Skip to main content
College of Environment and Design

AMITABH VERMA

Job Title: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Contact

Email: averma@uga.edu
Phone: 706-583-5562
Street address: 285 S. Jackson Street, Room 145
Head shot of Amitabh Verma

Personal Interests

Drawing, graphic design, reading, cooking, travel.

 

 IG icon  LI icon  YT  YT

College of Environment and Design logo

Biographical Information

I teach and write about two different areas, Design Communication and Urban Design. For Design Communication I explore strategies to promote hand graphics as a tool for creative expression. I am also active in promoting sketching to designers and non-designers for its mental health benefits. For Urban Design, I teach studios which enable students to engage with place-making at a local scale, while my research address the complex challenges in urban development in India.

My professional background includes urban design, architecture, and historic preservation. I am also an artist (drawing, silk dyeing, computer illustration), graphic/visual designer, and UX designer. Before teaching, I worked for over twelve years at design firms in the United States and India.

Education

MLA (with Distinction), University of Georgia, 1994
BArch (with Honors), Mumbai University, 1991

Research AREAS

Design Communication, Graphic Representation, Visual/Graphic Design, Sketching and Mental Health.

Urban Design, Urbanization in India, Heritage Conservation, Water in the Cityscape.

TEACHING EXPERTISE

Design Communication, Hand Graphics, Urban Design, Construction, Architecture.

SKETCHING WORKSHOPS

Reducing stress and anxiety
  • "Sketching for Centering", CELA Conference, 2021
  • Fontaine Center, UGA Health Center, Athens, GA
  • UGA Human Resources/Training & Development, Athens, GA
  • Salesforce, Bellevue, WA
  • Terry College of Business, UGA, Athens, GA
  • UC Berkeley Staff Development, Berkeley, CA

Promoting design thinking and creativity

  • Cedar Shoals High School, Athens, GA
  • Jackson County Comprehensive High School, Jefferson, GA
  • East Jackson High School, Commerce, GA
  • Olson-Kundig Architects, Seattle, WA
  • Berger Partnership, Seattle
  • LABash Annual Conference 2019, Athens, GA
  • UGA Alumni Weekend, Athens, GA
  • SF User Experience Designers, San Francisco, CA

Selected Publications

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

  • Manual Skills, Technological Present: Identity of hand graphics in landscape architecture today.’ CELA, Sacramento, CA, 2019.
  • Nature in the Indian Mega-City: Locating Identity and Place’. CELA, Austin, TX, 2013.
  • ‘Creating Connection to Place: Using Local Landscape Tradition to Redefine the Identity of Chandigarh, India’. CELA, Tucson, AZ, 2009. 
  • (with Akers, M.A.A., Harrison G., & Martin C.)  ‘The Torrance Test of Creativity in Landscape Architecture’. CELA, Tucson, AZ, 2009. 
  • ‘Collaborative Diversity: Deriving an Urban Design Paradigm from Historic Mumbai for Planning Future Neighborhoods’. EDRA, Vera Cruz, Mexico, 2008. 
  • ‘Landscape as Maker of Identity: A Case Study of Le Corbusier’s Capitol Complex in Chandigarh’. EDRA, Atlanta, GA, 2006. 
  • ‘Reinventing the Cultural Landscape: Chandigarh in the Contemporary Environment’. IAPS, Stockholm, Sweden, 1996.

Honors & awards

  • Research Travel Award, UGA President’s Venture Fund
  • Outstanding Teacher Award, College of Environment and Design
  • Outstanding Faculty Award, College of Environment and Design Alumni Association
  • Award for Excellence in Research & Creative Works, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture
  • Best Paper Award, UNESCO-ICCROM Conference
  • Writing Fellowship, UGA Center for Teaching and Learning
© University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
706‑542‑3000