The Merit List [TML] is an initiative by Matter supported by Takshila Educational Society to recognise projects of critical relevance in the context of contemporary architecture of India.
The List
The Takshila Lecture on Architecture & Society
Publication
Valediction
The 2020-21 cycle is closed for submissions and nominations
Thank you for your interest. The 2020-21 Merit List cycle is closed for new submissions and nominations. Incase you have a query regarding your submission, please write to us at think@matter.co.in.
The 2021 Lecture by Prof Níall McLaughlin as delivered on 26th January, Tuesday
The transcript of the lecture is available for download here.
Architectural practice today is pushed to the peripheries of society it claims to serve. After three cycles of rigorously reviewing contemporary architecture from a diverse pool of practices, The Merit List strives to bring forth pertinent discussions on critical issues to a larger audience. The Merit List Jury over the past cycles has been able to articulate some immediate and urgent concerns that the fraternity of Architects and Designers in India must confront.
Underpinning TML is a dire need of a serious commitment to create a culture of excellence, establish a peer-peer review and form a community of professional exchange in order to critique and celebrate consequential works of architecture in India. The TML process seeks to institute a line of inquiry that traverses typology to make place for exceptional ideas in design irrespective of typology and scale. With intent to evaluate each project in its own context and judge the merit of each against the programme it deals with, The Merit List intends to outline a set of critical discussion points as a reflection on the state of affairs in contemporary architecture.
The Jury, while debating on the project selections for the 2018-19 Merit List, inferred that although the eleven projects in the final list represent a cross-section of quality contemporary architecture, these ‘Special Mention’ projects exemplify commendable approaches towards resolution of critical concerns that contemporary architecture must address and in their wake, raise critical issues worth discussing in the larger forum. With this intent, The Merit List attempts to articulate the core issues raised by the Special Mention projects and their relevance in the discussion on practice and pedagogy of architecture in India. The clusters chronicled here are an attempt to provoke thought and discussion on the ambition of architecture practice in India.
