THOMAS OOMMEN thomas_oommen@berkeley.edu thumoh@gmail.com +1-510-220-2920 Blog: www.thetheoryguy.wordpress.com Portfolio: www.wix.com/thumoh/portfolio EDUCATION & AFFILIATIONS Master of Urban Planning 2011 Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Urbanism 2011 Master of Architecture 2009 Bachelor of Architecture National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC), India 2006 Registered Architect, Council of Architecture CA 07/40199 Associate Member, American Institute of Architects 38034129 LEED Professional, United States Green Building Council GBCI 10409989 WORK EXPERIENCE Associate Professor of Architecture Aug 2015 to May 2017 Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Ansal University, Gurgaon, India Visiting Faculty in Urban Design Aug 2015 to Dec 2016 Department of Urban Design School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, India Visiting Faculty in Architecture Fall 2015, Fall 2016 Department of Architecture School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi Principal Urbanist Sep 2012 to Present Collaborative Urbanism Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi Assistant Professor Aug 2014 to May 2015 Department of Architecture & Department of Urban Design R.V. College of Architecture, Bangalore, India
Assistant Professor & Consultant Urbanist Jan 2012 to May 2014 Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon Sushant Centre for Research and Consultancy Urban Designer Jun to Nov 2011 Martha s Vineyard Commission Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, USA Graduate Assistant Research & Teaching Aug 2007 to May 2011 College of Architecture Texas A&M University, College Station, USA o Graduate Research Assistant Aug 2009 to May 2010 to Prof. Valerian Miranda, Director, CRS Centre for leadership and innovation in the design and construction industries Role: Architectural Design, Graphic Design, Industry Research o Graduate Teaching Assistant Aug 2008 to May 2009 to Prof. Sarah Deyong, Professor of Architectural History & Theory Subjects: Modern Architectural History & Theory o Graduate Teaching Assistant Aug 2007 to May 2008 to Prof. Richard Davison, Professor & Undergraduate coordinator, Department of Architecture Subject: Design Communication Foundation (First year architectural drawing) Junior Architect Jan to May 2007 AEC Max, Trivandrum, India Intern Architect Prof. Kulbhushan Jain Dec 04 to May 05 Professor Emeritus, CEPT University PUBLICATIONS The Politics of Infrastructural Aesthetics: The case of Delhi BRT and Metro Submitted to Urban Geography, under review Modern Urban Heritage and public engagement: The case of Thiruvananthapuram The Future of Historic Cities: Urban Heritage in South Asia Special edition: Context: Built, Living and Natural Volume XII, 2016, Aryan International Books, Delhi, 2016 The Politics of Architecture Journal Article, Economics and Political Weekly, Mumbai, India Vol - L No. 14, April 04, 2015 From the ground up: Re-Appropriating Urban Infrastructure in Delhi Journal Article, Critical Planning, University of California at Los Angeles 20th anniversary edition, December 2013
CONFERENCE PAPERS & OTHER RESEARCH Local Aesthetic Engagement: Tracing the subaltern in participatory planning, Conference Paper, Utopian Urban Futures: Histories, Imaginations, Possibilities, University of Leeds, June 2016 (Full Travel Award) The Politics of Infrastructural Aesthetics: The case of Delhi BRT and Metro Conference paper, American Association of Geographers annual conference, San Francisco, April 2016. (AAG Developing Country Scholars Travel Fund awarded) Modernism from the Margins: The Case of Trivandrum, India Conference paper, Remembering Pierre Jeanerette Punjab University, India, December 2015 (Fully funded presenter) Appropriating Urban Infrastructure in Delhi, Conference paper, International Association of Silk Road Universities Conference, Bahçeşehir Üniversity, Istanbul, Turkey, March 2015 The Politics of Aesthetic Intention: From Modernism to the Neo- liberal city Conference paper, Thanima: International Conference on Contextual Aesthetics NIT Calicut, Kerala, India, January 2015 Re-reading Gurgaon- A postcolonial perspective Conference paper, International Design History Society Annual Conference National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India, September 2013 Transit Oriented Development and Neighbourhood Revitalization: The case of Third Ward, Houston, Unpublished final study project, Master of Urban Planning, 2011 Committee: Prof. Shannon Van Zandt, Prof.Eric Dumbaugh, Prof.Valerian Miranda Texas A&M University, USA Urban Design Section, in the State of the Community Report and Comprehensive Plan for the City of Richwood, Texas Planning Studio, Texas Target Cities program, Texas A&M University, 2010 (Awarded Honourable Mention by the American Planning Association (APA) in 2012) Urban Development for Affordability a look at TOD s Unpublished directed studies paper, 2010 Guide: Prof.Shannon Van Zandt, Texas A&M University, USA Diagram & Transformation Redesign of the Memorial Students Centre at Texas A&M using Space Syntax Unpublished final study project for M.Arch, Committee: Prof.Weiling He, Prof. Sarah Deyong Texas A&M University, USA RECENT PRACTICE
