The School of Urban and Regional Planning is pleased to announce a presentation by Jaigopal Rao of Inspiration--an architecture planning firm based in southern India. "Sustainable Architecture for Grass-Roots Democracy" will be held Thursday, April 21st at 7:00 p.m. in room C20 of the Pomerantz Center.

India's economic expansion in the last two decades has been accompanied by a rapid increase in urbanization. While much of this new urbanization is based on the capital intensive, resource intensive Western model, a few designers have chosen to experiment with and develop a radical nature-friendly contemporary local development idiom.

Inspiration is at the forefront of this movement. Founded 18 years ago with over 400 completed projects, Inspiration has won several state and national awards in India, and received international recognition for its eco-sensitive designs.

The event is free and open to the public.