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 Biographical Sketch & Bibliography

Manu P. Sobti, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Architecture

sobti@uwm.edu

 

 

Education
College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta - Ph.D. in Architecture 2005
School of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge - Masters of Science in Architectural Studies 1995
School of Architecture, Center for Environment Planning & Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad INDIA - Bachelors in Architecture 1993

 

Teaching Area
Urban History, Urban Typology and Morphology, Architectural History and Theory, Islamic and Non-Western Architecture and Urbanism, Russian Art and Architecture, Silk Road Studies, Cognitive Design Processes

 

Memberships
International Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations
(IISNC, Ulaan Baatar - Mongolia)

European Society of Central Asian Studies
(ESCAS, Leiden - Netherlands)

Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS, Cambridge MA)

International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF, Belfast - Ireland) European Association of Urban History (EAUH, Lyon – France)

Indian Institute of Architects (IIA, New Delhi – India)

 

Teaching Experience
School of Architecture & Urban Planning, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Assistant Professor, Fall 2006 – present
School of Architecture, Southern Polytechnic State University, Atlanta, Assistant Professor, Fall 2003 – Spring 2006
College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Adjunct Professor, Fall 2004 – Summer 2005
College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Studio Instructor, Fall 1997 – Fall 2003
College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Course-contributor with Ronald Lewcock for Islamic Architecture & Urbanism (ARCH 8802 - Spring semester), Fall 2000 - 2003
P. M. Heffernan House Archives & International House, College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Collections Archivist, Fall 1999 - Summer 2003
School of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad (India), Summer Course and Measure-Drawing Program entitled Tools for Analyzing Cities in the Indian Sub-continent, Visiting Instructor, Summer 1997 – 98
 

Academic & Professional Honors
CIE Faculty Study Abroad Travel Grant, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Spring 2007
Arts & Humanities Faculty Travel Grant, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Fall 2006
Research Collaboration Grant with the Uzbek Archeological Research Institutes at Samarqand and Tashkent, Uzbekistan (1998 - 2002)
Junior Research Fellowship at French Institute of Central Asian Studies (IFEAC), Tashkent, Uzbekistan (2000 - 2001)
Michael Ventris Memorial Research Award for Architecture, Architectural Association and the Department of Classical Studies, University of London, London, UK (2001)
BP-AMOCO Teaching Excellence Award, Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (2001)
Honorable Mention for the 2001 Carter Manny Award for Architecture, The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Arts, Chicago (2001)
Collaborated with Prof. Maria Phillips, Department of Music and Design, Georgia State University, Atlanta, on the “Ambrosiana Codex” digital reconstruction project. Jointly awarded grant for research and development by Georgia State University, Atlanta (1998)
Research and Travel Grants for projects “Dwelling Typology in the Central Asian Cities of Samarqand and Bukhara” and “Urban Structure and Primary Elements in the city of Aleppo”, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT, Cambridge (Summer 1994)
Fellowship for Graduate Studies from the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, USA (1993 - 95)
J. Watumull Scholarship Grant and J. N. Tata Merit Endowment Scholarship for Higher Studies in the United States (1993)
Tuition Scholarships, School of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad, India (1990 – 93)
Richard Curry Award for the Best Senior Science Student, St. Xavier’s School, New Delhi, India (1985)
Xavier Award for the Best All-Round Student, St. Xavier’s School, New Delhi, India (1982)
 

Professional Experience
Balkrishna V. Doshi, Ahmedabad India - Design Assistant,

April 1991 – 93
Kiran Pandya, Ahmedabad, India – Design Assistant, July - Dec. 1990
Josef Paul Kleihues, Berlin, Germany – Design Intern, July 1989 – 90
 

