As architects, we attempt to create designs that reflect the essence of the intended program or the context that the design is set into or just attempt at creating something that totally stands out just because we wish for it. Perhaps the most difficult job as architects is imagining the experience the end user would derive once the building is completed and is in function.
The Indian Institute of Forest Management designed by Architect Anant Raje sits atop a plateau in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Completed in 1988 it occupies an area of 17,500 sq mtrs.
The first time I visited IIFM was roughly 2 years back on a study tour in my first year. It was just a couple of months into Architecture and so I was surviving on the knowledge fed by the professors to me, agreeing with what they said and not having an opinion of my own. I very well remember on the way to IIFM my professor briefing us about the place we were visiting. Even the professor hadn’t personally been here so it was his first visit too. Talking about the architect winning an award for this design we were thrilled to know what’s coming at us.
When you first see the structure, it reminds you of the post-apocalyptic ruins scenario you’ve been seeing all these years in movies. Large voids of arches in an imposing brutal structure, the sight itself feels weighing down on you. One could clearly see the structure screaming LIK’s philosophy as Raje had once been his disciple.
Done with our guided tour in the premises of IIFM all of us gathered in an open space near the water body. Seeing no official of the Institute present our senior professor decided to share his personal opinion. I very well remember those words.
“कायहीकायडिसाईनआहेकाय! (What sort of a design is this!) Does this even look like an institute for ‘FOREST MANAGEMENT’ ?”
Blinded by the preaching of professor’s personal experience of the structure, I too joined the bandwagon of cursing the building.
One can’t deny the fact that the entire design feels like a perfect blend of Indian modernism dashed with plenty of brutalism. The entire structure is clad with a sort of gray and brown stones. The wearing colour of the stone due to passing years has grown into the character of the overall visual of the structure.
Exploring the entire area clicking pictures and looking around, you are often met with these steps jetting out into the pathways where you can’t help but wonder why would you have an interruption in the prominent walkways.
Somehow, I had been finding faults just because of the kicker set in my mind by the professor. However, the building was engrossing my mind growing on me like wine does with every sip. It felt good, just that I wasn’t realizing it.
It took me another trip to realize how fascinating this structure is. This time I went to IIFM with my parents and just experienced the structure.
When you really think about it, all those interrupting elements in prominent walkways, they aren’t really a product of careless design but are an intended smart thought that leads to social and academic interactions. You don’t feel like there are any isolated structures, the entirety of the institute seems like a homogenous entity.
IIFM, Bhopal is an experience to be felt and not a structure to be visited. An experience that one is free to have and interpret it in his/her own way. To my end, I believe the architect delivered what he must have imagined. The structure sure could be more welcoming and pleasing at the first glance which it fails to be but the people love it, the students love it and that’s what really matters. At the end of the day, it’s the people and the user that will tell an architect if he has succeeded in delivering his imagination.
Amdavad ni Gufa (Photo by By Vaishal Dalal (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
In the CEPT campus of Ahmedabad lies an unusual underground structure, well known as Hussain-Doshi Gufa that marks the collaboration of the great artist M F Hussain and the innovative architect BV Doshi.
The very first visual from the approaching campus road displays multifarious cave like structures that are blended together to form an amorphous structure. Cladded with white mosaic tiles and a black headless serpent Sheshnag (the divine serpent) running throughout the domed roofs, the Gufa shows no sign of approach into it. It’s only at a closer view after climbing down a flight of 4 risers, one finds a hidden entrance that further goes down to a transparent door decorated by black paint.
Situated along with the zen café and the Chester Herwitz Art Gallery, the whole site is paved and has brick facades hiding the two entrances to the Gufa.
An organic and sensuous space inside recreates the feeling of being under a thick canopy, in a dense primeval forest. Along with a temperature drop down due to the light reflecting white mosaic tiles, space offers a cold and contoured flooring that remains indigenous to the site and to the concept of a cave. The domed roofs have small snouts that allow in soft diffused light into the interiors that change the direction throughout the day according to the positions of the sun. Though the existence of voluptuous spaces makes it unbelievable for a person to find paintings inside, the interiors of the cave are filled with the paintings of MF Hussain flowing across the concrete surfaces of the walls, ceilings, and floors painted with bright colours and bold strokes. An inspiration from the Palaeolithic art ironically represents the present day menacing soldiers with guns (“face of organized, state violence”), a man with horns sitting on a chair with a gun in his hands (“evil power, he is the devil sitting there”). Hussain has also placed metal human figures between the columns. These paintings enhance the shadow play in the caves and also the myriad patterns created by the skylights.
