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1.The Intent
Ensuring the Cultural Heritage of India is the responsibility of every Indian. In
its holistic definition, Indias built heritage assumes a significant & dominant
position, and necessitates a deeper and more wholesome understanding from
all involved in the field of architecture.

The exposure to the built heritage is a part of the curriculum of most of the
architecture institutions in the country, through related studies/field visits.
However, whilst these programs increase the familiarity with the End-Products
represented by buildings, building complexes & settlements, it offers minimal
exposure to the Processes and Human Skills, which made the End-Products
worthy of being included in Indias built heritage.

Hundreds and thousands of Unknown Crafts Persons, who have been the
carriers of our Traditional Knowledge & Wisdom for centuries, have
contributed to the magnificent Architecture of India. The primary strength of
the architecture of India lies in the anonymity of its designers. This is evident
from the fact that many of the students of architecture, and architects are
unaware of the identities of the principal designers of our monuments such as
the Taj Mahal, or the Agra Fort, or the complexes of Fatehpur Sikri / Hampi, or

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the Palaces of Padmanabhpuram / Jaipur / Indore / Mysore / Srinagar
/Bhuvaneshwar, or the temples of Dilwara / Konarak / Khajuraho / Varanasi /
Madurai, and hundreds of thousands of residences which have stood the test
of time running into centuries.

This is because making of a building was a collective process and responsibility,

which offered opportunities for creative input at all levels of implementation,
and was not restricted to the design studios of its Sthapatis / Architects, as it
appears to be presently. The wealth of this Traditional Knowledge & Wisdom,
embodies in the Processes, has neither been fully documented, nor is fully
documentable. It has been passed on from one generation to another and
from the teacher to a worthy student.

The only hope for its survival and subsequent revival lies in the increased
employment generation of the Traditional Crafts Persons, who have been
invested with this wealth of knowledge. A lack of familiarity of the generations
of architects trained in the post-independence era, owing largely to its
exclusions from the curriculum in the present education systems, results in
their inability to generate this much needed employment. This familiarity
MUST begin and get nurtured at the academic institutions, if architects of India
are expected to play an essential role in the conservation of its heritage of
Traditional Knowledge & Wisdom.

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At the students level, the exposure to the Processes and the Human Skills of
the Crafts Persons, requires substantially increased familiarity. The intent of
this competition is to expose the students to the vast range of crafts which
exists all around us and yet we are not too familiar with them. It is only with
familiarity that the students will feel comfortable to apply them in their designs
to increase the aspects of contextualism as well as the crafts Persons skills.
This competition is to help the students to understand, analyze and investigate
such crafts. This process will help them to discover the wealth of crafts and
craftspersons unknown to them who, with/without credit, fame and/or
acknowledgment

have

been

tirelessly

working

and

contributing

for

generations to make India so rich in its diversity, variety & creativity.

In the path of studying the crafts and crafts persons, you study the existing
details and its innovative uses for the modern era. This year, in congruence of
the NASA theme, we go deeper with our vision by looking at the existing,
detailing the innovation that has occurred in time and building/developing a
vision for the future carrying the skills/techniques of the fellow crafts persons.
Let us not limit ourselves in just studying the exiting solutions but evolve
ourselves to think beyond and ask questions no one else has thought of. As
briefly instigating the inner mind, 58th NASA theme asks you to question
yourself the "why" of what has been? Or the "why not" of what is yet to
come? Are you going to respect the legacy of the past? Or are you going to
take the future into your hands without taking the legacy of the past along with
you to the future? which may help find you a delicate balance between

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continuity & desirable growth, are the question to be kept in the focus of your
intensions.

This initiative of introducing the Unknown Crafts Persons Trophy, (UCP

Trophy), by Virasat Foundation, Ahmedabad, is a step in that direction. It
will be given to deserving student/students at this & subsequent annual
NASA Conventions.

The Objectives

The broad objectives of UCP Trophy are:

To provide opportunities to the students of architecture, for explorations

into a lesser known but highly significant wealth of knowledge & wisdom
embedded in the construction traditions of India, and its regions.

