Vinayak Bharne
Faculty
Faculty
M. Arch, University of Southern California; Presidential Fellow, USC Marshall School of Business
Vinayak Bharne is Director of Design at Moule & Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists in Pasadena, California, and joint faculty of urbanism at the Sol Price School of Public Policy and the School of Architecture at the University of Southern California.
His professional work ranges from new towns, inner-city revitalization, campuses, resort-villages and housing for corporate, private and institutional clients, to urban regulations, policies and strategic advising for government and non-government agencies in the United States, Canada, India, China, United Arab Emirates, Panama, Kenya and Mauritius. His projects have received numerous local and national awards. These include the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s 2013 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement, the American Planning Association (California Chapter) 2011 Planning Excellence in Implementation Award – both for the Downtown Transformation in Lancaster, California; and two national Charter Awards from the Congress for the New Urbanism – for the Del Mar Station Apartments in Pasadena, and the Don Ana Plaza Reconstruction in New Mexico.
His research focuses on contemporary urbanism in Asia, specifically the nexus of public policy and water stress, the urbanities of informal and appropriated landscapes, and the urbanisms of sacred territories and cities. He is currently directing three major research projects in Asia: “Demystifying Banaras” is exploring multidisciplinary strategies for the future of one of India’s oldest cities situated along the sacred and polluted Ganga River; “Saving the Qanat” is examining the potential for conservation and reuse of Iran’s indigenous hydro-infrastructure as catalysts for regional sustainability; “The Complete Ise Jingu” is designing an incremental enhancement plan for the surroundings of Japan’s most revered shrine.
Bharne is the editor of "The Emerging Asian City: Concomitant Urbanities & Urbanisms” (Routledge, 2012), a seminal 24-chapter book on the phenomenological forces shaping urban Asia today. He is also co-author of “Rediscovering the Hindu Temple: The Sacred Architecture & Urbanism of India,” (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012) and contributing author of several books such as "Planning Los Angeles", "Los Angeles: Building the Polycentric Region", and "Aesthetics of Sustainable Architecture". His numerous articles, essays and opinion-editorials have also been published by the Council for Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat, Journal of Architectural Education, Marg, Indian Express, Urban Design Quarterly, Japan Foundation etc. A former Asia-Pacific Development Commission Traveling Scholar to Japan, he is currently compiling his twenty-year writings on Japanese architecture and urbanism into a forthcoming volume titled "Zen Spaces in Neon Places" (ORO Editions, 2013)
A frequently invited speaker at national and international planning conferences, he currently serves as a contributing editor of Kyoto Journal in Japan, contributing blogger of the planning webzine Planetizen in Los Angeles, expert commentator in the think tank The Urban Vision in India, Resource Council member at the Form Based Codes Institute in Chicago, and Advisory Board member of the international non-profit Global Urban Development.
Phone: (213)740-2723