The entire design is an interplay of intersecting circles and ellipses in plan and curvilinear walls and undulating columns that create a sense of mystery. They restrict the human sightlines beyond the circle or ellipse a human is standing in and make a person focus on the artwork around and hence help in a better understanding of those. Underground and unfathomable space the Gufa resembles a garbhagruha where one looks inward and connects to the divine, in this case to the divine art. Fusing past and present together the spaces creates a sense of timelessness. A person entering the space completely submits himself to the undulating choreography created by the two friends.
The Gufa shows a clear influence of Corbusier whom Doshi described as his guru and also signifies inspirations from the ancient Buddhist caves of Ajanta and Elora. The concept takes forms of tortoise shells and soap bubbles.
The Gufa efficiently displays the amalgamation of the proficiency and interpretations of the two revered Indians. To Doshi the cave signifies a personal quasi-spiritual space whereas for Hussain it is a genesis of human lifestyle from the caves to the present lavish spoilt environment; that is being clearly depicted in his art forms.
A unique juxtaposition of art and architecture, underground, and sky, ancient and modern the cave succeeds to be an atmospheric and intriguing space that appeals to the senses. It denies the prototype of a gallery space and creates a new definition of itself. Buried spaces, earth mounds, raised volumes and China mosaic finish renders the architectural energy conscious, in an otherwise harsh hot dry climate. Enigmatic in its spatial experience the form of Gufa is a direct translation of climatic and constructional obligations and an abstraction of personals fancies.
Written as a part of an assignment for Theory of Design
“If any one of us had been around 80 years ago, Marine Drive would never have got built. After all, there are many compelling reasons to oppose it. It brings more traffic. It involves reclamation, adding more buildings between us and the sea. It’s obviously very bad news. Why don’t we just continue using Queen’s Road? Yet, aren’t you glad it happened?”
–Charles Correa
(Learning from marine drive)
Mumbai, the city of opportunities, noise, traffic and fast live. The population of Mumbai wakes to an early start the day to run around the clock like a hamster in a wheel, until the end of the day, when the city starts glittering on a canvas of the dark night sky with million lights, indicating it’s time to rush back to the cage which they call ‘home’.
Marine Drive in the 1940’s or 50’s taken by the celebrated Bombay photographer A.L Syed shows the uniform roof lines of the buildings (Source: http://indianquarterly.com/the-making-of-marine-drive/)
Mumbai, the city of opportunities, noise, traffic and fast live. The population of Mumbai wakes to an early start the day to run around the clock like a hamster in a wheel, until the end of the day, when the city starts glittering on a canvas of the dark night sky with million lights, indicating it’s time to rush back to the cage which they call ‘home’.
But some of these hamsters forget their way and try to find the place to have some timeout from the fast city life. Sea shore is one of the favourite spaces for these people.
Marine drive is one of best example, where people come to admire the view of the ocean and effect created by the glittering reflection of the Mumbai city in the Indian Ocean.
The crescent shape of the marine drive is made of five layers of arcs. Which prominently generate the sweeping design. –
First is layer is made of building façades that have uniform roofline.
“I realised that façade control (a term used in official parlance) around traffic circle meant structure had to have uniform façade in order to maintain the visual identity of the circle.
From Nariman point on the south of Chowpatty at the north end, the buildings on the marine drive together form a continues curve with its roof in one line without jarring protrusions. The exception were the buildings on the corner sites where stairs towers went above the roof level
And were expressed as architectural features. Roof being in the line added to the sweep of the road. The sweep of the buildings, the promenade and the sea wall were what made marine drives Bombay’s most iconic image”
-Kamu Ayer (Bombay from precincts to sprawl)
Since the buildings that form the background for the road and their walls have the footprint in the square shape, they had similar kind of planning. This results in the formation of the uniform roof line. This uniform building façade makes it look like fortification wall that separates the city from the ocean
Second layer is made by road in front of the buildings.
It’s a six lane road which has heavy traffic during the day.
Third layer footpath
The footpath is elevated from the road by 60 cm creating a boundary between the high vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic. It is broad and plays essential role to reduce the traffic noise so that the sound of ocean can be enjoyed
Before 1958Present day
Forth layer -the wall.
The wall divides the city and the sea. Also, it retains the reclaimed land from sliding into the ocean. The wall play essential role as a public space as the view of the sea and the curve can be easily seen while seating on the wall is clear
Fifth layer -the beach.