To provide them with a motivation for pursuing this direction of

knowledge during their academic careers.

To encourage them to develop a deeper & more holistic understanding of

the Processes & Human Skills, connected with traditional construction
which lie in every region of the country, and help them develop greater
familiarity with the traditional materials, technologies & decision making
processes.

To open up avenues to explore one more direction of the practice of the

profession, when they embark in their own careers.

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2. The Eligibility Criteria
1. Any student / student groups registered with any recognized architectural
college/department in India, and recognized by NASA India will be eligible
for participation in the competition for UCP Trophy.
2. A maximum of 03 students in a group can participate per entry for the
trophy.
3. Same students cannot participate/send multiple entries.
4. A maximum of 03 entries per recognized College/Institution will be
accepted

3.Submission Requirements
The students are required to select one Human Skills based Craft from any
region of India, using one or more traditional materials/technologies and
used in the making of the built environment and its finishes. The Selected
craft should be the ones which are still practiced (with or without the
traditional techniques) and which have not fully disappeared, or become
extinct, but may have been just transformed with the passage of time.
The contents of the submitted documents must comprise:
A. About the chosen craft
1. The reason for the selection of the craft and its regional, commonly
used name/s in brief.
2. Comprehensive description of the craft and its origins.
3. The materials & technologies it uses,
4. The nature and description of the tools involves.

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5. The sequential processes involved, up to the final
completion/installation stage.
6. The potentials & the constraints of the use of this craft in constructions
& finishes.

B. About the Sources, Lesson learnt and Future use. (minimum one,
maximum two A3 size sheet in Landscape Format)
1. The name/s of the crafts person/s, their location and contact addresses
for verification. (So that we will call for the authentication of your
documentation)
2. The sources of Information gathered from, in terms of reference of
books, internet sites, magazines etc, and any other sources of
information used to compile.
3. Compilation of the lessons learnt and inferences made by the
student/group of students, which are intend in the future academic
design assignments.
4. Identification

of

its

potential

uses

in

contemporary

designs/construction projects.
5. To predict the life of the selected craft and visualizing its potential in
future by expanding its usage.

4. Submission Specifications:
1. Detailed documentation of the chosen craft will only be hand sketched,
hand drafted in simple legible hand written text.

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2. Photographs, only if necessary, can be included but not in the form of
collages. (Photographs of the field work and the process can be included
in the DVD as soft copy)
3. The submissions in the given format will be made in Hardcopy as well as
Soft copy, and may include a maximum of three film clips, each one not
exceeding 60 seconds.

5. Format for the Submission:

A.

In Hardcopies
1. Maximum 8 sheets of A3 Sheets size (420mm X 297mm) in Landscape
Orientation.
2. 25mm clean margin on the binding side and 20 mm margins on the all
other sides.
3. Border developed on the selected craft and use it as the margine to
define the above guide lines.
4. Title + UPC trophy Logo +college code + page number should appear on
each sheet. (can be a part of the border/ page format designed
according to the context of the entry)
4.NASA logo, following NASA Logo guidelines, should also appear on each
sheet.
5.All the sheets / each entry to be packed in the a A3 File/ A3 corrugated
box file which should bear the College code only.

B. Soft copy

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1. The submitted sheets must be scanned/ digitalized in high resolution
(300dpi) images of the plates as well as film clips and photographs of
the field work should be compiled in two sets of DVD, as a part of the
submission.
2. One set of DVD to bear student name and college name and college
code, and the Second set to bear only the college code.
3. A document bearing each students personal email address, postal
address and personal phone number.

6. The Evaluation Criteria

1. Choice of Craft (15%)
2. The breadth & depth of understanding of the selected Craft by the
student/s (25%).
3. Presentation

of

the

understanding

of

the

Craft

in

the

documentation, in terms of content & quality (15%).

