VOL 32 (2)
OCTOBER 2018
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A SHINING DISPLAY OF GERMAN ENGINEERING. A modern stainless steel piping system that matches even the highest quality standards. When you are driving quality forward it is essential to have a partner you can rely on. Over 30,000 feet of Viega Sanpress stainless steel pipes and roughly 50,000 gunmetal connectors make it possible to provide 15,000 Audi employees with clean drinking water and thereby enable impeccable work – right to the very last detail. Viega. Connected in quality.
Audi AG, Böllinger Höfe factory, Germany
viega.in/About-us
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03.04.17 12:31
A SHINING DISPLAY OF GERMAN ENGINEERING. A modern stainless steel piping system that matches even the highest quality standards. When you are driving quality forward it is essential to have a partner you can rely on. Over 30,000 feet of Viega Sanpress stainless steel pipes and roughly 50,000 gunmetal connectors make it possible to provide 15,000 Audi employees with clean drinking water and thereby enable impeccable work – right to the very last detail. Viega. Connected in quality.
Audi AG, Böllinger Höfe factory, Germany
viega.in/About-us
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03.04.17 12:31
industry news
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Litrite from Aspick Green - India’s only micro-modular Industrial Lighting System that delivers ‘Watt’ you want
I
ndustrial lighting demands are complex and touch many aspects of businesses. From Management to Maintenence and Operations lighting is key in driving quality, safety and productivity while boosting employee morale. While conventional lighting is definitely a slow bleeding drain on our resources and environment, even a poorly designed LED lighting system can have a lasting ir-reversible negative impact. A great example is retrofit LED lighting which is a compromise we silently make in the name of installation simplicity while undermining the long term benefits of LED as a technology.
The result: A lighting system that has the smallest of modules, allowing for high configuration flexibility while at the same time solving the biggest issue the technology has - heat. Good design cascades goodness. Modularity delivers ‘Watt’ you want, flexibility of deployment and uniform lighting. Better heat removal means longer life and higher efficiency. Driver designs that suit Indian conditions delivers for the first time in Industrial Luminaires a SELV class (Class-III) safe to touch luminaire, which is future ready for DC-Micro Grids. Last but not least the design delivers all this at less than half the weight of branded luminaires, making them the ‘Greenest’ of LED luminaires even before they are switched on.
Its the design: Good design solves problems minimally utilizing as few elements as possible, but for great design one must understand the problem, in its entirety. One must probe: why does it need to be solved? for whom? how is it being done now and why that way! Great design challenges the designer to apply creative thought, break dogma, dissect assumptions and reach deep into the heart of the problem. Litrite is a result of unshackling solid state lighting design from conventional thinking. A completely re-imagined LED lighting system that is founded on a minimalist design philosophy that leverages the advantages LED technology offers, while obviating its limitations.
About Aspick Green: A thought leader in solid state lighting design and manufacturing who have elementally re-designed and re-engineered industrial and commercial lighting products. Our products deliver high efficiency, long life and the smallest carbon footprint in the world. Won the Best Clean Tech Startup award - 2018
For more information and actual customer experiences please visit www.litrite.com Aspick Green Tech Pvt. Ltd. D5 Industrial Estate, Guindy Chennai 600032 sales@aspick-led.com / +91 44 22501399 / 48547668
Sourcing & Build Quality: A design is no good unless the best quality components and a robust manufacturing system backs it. With components sourced only from the top 3 vendors in the world and a facility that is designed with intent and manufacturing practices and processes that support high quality, repeatability and flexibility the design gets the support it deserves, and the capability to deliver on its promise. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
LINEARA LED indoor luminaires use light to accentuate the geometry of architecture. As ceiling, wall and pendant luminaires, they open up whole new dimensions in lighting design. LINEARA luminaires will inspire you with their high light output and light quality, coupled with maximum visual comfort. Design lengths from 1000 – 3000 mm. Regional Manager Asia Pacific · International Projects · André Ng 10 Raeburn Park #02-08 · Singapore 088702 · Phone +65 6692 8029 Fax +65 6692 8001 · andre.ng@bega.com · www.bega.com
Das gute Licht. For new linear accents.
BEGA_IndianArchit+Builder_210x270_10|18_LinLicht_IN.indd 1
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industry news
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HP Inc. demonstrates extensive large format printing possibilities at the Media Expo 2018 Displays unparalleled capabilities through the Latex 315, 335 and 570 printers
H
P Inc., the market leaders in commercial printing, today demonstrated its leading portfolio of Latex printers (HP Latex 315, 335 and 570) with capabilities around indoor and outdoor signage at the Media Expo 2018 in New Delhi. Showcasing the potential of the printers, HP set up creative experience zones across the event area to demonstrate how the printers can bring a brand to life. To fit the needs of businesses and brands alike, HP’s portfolio of Latex printers has a range of applications that are used for outdoor & event banners, point of purchase posters, vehicle graphics, backlits, textiles (Latex 315 and 570) along with labels and stickers, floor graphics, wall decals, window graphics (Latex 335). Visitors at HP’s booth could also see live demos of various Latex applications printed on the devices on display in the five experience zones. The printers displayed at the expo are equipped to provide traditional signage jobs and explore new revenue streams with an extensive range of application offerings. Present at the Media Expo 2018, Vitesh Sharma, Head of Sign and Graphics, HP Inc. said “Printing can play a pivotal role in helping brands drive incredible experiences with consumers. HP is here to help them on the journey to create magic and embrace the limitless possibilities of our printing solutions. Our range of Latex printers and innovative applications which provide improved workflows, will enable our customers to differentiate themselves in terms of print quality and serve their clients in a more cost-effective manner.” The HP Latex printers score high on versatility and are designed to help sign shops, quick printers, small to medium printing companies and large PSPs with production scale requirements easily expand largeformat printing capabilities and break into new application areas. The printers not only provide durable quality and easy operation, but also largely contribute towards building a healthier work environment and sustainable ecosystem with water-based inks which is well suited for sign and display applications like wall coverings, outdoor displays and banners, vehicle wraps, point of purchase posters, backlits and textiles etc. Customized especially for sign shops, quick printers and print service providers (PSPs) to help them grow their businesses, the 54” HP Latex 315 Print and Cut and 64” HP Latex 335 Print and Cut solutions offers more efficient production for a broad range of applications. With
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
double speed, managed integrated workflow and HP signage suite advantage to produce more applications without a design skill set, HP creates the best experiences for its customers at a low cost. HP Latex 570 Printer on the other hand has been especially designed to help customers accomplish top quality and high-volume print jobs in a cost-effective manner while experiencing quick and easy loading in one minute with the spindle less pivot table.
About HP: HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our portfolio of printers, PCs, mobile devices, solutions, and services, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information about HP Inc. is available at http://www.hp.com
For more details: Hewlett- Packard India Sales Pvt. Ltd. Building No. 02, DLF Cyber Green, 1st to 5th Floor, Towers D & E, DLF Cyber City, Phase III, Gurgaon – 122 002, Haryana, India www.hp.com/in
The 4th Edition of Infrastructure & Engineering Conference is focussing on Integrated & innovative planning as well as new Technologies which fosters the development of the various transport modes – Roadways, Highways as well as waterways in a manner that will lead to realization of an efficient, sustainable, safe and regionally balanced transportation system. Infrastructure sector is a key driver for the Indian economy.
Global Summit
RHW
INTEGRATING ROADWAYS HIGHWAYS WATERWAYS
7 th De ce m ber ’ 2018, Silver Oak, India H a bi tat C e nt re , New D e l hi
Innovation & Integration of Highways & Waterways Transport System
Over 40 Advisory Board Members comprising all the stake holders involved in the construction and maintenance of Roads, Highways & Waterways Sector.
CHAIRMAN – ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Shri R.K. Pandey, Member Projects, NHAI
Some Core Committee Members
Mr. R.P.Indoria
Mr. Sanjay Kumar Nirmal
Prof. Satish Chandra,
Mr. K.K. Kapila
CSIR-Central Road Research Institute
Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt. Ltd
CEO, ITL,
Secretary General,
Director,
Mr. Satish Parakh
Prof Mahesh Tandon
Ashok Buildcon
Tandon Consultants
Ex DG Road Development, MORTH
MD
Indian Road Congress
MD
Mr. Sanjay Mathur
CMD
CEO
Mr. V N Heggade
Dr. Sarvagya Srivastava
Mr. Yatinder Suri
Gammon Engineering & constructions Pvt. Ltd.
Ex Chief Engineer CPWD
Outokumpu India
President
Consultant ITPO
The conference will be attended by over 175 Professionals comprising Structural Engineers, Bridge & Highway Engineers, Structural Architects, Urban Planners, Construction Professionals, EPC Companies and Project Consultants, Government Bodies, Ministry Officials, Academicians and Researchers.
For Participation, contact us at iabevents@jasubhai.com
UltraTech
Country Head & MD
Organised by
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VOL 32 (2) | OCTOBER 2018 | ` 200 | MUMBAI RNI REGISTRATION NO. 46976/87, ISSN 0971-5509 INDIAN ARCHITECT AND BUILDER
Chairman & Editor: Maulik Jasubhai Shah Printer, Publisher & Chief Executive Officer: Hemant K Shetty
PROLOGUE 34 Dean D’Cruz Designing for the Future
Sub-Editor: Shriti Das Writer: Sharmila Chakravorty, Sukanya Bhattacharjee Design: Mansi Chikani Subscription: Dilip Parab Production Team: V Raj Misquitta (Head), Prakash Nerkar Email: iab_editorial@jasubhai.com Head Office: JMPL, Taj Building, 3rd Floor, 210, Dr D N Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001. Tel: + 91-22-4037 3636, Fax: +91-22-4037 3635
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URBANISM Melissa Smith and Sachin Bandukwala Future institutions
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Ipsita Karmakar and Justin Thomas Mumbai’s Pipe Dream: A case for rehabilitation of the project affected people along Tansa Pipeline
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Ayan Sen Kolkata: the water city
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ARCHITECTURE Hiloni Sutaria A utopian dystopia or a dystopian utopia?
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Dominic Dube The human in exile
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Smit Vyas At the still point of the turning world
Kolkata: Sudhanshu Nagar Mobile: +91 9833104834, Email: sudhanshu_nagar@jasubhai.com
76.