The tetrapods are placed on the beach around the wall. The tetrapods act as bulwarks against the tide. The saline environment and wave pressure force the pods to interlock, which helps reduce the wave force by allowing the water to flow around rather than against them. They popped up in the city in 1958, when the government contracted an Australian company to import the pods. The current army of grey sentinels was made by Indian manufacturers and placed there by the Public Works Department between 1998 and 2004. People were very annoyed [at first] about putting artificial blocks which cost Rs5000 each But they were needed to retain the wall which holds a city together worth much more than Rs5000. But today these tetrapods are as iconic as the marine drive.
The buildings on the marine drive are referred as art deco style building. Even most of those building are not the great example of art deco. But the effect they create in a group has a large contribution in the look of marine drives.
Initially, the marine drive was a road which connects wealthy ruling class of Malabar hill to the to the fort residence of the governor.
Later it was extended. It was better option to extend by reclaiming the land out of sea but it was also costly.in the end, they reclaimed more land by extending the bay and retain the structure by building a sea wall.
There are four different designs recommended for the marine drive. At first, government trusted this job to the Bombay developing department. This project didn’t only include the design of road but also planning of structures around it. Back Bay reclamation scheme was the biggest project.
The master plan was designed by a British planner W. R. Davidge. His plan was grand covering 1,145 Acers. The design was formal, with three lined streets, parks for recreation and cultural activities.it did not provide the residential spaces. Instead, it includes educational and cultural buildings, government offices etc.
The Back Bay reclamation scheme began in 1919. Stone and mud were quarried in the north in Kandivali, brought by train to the site and dumped into the sea. But the whole project was badly planned, the dredging of the sea inadequate. Soon there was no hope of finishing the project within five years, contrary to what investors had been told.
By the early 1920s, it was clear that the development plan was a disaster. The scandal led to an official inquiry. So the scheme was dodge by cost escalations and charges of corruption.
Leading the public outcry was the nationalist lawyer Khursheed Framji Nariman. He wrote strident articles in the local press, whose headlines lambasted the reclamation plan as “Lloyd’s folly” and “Buchanan’s blunder”.
After the government recommended that only four of the eight planned blocks should be reclaimed. The result can be seen when one stands at the jetty-like strip that juts out into the sea at Nariman Point and gazes at ‘Cuffe Parade’ across the gap. Had it been filled in, Marine Drive would have been much longer. As it was, 1660 acres emerged from the sea opposite the imposing Gothic headquarters of the Western Railway and Church gate station, which had until then been on the waterfront. But the area was reduced to 552 Acers
An advisory committee was formed which altered Davidge’s inward-looking plan to the plan which is open to the sea and create a bay by extending Kennedy sea face (Chowpatty) to Nariman point. A sea wall for entire stretch defined edge between land and the sea.
This new plan of the marine drive was appreciated by the public. This was proven by the number of people coming to the marine drive. But there were some critics who still did not appreciate the planning. One of them was Claude Batley. He liked Davidge’s planning better.
“Committee was formed to take all the guts out of the Davidge scheme. Which it did most effectively by seeing how many small rectangles it could contrive to draw over area reclaimed.”
– Claude Batley (journal of Indian institute of architecture 1945).
In the Davidge’s plan gap between buildings were set at a wide interval. In the revised plan they were close intervals. Batley wrote –
“Building on the sea front resembles a set of ill-fitted false teeth.”
The comment gave a good example that critic needs to say a statement with a strong base to it. The comment by Batley was not fair since the gap between the buildings let in the breeze benefited the city instead of the strong blow of sea wind.
Even if he hates the planning, he still liked the idea of the promenade on the sea face. He appreciated how that area has become effective public space. After his article in the journal of Indian institute of architecture in 1945, he recommends his own plan for the marine drive. But he was ignored.
Later in 1968, Charles Correa gave a new plan which involves few similarities to the Batley’s plan. Which include modifying the sidewalks on the main road to accommodate both hawkers and pavement sleepers. Correa’s plan provides the line of platforms 60 centimetres high with water traps. The platform acts as a safety barrier between pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Initially, there wasn’t any direct road to connect sea from the station which doesn’t include crossing the high traffic road. In 1950 one of the commercial firms offered to fund for a foot over bridge at the end of marine drives (at the Chowpatty) under a condition, the sponsor will get right to use the bridge sides for advertisement purpose for fixed years. This started a wave of criticism. Even though its design is not attractive it gives very good place to advertise. Since it can be seen easily from distance from a fast vehicle coming towards the bridge. So today it acts gateway that opened up the sweep of marine drive.