4. The lessons learnt and inferences made from the study of the
selected Craft (10%).
5. Predicting the future of the craft and visualizing its variable uses in
the future. (10%)
6. The imaginative uses in contemporary design/construction projects.
(15%).
7. Presentation Skills (10%).

7. The

Frequently asked Questions (FAQs) and their answers for UCP

Trophy in the 56th- 57th NASA. THESE HAVE BEEN INCLUDED HERE FOR
GREATER CLARITY. STUDENTS ARE REQUESTED TO SEND THEIR
QUERIES, NOT COVERED HERE, IN CLEAR LANGUAGE TO THE NASA
SECRETARIAT.

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Q-1 : Does the selected craft need to be related to architecture or can

it be any traditional craft?
A-1: The selected traditional craft should be related to an aspect of Built
form, including the finishes. For instance, if a traditional textile craft
constitutes being a part of the Built form, it can be taken up, but textile, as
a woven cloth, cannot be taken up for the study. Similarly, if a potter
makes pots for use as products, then they cannot be taken up, but if there
is a traditional clay craft, used in buildings specifically, say for insulation
purposes, then it can be taken up."

Q-2: For the UCP trophy, can we paste any piece of sheet to the mains
sheets and present it like that? And about the craft, I wonder if it
should be a regional or national unknown craft? Can we select the
local crafts which are somewhat known in this state of ours, to give
them an exposure at a national level?
A-2: The brief already clarifies the answer to this question, in principle. The
search of the unknown crafts is limited to the regions of India, but has to be
related to Built form, and can certainly be from the region you inhabit. One
of the main agenda of this trophy is to give a wider exposure to the lesser
known crafts, and unknown crafts persons. So any 'local traditional craft,
which is related to an aspect of built form, including the finishes, can be
documented and presented as per the requirements of the UCP trophy.
However, the sequence of provided information MUST be retained in all
materials as per the brief, and not in any random order or manner.
Q-3: Can we have a definite painting form as our topic for UCP Trophy?
A-3: Yes, provided it is a form of painting, which is widely used on the wall
surfaces, or on the floor in a Built form.
Q-4: Can we use an A3 sized gateway sheets for this documentation?
Can we stick gateway sheet on an A3 White Sheet for the
documentation?

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A-4: Yes, if you are using gateway, then binding it with hard paper is a
MUST, so that it is straight (not rolled up) safe & protected while it is being
handled in transit and during its assessment by the assessors.
Medium of presentation is not as important as its Contents. Unless it's
clean and helps the participant express his/her work better, The assessors
will not have any bias about the material you use.
Q-5: We want to know if the following things can be printed on the
sheets:
1. the format (which would include the project name and a graphic
related to the same).
2. Any Water-mark.
3. Colored patches on sheet as a background effect for presentation
purpose.

A-5: As mentioned in the brief, only hand sketched documentation shall be

appreciated. We have been overwhelmed by the amount of detailed
handwork presented and documentation done and sent earlier, hence
we recommend you to explore your artistic skills for the enhancement of
the selected craft as it also has 10% of the total marking.

We suggest you not to add any kind of effects which makes the
documentation difficult or unreadable.

Q-6: Regarding the video clips whether the following

1. Voice-overs
2. Graphic
3. Subtitles can be added or edited into video clip??

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A-6: The purpose of the video clip is to make sure that the students have
not documented the craft from book or any other source, but have had one
on one experience by practically visited the crafts person, and have
witnessed the making of the chosen craft. If any of the above mentioned
parameters helps in conveying this better, then you can.

Q-7: We have selected a instrument making craft, which is a lesser

known craft in our region. The craft is not directly related to built
forms, but few of the crafts persons at present are using the same
instrument making skill learnt for building finishes. So we are bit
confused if this will be suitable for the trophy brief.

A-7: Yes, you can, provided the content focuses on the Built form finishes.
The trophy talks of art and craft where we expect you to study the context
and the cultural backgrounds of your selected human based skills and
are interested in your subsequent analysis and conclusions from it. There
are no limitations as Indian architecture and artisans and crafts persons
have evolved out of very strong cultural references and contexts.

