In 2019, to commemorate Mohit Gujral's 60th year, Mohit returned to his Alma Mater by committing to a five years of programming in conjunction with CEPT University, run under the dynamic Directorship of Dr. Bimal Patel. CEPT emerged from the School of Architecture, founded by B.V. Doshi, one of modern Indian architecture's most celebrated practitioners. CEPT is one of the leading architectural institutions in India.
2024
On 23rd August 2024, we were delighted to announce the awardees of the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Awards for the Spring 2024 semester, selected by an illustrious jury panel comprising of Suranjana Satwalekar (Exhibition Designer), Chair of the panel for this semester, Pankaj Gupta (Architect) and Sameer Sinha(Civil Engineer).
Jash Kamleshbhai Bhadresh, the first of the three awardees named for this semester, won the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Awards for his project ‘Clay Haven: Rooted in Earth’. This project envisioned a space for Cleo, an artist-musician deeply connected to nature, where she can conduct seasonal workshops for young adolescents.



The design embodied her multifaceted life by combining the grounded, earthy feel of sustainable rammed earth with the lightness of a delicate timber truss. ‘Clay Haven’ offered a variety of enclosed, semi-open, and open spaces, created by thoughtfully integrating wall and column elements, providing a harmonious environment for creativity and learning.
The Jury Panel cited that “In addition to the demonstration of a refined sensibility, the monochromatic panel captured the project process and the solution was communicated with clarity and simple elegance.”
Anushree Ashish Velankar was awarded the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Awards for her project, ‘The Spiral Orchard’. This project proposed to build a pavilion by abstracting the anatomy and feeding behavior of the Humpback Whale. 2D drawings captured the herd movement of the whales, creating a vortex of bubbles in an upward spiral. The 3D abstractions were then transformed into a form achieved with the selection of materials. The model finally combined joinery details and flow of forces through the structure to achieve The Spiral Orchard.




The Jury Panel cited that “The project demonstrated a high level of creativity as well as clarity of thought and expression. The process of abstraction communicated through only four visuals from line drawings to a 3D model was particularly impressive.”
Disha Pravinbhai Patel was offered the award for her project titled ‘Temporary Housing for Construction Migrant Workers’. This project tackled the dire living conditions of migrant workers at construction sites where temporary housing provided by contractors often lack basic amenities like sanitation, ventilation, and privacy.


The proposed solution introduced foldable and movable units made from agro-waste panels. These units, designed as a kit of parts, can be easily dismantled and relocated from site to site, providing housing, sanitation, and a community kitchen. The flexible cluster design allowed for both private and communal spaces, fostering a sense of belonging and community among the workers.
The Jury Panel cited that “Starting with the selection of the problem area up to the proposed solution, there was ample evidence of an empathetic, systems-oriented creative mind at work, which is very commendable.”

On 9th February 2024, we were thrilled to announce the awardees of the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award for the Monsoon 2023 semester. We welcomed back the same jury panel as the Spring semester, who succeeded in their monumental task of selecting the top three projects for studio excellence for this semester.
Pulathota Divija won the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award for her project ‘Reading Between the Lines’. Exploring the intersection of design and interaction at CEPT's Lilavati Lalbhai Library. The project brought together architecture and animation, with natural light and kinetic movement. Diving into the immersive experience, ‘Graphik' typeface danced through the Barrier-Grid animation, effortlessly blending form and function.The esteemed jury commented that the effect of the bespoke signage was both visually striking and a highly effective dynamic identity for the library, which was clearly communicated through a working prototype model.


Panchal Parth Mukeshbhai won the award for her project ‘Narratives of Infrastructure.’ In the heart of Surat, the Kadarsha Ni Nal Metro Station, which bore witness to a tapestry of temporal events – floods, riots, plague, and fire.


Our illustrious jury members commented that the infrastructure for a new metro station, for water storage to mitigate floor risk, for community and social space, and to provide new local connections between previously separate communities were brought together in this imaginative and complex project.
Janhavi Aggarwal was given the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award for her project ‘Kapisah.’ Reminiscing about the innovative journey of Kapisah, where sustainability met style. The bio-based material, crafted from SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), emerged from kombucha brewery byproducts, once destined for compost pits.

Our panel commented that the project was developed from research into the properties and the potential of a form of ‘vegan’ leather which was grown in bacterial culture. Once dried and cured, this remarkable material had many intriguing properties including its softness, durability as well as the potential for cutting and rebinding with itself and with other materials. The project made use of this new material in combination with the more conventional cotton crochet yarn in the design of an elegant and attractive handbag which was presented as a prototype product. The imaginative design and prototyping clearly demonstrated the great potential of this material across diverse industries.


2023



On 3rd November 2023, we unveiled the awardees of the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award for the Spring 2023 semester. The winners were carefully chosen by an illustrious jury panel, which was chaired by Steven Smith (Architect), alongside Pankaj Gupta (Architect), Suranjana Satwalekar (Exhibit Designer) & Walter D'Souza (Artist & Printmaker).
Neeraj Krishna won the award for his project ‘Frames of Fiction’, which explored a range of future scenarios, probable environmental and societal factors, all while redefining the idea of a dwelling. The meaning of "home" differs from person to person, and hence presented him with the challenge of grasping what shelter truly means to an individual and how that evolves over time.