This bridge is a link between two different worlds. At the one side, there are middle-class people spending there live hanging to the bars of the train. Running with the crowd, like cattle. On the other side the higher class people zooming through their cars on the marine drive, to add their wealth. Oh, but they also get stuck in the traffic. Here cars act as cattle. Not much difference there. Both the classes want to climb up towards the better life. No matter how much, a man never has enough.
Marine drive dissolves this rift between these classes. The feeling of calmness while watching the sea is similar for everyone. Marin drive is not just a public place. It is a place where people can turn their back to the city and forget its chaotic life. Give some time to themselves and connect themselves to nature.
References:
Correa, Charles. “Learning from Marine Drive.” The Times of India . Mumbai, 1992.
Iyer, Kamu. Boombay from precinct to sprawl. Popular Prakashan, 2014.
Written as a part of an assignment for Theory of Design
Architectural Intervention for Community Seed Storage
Architectural Intervention for Community Seed Storage
Humans have been going through a process of continuous change due to the advancing technologies, new inventions and evolved science, eventually becoming a part of a race to attain lavish lifestyles.
Unfortunately, in these busy schedules we often ignore the existence of communities that are still grounded to their roots and live a self- sustained life, one of them being the warli-tribal communities in Dahanu which is around 120 Kms from Mumbai, Maharashtra.
The batch of 2020 at IESCOA in their second year, had an opportunity to not only merely visit a small village named Vangarje in Dahanu, but also live with these communities in their houses in order to understand their indigenous ways of living. Within 4 slots of 2-3 days, the students altered their comfort levels and along with the AD faculty devised various ways to interact with the warli people. Decoding their beliefs, traditions, food culture, climate responsive housing and a wide array of other aspects, the second years made a special place in their hearts and got to listen to their tribal songs, stories and danced along with them as they bade a farewell to the community they had begun to revere.
The students, in turn aspire to preserve these communities and have proposed solutions that could revive their lifestyles and help them stay rooted to their culture despite any foreign influences.
The above project by Radhika Paralkar attempts to bring back traditional methods of grain and seed storage with the help of an architectural intervention.
It was another hectic day. Nonstop lectures, disagreements with professors, a new list of assignments to finish and the afternoon heat. It almost felt like the supernatural being had woken up that morning and decided to make it just one of those dreadful days again.
As I wandered inside my regular tea stall, I ordered my patent two cups of tea and one khari biscuit and sat down on the bench put together from just a few rocks and a concrete slab, picked up from the wasted debris at a construction site. Sipping on my third cup of tea since morning, I took my time to look around the tiny place. Although being a regular here, I never actually observed how it looked, the random elements put together, yet making each feel like it belonged there- the broken roof covered by layers of leaves fallen from the above trees, supports on bamboos which rest on the uneven round surface, a wooden framed counter covered in political posters to hide the holes made by the termites in it and a tiny cubicle just about enough to allow a lanky fellow to stand comfortably. It was a sight.
I was in the middle of my gazing when my ears picked up random sentences from a conversation taking place right behind me. “But why does he not want to work in a bank? It will pay him so well.” “Being an artist will not get him enough, he will not even have a proper job.” “Try explaining it to him, rationalize that wisdom lies in choosing a stable respected career. Only then will the society look up to him.” Coming from an artistic field myself, I felt like laughing at their ridiculous opinions.
Doctors. Engineers. Lawyers. Every Indian parent has the typical dream of “Mera Beta bada naam karega” which is usually consistent of a job in a multinational, a heavy pay check and a flat in main town Mumbai. But is that all that work is about? Earning enough to give your family a good view to wake up to? The mindset created today is such that a career is not even considered respectful unless it has some sort of standing at the global level.
This social mind block has resulted in the creation of different working classes with the fancier jobs gaining a superior stand next to the inferior small scale professions – introducing oneself as a banker creates a greater impression than calling one a shopkeeper. However what one tends to forget in all this hierarchical mess is the combined functioning of each of these professions in order to gain the desired outcome.
