Julie Ann Tharakan is an architect and anthropologist by practice who situates herself at the crossroads of disciplines. Her interest lies in exploring the history of architecture in the context of local cultures, political environments and religious values, using the academic platform to study the role of cultural practices on the built environment.
As an academician, Julie focuses on outreach programmes that address the role of an architect in context. She is the curator of the WCFA Heritage Walk, a cell that documents and generates discourse on Mysuru's layered past: its mythological anchors, princely rule, colonial imprints, and its identity as a modern post-colonial city.
Julie is an avid animal lover who believes that education is fundamentally about the craft of socialisation. She works at the intersection of human and animal interaction, exploring how coexistence within ecological and economic systems is integral to sustainable practice.
The WCFA Heritage Walk is a public research initiative curated by Julie Ann Tharakan as part of the Wadiyar Centre for Architecture's City Connect programme. The walk situates the city of Mysuru as a palimpsest, a layered text written by mythology, princely governance, colonial administration, and post-independence urbanism.
Rather than treating heritage as a fixed archive, the project generates live discourse through curated walks, documentation, and community engagement, positioning the architect as both scholar and storyteller who makes the city legible to those who inhabit it.
Mapping the movement of cultural practices and spatial typologies, examining how exchange shapes the built environment across time.
Investigating vernacular typologies, policy frameworks, and the lived experience of domestic space in the Indian context.
Examining the changing social scenarios and kinship organisations of the Rathwa indigenous community. Presented at IGNOU, New Delhi, 2013.
Co-founded the History, Theory, Sociology and Economics Domain at WCFA, directing theory subjects in architectural pedagogy through a multidisciplinary lens. Focuses on content development and faculty development programmes.
Developing the curriculum model, vision, mission, and syllabus for a Masters programme structured to produce academicians who can enhance architectural design with pedagogical vision.
Organising and curating public heritage walks through Mysuru under the City Connect initiative, generating discourse on the city's past through research, documentation and community engagement.
2020
2021
2021
2024
Open to conversations at the edges of disciplines.