Indian Architect & Cartographer Mihir Desai Honored at the European Cartography Conference 2024, Vienna
Mumbai : M.Sc. Mihir Desai, an acclaimed architect and cartographer, received the 1st Prize Award for his Paper at the European Cartography Conference (EuroCarto) 2024, hosted at the Technical University of Vienna, Austria.
EuroCarto 2024, held earlier this month, is a prestigious international conference that serves as a platform for cartographers and related disciplines to exchange ideas, discuss innovative research, and foster collaborative projects. The event, which brought together leading cartographers from across the globe, recognized Mihir’s groundbreaking research at the intersection of cartographic theory and epistemology. His paper, titled “The Atlas of Cartography: An Attempt to Spatialize Map Conceptions”, presented an innovative theory that locates and measures map conceptions within the epistemic space of the cartography discourse. His theory enables cartographers to explore the relationship between conflicting map conceptions and cartographic epistemologies. Furthermore, Mihir also discusses the application of his theory to instances of map use in the healthcare industry and epidemiological studies.
Mihir Desai is the Director at HOSMAC, a leading healthcare consultancy in India that specializes in hospital planning, design, and management. Desai’s significant contributions to the master planning of emergency pandemic hospitals and large-scale medical campuses during the COVID-19 pandemic were instrumental in bolstering India’s healthcare infrastructure during the crisis. Beyond healthcare, Mihir’s work also extends to social cartography. He is the co-author of several publications that explore how urban planning and architectural design often perpetuate social prejudices. His studies, which map the deep-rooted inequalities embedded in city layouts, have been used in legal advocacy for marginalized coastal and forest communities in both India and Paraguay, highlighting the critical role of maps in addressing socio-environmental justice.
The EuroCarto 2024, renowned for showcasing cutting-edge research in cartography, continues to be a pivotal event for advancing the field. Mihir’s recognition at the conference marks a significant achievement for Indian professionals and underscores the importance of theory in cartography and its application within healthcare.