Quaid Doongerwala The Choice is ours: Capitalism, consumption and its impact on the environment
Pune: Sudhanshu Nagar Mobile: +91 9769758712, Email: sudhanshu_nagar@jasubhai.com
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Shirish Beri Our attitudes will shape the future of our architecture
Chennai / Coimbatore: Princebel M Mobile: +91 9444728035, +91 9823410712, Email: princebel_m@jasubhai.com
SALES Brand Manager: Sudhanshu Nagar Email: sudhanshu_nagar@jasubhai.com MARKETING TEAM & OFFICES Mumbai: Sudhanshu Nagar Taj Building, 3rd Floor, 210, Dr D N Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001. Tel: + 91-22-4037 3636, Fax: +91-22-4037 3635, Mobile: +91 9833104834 Email: sudhanshu_nagar@jasubhai.com Delhi: Suman Kumar 803, Chiranjeev Tower, No 43, Nehru Place, New Delhi – 110 019 Tel: +91 11 2623 5332, Fax: 011 2642 7404 Email: suman_kumar@jasubhai.com Bengaluru / Hyderabad / Gujarat: Sudhanshu Nagar Mobile: +91 9833104834, Email: sudhanshu_nagar@jasubhai.com
TRIBUTE TO KURULA VARKEY 82 Introduction Essay - The Essence of the Indian Tradition 86 88 89 91 92 94 98 100 102 104 105 106 107
Sanjeev Joshi Azmi Wadia Christopher Benninger A.G. Krishna Menon Durganand Balsavar Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya Anil Achar Azmi Wadia Nisha Mathews Kurian George Vattakunnel Jayakrishnan G Nair Sambit Datta Vijayram Chakrapani & Jaimini Mehta
Cover Image: © banduksmithstudio
Indian Architect & Builder: (ISSN 0971-5509), RNI No 46976/87, is a monthly publication. Reproduction in any manner, in whole or part, in English or any other language is strictly prohibited. We welcome articles, but do not accept responsibility for contributions lost in the mail.
Printed and Published by Hemant K Shetty on behalf of Jasubhai Media Pvt Ltd (JMPL), 26, Maker Chamber VI, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021. Printed at The Great Art Printers, 25, S A Brelvi Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 and Published from Mumbai - 3rd Floor, Taj Building, 210, Dr D N Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001. Editor: Maulik Jasubhai Shah, 26, Maker Chamber VI, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021.
ANNOUNCING
DESIGNING for the
FUTURE
14 th -15 th FEBRUARY 2019 NEHRU CENTRE, MUMBAI THEME OF THE CONFERENCE
INAUGURAL SPEAKER, 2019 MARTHA THORNE Dean of IE School of Architecture and Design & Executive Director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize
MARTHA THORNE is dean of IE School of Architecture and Design, one of five schools that comprise the innovative, international IE University based in Madrid, Spain. She is also executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, a position she has held since 2005.
DESIGNING FOR THE FUTURE The world is changing faster than ever – socially, technologically, environmentally, politically, and economically. In the midst of these shifts, designers have the crucial task of thinking about what our future will look like and how we will interact with it. The future of design will be more about what we do with our time through an array of technology - supported options. Sustainability and the need to mitigate the impact of climate change will also require advanced technological solutions to improve energy efficiency. Designers and architects’ role will be to anticipate people’s interactions with technology and provide them with products, living and working spaces that help solve the many challenges the future will bring. VENUE: Nehru Centre, Mumbai, India
ICON SPEAKERS OVER THE YEARS
DR B V DOSHI, INDIA Pritzker 2018 Laureate
SONAM WANGCHUK, INDIA Ramon Magsaysay Award -2018
LATE CHARLES CORREA, INDIA Padma Vibhushan
TOYO ITO, JAPAN Pritzker 2013 Laureate
SIR PERTER COOK, UK Royal Gold Medal of the RIBA
PATRICK SCHUMACHER, UK Director Zaha Hadid Architects
DR CECIL BALMOND, UK Thomas Jefferson Award Winner
RICHARD MEIER, USA Pritzker 1984 Laureate
FUMIHIKO MAKI, JAPAN Pritzker 1993 Laureate
MASSIMILIANO FUKSAS, ITALY, Crystal Globe IAA Grand Prix 2015 Organised by
Be Engaged. Be Inspired. Be a part of the Experience. For further information: Email: enquiries361@jasubhai.com, Web: www.361degrees.net.in
8400+
201+
attendees till date
lectures till date
700+
11+
professionals in each edition
editions
India’s Biggest Architecture symposium ICON LECTURERS OVER THE YEARS Dr B V Doshi, Pritzker Laureates, 2018
India
Richard Meier, USA Pritzker 1984 Laureate
One of the oldest and most respected design forums in India, the 361° Conference is an initiative by Indian Architect & Builder, under the aegis of Jasubhai Media, to inspire a truly relevant discussion on architecture. The Conference establishes a thought – exchange program with lectures and discussions chronicling a multitude of ideas and innovations that have had a significant impact on our habitats. Through the years, the conference has connected various disciplines of design, by offering dialogue opportunities across essential themes like Architecture and the City, Architecture & Identity, Architecture of Purpose, New Spirit in Architecture, Design & Informal Cities, Earth Matters, Imagining Urban Futures, Material Innovations & Discourse, Intuition & Syntax in Architecture.
Fumihiko Maki, Japan Pritzker 1993 Laureate
Late Charles Correa, India Padma Vibhushan, Padmashri, RIBA Gold Medal
Massimiliano Fuksas, Italy Crystal Globe IAA Grand Prix 2015
Peter Rich, South Africa Building of the Year award at WAF
Toyoo Ito, Japan Pritzker 2013 Laureate
Sir Peter Cook, UK Royal Gold Medal of the RIBA
“India is diverse economically, socially, culturally and climatically. We need to stop talking about buildings and talk about a sense of community. That is what identity stems from.” “I think, any work of architecture that has, with it, some discussion, and some polemic, is good. It shows that people are interested and people are involved.”
“Time was able to give us the ability to reflect on what we had done and became the mediator between the city and its architecture.”
“Place represents that part of truth that belongs to architecture.”
“Architecture is probably the easiest and simplest interpretation of art and culture.”
“You cannot reinvent the wheel with architecture; it has all been done before.”
“Asian Architecture and cities have inherited the culture of integrating with nature and are opened to nature.”
“History of architecture seems to be preoccupied by the form of the window, the decoration of the window, the acknowledgement of the window.”
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Deadline: 25th Dec, 2018
www.iabforum.com
industry news
20
Smart Gliding AUTOMATIC DOOR system from Ozone ! Technological Advancement enables upgrading everyone’s life by offering convenience through automation.
O
zone, the leading player in Architectural Hardware Segment, introduces SMART GLIDE Automatic Sliding Door System under its flagship brand Ozomotion. The New Ozone Smart Glide System runs on magnetic linear motor technology which is a noiseless, safe and reliable operating mechanism. Unlike other automatic door operators that run on motor and belts, Ozone Smart Glide is a low-energy operator. The System comes with a remote control and push button, though other access control devices can be integrated with it like microwave sensor & handwave sensor. It is offered in 02 variants, Smart Glide 80 for door weight 30-80 kgs and Smart Glide 150 for door weight 50-150 kgs. Ozone Smart Glide’s compact and linear construction offers design flexibility to suit the user’s aesthetic and functional needs. It can be applied for single or double sliding door panels of wooden or glass finishes. With its slim linear size and alterable track lengths, Smart Glide Systems can be easily fitted into any space that has access to an electrical point.
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
It is suitable for retrofitting onto existing sliding doorways and very easy to install. In spaces where user safety is crucial, Ozone Smart Glide System comes with anti-pinch protection that responds quickly to any obstruction. Its door speed can be adjusted as per user profiles like if it is to be used by children and elderly or with medical needs, door speed can be adjusted to create safe entrance. Sliding Door with Smart Glide is very easy to operate using the access control device yet a light push will activate the operator’s power-assist function to gently and silently open, making it ideal for homes and the medical industry. In case of power failure, the door can be operated manually without any resistance. It finds its application in hotels, restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, commercial spaces, offices and homes. It is an ideal application for medical spaces as its operator requires minimal effort to slide open the door making it best to be used by wheel chair- bound patients, the elderly or children.
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Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
industry news
industry news
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Architectural Lighting
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Area Lighting Poles.
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Vertical Light Bar.
Aston 4.
K
-LITE INDUSTRIES an ISO company, manufacturing indoor and outdoor luminaires have launched a new series of LED Architectural Lighting. Being the trend setters in outdoor lighting and inspired by the “Make in India” vision, K-LITE, through their innovative outlook, have showcased an all new product portfolio under Architectural Lighting. The application includes Facade Lighting, Pathway Lighting, In-ground Luminaire, Uplighter, Up-down Lighting, Billboard Lighting, Vertical Light Bars, Wall Washers, Area Lighting poles and above all popular sleek polar lighting solutions. The solutions offered are backed by extensive understanding of illumination in urban spaces and the expertise gained over a period of three decades. The fixture are designed to provide value technology, ideally suited to Indian Conditions. The LEDs used comply to LM 80 testing requirements and from Internationally reputed makes such as Nichia / CREE. The luminaires are RoHS, LM 79 and CE certification compliant. The luminaire efficacy (lumens/ per watt) is much above 100 for all luminaires. Varied optical options for lighting distribution and correlated colour temperature (CCT) for cool white, neutral white or warm white are available to suit specific requirements. The outstanding item of the series viz., the Sleek Polar Lighting Solutions is a contemporary design that is both timeless and unique in its impression. Compact without visible mounting equipment and optimised integration, Polar Lighting is in perfect continuity with the geometric lines of the square column. These assemblies are ideal for surroundings of contemporary architectural constructions.
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Polar Lighting Poles.
For more details: For more details visit our website: www.klite.in For all enquiries, Contact sales@klite.in Phone +91-9500079797 / 044 26257710
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How do you envision the future? Good, bad, idealistic, speculative, rhetoric, abstract, introspective ideas welcome! Abstract: The world is changing rapidly. Beyond environmental concerns, rapid urbanization and urban rural migration, depleting resources and so on, there are political and social shifts, information technology, access to knowledge and communications that affect habitats and inhabitants. In the midst of these charged times, designers, planners and practitioners of the built-environment are riddled with challenges and even opportunities to shape not only cities and structures but also intervene in the everyday by means of design. The above is only a framework and a limited one at that. If your ideas negate, challenge or if you have a starkly opposite take, we welcome it. Terms & conditions: Contest is open to everyone. The illustrations have to be the copyright property of the participant. You may submit one or more than entry. Each image can be accompanied by a caption of minimum 10 words. Winning selections will be published in the February 2019 issue of Indian Architect & Builder.