Research Interests
Manu Sobti’s research focuses on the urban and architectural history of the non-Western world, especially the Indian Subcontinent, Eurasia, Russia, and the Middle East. Through his extensive studies on cities along the Silk Road, he views cross-cultural synthesis, metamorphosis and change as vital phenomena determining the genesis of cities and creation of buildings within the urban landscape. Besides a set of published works on cities, his interest in the urban environment has also resulted in detailed studies of the vernacular, especially in the region of Central Asia and India, wherein he posits the issues of ‘cultural borrowing’ across geographical space and dwelling types as phenotypical expressions of ‘deep structure’ embedded in migrating populations.
Sobti’s work also examines the process of ‘writing’ and ‘recording’ history and its critical historiography, posing questions on how cities and buildings should be described as ‘thick descriptions’. His ongoing projects include the development of a course on Signature Buildings in Geopolitical Context, where in a seminar-based format he questions the notion of the ‘signature’ building and the ‘star’ architect across space and time. He is also preparing two manuscripts for publication – the first examining the Nomadic Architecture of Asia, and the second discussing the genesis of early, medieval Central Asian cities.
 

Publications

“Stepping Outside the Comfortable Confines of the West” in International Journal of Urban Morphology 11 – 1 (forthcoming 2007, Birmingham UK), pp. 145 – 46.

“The City in Suburbia – Urban Metamorphosis and Change in Central Asian Cities after the Arab Invasions” in The Proceedings of the 9th European Scholars of Central Asian Studies Conference, Krakow (forthcoming 2007, Cambridge Scholars Press).
“Towns and Villages; Settlement Patterns; Nomadic and Pastoral Societies; Building Techniques and Materials” in The Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Medieval World - Islamic Section (forthcoming 2007, Schlager Group).
“Women, Gender & Architecture in Central Asia” and “Women, Gender and the Urban Built Environment in Central Asia” in The Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures (forthcoming 2007, E. J. Brill Publishers).
“Hegel” in The Encyclopedia of The Age of Imperialism, 1800 – 1914 (forthcoming 2007, Greenwood Publishing)
“Not Mere Courtyard Houses: Socio-Cultural Reflections in the Pathan Mohallas at Bhopal, India” in The Courtyard House - Between Cultural Expression and Universal Application (Ed. Nasser Rabbat), (forthcoming 2007, Ashgate Publications & Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT).
“Abstraction & Diagramming - Critical Processes in Psychological Theory as applied to Design Learning” in the Conference Proceedings of the Beginning Student Design Conference, San Antonio 2005 (2006).
“The Oases Settlements of Central Asia” in The Interaction between Land and People in Central and Inner Asia (Eds. Michael Gervers & Uradyn Bulag), Studies in Central and Inner Asia No.5, Joint Center for Asia Pacific Studies, Toronto, Canada (2004), pp. 145 - 73.
“Dwellings in the Steppes and Deserts of Inner Asia” in Asia’s Dwellings: Tradition, Resilience and Change (Ed. Ronald G. Knapp), Oxford University Press (2003), pp. 393 - 430.
“Indian Architecture; Mughals; Taj Mahal; Bukhara Khanate; Persepolis” in The Encyclopedia of Modern Asia (2002, Berkshire Publishing)
“Maidan” in The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Architecture (2004, Harry N Abrams Publishers)
“Hydraulics; Automata” in The Encyclopedia of the History of Gardens (2002, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers)
“Bombay” in The Encyclopedia of Urban Culture (2002, Grolier Publishers)
“Aurangzeb; Delhi Sultanate; Mamluks; Muhammad of Ghur; Catapults” in The Encyclopedia of the Land Warfare (2002, ABC-CLIO Publishers)
“Transoxiana” in The Encyclopedia of Medieval Islamic History (forthcoming Spring 2006, E. J. Brill Publishers).
“A Palimpsest of Cultural Synthesis and Urban Change: Bukhara after the Islamic Invasions” in Built Environment (Ed. Noha Nasser), Alexandrine Press, Oxford, UK (Vol. 28, No. 3, 2002), pp. 217 - 30.
“Urban Metamorphosis and Change in the Central Asian Region after the Arab Invasions” in Historical Themes & Current Change in Central & Inner Asia (Eds. Michael Gervers & Wayne Schlepp), Studies in Central and Inner Asia No.5, Joint Center for Asia Pacific Studies, Toronto, Canada (2002), pp. 199 - 233.
“Evidences for the Sub-Urban Rabad in the Early Medieval Central Asian City” in Proceedings of the 7th International Seminar of Urban Form, Cincinnati (2001), pp. 108 - 10.
“Indigenous or Foreign - The Metamorphosis of Fabric Types in the Growing City” in Cross Currents: Proceedings of the 2000 ACSA International Conference at Hong Kong, ACSA, Washington DC (2000), pp. 50 - 58.
“The Origins of Central Asian Cities: Investigations into the Continuity of Urban Layouts, Formal Spaces and Structure” in The Study of the Cultural Heritage of the East (Ed. V. M. Masson), Evropeisky Dom, St. Petersburg, Russia (1999), pp. 105 - 7.
“Searching for Urban Patterns and Fossils under the Central Asian City” in Proceedings of the 6th International Seminar of Urban Form, Florence, Italy (1999), pp. 320 - 24.
“Urban Space and Social Structure: The Bahmani Cities of Gulbarga, Firuzabad and Bidar” in Constructing New Worlds: Proceedings of the 1998 ACSA International Conference in Rio de Janeiro, ACSA, Washington DC (1998), pp. 339 - 44.
“Migration and Cultural Identity: Pathan Mohallas in Bhopal, India” in Fluid Migrations: The Immigration of Peoples and Cultures (Ed. Nezar AlSayyad), Center for Environmental Design Research/International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments - Vol. 89/IASTE 89 - 96, University of California, Berkeley (1996), pp. 29 - 66.
“The Spiritual Aspects of Space-Making in the Islamic City” in The Annual Aga Khan Program Journal, Aga Khan Program, Department of Architecture, MIT, Cambridge (1994), pp. 79 - 87.
Urban Form and Space in the Islamic City: A Study of Morphology and Formal Structures in the City of Bhopal (Central India), Monograph published by the School of Architecture, CEPT/Vastu Shilpa Foundation, Ahmedabad, India (1993 - 94).
Research Report & Measure Drawings - Ujjain Ghats for EPCO, Bhopal, India (1992).
“Berlin: Settlement Patterns and Urban Form” in Paper Compilation, School of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad, India, Dec. - Jan. (1990), pp. 95 - 131.
“Josef Paul Kleihues - Una Casa Una Citta” in Paris - Architektur und Utopie (Ed. Kristin Feireiss), Ernst & Sohn, Berlin, Germany (1989), pp. 93 - 97.
 