But, the assessors will review your study and your conclusions only from
the perspective of built form.
Q-8: UCP brief says that the lettering should be simple legible
handwritten text, so stenciling (like we do in LIK trophy ) is allowed or
not?

A-8: Yes, it will be accepted.

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Q-9: Should the submission be manual or can be system presentation?

System, in sense thatwe can include the scanned sketches or drafting
of the details.

A-9: The entire documentation is to be hand sketched and prepared

manually. This means original first hand sketches are required for the
documentation. In case the participants have made sketches on site or
while site visits, then those can be scanned and added in the photographic
CD, but NOT in the documentation.

As a suggestion, we would like to say that the onsite sketches are of great
value for you and if these are reproduced in a cleaner and better way in the
documentation, it would enhance the content of the submission.

Q-10: Can we occupy one and a half sheet for the last topic i.e.
potential and constraints and manage the materials and the nature of
tools in one sheet. Taking care that the sequence of the sheets are
not disturbed as mentioned in the brief.

A-10: No, this is not acceptable. The Competition format is evolved to help
the Assessors to be able to focus on the efforts of the participants and their
understanding of the Craft more comprehensively, and not anything else.

Q-11: Regarding UCP trophy, our queries are:

1. We want to document a historical monument and explain about
the

craft we chosen can we do it that way?

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2. Can we keep a cover page? If yes, will it be included in the
number of limited sheets?
3. Should we post them individually, or binding can also be done?
4. Can we have a 3d embossed thing on the paper?
A-11: 1. No, UCP Trophy is principally about the crafts, craftspersons and
their craftsmanship, and not about buildings.
2. This page will be included, but in the total maximum number of sheets
allowed. It is the participants choice on a blank cover page.
3. Separate sheets need to be put in a suitable envelop before couriering.
4. No, this is not allowed.

8. The Assessors
1. The Assessors will include at least one trustee of Virasat Foundation, at
least two senior architects with craft experience and a representative
nominated by the current President of NASA, for the assessment at
Ahmedabad.
2. The process of assessment of the UCP Trophy will take place at
Ahmedabad.

9. Disclaimer:
1. The entries shall be disqualified if:
a. They are received after the last date / time of submission.
b. They do not conforming / following any of the conditions clarified
above.
c. They do not fulfill ALL the requirements clarified above.

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d. The submission is not accompanied by the Letter of Authentication by
their respective/Departments/Colleges/Institutions.
2. The decision of the Assessors, with regards to the selection of winner &
runner-up, shall be final, and binding to all participants.

No

correspondence will be entertained in this regards.

3. All materials submitted by the Students for the competition shall become
the property of Virasat Foundation, and be deemed to have requisite
publication rights.

Virasat Foundation reserves the Right to use the

material for publication / documentation / publicity purpose without any

further notification to or clearance from the concerned student / student
group / college.

10. The Submissions

All submissions must be sent to:

VIRASAT FOUNDATION, Ahmedabad

Amrit-Lila Bungalow,
Off Nagari Hospital Road,
Near Gujarat College,
Ahmedabad 380 006, Gujarat,
INDIA.
Email : abhikram@abhikram.com

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For all queries related to the submission please contact
AKSHAY DAHIYA
Public Relations
NASA India
communications@nasaindia.co

Latest by 15th December 2015 in print as well as electronic media. (As

per the regulations mentioned above)
The submission should not have any identification of the participants in
any form, on the front face of the submitted sheets.

The Citation & Trophy

There will be one Winners Trophy & one Commendation Trophy given to the
worthy submissions, which address all the objectives of the UCP Trophy.
The Trophy will be accompanied by Citation by the Assessors and a crafts kit
for the awardees.

The Outcome

The intended outcome of the UCP Trophy is the publication of a

Monograph of the winning and other worthy entries, for circulation in
appropriate to all the architectural institutions which are a part of
NASA India in appropriate format. This format will either be in the form
of electronic or print media, as deemed fit by the Trustees of Virasat
Foundation.

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