Deadline: 31-12-2018 Mail your entries to iab_editorial@jasubhai.com
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30
Scaling New Heights Fensterbau Lingel India Private Limited
Inconversation with Mr Mario Schmidt, Managing Director Lingel Windows and Doors Technologies Private Limited, he highlights about journey of the brand
L
ingel Windows has been in India since 2006 but Karl Lingel Fensterbau GmbH & Co.KG was established in 1959 in Ellwangen, Germany and since then Lingel is one of the leading manufacturers of high quality doors and windows in Europe. When Lingel was started in India the market was very nascent many did not know about upvc. We started with a very small workforce and gradually built it over the years. We came to India exactly 10 years ago, in April 2006, with our UPVC window products. I presume that we entered the Indian market at the right time. People had no knowledge about uPVC windows and we introduced this new concept and system. For us, as a fabricator, we had the advantages of being here at the right time. We expanded our market starting from Delhi and Chennai, entering Bangalore and then to most of the other cities in India. Our network is spread nationwide now in more than 25 plus cities in India. Our employees sell the products since it requires complete technical knowledge to explain the products and its proper installation. Hence we train our employees on the technical aspects and they deal directly with the buyer. But in smaller cities, we are working with dealer network too and looking for more dealers to help us expand further. We believe in direct selling even though we have a well-connected network of dealers all over India. We always want to be as close as possible associated
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
with our dealers. We train our employees to be resourceful, and provide them with all the necessary training in technical aspects. For selling the product, one needs to have thorough knowledge of its technical aspects. We focus on maximum satisfaction and happiness of our customer. Recently we have introduced a new set of products: our highend Lingel 6.0 Aluminium windows and doors, Smart windows called Smart Li, Glass conservatory. We have been in India for 12 years now and we are happy to have done many important projects. Besides that we have won many awards for the work that we have done and looking forward to excel further. IAB. What are the major USP’s of brands manufactured by Fensterbau Lingel India Private Limited? All are windows and doors are tailor made according to the requirement of the customer. uPVC windows and Doors is our hot selling product. We provide complete service to our customers be it guiding them towards what they will need , installation and even after sales service. IAB. Quality and Innovation always plays a major role in the success of any brand? What are the major steps taken by your company to meet these critical parameters?
industry news
We ensure that the product we manufacture follow the guidelines of UWDMA uPVC Window & Door Manufacturers Association (UWDMA). We are also a certified company so all checks on quality is ensured from our end. Innovation is the key to progress and success of an organisation so our products are in line with it. Lingel 6.0 Aluminium Windows and doors, Smart Li- our smart doors which is wi-fi controlled. We are also introducing the glass conservatory which will be very useful for customers who have paucity of space and this is can be controlled by the click of the button from your mobile. IAB. Research and Development & Training and Skill set development is very important for continuous improvement of any brand? How is the brand trying to achieve these objectives? We are associated with UWDMA and so we totally ensure that our team is absolutely skilled and trained. We have regular training sessions for them. Besides having complete knowledge about the product we also help them develop their skills. IAB. How is LINGEL windows planning to align with Make in India, Digital India, an important initiative of Central Government? 99% of our products are made in India as well as many of our raw purchases are from India. Digital India: many of our internal processes are already much ahead of the current way of practice of our industry. Monitoring of our team, internet inquires and internal processes inclusive of costing are unique USP of our fast speed to serve our customers.
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IAB. As a Leading manufacturers in UPVC doors & windows as well as Aluminium Windows & Doors, what are the future plans to bring new products & solutions to the market? We are one of the leading manufacturers in UPVC Windows and doors. Our new launches Lingel 6.0 Aluminium windows and doors is a revolution in technology. It was designed in collaboration with German Engineers and German partner based out of Kuala Lumpur Q-windows. The design is the matchless as one can’t tell if it is an uPVC or wooden window or door. Lingel’s 6.0 Aluminium window fulfills the look and feel of a traditional door or window. It completes uPVC hardware range for Aluminium Windows. Same can be said about Smart Li- which is a wi-fi controlled window which will give all information about the weather outside or even if a window is left open on your mobile phone. The glass conservatory is also a new product which will cater to space paucity. These kinds of glass houses can be built on the rooftops of houses or even buildings since this is a non-permanent structure it does not create any hassle as they will be no objection of any sort.
Mario Schmidt - Managing Director, Lingel
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Meraki 2018’ – Dr. Baliram Hiray College of Architecture’s Visionary Seminar Series
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Dignitaries inaugurating the Event.
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Lighting of the Lamp.
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eraki, the Visionary Seminar Series, conducted annually by Dr. Baliram Hiray College of Architecture successfully concluded their fifth session this September. ‘FutureWise’ the theme for Meraki 2018 aimed at questioning contemporary architecture and its changing patterns.
in her award winning projects. She believes in democratic societies and the connectedness of people and the importance of team work. Her work speaks of anarchitecture that is meaningful for the India of today, drawing from historical wisdom, but at the same time relevant and exciting for the vibrant Indian market.
The seminar was graced by guest of honourAr. Rohit Ganatra, who specializes in Energy Field Balancing in Architecture and Ar. Prem Nath, who has been a pioneer in the field of architecture in Mumbai. Also present were Mr. Prasad Hiray; President of Hiray Trust, Mrs. Geetanjali Hiray; Managing trustee, Ar. Sunil Magdum; Principal, Ar. Pranav Bhatt; Academic Co-ordinator, Ar. Paresh Kapadia; Chief Academic Co-ordinator and Ar. Nupur Lal, Meraki Head. The seminar was inaugurated by lighting the lamp followed by a welcome speech by Mr. Prasad Hiray.
Loius Schulz, from Assemble UK, talked about an unconventional approach to design which was about collaboration and hands on approach towards their projects. The scale of the project is not important but the range of means adopted; from the social to the infrastructural to workshops make spaces which are committed and meaningful to the community.
We were honoured to have guest speakers Ar. Shimul Zaveri from (SJK Architects, Mumbai), Ar. Louis Schulz from (Assemble Studio, UK), Dr. Anupama Kundoo from (Anupama Kundoo Architects, Spain), and Ar. Swapnil Patil from (Swapnil Patil + Partners, Pune) to be a part of Meraki 2018 and share their perspective on the theme. The first presentation was by Ar. Shimul Javeri Kadri of SJK Architects, who has established a respectable practice in Mumbai since the last three decades. Her design philosophy; that architecture is not merely about creation; it is a search, being in the now, reflects Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
The third speaker was Dr. Anupama Kundoo from Anupama Kundoo Architects, Madrid. Her architectural practice speaks about a strong focus on material research to develop building technologies which are socio-economically and environmentally beneficial.The influence of globalization on architecture may have added a new layer on the already existing demand on resources. Her projects reflect her design mantra; ‘Building Knowledge, Building Community’ and how architecture cannot work in isolation but involves the entire community.The design process can be reframed; Rethink Materials and Thinking with the Hands. The concluding speaker was Ar. Swapnil Patil from SPAP, Pune with a background in Urban Design, his design forte lies in creating
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Guest of Honour Ar. Rohit Ganatra.
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Ar. Shimul Zaveri.
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Guest of Honour Ar. Prem Nath.
Dr. Anupama Kundoo.
Ar. Swapnil Patil.
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Ar. Louis Schulz.
Audience at the seminar.
Panel discussion.
Team Meraki.
vibrant and connected public interaction spaces. Towards everyday architecture; the future of the profession was the main focus of his talk. He shared his outlook and concerns on what modern architecture has done to the quality of public life and spaces. Meraki 2018 was concluded by a panel discussion held with the guest speakers along with active participation by the audience.The diversity of the speakers gave the audience a perspective on where architecture was heading in the Indian context, how materials, people and the place can dictate a projects design process, its spatial quality and form.
Both the guest of honours as well as the speakers appreciated the efforts put in by the students and faculty of our college along with the support staff and reiterated the importance of this platform which encourages student and professional interaction. The positive feedback from professionals and students attending the seminar has been extremely encouraging for us. We look forward to a grander event in the upcoming year, in order to celebrate the Silver Jubilee event of our college. We shall continue the journey of Meraki and seek new answers for the process involved in Architecture. Ar. Niroppama S Sawant Faculty - Design Chair, Dr. Baliram Hiray COA Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Dean D’Cruz – a graduate in architecture is actively involved both in his profession as well as in academics and in social and environmental awareness and activism. He is a Partner and Principal Architect in MOZAIC DESIGN COMBINE’, a leading design firm based in Goa, involved in Urban Intervention, Architecture, Conservation, Product and Graphic Design. Mozaic strives to provide holistic solutions to its patrons. Their engagements often transcend the boundaries of project briefs and enter the realms of new experiences. They explore prospects of symbiotic growth of their clients with nature and encourage sustainable practices in architecture as well as industrial products. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
prologue
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Designing for the future Author: Dean D’Cruz
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he world now faces an enormous challenge with issues like climate change, environmental degradation and serious social issues of deteriorating health conditions, inappropriate educational system, widening economic divides, diminishing work opportunities and a general right wing insensitive capitalist age. While technology and rapid urbanisation have brought about great conveniences it has also drastically changed our ways of life. We have been boxed into zones of residential, commercial, and industrial in buildings that deny us proper natural light and ventilation and consume enormous resources. We move around in transport systems that pollute and kill. We communicate with devices that eventually control the way we think and monitor our every movement. Despite being aware of this we are hurtling towards a future that has more of the same. The interventions of green buildings, rapid mass transport systems are too little, too late. The roles of designers in addressing the problems and charting future directions are fragmented and confined to a narrow bandwidth of solutions. Hence we see piecemeal proposals in India through drivers like Smart Cities, ‘Swach Bharath’ etc. that are unable to look at broader issues facing society. We need a holistic understanding of the issues that face human habitation today before we can offer solutions. Designers, social scientists, economists, anthropologists etc. need to come together to understand these serious issues which have come about through the sudden burst in rising populations, increasing consumption, intolerance, new technologies and materials and changing lifestyles. To me the solutions for the future lie in the past where human connect, empathy, sync with nature and decentralised governance lay. While cities achieve the efficiency of resource usage and have become power houses of economic development they severely affect the quality of life of its inhabitants. Cities and urbanisation seem inevitable but the price one pays of shorter lifespans and stressful living conditions need to be addressed. While we can try our best to mitigate the problems we should also be looking at what pushes urban
migration and how can rural areas (which have a much better quality of life) be made to retain its population and possibly reverse the trend. The solution probably lies in rural - urban agglomerates that create close loop economic and ecological cycles. The focus of designers and visionaries today is mainly on urban issues, fire-fighting problems, could be far more effective working on these rural – urban areas creating opportunities instead. We need an educational system that makes everybody a designer of sorts, addressing simple problems with their own set of designer like tools. Design sadly has become the domain of narrowly trained professionals but we are all born designers, recognising problems and solving them through time tested or innovative methods. When children are asked envision the future and draw it the way they are seeing it moving presently, we see a highly technological one in tones of grey signifying the bleakness of excessive urbanisation, pollution and community/ nature disconnect in the background. When one asks the same children of what they would like the future to be, one can see a more nature connected theme with greens and bright colours and human beings actually recreating. These two stark visions of our future citizens should be a wake-up call to what we should be doing in working towards making the world a better place. At the end of the day it is all about achieving quality of life. All the good that we see today have come out of someone’s dreams and visions years ago. Today we have even more powerful tools to make our visions a reality but sadly we have left this to a political system that is concerned more with imagery than with real societal value. We need to put design and its manifestations in the domain of the people to achieve true effective products and systems and the simpler they are the more effective they can become. Presently designers need to work with communities to address the issues and work towards empowering citizens with tools and methodologies that are future proof.