Conference & Seminar Presentations

“Pristine cityscape or messy ruins – the destruction, building and re-building of the urban space in the early-medieval Islamic city” at the 5^th Savannah Symposium on Urban space, Savannah 2007.

“Lost in Translation – the destruction of Old Delhi and the creation of a New Capital” at the 12^th International Planning History Conference, New Delhi – India 2006

“The City outside the Protective Walls – Suburban Urbanity in Early Medieval Central Asia” at the European Association of Urban Historians Eighth International Conference on Urban History, Stockholm – Sweden 2006.

“Bhopal and Burhanpur – Two Marvels of Hydraulic Design in Central India” at the International Seminar of Urban Form - Nordic and International Urban Morphology: Distinctive and Common Themes, Stockholm - Sweden 2006.

“The City in Suburbia – Urban Metamorphosis and Change in Central Asian Cities after the Arab Invasions” at the 9th European Scholars of Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) Conference, Krakow – Poland 2005.

“Abstraction & Diagramming - Critical Processes in Psychological Theory as applied to Design Learning” at the Beginning Student Design Conference, San Antonio 2005.

“[Re]Defining Hindu-ness and Islamic-ness in the Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent - An Examination of Prevalent Trends and Associated Phenomena” at the South & Southeast Asian Association for the Study  of Religion (SSEASR) International Conference, New Delhi - India 2005.