He explored this concept through imagining a dystopian post-earthquake space with a few survivors, who scavenged from this arid landscape, and found objects in the debris, that gave a personality to this new home. He theorised that the dwellings evolve and adapt with human needs and desires; constantly transforming as more survivors discovered this place. He explored what shelter truly meant to these scavengers in a desolate landscape where debris and junk represented their sole ray of hope.

Nisharg Patel was awarded the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award for his project ‘Pinion,’ which entailed designing a pavilion on a farm located on the banks of the Vatrak River in Gujarat. The design brief for the pavilion arose from the needs of the farm—a place to pause, a place to rest, a place to gather. The initial few weeks were spent on-site at the farm, this facilitated an understanding of life on a farm and the dynamic ever-changing landscape.

The proximity of the farm to the river edge anchored the location of the intervention, along with various assets of the topographical setting, such as the existing trees and scenic views, to name a few. The intervention was located at a point that allowed the structure to express itself—a minimal footprint crafted with locally available materials.

The design of the pavilion aspired to blend with the setting, borrowing its extended landscapes—a humble yet awe-inspiring structure that imparted a seamless experience. The structure expressed rootedness while evoking a sense of nostalgia.
Nuzha won the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award for her project ‘Wedge.’ The project commenced with an exploration and manipulation of forms within a volume, culminating in the structural development aimed at achieving a functionally inviting seating element. Guided by the operations of Taper and Expand, decision-making at every step was deliberate and informed.

As the structural facets underwent refinement, they concurrently delved into exploring various seating options. The integration of jute weaving emerged as a pivotal aspect, offering not only structural reinforcement but also maintaining a visual lightness that enhanced the overall aesthetic appeal of the project.

2022






2021





2020
Sharan GS was awarded The CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award for his studio project ‘Rethinking Lost Space’. His project was conceived by articulating the important aspects of a Narrative - Plot, Conflict, Characters, Atmosphere, Climax etc through various tools like the narrative arc and the storyboard.
Through his project Sharan looked at Lost Spaces - spaces which are leftover and unstructured, anti-spaces making no positive contribution to the surroundings. He focused the project on one such lost space located at the centre of Rajkot, Gujarat with two huge overhead water tanks supported by five stories of a regular concrete column beam grid situated in the Jubeli Garden and surrounded by a historically rich and dynamic urban fabric. The intent was to redefine the lost space of the tanks such that it can contribute to the urban setting and become a part of it.
The Jury Panel was impressed with the poetic narrative, threaded through an existing, yet evocative ensemble of urban infrastructure. They felt that Sharan’s intervention created a field of potentiality, of opportunity and the unexpected.
Arsh Kania's was awarded The CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award for his studio project ‘Visitor’s Centre, Jaisalmer’. Through the project, he deciphered the unique architectural vocabulary and grammar of Spanish Architect, Enric Miralles, as well as derived the architectural syntax of a proposed Visitor Centre in Jaisalmer.
His proposal captured the spirit and dynamism of Miralles’ architecture in plan and section, which he skillfully manipulated to generate a building that responded uniquely to the various constraints and opportunities of the site. It had a complexity and scale, which acted as a delicate counterpoint to the brooding mass and bulk of the adjacent fort.
The esteemed Jury particularly commended the skill with which the section of the proposed building developed and responded to program and context.
Hetanshu Pandya was awarded The CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award for his studio project ‘In-between Architecture’.
The project focused on how the present step-well and its architecture has grown to be irrelevant in today’s time and further builds on the dire need of the city to have a public place which is in its true sense, public. Hetanshu proposed a pavilion structure without any program or function which acts like a platform for the city and its everyday life to unfold upon.
The Jury Panel cited that, ‘In-between Architecture’ was a highly relevant and potent project, which was illustrated with elegance and sensitivity.
2019
The jury panel for 2019-2020’s award consisted of eminent industry leaders: Bobby Desai (architect and chair of the jury panel); Walter de Souza (artist); Archana Shah (textile designer and entrepreneur) and Dinesh Sharma (product designer). The first 3 awardees Aashumi Shah, Mayuri Talaviya and Ritika Mittal were announced in the beginning of August 2019. Arsh Kania, Hetanshu Pandya and Sharan GS were awarded the CEPT Gujral Foundation Excellence Award in January 2020.
Our Student awardee of ‘The CEPT- Gujral Foundation Excellence Awards’ : Aashumi Shah's project : ‘‘Wellness, Wellbeing and Mindfulness, Lonavala’ has been detailed to reflect one of the greatest living architects, Richard Rogers’ architectural language and attitude towards a range of aspects.
Taking inspiration from the mandala wire toy, Ritika Mittal designed a low heighted reclining chair for her project that undergoes transformation to generate a two dimensional stackable, portable, lightweight element which can also be used as a wall hanging system.
Mayuri’s project : ‘Play + Narration- Museum of Mandu’ explores challenges related to adaptive reuse, architectural intervention and materiality, in bringing, back into use, Gada Shah’s shop, a building ruin in Mandu.