? This can be in an educational or work atmosphere.
While there is a rising conversation about the value and knowledge systems of BIPOC in the built environment, majority of design culture both in academia, as well as practice, continues to use western-centric design values, definitions, historic precedents, and priorities when operating in the field. A large majority of the field still has an apathetic and apolitical stance toward striving for resilience, equity, justice, and diversity in a project.
As a professional, I have witnessed many projects that tend to be extremely questionable in terms of the client’s value system and their ultimate goal for undertaking the urban project, whether the client is in the public or private sector. In such cases, I wish to see a greater initiative by the designer to educate the client in terms of ecological and social best practices OR to take a strong stand to even refuse to take on projects where it is evident that the projects seek to gentrify minority neighborhoods or perpetuate ecological harm. Going beyond formal and aesthetic interventions, I hope to see practices and institutions define actionable steps to incorporate the experience and needs of BIPOC communities, passive climate-conscious design, and inclusive, resilient environments.
Sudeshna worked as a design and research assistant to Marshall Brown for his project for the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016. As a campus for an educational project in Detroit, the project aimed to connect with the community by closely tying with existing educational institutions in the area and creating a space that serves a citizen throughout their lifetime. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
Sudeshna also worked as an intern to artist Amanda Williams for the Color(ed) Theory project and assisted in painting abandoned and foreclosed houses that were on the brink of demolition as a public art project that highlighted the issue of the vacancy on the South Side of Chicago. Photo courtesy of Sudeshna Sen.
