Birla White Yuvaratna’ – MITS architecture student wins national design award

Mumbai: Jagrati Jain, a fourth-year architecture student at Madhav Institute Of Technology & Science (MITS) – Gwalior, bags India’s best design award. She has designed concept for Amaravathi Convention Centre, as a part of the ‘Birla White Yuvaratna’ competition announced last year. The award is most acclaimed Indian design award for the architectural fraternity, organized by Birla White every year.

Inspired by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Design in India’ vision for building a beautiful India, the competition encourages young architects to push the boundaries of design and creativity. The annual design contest has received a huge response from students and architectural fraternity across India and Nepal. Over 2,000 drawing entries from 100 institutions have been received by Birla White.

“I was thrilled to hear my name and that of MITS being announced as the winner. This achievement has established the credentials of our institute as the center for academic excellence in architectural education in India. I would be delighted to see my concept on Amravati Convention Centre gets converted into a recognized infrastructure,” said Ms. Jagrati Jain.

The winners exhibited their projects at a final event held in Mumbai on March last week. They were felicitated by Mrs. Rajashree Birla, Director board member at Aditya Birla Group companies, in the presence of eminent architects and construction professionals from across India. The jury for this year’s contest was an elite panel of renowned architects which included Ar. Rajeev Sathe, Ar. Ketan Vaidya, Ar. Nilabh Nagar, Ar. Ramaswamy Natesaiyer, Ar. Ravi Ramakrishnarao and Ar. Nishant Gupta.

“Birla White works in close association and partnership with all the stakeholders in the construction industry to materialize government’s mission to build a great nation. The newest allies to this mission – the Young Students of India will be inspired and encouraged by Yuvaratna Awards and they shall contribute with all their heart and soul into making a better future together”, said Dr. Sunil Kulwal, CEO at Birla White.

Project Highlights

The 14th edition of the competition had received drawings on two themes— Amaravati Convention Centre and Portal to the capital city, Amaravathi. Birla White provides opportunities for budding architects to convert their ideas into viable structures. This year, budding young creative minds designed architecture to transform Amaravathi into a first of its kind smart city.

Under ‘Amaravati Convention Centre’ theme, the students are encouraged to design Office Components, Housing Components, Outdoor Components (Amaravati Square, Riverfront promenade and plaza) and other components such as MICE facilities, Food & Beverage zone, Necessary basement, surface and multi-storey parking and Retail Facilities). Similarly, ‘Portal to Capital City, Amravati’ theme includes, designing Boat Jetty cum Amenity Center at Krishna River, ticket counters and bridges to cross numerous water bodies on the river. The portal forms the entrance to the new smart capital city.

The Winners

· Convention Center (Best Category) – Ms. Jagrati Jain from Madhav Institute Of Technology & Science (Architecture Department), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh).

· Portal to Capital City – Mr. Eeshaan Shanker Srivastava from School Of Architecture & Landscape Design, Sri Mata Vaishnodevi University, Jammu (Jammu & Kashmir).

· Yuvaratna Nxt – Ms. Prathibha P, Ms. Sneha Baid, Ms. Rajalakshmi RN, Mr. Yash Singh and Mr. Supreeth S Kumar from PES University, Faculty of Architecture, Bangalore (Karnataka).

· College with Highest Number of Quality Entries – C S I Institute Of Technology, Secunderabad (Telangana).

Entries from 5 regional zones in the country were shortlisted and then judged at a national level by the elite panel of jury members to shortlist the national winners. The aim of holding the competition every year is to showcase student designs, to create a better appreciation of architectural designs, and to create public awareness and promote architecture as a subject.