Sem 09
Spatial Arguments

Prasad Khanolkar

Spatial Arguments, the final-year undergraduate thesis course, is central to SEA’s commitment to cultivating a robust culture of research and strengthening the relationship between spatial studies and architecture. The aim of the course is to enable students to develop original inquiries into the relationship between life and space. It is structured around two key components: devising innovative research methods through field-based investigations and articulating a compelling and original spatial argument.

Although the theses undertook a wide range of research inquiries, they could be broadly organised into five thematic areas.

The first explored how rigid spatio-temporal forms become mutable and adaptable, enabling new modes of individual and collective life. The second examined the interactions and frictions between human and more-than-human entities, challenging anthropocentric assumptions in architectural thought. The third investigated the spatial transformations accompanying urbanisation across varied geographies and their impact on cultural forms. The fourth focused on the relationships between urban morphology, behavioural patterns, and everyday life. Finally, the fifth theme proposed innovative and relational methods for studying spatial conditions, encouraging non-binary and fluid ways of understanding space.

The culmination of the 2025–26 academic year was a three-day student symposium titled Through a Glass, Obliquely. The symposium created a vibrant platform for dialogue between students and scholars from the field. Grounded in the research of the graduating cohort, the event fostered meaningful conversations on emerging directions in architectural thinking.

A forensic reading of spatial decay, by Lohitha Rao


Drawing of the Hamida School, Bhopal, by Kankana Chaudhary