AdalajVillage Environmental Perception, Course : Sketch of a village
Editor: S. Balaram
National Institute- of Design Paldi, Ahmedabad - 380 007, India
Contents
Preface Credits Acknowledgements Course Abstract Paper -Environmental Exposure Considerations for Field Study Adalaj - An Introduction
Plate No.
1
The Stepwell
5
Exteriors
9
Interiors
20
Objects
27
Crafts
33
People and Work
36
Index
46
Introduction At no other time in the history of humanity are we as conscious of and as concerned with our environment as we are today. Environmental issues, at the macro Level mean those related to ecology, pollution, energy, earth, sky and nature and such. For a designer involved in shaping the, environment, understanding of these issues is of paramount importance. The macro level issues of the environment cannot be grasped properly unless one takes the first step of looking at the environment at a micro Level - the people, places; objects and their meanings. Like all experiences, this experience of the environment would also begin with sensory perception. What Paul Klee, during his Bauhaus days, said about the artist and nature, is true about the designer and the environment too. “For the artist, dialogue with nature remains a ‘sine qua non.’ The artist is a man; himself nature, and part of nature within natural space.” This was the thought behind the indigenously developed course, “Environmental Exposure” (later renamed environmental perception) as part of the Foundation Programme curriculum for design students. It is the student’s first conscious, well-prepared encounter with his/her immediate environment. A conscious observation of the environment - even if one has lived in the same environment for long - is necessary because we take our environment for granted. Drawing has been chosen as a means of closer and more detailed observation. The sketches are complemented with notes, which are factual as well as reflective. In the 5-year Professional Education Programme for school leavers, this course occurs in the beginning of the second semester. The exposure to the environment should be early enough but it is also necessary that the student is equipped with some basic skills such as free hand drawing; perspective, geometrical construction and some theoretical inputs including the local language.
The course takes place outside the four walls of the Institute. The micro environment with its people, houses and fields is its classroom. Its time is not confined to morning, to evening working hours, but all the time. The instruction is not merely given by the teacher/ guides but also by the people belonging to that environment. In the year 1991, after much scouting, we took the students to the Adalaj village for exposure to its environment. Adalaj is known for its historical monument, the stepwell, and it is situated between two capitals: Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, which are about to engulf it. With its deeps historical past struggling today to cope with the pressures of Urbanization, this villages strongly represented the struggle the country is going through. As the course in 1991 happened to take place during the New Year and Makarsankranti festival time, I thought it would be a wonderful idea if each student made one sketch of the environment on a postcard to be sent to his/her dear ones, who are-away. The idea was enthusiastically received but everyone could not do it in time for sending it. It however gave, birth to another idea - that of simply making a collection of drawings. This book is the result. This is an evocative presentation. No attempt is made to explain the collection or to present the reader with the process of learning the student underwent. The sweat and the tears and the emotions of people were well hidden. This document does not describe the way it started, the way it is conducted, ended and evaluated. Hence, it is appropriate to call this predestination only an approach towards course documentation. In the coming years, we hope to do all that is said above.
S. Balaram, Ahmedabad April 2, 1992
INDEX: Bank- 9 Brahmin house - 22 Carpenter house- 17 Cattle shed- 16 Clay stove - 27 Cooking – 43 Course abstract Courtyard- 12 Field/Study, considerations Footwear - 32 Hand tools - 35 Jewellery - 31 Kneading- 44 Kumbhar - 39 Labours -41 Living area - 25 Monument, past and present-1 Mural - 24 Patel - 38 Patelvaas - 14 Pooja lamps - 30
Potters house- 18 Quilt Storage -21 Rabari girl - 40 Rabari house- 15 Rabari man – 36 Row houses -11 Sofo cum bed- 29 Stone carving - 33 Street - 10 Thakore man - 37 Thakore woman - 42 Traditional house -19 Tumblers - 30 Upper room - 26 Utensil arrangement - 23 Wall decorations - 20 Washing - 45 Well - Ariel view- 5 Well - details of wall -8 Well- Outside-view- 6 Wooden carving - 34 Wooden churner - 28 Work area- 13