Students of Anant National University, Ahmedabad, will design a proposed pedestrian bridge at Narol Crossroad in collaboration with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The initiative will give students an opportunity to apply interdisciplinary design approaches to a real-world public infrastructure project.
The project will be undertaken through a three-stage design competition open to students across disciplines at the university. Participants will be invited to develop practical and implementable proposals for the pedestrian bridge, focusing on safety, usability, visual appeal and the everyday experiences of pedestrians. The final selected design will receive an award and be taken forward in collaboration with NHAI.
The initiative is being led by Dr Sanjeev Vidyarthi, Provost, Anant National University, and Ar Jabeen Zacharias, Professor of Practice at the university. Shri Pradeep Atri, Chief General Manager (Technical) and Regional Officer of NHAI, and architect Habeeb Khan are also involved in the project.
According to Dr Vidyarthi, the initiative reflects the university’s approach to design education through engagement with real-world challenges. Working on a public infrastructure project will expose students to practical constraints, stakeholder requirements and the processes involved in translating design concepts into implementable structures.
He noted that public spaces and infrastructure must respond to considerations of safety, accessibility, usability and the broader urban context. The collaboration is intended to help students understand how design decisions influence the everyday experiences of city residents.
Ar Jabeen Zacharias said the initiative, titled ‘Imagine’, encourages students to develop people-oriented design solutions by understanding the needs of communities and their surroundings. She described the pedestrian bridge as an example of how thoughtful design interventions can improve people’s interaction with everyday infrastructure.
The project will also introduce students to the technical and institutional processes involved in public infrastructure development. As proposals progress through the competition’s three stages, participants will engage with design iterations, implementation requirements and inputs from different stakeholders.
By opening the competition to students across disciplines, Anant National University aims to encourage diverse approaches to public infrastructure design. The selected proposal will move forward through collaboration with NHAI, providing students with exposure to the intersection of design education, engineering considerations and public-sector infrastructure development.
The initiative forms part of the university’s emphasis on experiential learning and institutional collaborations, connecting academic design practices with practical challenges in the built environment.
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