Smitha M B

Senior Manager – Academic Office | mbsmitha at iihs dot ac dot in
Home > People  > Team > Smitha M B

EDUCATION:

2012    M S, Community and Regional Planning, Department of Community and Regional Planning,

             Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

2006    M Arch, Architecture, School of Architecture And Planning, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque,

             New Mexico, USA

                                     1997    BArch, Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan

Countries: India, USA
States: Karnataka, New Mexico, Pennsylvania
Cities: Bangalore, Albuquerque, Philadelphia
Languages: English, Hindi, Kannada

Smitha manages the IIHS Academic Office, in which she oversees the programme delivery of the IIHS Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), manages administrative systems and processes and assists in the preparatory activities for proposed expansion of Academic programmes. She teaches various courses in the UFP including Practica, a site-based structured component; Sustainable Building Practice (Build), a layer in the activity-based experiential learning component of the UFP called Core Curriculum; and practice-based electives courses. She also conducts heritage walks for IIHS learners in Bengaluru and assists the Academic and Research team to curate the various academic and administrative components of the UFP.

 

Smitha brings years of academic and professional positions in the USA and India. These include independent architectural and planning consultancies in India; health care planning at the University of Pennsylvania Health Systems (UPHS), Penn Medicine, Philadelphia, USA; teaching engagements at Temple University, USA, the University of New Mexico, USA, and at various institutions in Bangalore, India. She was the first recipient of a Science and Technology grant for architectural research from the Vision Group for Science and Technology (VGST), Government of Karnataka, India. In addition to teaching theory and studio courses, her academic engagements included international collaborations, faculty-curated international architectural and planning research travels and coordinating architectural research activities. An academic Planning Consultant for the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD), Bangalore, a not-for-profit organisation, Smitha contributed to the review of the BIAPA (Bangalore International Airport Planning Area) Master Plan.

 

With a strong belief in interdisciplinary collaboration, her interests in the Architecture and Planning disciplines include Food Systems Planning; Accessibility oriented Transportation Planning and Policies; and Planning and Design of Health Care facilities. Smitha is a registered architect in India and her professional practice focused on home renovations to facilitate safe aging-in-place, and to meet the needs of contemporary multi-generational households.

Training

  • Practica, Urban design and planning, Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), IIHS
  • Build: Sustainable Building Design, Built environment, Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), IIHS
  • Contestations and Negotiations of Public Spacemaking/ Placemaking, Community engagement, Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), IIHS
  • Exposure visits, Other, Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), IIHS
  • Urban Transportation and Mobility, Transport, Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), IIHS

Books/ Book Chapters

  • Surie, A., Goswami, A., Arakali, A., Revi, A., Ravindranath, D., Bhan, G., Anand, G., Balakrishnan, K., Kapoor, N., Sami, N., Vasanth, P., Anand, S., Smitha, M. B., Viswanath, S., Baberwal, S., Mitra, S., Batikar, T., & John, V. (2023). Towards a new urban practice: The urban fellows programme 2016-2022. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. https://doi.org/10.24943/9788195847303
  • Smitha, M. B., Vishwanatha, K., & Chandrashekhar, M. N. (2019, April). Connecting sustainable design projects at fragile water bodies with smart city interventions: Contemplative explorations in architectural pedagogy. Paper presented at the 49th Annual meeting, Urban Affairs Association, Los Angeles, USA.
  • 2019 Panel Discussion: Contemplations on architectural education at the 61st Annual NASA Conference (ANC) National Association of Students of Architecture (NASA, India), SJB School of Architecture and Planning, Bangalore, India.
  • Smitha, M. B. (2018, July). Memory. Erasure. Resilience. Paper presented at the Symposium proceedings on International Summer Cities on Working Waterfronts and Freshwater Fictions, Carleton Urban Research Lab (C-URL), Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
  • Smitha, M. B. (2018, July). Framing new narratives: Teaching sustainable urbanism. Paper presented at the Symposium proceedings on International Summer Cities on Working Waterfronts and Freshwater Fictions. Carleton Urban Research Lab (C-URL), Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
  • Smitha, M. B. (2015, July). Sustainable communities: Linking food systems, transportation planning and the built environment. Low Carbon Summer Architecture Programme (LCSAP-2015), Welsh School of Architecture (WSA), University of Cardiff, Wales, UK.
  • Smitha, M. B. (2011, March). Integration of urban agriculture with TOD in city neighborhoods: Adding value as a critical low intensity complementor. Paper presented at the 41st National Conference, Urban Affairs Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
  • Smitha, M. B. (2010, October). Greening the city and eating it too! Exploring the relationship of urban farms in West Philly with existing transit facilities. Poster presentation at the Annual Regional Conference, Pennsylvania Chapter, American Planning Association.