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Sachin Bandukwala and Melissa Smith are the founders of banduksmithstudio, an architecture, urban design, and research practice based in Ahmedabad. Their work engages processes of making through research on unique construction methods, both institutionalized and inventive, and built projects that explore the boundaries of material and craft in the context of contemporary Indian construction. Sachin holds a B.Arch from CEPT University. He is perpetually in pursuit of understanding through observation the ageing of material and its effect on tectonics, and the institutionalization of rituals in architecture. Melissa is an architect and urban planner who holds M.Arch and M.C.P. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. She is also an adjunct assistant professor in the Faculty of Planning at CEPT University, and her research follows how inhabitants tend to restructure their built environments over time. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Future institutions Authors: Melissa Smith andt Sachin Bandukwala Images: Melissa Smith, Sachin Bandukwala, Ravi Jangid, Nabajyoti Dutta Choudhury, Sampurna Pattanaik, Shivani Gajipara
The millennials grow up, and with them grow potential futures and all their attendant possibilities. Along many divergent paths, a set of future institutions will emerge, to address new challenges and landscapes. These will occupy the time, thoughts and plans of upcoming architects and planners as they engage the dynamic future city.
of the 21st century- lay tracks of treatment along redundant roads and bridges, which anyway are wasting away for lack of use. In the places that have already become sewage free, floating sea water farms take advantage of the space and the convenience of growing food in the salt rather than adding it after. Marine architects try their hands at these, happy to find alternatives for their skills that don’t require a security clearance or a deep knowledge of naval warfare tactics.
As the particulate matter in the air steadily increased, systems for combatting it may have also arisen. Air filter stations thus rival petrol pumps in their ubiquity, scrubbing away at the dirty particulate matter and sequestering it for use in carbon composite products factories, the latest and greatest industry grown from the profitable processing of waste. On line with these new systems of regeneration, incinerators with recycled energy units power the whole thing. The architect that lands one of these drool worthy commissions pats herself on the back for her socio-environmental contribution, and pours over the workstation to draw out an iconic-yet-humble design to awe her adoring followers yet provoke a potent message.
The institution of the day though, the one that all the competitions are for, is the home for connective sciences, a new field that developed from the need to make sense of the trajectories of many different faculties. As society reached the saturation point of knowledge discovery, and the differing lenses combined with the oversupply of information led to a post-truth, increasing ignorant and stubborn population, the avant-garde approach toward knowledge shifted. No longer a direct search for truth, connective sciences find relevance among shared and conflicting sets of knowledge. A Connective Science Institute is the new cathedral.
In another set of restorative practices, sewage treatment plants have teamed up with hydroponic farms to produce a closed loop system of growing, harvesting, excreting, and cleaning. Designers, planners, architects and farmers come together to tackle the messy business of cleaning water and connecting it to cleaner food. Is it better to go vertical and stretch the sewage lines parallel? Or would a dense set of collectors spray out in every direction to support orbs of vegetation? Perhaps the best option is simply to colonize the defunct infrastructures
As society has aspired higher and higher, its commercial underpinnings have raced to keep up. Not nearly rid of the rampant consumerism that plagued the late 20th and early 21st centuries, urban warehouses have multiplied, becoming an integral fixture in the urban landscape. These carrying and forwarding facilities manage the logistics of stuff- what is made, consumed and discarded, in a still inefficient loop of construction, destruction and decay. Big firms have become good at designing these, stamping them out across cities from Kolkata to Reykjavik.
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Air filter stations will rival petrol pumps in their ubiquity, scrubbing away at the dirty particulate matter and sequestering it for use in carbon composite products factories, the latest and greatest industry grown from the profitable processing of waste.
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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In the places that have already become sewage free, floating sea water farms take advantage of the space and the convenience of growing food in the salt rather than adding it after.
Sewage treatment plants have teamed up with hydroponic farms to produce a closed loop system of growing, harvesting, excreting, and cleaning.
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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The home for connective sciences – a new field that developed from the need to make sense of the trajectories of many different faculties.
Not nearly rid of the rampant consumerism that plagued the late 20th and early 21st centuries, urban warehouses have multiplied, becoming an integral fixture in the urban landscape. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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High walls - The fear that grew at the onset of the 21st century, which caused wars and set off barriers to movement of people and trade, sadly remains.
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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And the fear that grew at the onset of the 21st century, which caused wars and set off barriers to movement of people and trade, sadly remains. It is tethered to the structures of governance, seen in the high walls that fend of outsiders, while locally, people’s interdependence has grown so great, they no longer operate from independent premises but instead gather for work at local assembly halls, a sort of workshare community that grew out of the startup culture of the early 2000s. These halls suffice for most, but as disasters have increased, both due to war and natural events, the simple bond of society is no longer enough, and many communities have retreated into their religions. The most lucrative projects of the day then, are the religious complexes for disaster management, which provide spiritual healing for physical and mental discomfort, inflicted by the trials of a diverse world.
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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The demolition of the settlements along the Tansa Pipeline in Mumbai have led to displacement of thousands of families. The demolition is being carried out to secure an area of 10 m from the pipeline to ensure its safety and security. The article studies the situation of one of the settlements (Indira Gandhi Nagar) located on the Tansa pipeline. The stretch along the pipeline is slated to be the site of one of Mumbai’s exorbitant projects, a 300 crore cycle track. This article aims to study the rehabilitation schemes adopted for the residents of the settlements along Tansa Pipeline, and the struggles that residents are faced with as they attempt to get rehoused as Project Affected Persons. A comparison between rehabilitation schemes for Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and the Navi Mumbai Airport Rehabilitation schemes is conducted to see how the rehabilitation scheme of the Tansa pipeline compares and if a way forward can be charted.
Ipshita Karmakar has graduated from the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture and Environment Studies. After her graduation, she worked with the KRVIA Design and Research Cell on developing an existing situation report on water supply and sanitation systems of slum settlements in Orissa. She has also worked as a research associate at the Urban Design Research Institute in Mumbai. Currently, she is working on the post-earthquake rehabilitation of heritage sites in Nepal.
Justin Thomas has graduated from the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture and Environment Studies, where he later worked as a Teaching Assistant. He has been working as an architect with Perkins Eastman in Mumbai. He has also worked on an exhibition of sanitation designs with Mad (E) in Mumbai. He is interested in urban infrastructure systems and interested especially in the design and revival of heritage water systems. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Mumbai’s Pipe Dream: A case for rehabilitation of the project affected people along Tansa Pipeline Authors: Ipshita Karmakar and Justin Thomas Images: Ipshita Karmakar
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Indira Gandhi Nagar.
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ithin the fabric of Mumbai through the years, there have been several instances of displacement of people due to development projects, redevelopment of land, security etc. One such project is the demolition of settlements along the 160 km long Tansa Pipeline, a major source of water supply for Mumbai where several settlements had developed in approximately the last 50 years. This pipeline supplies 490 Millions of Litres per Day (MLD) of water (Municipal Engineers’s Association, 2003) to the citizens of Mumbai. One of these settlements and the subject of the study is Indira Gandhi Nagar, situated in Bandra (East). On a major demolition drive in October 2017, all the settlements near the Tansa pipeline were razed to implement a 2009 High court order (Bombay, 2014). This specified the demolition of all settlements within 10 meter of the pipeline and then securing it by building a boundary wall. Further, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) was commissioned to build a cycling track along its stretch from Mulund to Antop Hill, titled ‘Green Wheels along Blue Lines’ (Indian Express, 2017), in order to protect it from encroachment. The Project Affected People (PAP) of Tansa were allotted rehabilitation in areas such as Vashi Naka, Mahul etc. However, only 20% of the 796 households in Indira Gandhi Nagar have been provided adequate rehabilitation. As the pendulum of city governance swings from measures that can upgrade slums to liveable standards to ambitious projects such as the cycling track; the residents of Indira Gandhi Nagar perch on a precarious edge. As the residents of Indira Gandhi Nagar attempt to be rehoused as Project Affected Persons, the article studies previous rehabilitation schemes in Mumbai to see how the rehabilitation of structures demolished on the Tansa pipeline compares and if a way forward can be charted.
Tansa Pipeline The high pressure 1800 -3000 mm diameter main Tansa Pipeline got constructed in 1892 as a major pipeline for supplying water to Mumbai city (Municipal Engineers’s Association, 2003). Due to the settlement of around 16,000 houses built along Tansa Pipeline, the access to the pipeline and the provision of a service road is hindered affecting regular maintenance. In addition, the pipeline has been sporadically tapped for water, contributing to frequent bursts. According to ‘Water’, a booklet published by the Municipal Engineer’s Association, the actual repairing of the pipeline is not a problem; it is the plugging and isolating of a stretch of supply during the water burst that becomes a hassle. One of the major bursts in the Tansa Pipeline was at Indira Gandhi Nagar on July 2017 wasting around 20 lakh litres of water (Express, 2017). It resulted in the death of two children and washing away of people, property and homes. On March 14, 2014, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was submitted by the Janhit Manch, (a judicial activist non-governmental organisation) which called for the demolishing of settlements along the Tansa Pipeline, to ensure security of the high pressure water pipeline (PIL No. 140 of 2006, 2014). The PIL requested the implementation of an earlier order by the High Court to ensure a buffer along the pipeline. The basic order was as follows (PIL No. 140 of 2006, 2014): “We passed the order on 29.7.2009 and appointed a Committee headed by the Chief Secretary of the State. It is not disputed that the pipes carrying water from the source to Mumbai citizens are more than hundred years old, and they carry water for 160 kilometres. The Ninety kilometres of the pipes are over the ground and sixty kilometres are underground. There are hutments constructed by illegal encroachers in and around the pipes. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Tapping of main Tansa water pipeline at Indira Gandhi Nagar in 2016.