I looked at Bhagwant Singh selling cigarettes to a new customer who just walked in and smiled, thinking of all the other chai walas in the city as well. The tea stalls in Mumbai, although such a small sector, are sprinkled in every nook and corner of the city. Catering to the locals by the thousands every day, they run their business from an average four square metres space, sufficient for them to prepare as well as serve tea along with a variety of accompaniments. With tea being that one knot which connects most the citizens of the nation, it actually acts as a social hub outside various informal and formal work places.
The ethos at a chaiwala is quite interesting to watch. Commonly known as the “tapri”, their owners often have their struggle to narrate before they settled for making tea. Taking Bhagwant Singh for example, he along with two of his brothers had come to Mumbai with hopes in their eyes, leaving their small town near Nasik with promises to return successful. Unable to find any other source of income, they settled for the traditional stall business serving the customers of the vicinity.
Their stall indeed was at a perfect location. Located at the junction of a slum, middle class residences and a heavily populated educational institution, it experiences a large mass of varied kinds of people every day. With a small set up including a cigarette shop, tea counter, coupled with a few benches, the tapri forms a regular community meeting spot for the visitors. Surrounded by varied levels of stress all day, this place acts as the perfect recreation spot of the locals for that much needed 15-minute break. To sit with an affordable cup of tea and a biscuit costing only a few rupees, this place acts creates a unison between all the sections of the society, bringing them on a common platform without any sort of social discrimination.
Actually, coming to think of it, the scene at the chai wala on a random evening does indeed appear quite interesting. One gets to see the mix of the high society smokers visiting the nearby pubs, the tired students of the college grabbing a bite before going home, the teenage sons mingling in their groups as well as old uncles who discuss on the finer philosophies of life. Being regular visitors here, this place transforms from a tea stall to an “adda” spot for each of them, with Bhagwant Singh playing the role of no less than a friend.
The work of a chai wala is actually, much more than what people term it to be – just preparing and selling tea. It involves associating with diverse kinds of people visiting his stall and making them feel comfortable enough to return the next day. In all the mingling, the chaiwala himself gains knowledge from the wide variety of conversations topics discussed at his workplace, thus receiving a valuable insight to the outer, larger world. Thus although he probably isn’t as formally well-educated as a suited employee, he receives his fair share of knowledge through communication and interaction.
So why does one look down on people who spend their lives serving tea? Is it because they don’t have an air-conditioned work place and a formal dress code? Or is it because they do not deal with high priority global clients? Amid all this judgement, people fail to notice what that one cup of tea does to the thousands who visit a stall for it every day. That tea made from a fusion of leaves and cardamom, has the ability to rejuvenate and release all the high levels of tension created in the minds of the client.
The local feel to the place, the hot tea served in small glasses, the delight received from the munch of the crisp biscuits are all the reasons why a chai wala is such a popular industry in Mumbai since years. Their lack of work timings make them flexible to serve the regulars at their times of need, no matter what the hour may be. So in what way does this job classify as lowly? Why is it not respectable enough for a person to work at a tea stall as a career and serve the society in his own way?
Heritage Conservation Institute and Research Centre for INTACH, Pune, Design Dissertation by Akhilesh Dhurkunde
Over the years, in the field of conservation, there has been an increase in professionalism. Emergence of multidisciplinary teams increased international interaction, evolution of networking dynamics and exposure to the latest measures have been observed. However unfortunately, it has not succeeded in contributing to a better understanding and deeper conviction. Despite a notable increase in the number of conservation projects, the ratio between proposals advanced and successful implementation continues to be depressingly low. In India, the conservation movement has attempted to classify old buildings as historic, hoping to create a niche for them so that they get priority. But historic monuments and cities have been looked as the past and have been neglected till the present date. The building of the past, the construction of today and the structures of the future should co-exist to empower conservation. Unfortunately such thinking has debarred the growth of conservation in the country. Acknowledging this coexistence would affect the professional identify of the conservation movement, but physically it may equally empower conservation as continuity.
So, the idea was to design a conservation centre to protect, preserve, restore, display, carry out the research and encourage the conservation act initiated by INTACH. The scope of conservation activities would focus on the INTACH Activities in Pune Region as well as the Western Maharashtra region.
ESCAPE: A HEALING SANCTUARY IN KASOL, Design Dissertation project by Anurag Sonar
The modern way of living of most of the Indians involves 40-80 hours a week of stressful work, unhealthy conditions, poor eating habits and health problems that arise from their lifestyle. Oblivious and accustom to the toxins that we put in our bodies and our buildings, we have become out of touch with the environment and our health. In turn, humans live in a constant state of stress, stress on the body, mind and stress put on the natural environment.