“The Oases Settlements of Central Asia” at the Sixth Central and Inner Asian Studies International Seminar, Toronto - Canada 2003.

“Re-creating Paradise lost: The Mughal Obsession for their Timurid Heritage” at the Southeastern Regional ACSA Conference, Atlanta 2002.

“Evidences for the Sub-Urban Rabad in the Early Medieval Central Asian City” at the Second ISUF International Seminar, Cincinnati 2001.

“Urban Traditions and City-Building among the Central Asian Nomads” at the International Symposium on Mongolian Studies (organized by the International Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations & UNESCO), Ulaanbaatar - Mongolia 2001.

“Urban Synthesis and Change in Central Asian Cities” at the Fifth Central and Inner Asian Studies International Seminar, Toronto - Canada 2001.

“Urban Continuity in the Provincial Center at Bhopal” at the South-Asian Studies Seminar, Berkeley 2001.

“Central Asian Cities - the Palimpsest of Urban Evolution” at the International Conference of Central Asian Studies (organized by the French Institute, Tashkent), Tashkent - Uzbekistan 2000.

“Indigenous or Foreign - The Metamorphosis of Fabric Types in the Growing City” at the ACSA International Conference, Hong Kong - China 2000.

“Urban Metamorphosis in the Central Asian Region after the Arab Invasions” at the Fourth Central and Inner Asian Studies International Seminar, Toronto - Canada 2000.

“An analysis of Rashid al-Din’s Jami al-Tawarikh” at the Fourth Seminar on Central Asian Studies, Bloomington 2000.

“The Origins of Central Asian Cities: Investigations into the Continuity of Urban Layouts, Formal Spaces and Structure” at the International Seminar on Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg - Russia 1999.

“Searching for Urban Patterns and Fossils under the Central Asian City” at the First ISUF International Seminar, Florence - Italy 1999.

“The Timurid City - A Reconciliation of Nomadic and Sedentary Lifestyles” at the Third Central and Inner Asian Studies International Seminar, Toronto - Canada 1998.

“Provincial Capitals in the late-Mughal Period - The case of Bhopal” at the International Symposium of Asia Scholars, Amsterdam - Holland 1998.

“Urban Space and Social Structure: The Bahmani Cities of Gulbarga, Firuzabad and Bidar” at the ACSA International Conference, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil 1998.

“Mongol Cities and the Legendary Sultaniyya” at the Second Seminar on Central Asian Studies, Bloomington 1998.

“Analyzing Cities and Urban Settlements in Asia” at Seminar on Cities in the Indian Sub-continent, Ahmedabad - India 1997.

“Migration and Cultural Identity: The case of the Pathan Mohallas at Bhopal, Central India” at the Second International IASTE Conference, Berkeley 1996.

 

Invited Presentations

“Bhopal and its Pathan Mohallas – An Introduction to the Urban Morphological Analysis of Genotypes and Phenotypes in Tissue and Dwelling Types” at the Department of Architecture, Polytechnic of Bari, Bari – Italy 2007.

“Urban Suburbia in Early-Medieval Central Asian Cities” at the Department of Architecture, Polytechnic of Bari, Bari – Italy 2007. “Analyzing the Indian City – Trends, Tools and Pedagogical Positions” at the School of Architecture, CEPT University, Ahmedabad – India, 2002. “Bhopal and its Urban History” at the Museum of Mankind, Bhopal – India, 2001.

“The Pathan Mohallas at Bhopal” at School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi – India, 1999.

“Central Asian Urbanism in the Timurid Age” at the School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi – India, 1999.

“Burhanpur – The Fourth Great Mughal Capital” at the School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi – India, 1998.  

 

University Activities & Service

MArch Committee, School of Architecture & Urban Planning, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Fall 2006 - Present
Study Abroad Committee, School of Architecture & Urban Planning, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Fall 2006 - Present
Doctoral Program Committee, School of Architecture & Urban Planning, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Fall 2006 - Present