Apparently, there is threat to the security as well to the health of the citizens of Mumbai. According to the Corporation, there are more than 15000 hutments either adjacent to the pipeline or even at the place over it. The Committee has made and has chalked out a plan by which the hutments would be removed by 2015 and the eligible encroachers would be rehabilitated.� This resulted in the implementation of a High Court order to secure a 10 m buffer from the Tansa Pipeline, and lead to the demolition of around 10,000 shanties in totality along the pipeline till the time of research. Tansa pipeline is an essential infrastructure, the loss of which would be catastrophic for Mumbai which relies heavily on it for its water supply needs. The move therefore, to secure the pipeline has been a step in the right direction. However, the rehabilitation of the people occupying the settlements on the pipeline has been nothing short of disastrous. The primary focus of the article will be on Indira Gandhi Nagar, but the plight of those in the area has been echoed throughout all settlements along the pipeline. Indira Gandhi Nagar About 500 meters of the Tansa Pipeline passes through Indira Gandhi Nagar. The informal settlement is situated right next to Bandra Railway station (H East Ward) sharing boundaries with Behrampada and Naupada slums. On top of the Tansa water pipelines, 3500- 4500 residents resided in 796 informal hutments (Alap, 2018). Indira Nagar shanties were perched precariously at the edge of the main water pipeline and housed mostly daily wage labourers and Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
construction workers who worked in the neighbourhood. The children living there used to go to schools in the vicinity. Within the settlement itself, the pipeline became a pathway for settlements on either side of it. The shanties were built as double storeyed construction, with windows, at lower levels, directly opening on to a nullah i. Two formal separate water pipeline connections provided potable water to this area (Damle, 2016). At junctions along the main pipeline, water was seen to be siphoned through subsidiary connections, tapping the leaks and perforations in the main water pipe through smaller rubber hoses. Water supply was scarce, and was available only 2-3 hours a day. Inadequate essential infrastructure had led to citizens from the shanties taking the reins into their own hands, by tapping on the water mains. Post demolition in 2018, nothing remains of this sprawling settlement apart from the naked water pipeline. The families that weren’t provided rehabilitation by the government have resorted to staying in plastic and scrap metal hutments along the edge of the road. Starting 2014, a minority of the families that have either come up after 1995, as per the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971 deemed eligible for rehabilitation have been allotted houses in Mahul, Chembur, Vashi Naka etc. Mahul, a heavily-industrialised locality, has tenement style housing with chemical and petroleum refineries operating around the area. The rest, even though eligible for rehabilitation according to an amendment in the Slum Areas Act of 1971 ii, have been through major hassles to secure rehabilitation. Mr. Aasad, who runs a small paan shop along the roadside, is a
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Indira Gandhi Nagar in 2016.
resident of one of the temporary shanties. “Roughly 150 houses so far have been given accommodation in Mahul. They prefer staying here, since it is closer to their places of work, and schools.” The existing trunk infrastructures in Indira Gandhi Nagar, such as electricity lines and water supply lines have been broken down in the demolition. The families who were out of town at the time of the surveys, or who did not have the requisite documentation on them, were all denied housing. According to Mrs. Malar, a garbage collector at the nearby Bandra west station, “women harassment looms large in these plastic shanties without doors.” It has become a constant security threat for her to be staying at the roadside. Rehabilitation Scheme for the Resettlement The residents of the settlements along the Tansa Pipeline are being rehabilitated in accordance to the Section 33(10) iii clause 3.11 (PAP rehabilitation), of the Draft Development Control Regulations (DCRs) of the Development Control Regulations 1991 and Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971. Section 33 (10) directs the rehabilitation process of slum dwellers that have been evicted during the process of developing land. It directs the various criteria through which slums can be denoted, the rights of hutment dwellers and the eligibility criteria for the same. The Maharashtra Slum Areas Act mentions the need for a photo pass as a document of identification. The following are the criteria for rehabilitation of the residents along
Tansa Pipeline and an approximate timeline of the process: 1) Tansa Pipeline is an essential infrastructure that needs to be secured as per the PIL 140 of 2006 filed by Janhit Manch. As per the directive, all hutments built along and over the pipeline are encroachments on the pipeline and need to be cleared. 2) The PIL led to the issuance of the Government Resolution No.SIMP2010/C.R.1 Slum Imp-1 dated 2nd January, 2012, which directed the rehabilitation of all slum dwellers with hutments built before January 1995. Within this, all slum dwellers whose hutments were built before 1995 are eligible for rehabilitation. The first phase of rehabilitation that took place beginning in 2011 includes those people who abide by this criteria. 3) The Section 33(10) mandates a residential tenement having a carpet area of 25 sq. mt. including balcony, bath and water closet, but excluding common areas as rehabilitation to those displaced. The same is being held true for the Tansa Pipeline rehabilitation. 4) Earlier, photo passes were issued to only those slum dwellers whose hutments had been built before 1995. An amendment in the GR issued on 16th May 2015 (Government Resolution, No.Zopudho-1001/Case No.125/14/Zopsu-1) directs that those whose houses were built before 1.1.2000 are also eligible for rehabilitation. This constitutes the second phase of rehabilitation that shall take place in the coming years. As per Mr. Anil Alap, an officer in the housing department of H (E) Ward office, of which Indira Gandhi Nagar is a part; there are 2090 structures in the entire H(E) ward office that are going to demolished Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Indira Gandhi Nagar post demolition.
due to the Tansa Pipeline demolition. Of those, only 713 structures (584 residential, 129 commercial) are eligible for rehabilitation. The situation in Indira Gandhi Nagar is even worse with only 155 of the 796 structures getting rehabilitated (Alap, 2018). This is roughly 34% and 19.4 % of the total population respectively. For the rest, residents who do not have the proper documents or the residents whose houses have been built post 2000, no way forward has been charted out. The Story at Mahul Mahul Gaon is located near Chembur and is part of the M ward of Mumbai. The 18.30 hectares of land owned by Ms/Eversmile construction was given for developing rehabilitation as per the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme as per the Slum Rehabilitation Authority, 1997. The tenements were built initially to cater to the Project Affected Persons of the BRIMSTOWAD (Brihan Mumbai Storm water disposal system) which was a scheme developed to improve Mumbai’s storm water drainage system after the floods of 2005 (Hussain Indorewala, 2018). The tenements consist of 72 buildings and 17025 dwelling units which aims to provide housing for approximately 86000 inhabitants. At the time of the site visit in April 2018, a number of buildings were still in various stages of construction. The tenements are flanked by large chemical industries such as Tata Power, Bharat Petroleum Refineries and treatment facilities (Hussain Indorewala, 2018). The unkempt tenements have malfunctioning lifts, water shortage and electricity Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
cuts from time to time. The 25 sq. mt houses are cramped, with only a single source of ventilation; inadequate lighting and families of 5-10 are cramped in a single apartment. For most of the residents, the new accommodation has led to a feeling of being short-changed. For Prabhunath Verma, a paan wala and grocer who shifted here 3 years ago from the demolition of settlements along Chembur Nala for BRIMSTOWAD, the lack of employment in these areas has been a serious setback to his savings and income. That coupled with the low frequency of public transportation such BEST buses that lead to their original place of work, has led to about 50 % of people rendered unemployed in the settlement. Coupled with the maintenance of shoddy apartments, the move to Mahul has left many more economically hampered than before. A far more serious issue, as told by Deepa Verma, who shifted to Mahul in 2017 from Chembur Nala are skin and lung diseases that people have suffered due to the close proximity of the chemical refineries. Her limbs have suffered rashes. The elderly suffer from lung infections. The water too comes in a yellowish hue that many suspect is because of the nearby chemical factories. This has led to many sending out applications to the BMC deeming Mahul unfit for human habitation. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2015 had directed the environment department to probe these complaints. (Application No. 40/2014(WZ)) According to Mr. Alap of H (East) Ward office, there have been several writ petitions for better rehabilitation than Mahul. There are talks of
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new plots of land opening up in the new Development Plan 2034, but it is unlikely that the residents of the slums along Tansa Pipeline will be shifted elsewhere at the moment. Mumbai’s Previous Trysts with PAP Rehabilitation The Tansa Rehabilitation project is one among many other such schemes that have been carried out in the city of Mumbai as a precursor to development projects. Prime among them, and the ones that will be discussed further are the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) rehabilitation process, the Navi Mumbai airport rehabilitation process and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) rehabilitation project. The projects are studied as a way to understand the failings of the rehabilitation of the Tansa Project, and the way forward that can be determined. They will be studied through the policy framework through which they operated the time frame and the context, and the percentage of successful rehabilitation that they achieved. Mumbai Urban Transport Project Resettlement and Rehabilitation (MUTP) Context: MUTP was conceptualised by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) to improve the railway and other infrastructure in Mumbai Metropolitan Region along with funding from the World Bank from 2002 - 2008. Around 10,000 families have been resettled so far, with 40% in permanent homes and the rest in transit accommodation (Burra, 2001). Phase 1 addressed the resettlement needs of 3,273 households and 688 shops. (Bank, 2004) Policy Framework: As per the Government of Maharashtra report on Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy for the MUTP project, there were approximately 25000 to 30,000 people in the preliminary survey who were to be resettled due to the project. The objectives of the policy were fivefold: (1) To minimize resettlement; to provide adequate compensation and assistance to those who have to be rehabilitated; and to give housing rights to the same; to develop community linkages and establish partnerships with community based organisations; to retain existing community network (Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy for Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), 2000). (2) The resettlement and rehabilitation was made possible through private investment to offset the cost of construction. Private investors who agreed to build rehabilitation were given transfer of development rights (TDRs). The Government also involved NGOs for a grassroot involvement in the rehabilitation. (3) A lump sum amount to be given for transportation for a year to those whose travel distances have been increased due to the resettlement and to be given to those workers who have lost their jobs in the resettlement process for a year. (4) Access to training and employment information to those who have lost their jobs. (5) A grievance redressal agency is also appointed to consider any grievance of the affected PAPs.
