Amit Pimple

Amit’s father is a freelance artist who is a well known in India. During his childhood, Amit developed his graphical and design skills while working with his father. He organized six independent drawing exhibitions and also won many laurels in drawing competitions, including the gold medal at National level presented to him by the late Rajiv Gandhi. Amit's passion then extended beyond the intangible to tangible forms and shapes and he chose to study architecture, 'where creativity amalgamates with the functional utility and thus the scope extends beyond the frame of a canvas'.

While studying architecture, his interest in sketching and photography gave him a new vision to read the fabric of the built environment and an ability to express his design ideas more fully. Rewards of his hard work came in the shape of standing First, every year and semester in the Pune University Region amongst 14 architectural schools, with publications and exhibitions of his work, several awards and honours bestowed upon him, as well.

Amit sums it up by saying: "Today, India's urban population is the second largest in the world as the Nation is going through the rapid process of urbanization, which has had a deep impact on my thought process.
This has oriented me towards urban aspects of architecture and built environment right from my Undergraduation. After I completed my degree in architecture, I worked in the fields of architecture and urban planning, taught in the same university for one semester and then decided to go into higher education in urban studies.

In my search of the institution where I could equip myself with further necessary knowledge, I first came across the profile of the MA Cities, Design and Regeneration program at London Metropolitan University and was awed by its uniqueness. Urban Design and Urban Planning programs, generally, cover the physical design and policy part, but this course also encompasses the social and cultural dimension of the human civilizations. I was always fascinated by the city of London right from my childhood. I think it is a unique blend of the history, the present and the future. I chose London and London Met without hesitation, I am now, a part of this cosmopolis.

By studying at Londonmet, I want to contribute to the improvement of the quality of the built environment in the contemporary Indian context. This course has given me a new vision to look at cities and the regions. I have nurtured my research skills and widened my perspective after interacting with my course tutor, Dr Stephen Thake and my faculty in the first semester, to absorb and tackle the implications of dynamic urban environments further. My objective is to implement my academic knowledge into real life situations, starting from a local level of my hometown, Akola. As a Masters Dissertation project of this course, I am working on a 'live project proposal' in coordination with the Local Authorities of Akola Municipal Corporation in India. I am looking forward to contributing to the holistic socio-economic, urban development of India through the mediums of research, academics and professional practice in the fields of architecture and urban regeneration in this New Age World.

I feel that my past academic performance, my work and teaching experience together with my long term objectives to work for my nation, contributed to my good fortune to receive a London Metropolitan International Graduate Scholarship Award for the year 2003, and this in itself is a lifetime achievement for me and I thank London Metropolitan University for this."