Javier Ors Ausín (MDes CC ’17) was awarded the Paul M. Heffernan International Travel Award. The award was used to fund Javier’s research trip to India in January 2017, in support of his final thesis at the Graduate School of Design.
Javier’s academic focus at Harvard has been to look at cities and the relationship between citizens and architectural sites that represent the legacy of colonialism. He has been researching the British Empire in India, the importance of its colonial history, and how its dominance in the built environment is expressed through monuments and sites as well as the changes in meaning of these sites that has occurred through the transition to India’s independence.
Javier traveled to India in January 2017 and conducted research and fieldwork for his thesis. During his trip, he did archival research at the National Archives in Mumbai and New Delhi, as well as meeting with local architects and historians.