Eligibility Criteria: Project Affected Persons (PAPs) due to the MUTP included all legitimate occupants of land and squatters that had settled on the land till the time of the baseline survey. It also attempted to continue community linkages by resettling about 20% of non-affected people to affected people whose community bonds would suffer economically or otherwise by the resettlement. (Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy for Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), 2000). Present Situation: According to a report published by Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan (NGO), the methodology for the baseline survey was questioned. Concerns were raised about the environmental Impact assessment and involuntary resettlement of some of the residents. The reports on the lack of livelihood opportunities were similar to the impact that we see on resettlement in Mahul (Connected Roads and disconnected lives of the World Bank funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project). Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) Rehabilitation Context: PIL 305 of 1995 was filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group to raze and demolish all illegal structures within the SGNP, on account of them having an ecologically ‘disastrous’ impact on the forest and causing ‘deforestation’ in the area. On 7th May 1997, the High Court directed the rehabilitation of all structures built before 1995 within the SGNP premises (around 80,000) to be relocated outside the SGNP within 18 months of the issuance of the order. Around 12000 hutments have been demolished so far in areas such as Chandivali and Powai within the Phase 1 of the project, with 15,000 people in transit camps, says a report by Nivara Hakk (NGO). Policy Framework: The informal settlements at SGNP were rehabilitated as per Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971. Eligibility criteria: The settlements were deemed eligible for rehabilitation through similar methods of photo pass issuance according to the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971. Present situation: The process of rehabilitation was hindered due to resistance from residents, a refusal to pay the ‘rehab’ fee and use of force and coercion by the government to ensure demolition. A disruption of jobs for the PAPs was caused due to provision of tenements 60 km away from SGNP. CIDCO Airport Rehabilitation Policy Context: The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) will lead to the rehabilitation of 3,500 koli villagers that are occupying The City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) owned land. Around 10 villages of varying population are to be displaced for the construction of the airport to be built on 600 acres of that land. Policy Framework: Farmers whose land has been acquired for the project will get 22.5% developable land at Pushpak Nagar, 500m from the boundary of NMIA (Rajak, 2016), Vadghar, Vahal etc. The plots are provided close to the place of displacement, through a method of lottery. Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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Tenements at Mahul in 2018
Each family receives a homestead land, cash compensation for construction by way of INR 1000 per sq. ft and a house shifting grant. In addition, an agricultural wage is given to farmers whose livelihoods are disrupted in the process of shifting (Rajak, 2016). Trunk infrastructure is promised, but the onus of construction of the house is on the resettled people, which primarily happens through cash compensation. (Appendix IX, CIDCO Compensation scheme, 1975) Eligibility Criteria: The Land Compensation scheme as mentioned in the Government Resolution CID1812/C.R. 274/UD10, dated 1st March 2014, provides compensation for all land holders whose lands have been acquired after 1st March 2014. Present Situation: The rehabilitation process still remains incomplete, with only 150 families availing of this scheme. The NMIA project is also underway and incomplete. Of the 3500 families, 1000 are yet to be given letters of relocation (Financial Express, 2017). Way Forward It has become clear that the small amount of ad hoc rehabilitation at Mahul has negatively impacted the health and economic prospects of the people. On learning from the above examples, some of the key issues that a rehabilitation policy for Tansa should implement are as follows: Context of Resettlement: 1) The health and safety issues that Mahul tenements pose by virtue Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
of their proximity to -chemical factories and treatment plants need to be addressed. 2) Amenities such as schools, hospitals and healthcare facilities, should be provided in the vicinity, or within the premises. Policy Framework: 3) A pitfall the Tansa rehabilitation faces is the absence of NGOs to understand rehabilitation at grassroot levels. 4) The Tansa rehabilitation at Mahul could also benefit from a system of grievance redressal that so far has not been undertaken. 5) As with the MUTP policy and CIDCO’s rehabilitation policy, it is favourable to also provide compensation for the income loss that the rehabilitated suffer due to the lack of jobs post displacement. 6) The rehabilitation policy should also develop transportation systems within the area to supplement the inadequate existing systems or provide adequate compensation as per the MUTP policy as a lump sum amount. 7) The provision of training and dissemination of information about employment opportunities to those that have lost their source of income will be beneficial in the long run. Eligibility Criteria: Perhaps the gravest of issues that any rehabilitation policy has to address, is the cut-off date. Approximately 80% of the population of Indira Gandhi Nagar are rendered homeless due to not owning
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the required documents showing proof of existence, while others whose houses are built post January 2000 suffer similarly. Is it therefore feasible to consider all settlers at the time of the baseline survey? It is imperative that all residents, notwithstanding the date, are treated as Project Affected Persons and given adequate compensation and/or rehabilitation. ‘Green Wheels along Blue Lines’ The Hydraulic Engineering department of the MCGM is handling the construction of the upcoming cycle track along the Tansa pipeline along with private parties. The cycle track is being constructed in order to secure the pipeline from encroachers and for the security of the pipeline itself. How the cycle track can be kept secure by inviting an influx of people to the site and making it a public space is difficult to understand. Corporators are backing out of the Tansa cycle track project due to the unfeasibility of the project (Mumbai Mirror, 2018). The projected cost of construction of the cycle track project estimated to be at 11 crores per km, which is claimed to be highly inflated by the corporators. The Tansa cycle track, with its Bollywood walk, Mumbai books route and artistically painted pipelines with its astronomical cost seems like a waste of public money as compared to the money that could perhaps be spent in adequate rehabilitation. In the spate of recent demolitions, it becomes obvious that in the wrestle between Mumbai’s infrastructure development, however inadequate and ill-ambitioned, the residents of Indira Gandhi Nagar lose out. The cycle track, along with other such ambitious projects that have unbelievably high construction costs, all seem to be full steam ahead on their way to construction without understanding the ground realities. A systemic change needs to be brought about in how we prioritise growth and development of our city vis-à-vis the quality of life of all its citizens, including those living in slums. It is important that essential services and infrastructure which are basic rights to life are provided first, and only once these are in place, should additional projects be implemented which can upgrade and complement existing facilities. As a number of citizen groups and government bodies attempt to realign and reshape the development of the city, settlements like Indira Gandhi Nagar are caught in the continuous tussle. It is important to therefore envision our future cities sensitively and practically in order to create an inclusive environment.
Notes: i Interviews conducted by Ipshita Karmakar, Parth Batavia, Riddhesh Ghadi, Abhaya Kadam and Manali Patil in December 2016. ii
Government Resolution, No.Zopudho-1001/Case No.125/14/Zopsu-1
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Draft Development Control Regulations (DCRs) of the Draft Development Plan 2034
References: (1975). Appendix IX, CIDCO Compensation scheme. In CIDCO General Development Control Regulaions. Navi Mumbai. PIL No. 140 of 2006 (High Court Judicature at Bombay March 19, 2014). Application No. 40/2014(WZ) (National Green Tribunal February 3, 2015). Alap, A. (2018, May 12). Officer at H(East) Ward office. (I. K. Thomas, Interviewer) Andolan, G. B. (n.d.). Connected Roads and disconnected lives of the World Bank funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project. Mumbai. Bank, W. (2004). BANK MANAGEMENT RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INSPECTION PANEL REVIEW OF THE INDIA – MUMBAI URBAN TRANSPORT PROJECT. Mumbai. Burra, S. (2001). Resettlement and Rehabilitation of the Urban Poor: MUTP. Mumbai: SPARC. Damle, S. (2016, June). Centre for Right to Housing. (P. B. Ipshita Karmakar, Interviewer) Department, H. a. (2000). Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy for Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra. Financial Express. (2017, January 16). Navi Mumbai International Airport, hit by hurdles, is a long way from take-off. Retrieved from Financial Express: https:/www. financialexpress.com/economy/navi-mumbai- international-airport-hit-by-hurdlesis-a-long-way-from-take-off/509367/ Hussain Indorewala, S. W. (2018). From Basti to Slum: Mahul PAP Township. Collective for Spatial Alternatives. Indian Express. (2017, October 3). Tansa pipeline project in Mumbai: Encroachments in three wards yet to be removed, work on cycle track begins. Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Mumbai Mirror. (2018, January 13). Tansa cycle track runs into trouble over ‘unreal’ cost. Retrieved from Mumbai Mirror: https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/ cover-story/tansa-cycling-track-runs-into-trouble-over-its-unreal-cost/ articleshow/62481237.cms Municipal Engineers’s Association, M. (2003). Water: Brihanmumbai Licensed Plumber’s Association. Rajak, R. (2016). Development Project, Land Acquisition and Resettlement in Maharashtra: A study of Navi Mumbai International Airport Project. Mumbai.
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Ayan Sen, Principal, Ayan Sen Architects Urban Designers and Planners has structurally explored different relationships between the city and its water system both in account of professional practices, research and outreach works. This studio is working on projects like Bagjola Canal Front Development, Judges Ghat redevelopment Project etc. that can set up a benchmark in future designing of the city water fronts and embark a new vision on how the city perceive its water edges. Both the project promotes a blend between people, water strata and architectural qualities that can generate quality public spaces ideal for interaction. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Kolkata: the water city Authored and images by: Ayan Sen Architects Additional credits: Aneerudh Paul (Director - Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and EnvironmentalStudies), Manoj Parmar (HOD Urban Design, Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies), Ritu Mohanty, Jimmy B and students of Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies
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lobal cities are at risk largely because the interface between built-form and landscape system is not carefully thought of with architectural response to climate, context and water system. In Indian cities, also, one can find rampant disregards to water bodies and canals. This can be seen in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Kolkata and in parts of coastal cities like Kerala. In case of Kolkata the blue infrastructure of the city is one of the most critical geological system or landscape system that urban design and architectural expression needs to recognise. Innovation in practice according to Ayan Sen Architects Urban designers and Planners largely evolves from the analysis of the macro system of ecology and built form and thinking of urban design of water fronts as well as architectural expression that emanate a sense of place.
forms in which, our water systems can exist in our cities, from rivers and canals, to coasts and creeks, to wetlands, to lakes and ponds, etc. All these differing forms have historically played an important role in effecting livelihoods, ecological sustenance and spiritual well-being of its citizen. However, with the advent of a mechanistic world view in which planning is located, it seems that we have lost this organic relationship with water. The story of the city of Kolkata remains the same where we indiscriminately exploit the extremely complex water landscapes for short-sighted benefits, thus affecting our future wellbeing.