Architecture and Urban Design toolkit for Inter State Bus Stations (ongoing) Architecture and Urban Design Services as part of Collaborative Urbanism Pvt. Ltd. Consultant to Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) and Ministry of Road Transport, Government of India Station design for Ranchi Monorail System Lead Architect with Collaborative Urbanism as consultant to Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) New Dehradun Railway Station Urban Design and Architecture Feasibility Report as Lead Architect with Collaborative Urbanism, for DIMTS and Govt. of Uttarakhand and Mussorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) Spatial Mapping, Madhya Pradesh Cities Development Plan as Mapping Co-ordinator with Sushant Centre for Research and Consultancy, for submission to the UADD Department, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh Urban Design and Architecture Feasibility Report, Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail Transport System as Urbanist for Sushant Centre for Research and Consultancy for submission to National Capital Region Planning Board Delhi Sustainable Environments for Dance, Report on dance infrastructure in Delhi for GATI dance foundation, New Delhi Lead Researcher for Collaborative Urbanism, Funded by the Goethe Institute and Ministry of Culture, India Urban Design Plan for Tashmoo Hill Area, as Urban Design Intern with Mark London, Director, Martha s Vineyard Commission, Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, USA TEACHING PORTFOLIO Research Methods Year 1, M.Arch (Urban Design) programme, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi Aug 2015 to Present Reading the City: Research Seminar Year 2, M.Arch (Urban Design) programme School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi Aug 2015 to Present Architectural Theory Year 3, Bachelor of Architecture programme, Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon 2012 to Present Modern Architectural History Year 3, Bachelor of Architecture programme, Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon. 2015 R.V. College of Architecture, Bangalore. 2014
Contemporary theories of architecture and urbanism, Year 2, M.Arch (Urban Design) programme R.V. College of Architecture, Bangalore. 2014 Urban Design Studio Year 5, Bachelor of Architecture programme Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon. 2012, 13, 15 R.V. College of Architecture, Bangalore. 2014 Architectural Design Studio (Housing/ Institution) Year 4, Bachelor of Architecture Programme Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon, 2012 to present Final Design Thesis and Dissertation Guide (About 20 students totally) Year 4/5, B.Arch programme Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon 2012 to present LECTURES/WORKSHOPS & EVENTS CONDUCTED Propositions Creator and Curator, Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon I initiated this faculty forum in 2013 to encourage a more critical discourse among faculty and students. The format is an hour long weekly session over lunch, which starts with a 15 minute long proposition from a member of the faculty about any topic within architecture. I then moderate the rest of the session, initiating a discussion with a set of questions about the proposition and managing questions from faculty and students. Modern Architecture Heritage Walk Walk Leader, Indian Institute of Architects Trivandrum Chapter, Kerala Held once a month through 2014, the walk attempted to engage the public with Indian modern architecture and importantly the city s local history of modernism. For this I chose a route in the city that had most of its important public buildings both in the pre-independence Indo Saracenic style and post-independence modernism and helped those on the walk to engage in a closer reading of buildings within the context of modernism s politics as well as local histories of architects and institutions. Form. Space. Content Lecture, August 2012 College of Architecture, Trivandrum, Kerala Final Year Urban Design Workshop October 5-8 th, 2013 Department of Architecture, College of Engineering Trivandrum, Kerala Three Houses - Ruskin. Corbusier. Venturi Lecture, May 2014 College of Architecture, Trivandrum, Kerala
Modern Architecture in Trivandrum Heritage Walk Walk Leader, Public walk held once every month from Sept December 2015 Organized by Indian Institute of Architects, Trivandrum Chapter Trivandrum, Kerala What is Architectural Theory? Lecture, November 25 th, 2015 Srinivasa College of Architecture, Mangalore, Karnataka Houses. Cultural Narratives and Malayalam Cinema Lecture, June 2015 Department of Architecture, College of Engineering Trivandrum, Kerala Panelist Reflections on 50 Years of Architectural Education in Kerala. September 2015 Crossroads architecture awards, Indian Institute of Architects Kerala Chapter, Calicut Panelist The future of Indian Architectural Education. Panel Discussion January 2017 (Invited), Delhi Architecture Festival, Delhi REFERENCES Prof. Valerian Miranda v-miranda@tamu.edu Professor of Architecture & Director, CRS Center for Leadership, Management & Innovation, Texas A&M University, USA Prof. Shannon Van Zandt svanzandt@tamu.edu Head, Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Prof. Jagan Shah jaganshah@gmail.com Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi (Former Director, Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon, India) Prof. Eric Dumbaugh edumbaug@fau.edu Assoc. Professor and Director, School of Urban/Regional Planning Florida Atlantic University, USA