Nagpur: City’s renowned Architect, Habeeb Khan, has been elected as Chairman of Council of Architecture for 2019-22 term. He won the election by a margin of 28 votes. Habeeb Khan is the second person from Nagpur to become Chairman of prestigious body of Architecture education. Dr Uday Gadkari, also from Priyadarshini Groups of Institutions was the first one from Nagpur becoming Chairman.
Architect Habeeb Khan graduated in architecture as a gold medalist from VNIT (formerly VRCE) in 1987 and went to the USA, where he completed his masters in architectural design in 1988 from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Architect Habeeb Khan was awarded the JIIA best interior design award by the Indian Institute of Architects in 1998 and IIA-KAFF young architect award in 2000. He was also presented with the Orange City Achievement award in 2009 and State level award for excellence in architectural profession and education by the IIA Maharashtra Chapter in 2011 and the prestigious INBAU Exellence Award in 2018. Their firm Smita & Habeeb Khan Architects is known for work, which derives inspiration from vernacular and traditional principles. The term “contemporary vernacular” was coined by them in 2009 and it has become the underlying philosophy of all their works.
He has been a major driving force for uplifting the quality of education in central India and has involved in teaching since the beginning of his career and is currently the Director Architecture at LTJSS.
On the professional front, Habeeb Khan has also been actively involved in various institutions and has contributed substantially in their development in Nagpur and at the national level. He was the founder Chairman of the IIID Nagpur regional chapter from 1998 to 2002 and also the Chairman of the IIA NC. He was also Chairman of the continuing education board of the IIA National Council in 2012-14.
Recently he has been nominated by the Govt. of Maharashtra as its nominee on the Council of Architecture, MHRD and is a member of the Heritage committee of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. He has also been nominated by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on the Ideal Village Development program and is the coordinator of the project. After that it was a seamless progression for him to run for Council Of Architecture Presidential Election. After his masters degree he worked in Philadelphia with Charles E Broudy and Associates, where he was responsible for working and coordinating major retail design projects for retail giants like GAP, Boyds, AnnTaylor, Banana Republic, Georgio Armani and Episode to name a few. Habeeb Khan’s passion for architecture is evident from the goals he has set for the future of the profession. Even after joining late in the race he was a strong contender for the position because of these strong ideas and ideals. Evident by his striking win in the elections held on Tuesday October 22, 2019, in New Delhi.
Habeeb Khan’s achievements:
* Bringing about much needed amendments to Architects Act 1972 so that it can keep up with the changing face of profession.
* Solidifying the role of architecture profession in Nation Building and meaningful involvement of the body in nations policy making
* Taking steps necessary to bring about effective efficient and transparent governance.
* Adopting an all inclusive approach for development of the profession working through and with educational, professional and regional diversity.
* Establishing Architectural Cadre protecting and promoting the Employed Architects.
* Reaching out to and working with the Government, Bureaucrats, Fellow Professionals, Young Graduates and the Society.
* Working in close coordination with the new education policy of the government and creating a framework for the council to play an important role in it, in the immediate future.
* Liberalisation of education and bridging the gap between Architectural Education and Profession.
* Establishing dialogue with international organisations and statutory bodies and arrive at an international equivalence. Working out an equitable level of professional practise abroad and put in proper perspective foreign architects practising in India.
* Promoting responsible approach towards conscientious existence through a meaningful, humane and context sensitive” architecture.
* Establishing an equitable platform within the purview of Architects Act for procurement of Architectural Services.