Ayan Sen Architects Urban designers and Planners collaborated with Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies to initiate an urban design studio master’s program called the water studio of Kolkata. This research group work involving faculty members, professors like Prof. Aneerudha Paul, Prof. Manoj Parmar, Prof. Ritu Mohanti, Prof. Ayan Sen who carried this research and urban designing project with group of urban designing students.
Located in the largest deltas of the world, the city of Kolkata has a water system characterized by distributaries, canals, wet-lands and numerous ‘pukurs’ (lakes) with an elaborate hydrological system. While the colonial planner had an overall vision to plan the city respecting its natural water system, the present authorities with indiscriminate reclamation of wetlands and water bodies to build new city extensions, seems to have destroyed the relation-ship between the sensitive ecosystems of water system and surrounding settlements that had evolved over time. This is clearly of immense concern given the present nature of environmental crisis that are encountered.’
This studio questions the present nature of relationship with the city and water that are driven by the impulse of domination embedded within modern planning. This results a relationship that, as often seen in our cities, can be either of abject neglect, or manipulation of water systems; to create more buildable land or spectacular landscapes through the concretization and beautification of edges. To be able to expand this narrow response we need to appreciate the numerous
The water studio project attempts explore water conditions of Kolkata in depth and give possible solutions. The project it has identified 5 different sites located near varied water condition in the city that are either under transformation or faces the pressure of development. Certain tentative propositions are made that has the potential to reestablish the organic and the symbiotic relationship between the city and its wet lands. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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The Sutanuti Precinct – The historic district on the river front. This is in the old historic core of Kolkata, adjoining the distributary of Hoogly. It is home to some of the important bazaars of the city (Shovabazaar and Baghbazaar), communities of idol makers (Kumartuli), old families like that of the Navakrishna Dev who have initiated important festival like the Durga Puja and important religious institutions associated the Ramkrishna Mission and the Shradhadevi Math. Along the water front it has got a lot of industrial structure and warehouses that are presently underused. While this is still an active part of the city it is slowly being forgotten. The attempt in this site was to strengthen existing water transport network of this precinct, bring new life to the waterfront by reusing underused buildings, improve the infrastructure of the bazaars, and improve the quality of livelihood for the communities of idol maker that are dependent on the river for their raw material. The major interventions that been worked are redevelopment of Kumortuli, adaptive reuse of Industrial heritage, adaptive reuse of port building, strengthening of east-west Barabazar corridor.
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Street section 1.
Section along the edge- Renovation of water edges.
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Street section 2.
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Industrial Lands along the Belighata Canal –land along the canal system This is an underused industrial belt undergoing transformation along the Beleghata canal that connects the Hoogly to the wetlands. Along this canal are industrial lands as well as low middle income neighbourhoods that are rapidly transforming due to its proximity to the Eastern Metropolitan bypass, the growth corridor of the city. Also, the road along the canal provides important east west connectivity from Sealdah Station to Salt Lake, a new township conceived in the 1960’s. The students group was attempting to rethink the nature of the canal and its immediate relationship to its neighbourhood as an ecological edge, public space and transport corridor.
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Urban development across the canal
Section across the canal.
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Metropolitan Society and the adjoining ChingrighataKalibariPukur – Settlements along the local water front This neighbourhood was planned in the 1970’s -80’s by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. While this was conceived of as a typical town planning scheme with plotted development that was constructed by reclaiming low lying lands, the plan made no attempt to connect the adjoining water bodies to the neighbourhood planning scheme. The exploration was thus to evolve a positive connect of the water bodies to the town planning scheme as well as to a community of fisher folk who are dependent on these water bodies for their livelihood.
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Export market and settlement.
Section along the water edge – 1.
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Bantala site with residential areas in the periphery – Along the periphery of wetland The site beholds residential areas and numerous water bodies which led towards an ecologically potential context. It consists of the Kolkata Leather Complex that makes Bantala the heart of leather industry of Kolkata. It is spread over an area of 450 hectares. It has the capacity of developing 1,000 tons of hides per day. It is the second most important tanning centre in the country, accounting for about 22-25% of the tanning in the country. The intention of the proposal was to blend the leather industry and dwellings sustainably with the ecology to form an organic relationship.
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Waste water conditions of tanneries.
Activity along the canal edges.
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Trinathpally in the Eastern Kolkata Wetlands – The settlement and the wetlands These settlements form a part of the Eastern Kolkata wetlands and are inhabited by communities that have their livelihood dependent on the surrounding wetlands. These communities are not formally recognized by the government authorities but they play a vital part in maintaining an ecological balance of the city, through their livelihood activity of fishing, reusing city waste, growing vegetables, and idol making. These are entrepreneurs whose contributions have not been amply recognized by the city. In the initial part of the study an attempt was made to understand their pattern of living and spatial organizations. The proposition was to validate such forms of complex living/working patterns and strengthen it through improving infrastructure, making incremental up gradations to housing, and creating awareness among citizen on the importance of such city fabrics.
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Congested neighbourhood around the wetlands.
Relationship between canal and neighbourhood.
Relationship between swamp and neighbourhood. Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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Judges ghat redevelopment
Bagjola canal front development
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Exhibition and Symposium: The Water Studio – Kolkata.
Exhibition and Symposium The exhibition was a way in which the idea generated by the studio is expressed to various leading citizens of Kolkata including lawyers, judges, NGOs, activists, students and socialists. Showcasing the waterfronts as emerging need for city’s identity, the exhibition has helped in developing awareness in the people about the waterfront development. It has created opportunity to understand the city’s development pattern along with its waterfronts. The propositions derived through the understanding of the past and considering the future development represents how effectively society and ecology can coexists to reduce the risks like floods and problems like water logging etc. For the city of Kolkata public spaces could be very lively and rejuvenation of water fronts can potentially increase overall spatial qualities of the city in terms built environment, liveability conditions and ecology. Present circumstances has result depletion of this much needed hydrology system of Kolkata. As the city negotiates its existence between its river, canal systems, ponds and wetlands, it becomes very important to revitalise the exquisite resources that our city beholds. The practice is also sensitive to design projects along water bodies and lakes. The unique character of Kolkata is expressed in the architectural language of the process where the macrocosm has its definite relation in small design gestures. Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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Hiloni is the Founder and Lead Architect of Hsc Designs. Hsc Designs is young firm working in Ahmedabad, Gujarat since 2016. She believes in combining the client’s requirements, context challenges, climate and community requirements to come up with unconventional, different solutions for our projects. Each of her projects has an intrinsic experiential value that makes the spaces more usable and enjoyable for the end user. The solution systems designed for projects are derived upon after a extensive research into the user’s patterns, functions, and interactions. All of the spaces are computationally designed keeping in consideration the user systems, weather and context conditions to derive the best solution feasible for the site and client. She is constantly pushing the envelope in terms of use of technology and materials in design and architecture. She is also huge advocate of sustainable use in architecture by promoting material reuse and zero wastage in various projects. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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The Symbiotic Parasite designed by Hsc Designs follows the principles of Sustainability 2.0. The design of tessellated windows is done in a way that the angle of the Sun is always incident of the floor of the space and there is never direct sun glare in the space.
The tessellated windows along with the mirrors reflect light in the space making the space look visually bigger and well lit.
A utopian dystopia or a dystopian utopia? Author: Hiloni Sutaria Images: Phx India Sebastian/Ira Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Seating by Hsc Designs made by PVC sheets from the line of multiple scale furniture pieces with multiple iterations serving as seating - Console, Table and Sculpture.
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Design by Hsc Designs- Outdoor seating and a Jungle gym for kids that merges with the surroundings and can be transported to multiple landscapes
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rchitecture is a constantly changing, constantly evolving endeavour. The changing landscapes of political and environmental uprise affect the nature of architecture as well. Architecture is a core catalyst to changing environment and human stability and conditions right from the river side settlements to current cutting edge technologically evolved dynamic living spaces.
Small interventions like these; using technology, parametric and designs can be a small scale intervention towards moving towards design of the future. The Micro-chasm of the future has to be interventions like these in large scale of pre-existing designs to facilitate sustainability without affecting the history and large scale demolition.
Childhood memories of shows like Jetsons and movies like The Fifth Element predict a future where a change in the built environment is the integral part of the utopian future. This paradigm shift in the way the built environment is designed is essential which integrates technological advances and moves towards a more sustainable future. Change in Architectural design can lead to either a dystopian or a utopian future: The need to evolve with the age of global warming is dire in the today’s age. Designs of current generation have the need to marry environment concerns and sustainability without compromising on the aesthetic appeal or the comfort of technological advances. A great example of this is the ‘Amager Bekker Waste to Energy Power Plant’ by Bjarke Ingels Group which has a 600 mt. ski slope and hiking trails atop a power plant which generated energy through waste. This is essentially sustainability 2.0 which doesn’t compromise on the design to save/generate energy but adds to it.
This project is one such example. Interventions of robotics and digital methodologies of building on old architecture through layers as done in Rome, Italy, marries both age building with ease and a sense of belonging and respect to each era. These marks of current era of buildings are often rejected as not fitting the context and being created to make iconic art pieces. This ideas need to change to make sure we are moving towards the future and making a mark of the current era of Architecture and Design. The Kunsthaus Graz Museum, designed by Sir Peter cook and Colin Fournier is a utopian example of such an intervention which despite of being extremely different from the context fits in the context with ease. The building not only makes the mark of current age on the footprint of Architecture through generations, but also generates its own solar power. The building makes quite a statement; its environmental impact is very low, as the building’s organic roof made from 1,288 semitransparent acrylic glass panels generates energy with built-in photovoltaic panels.
The Symbiotic Parasite designed by Hsc Designs which follows the principles of Sustainability 2.0. The design of tessellated windows is done in a way that the angle of the sun is always incident of the floor of the space and there is never direct sun glare in the space. The tessellated windows along with the mirrors reflect light in the space making the space look visually bigger and well lit.
Shows like Westworld have a sense of dystopian future world led by design foraying a sense of design led cultural and political changes. A more recent example of that would be The Wall proposed by the Trump Administration. Design for the future could have a great influence on the political changes and could be a deciding factor of Utopian or Dystopian Future.
