Chandigarh-born architect, academic and filmmaker Asees Prab, who is pursuing a PhD in Architecture and Urban Design at Australia, explores cities through the experiences of the people who inhabit them.During a recent visit to Chandigarh, her research-based short films, Act! Citizen and otherness, were screened at Tagore Theatre. The screening was followed by a panel discussion featuring architect Surinder Bahga, architect Shilpa Das, senior advocate Manmohan Sarin and journalist Aarish Chhabra. The discussion focused on Chandigarh’s architecture, urban evolution and civic identity.Speaking to the media, Asees said her doctoral research examines how architecture influences everyday life and how cinema can help take such conversations beyond academic circles.“Architecture shapes the way we live, move and interact, but much of the discussion around it remains inaccessible to the public. Through filmmaking, I wanted to encourage people to experience and reflect on the city they inhabit every day,” she said.Her research uses film as a methodology to examine Chandigarh’s architecture, public spaces and urban identity. Instead of documenting the city conventionally, the films look at it through memory, dialogue and lived experience.Act! Citizen encourages residents to revisit Chandigarh’s public spaces, including the Capitol Complex, and reflect on their relationship with the city. otherness examines Le Corbusier’s concept of modularity and how this aspect of Chandigarh’s planning is understood in the contemporary context.A university gold medallist in architecture, Asees has worked across architectural practice, urban design, research, teaching and filmmaking in India and Australia. Alongside her doctoral research, she leads a practice providing Building Information Modelling services for data centre projects. She has also taught architecture and interior design and written on architecture, heritage, cities and urban culture.A third-generation Chandigarh resident, Asees said the city continues to inform her work. Her aim, she added, is to make conversations around architecture more accessible by connecting academic research with the wider community.
