Chandigarh

Dr S(urindera) S(ingh) Bhatti is India's most versatile professional, nicknamed "Chandigarh's Mr Versatility" by Chandigarh Newsline of The Indian Express, a leading English newspaper of the country. By virtue of his lifelong diverse learning and diversified view and way of life, he has convincingly laid claim to 55 disciplines, namely, Architecture; Art; Poetry; Criticism; Aesthetics; Engineering; Vocal Music; Comparative Religion, Mysticism, and so forth. He is India's pioneer Architectural Theorist, Architectura Researcher, Architectural Journalist, and an impassioned protagonist of ecumenical culture of Holistic Creativity that facilely extends its outreach to embrace the entire Mankind as the Essence of Man. Dr Bhatti holds three PhDs on: (1) CHANDIGARH (1991); (2) CREATIVE MYSTICISM (2000); and (3) GOLDEN TEMPLE (2008). He earned his Master of Architecture degree from The University of Queensland, Australia, on the subject titled ROCK GADRDEN IN CHANDIGARH - A Critical Evaluation of the Work of Nek Chand, which has made this "Outsider Art" known throughout the world. He has won over 20 national and international awards, including the IIA [Indian Institute of Architects] Lifetime Achievement Gold Medal for Architectural Education (2001). All India Arts & Crafts Society [AIFACS] has honoured him as Veteran Artist; and National Academy of Arts, Sciences & Literature, Italy, has appointed him National Art Adviser for India. Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi [CSA] has conferred Best Book of the Year 2019 Award for his anthology of Urdu poetry "Shu'oor-i-Bekhudi", and CSA's Lifetime Award of Recognition for his contribution in the field of literature. Both awards carry a citation and a cash prize. Dr Bhatti has published over 700 articles on diverse subjects and disciplines in newspapers, magazines, and journals in India and abroad, presented around 100 papers at seminars and conferences, and authored 30 books on diverse disciplines. He is the only architect who has won the University of Roorkee Construction Research Award for Original Contribution to Innovative Engineering. He holds an identical distinction to have worked as the official Art Critic of The Tribune during 1977-1997 when his 400+ reviews of national-, regional-, state-, and district-, and city-level exhibitions of drawings, paintings, sculptures, graphics, applied art, installations, and workshops generated in north-western India an Art Movement that created national and international celebrities. He founded FIRST FRIDAY FORUM [FFF] in 1999, co-founded the Institute of Indian Interior Designers [IIID] in 1972, and is a founder-member of Chandigarh Press Club established in 1980.