There is a need for a place of sanctuary; where one can go to relieve stress and help heal the mind and body. While researching effective environments for counteracting stress, I was lead to designing of a Healing Sanctuary including space for well-being. It will become a space for relaxation, meditation and health. By exploring the meaning of a Sanctuary in a non-religious context, and thinking of hot water spring and architecture as medium for healing, this space becomes an escape from the stressful environment that surrounds us, and a place to gain a new perspective on daily problems of life.
Major of such existing facilities do not serve the combination of physical and spiritual healing under the same roof. Thus, the idea of healing sanctuary that extends its scope beyond a commercial canter is required. The therapies and the courses are the prime factor of healing in such facilities, whereas I will be aiming to design architecture for healing and the environment making the deeper impact.
The thesis will also study the increasing awareness of the connectedness of the body to architecture. It acts as a platform for sense-able / sensual design. To fully engage with architecture on a physical and mental level involves openness to the realm of the sensory. This is derived from the proposition that our experience of space is mediated through the senses that can emphasize a physical and mental interaction between bodies and built spaces in an attempt to allow a more intimate connection between the body and architecture. Thus, I aim to design a healing sanctuary incorporating the sensual architecture and making a deeper impact on user experience.
Urban atmosphere was not always bound by rules and standards. Since the beginning of the civilization, there were a cluster of concepts that, once understood, can lead to a fresh way of perceiving streets, buildings, and spaces and insights into why certain places are appealing and others are not. Urban entity operates on various scales — from orienting people through the layout and hierarchy of streets and buildings, to valuing an attractive paving detail in front of a store’s door. The ideas can be applied to buildings, the street, land uses, urban park development, and anything else that is woven into the fabric of a town.
This subject aims at studying the various implications of urbanization at various levels, identify issues related to urbanization and study settlements to understand their nature. The study also analyses various factors pertaining to urban development, housing, architecture, commerce, environment and politics in order to comprehend the big picture.
In this semester the students were asked to understand what is urban and how it gets realized into the three dimensional physicality. This was carried out by studying the actual examples with historical background. To enrich the product of this exercise, each group of three students each were asked to study their respective cases in a particular era. This was further diversified by the comparative selection of the examples from different contexts i.e. one International case-study and its Indian counterpart.
What if spaces and its functions can become temporal in nature; if same spaces can be used for different purposes with time of the day? What if the concept of shared spaces can exist between unrelated and independent spaces?
The concept of Trans-Architecture makes the impossible possible with the use of technology as an aid to come up with alternative solutions to imperceptible and difficult issues.
The video is a part of the narrative mapping and study of Lakshman Kund, Panchvati in Nashik by Anagha Pandit, Devika Kale, Sanika Divekar, Shriya Vartak, Siddharth Katkar and Tejashree Karande. The study was taken up as apart of semester five architecture design studio. It is an understanding of the sense of place through sounds.
A narrative mapping and study of Ram Kund, Panchvati in Nashik by Bhakti Shah, Dhwani Shah, Om Jambotkar and Trushad Poladia. The study was taken up as apart of semester five architecture design studio.
A mapping and documentation exercise of the Rameshwar Temple precinct at Chaul, Alibaug. The exercise was carried out be the students of semester two as a part of their initial studies for the architectural design studio.
Instructors: Chaitra Sharad, Manasi Chokshi, Pranav Naik, Rajan Subhedar and Sanket Mhatre
IS THERE SOMETHING CALLED ‘INDIAN DESIGN’? by Prof Anisha Shekhar Mukherji
Outreach Rhetorics
The talk will explore if there is anything identifiable as Indian Design. And in the process, also examine what is Indian, and what is Design? Is there anything at all – about aesthetics, art and objects of daily use in the lives of Indians or in their common history which makes them create any recognizable elements in design?
This was an elective where the students had a change to build various types of arches in bricks. It gave them a hands on understanding of not only the structural system but a real experience of how to handle bricks and masonry work.
The elective was conducted by Prerna Thacker and Tanvi Patil
Why is it that even the simplest traditional village hut is often beautiful to behold and
epitomizes logic and functionality of design. Whereas most Modernist buildings often fall
short of achieving such levels of refinement both in appearance and function? This lecture explores the way traditional architecture goes about the act of building and compares it to how professional architects design today – often overwhelmed by the force of money. What could be an alternative to the way to design today? Is it possible to ignore the presence of money in a struggle to design something meaningful?
