Issue Nº319 – News in brief

Some of the ashes of late Juanita Cole, who passed away in July last year in the USA, have been interred at the Adventure Burial and Cremation ground at the request of her family, as for Juanita Auroville was “her place in the Universe”.

At the request of Outreach Media, a new 15 minute introductory video has been made on Auroville by a visiting film maker, Serena Aurora. The video, based on Mother’s Dream, can be watched on-line at Serena’s site https://www.youtube.com/user/AurorasEyeFilms, click on ‘A Dream Down to Earth’.

In the third edition of the NDTV Design & Architecture Awards 2015, Auroville architects received two awards and one nomination. In the section ‘House Award: Climatic Zone (Warm & Humid)’, architect Fabian Ostner of White Ant Studio won an award for his “A House in Auroville”, while architect Ganesh Bala from Studio One won a nomination for his ‘Petite Ferme House’. In the category ‘Socially Relevant Design’, architect Sindhuja from Imago Architecture and Design received the award for her Sub-Post Office and Ration Shop design.

Auroville Consulting has been actively working with the Ministry of Urban Development (Government of India) in relation to the Government’s Smart City initiative and has been appointed a knowledge partner for the city of Bhubaneswar. The unit supported Bhubaneswar with the design and implementation of citizens’ participation mechanisms and the preparation of their Smart City programme application, with a focus on sustainable development of the city. On January 28th, the Government of India announced the first 20 Indian cities that have been selected for the Smart City initiative. Bhubaneswar was ranked first.