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Changing social and political landscapes also demands for a change in the way architects design. Architecture is usually funded by change makers who influence the social and political decisions of the age and hence in turn it is influenced heavily by them or influences them heavily. Marrying these ideas of political, social and environmental changes; designs need to be proposed that would bring about a change in the city on a larger scale along with the smaller interventions.
Product design by Hsc Design as a Part of their Multiple scales Micro Architecture Line which could be used as magazine holder, Planter, Candle stand, toy holder, etc. making it extremely versatile.
These changes in technology and demands of today will drastically influence the way people view Architecture and design in the future. We could either end up with fast food Architecture which could have people printing house with no individual identities or contextual references. Or we could have sustainable, environmentally friendly designs which are references from our memories of Jetsons. Either way, embracing the technological advancements is the need of today to make sure that we can forge into the future with the hope of creating something beautifully unique to our age of dichotomy of Robots and local artisans marrying them in perfect symphony.
One of the designs proposed in the Evolvo Competition by Eric Vergne’s is Dystopian Farm project which envisions a future New York City with twisting structure that harness cutting-edge technology that would provide the city with self-sustenance. Small scale design interventions are also changing along with technological influences and advancements. The introduction of robotics in construction has completely changed the way things are built and constructed. Robots are able to build houses and mobile shelters in a matter of days which was unheard of before. Furniture and Product design are also influenced with these changes in architecture and urban design. We see more and more pieces of furniture designed to suit more biomorphic structures, recyclable furniture, and more flexible homogeneous furniture as we foray into the future with these structures. The furniture designed for tomorrow ideally needs to be such it changes according to the changing fast paced lifestyle without creating a large footprint. Furniture and product pieces designed by Hsc Designs which are multifunctional, nomadic and made with re-used materials.
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Concrete seating designed by Hsc Designs as an outdoor seat made from leftover concrete on sites.
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DDIR Architecture Studio was created in 2003 by the combined inspirations of French-Canadian architectural consultant Dominic Dube and Inge Rieck from Germany. Dominic’s vision is one of integration of architecture and design with art (nature), technology (structure), life (light) and culture (spirit). The goal is to discover the inherent spirit in each project and this is accomplished through a hands-on approach and complete immersion into the design. Dominic’s instinct as a painter is evident in his work. The projects are conceived as paintings on a three dimensional canvas. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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The human in exile Author: Dominic Dube Additional credits: Extract of Guggenheim written by Farahden Khan, Extract of Buddhist University written by Sunain S Dalwani Images: 3D artists Srinivas Rao Doddi and Eder Sanchez Perez
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Uruvela.
Uruvela Buddhist Campus.
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ere are 5 short essays to illustrate how a deep understanding of the world we live in, how to give and receive from this world, how to get insight from the different contexts, societies and cultures and how we can transform these into realities capable to help defining our future.
To reminisce, to remember, to create new memory and to bring awareness, it is essential for the surrounding the scene, the land, the air, the energy, the aura as a whole to be connected to the image, feel and silence of the original Uruvela. The land He chose…
Buddhist University - on Buddha’s Teaching - Bodhgaya - India Uruvela… a beautiful stretch of ground, a lovely woodland grove, a clear flowing river with a beautiful ford, a village nearby for support…
To observe the spirit of Buddhism, the harmonies and energies begin with the chosen land. The site of the new Buddha campus Uruvela has been selected away from the city, where endless lands meet the sky and the lines of memory drawn by the river Phalgu create a stunning backdrop of memory.
This is the scene Siddhartha describes as the chosen land where he consequently went on to receive enlightenment and be called the Buddha. Uruvela, now Bodh Gaya or Buddha Gaya is one of the most important and sacred Buddhist pilgrimage center in the world. Bodh Gaya is now a developing land with no infrastructure to support the inflow of millions of tourists, immersed in Buddhist faith, from all over the world that visit the land each year. To feed this inflow, Bodh Gaya has developed into a town/city that has no resemblance to Uruvela, the land off Buddha; it has the characteristics of a typical Indian town immersed in activity.
Uruvela Buddhist Campus is intended for one main purpose only, to tell the story of Buddha in Bodh Gaya. His life from before to becoming the ‘Enlightened One’ and all his teachings thereafter. The architectural intent imbibes from his spirit and asks for monumentality in term of peace, not scale. It is created with a guided hand to ensure focus only on the spirit not on the built masses. Structures are minimalistic, harmonious and constantly in dialogue with the landscape. Serene. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Underground Bath House - on Division and Unity - Border of North and South Korea I am a liberal entity. I am from the world and like every living entity I am aspiring for freedom and peace.
I am again one land. One space. One world Fear will disappear and peace of the mind and the body will be. The idea is very attractive.
My liberalism was always there but it got compromised by different power agendas. My vision is clear and today I am the reunion. I am the void/space on the edge of two territories where we can all go to contemplate.
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Underground Bath House - on division and unity - border of North and South Korea.
Underground Bath House.
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Hyde Park Library - on Knowledge - London – United Kingdom When I step into this library, I cannot understand why I ever step out of it - Marie de Sevigne I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library - Jorge Luis Borges Like a portal leading to the words stored below ground like in a safe protecting the memories from yesterday, today and the tomorrow memories. The new Hyde Park library is only this doorway to human knowledge. A thin curvilinear roof deposited on Hyde Park to indicate this entrance accessible to all in a non-obstructive way.
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At ground floor the entire park is in continuity with the interior and seems to gather under this luminous curved roof which is nothing but a large public gallery space open to the park and leading to the library below. People would here de-ambulate, read, meditate and think. Then the void below the curved roof engulfs itself in the central area and becomes the library at the basement level and then slides into the side alleys dedicated to human knowledge, research and study. The same way the main axis of a church would slide in the side alleys and then to the chapels here the user will go from the library central axis to the periphery and then to the books and the texts.
Hyde Park Library.
Hyde Park Library. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Dubai Creek Harbour Mosque - on Religion and Spirituality – United Arab Emirates The Dubai Creek Harbour will soon be graced by a new iconic mosque. it will be the community place and spiritual home for the citizens of the likewise newly founded township. Such large-scale construction project is extending previous standards of today’s urbanism. It reaches out to new dimensions of format and quality as well as to new strategies of urban planning. Most notably, on this occasion Dubai may render unique profile and visibility to its particular social and cultural identity. Its “traditional modernity” is essentially marked by cosmopolitan and tolerant social attitudes and distinguished equally by plurality and homogeneity. Driving change from tradition to modernity
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Dubai Creek Harbour Mosque.
Dubai Creek Harbour Mosque.
Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
at deliberately pace has become a trademark. Mosque in proximity of the creek tower should be a statement for the third millennium. Mosque is about balance and harmony. Advanced technology and traditional material merge into a refine and elegant ensemble where the organic and the most advanced technology meet to create a community place for prayer and peace. Mosque is a manifestation of the profound and rich religious, social and cultural Islamic system. The physical and the religious reality manifest in one experience.
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Guggenheim Museum - on Art - Helsinki - Finland Art could be defined as the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in. Indistinguishably, man is the highest form of art, and everything that he sees and touches is fashioned to buttress the artistic mould of man. All art springs from man. And it is what it is. This is what the museum in Helsinki offers, a space – a certain breathing room for the spirit. Entirely devoid of any direct or indirect references from edifices of its predecessors, yet absorbing the very transformation of what has surrounded it for eons in term of essence and artistic interactivity. The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks a t it, it moves again since it is life. The same can be said about architecture, since architecture begins where engineering ends and is not purely about constructing beautiful structure, but those that aid to the meaning of life. Those that becomes more like an extension of man. Art spaces, at their very core, propagate the idea to bringing people together. It is an endeavour wherein man seeks from the interior its skin, a skin that comes full-circle by returning to the interior what it had been offered to begin with. In such a circumstance it is not the space, but man, who is in the flow. It is man who is the medium. We see and seek, and thus refining becomes intrinsic to man. At times, man also finds himself reaching a plateau, and this plateau
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is quite the transformation to the metamorphosis of the mind. Man searches for a way to explore meaning in “no-thing”, and “no-thing” in multiple ways can mean a lot more. In order to invent ourselves, we need to annihilate our very fiber and this is where we see, in some instances, that our souls melts into the mechanics of the city, just a s the city melts into the soul and this merger is what gave birth to the kernel of “no-thing”. Sustainability is another name for extreme simplicity. It warrants a higher level of spirituality and this can be evoked in a human being when one is obsessed with immateriality. That is why the entire premise of “no thing” is based merely as a big cube of concrete. Translucence is the subtext where the visitor becomes the story. The idea was to make it utilitarian, sans pretentiousness. A space that is beckoning art but free of any extravagance. It was brought about with a dialogue with the city and the dialogue was so strong that what one witnesses here is the manifestation of knowledge and the wisdom summed up into a space of inspiration and awareness. When man walks in and does not feel the same intensity, then it simply means that man has missed having a dialogue his surrounding, and “no thing” was arrived at with this concept and context in mind: that it has to be a place, and then it has to be a place of inclusion. Museums, by and large, tend to be these alluring structures that attempt to narrate a tale but “no thing” was devised to be as interactive as it could get.
Guggenheim Museum - on art - Helsinki - Finland. Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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Guggenheim museum - on art - Helsinki - Finland.
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For example, a person walking through it could feel the snow falling via the mesh, the mesh that has aptly been christened the mesh of transformation. Snow has been treated as a living and breathing element of design. It is rather poetic, just like form cold comes warmth and yet this mesh was not something that stood out to make a point, but stands there in silence to engulf man in its interactive simplicity. Quite like enhancing understanding or the very essence of one’s being, where the mind is free of any shackles and will begin to express itself most uninhibitedly. The invisibles are what make us who we are. The convergence of the elements of the earth defines architecture and the iconography of humankind. Therefore, this space is not for art alone. It can talk to one man or all of mankind, since at this new millennium every human soul has the right to be the artist, to be the creator. One ought to keep in mind that intuition is not merely a feeling but a tool, and a work of meaningful architecture cannot stands on its own and would function most adequately under a cohesive bond of interdependency. Just a Michelangelo looked at a slab of marble and his fingers ached to turn it into a work of delicate art, the premise of “no thing” is something that is not separate from the one who steps into it because all that you want to see is right before your eyes. To sum it up, the craftsmanship and the artistry in “no thing” is an exquisite balance to the emptiness and void of the human mind. It has been designed in such a manner that possibly this would be the last great museum made and no greater museum after. To some this might sound as a myth, but beware it is myths that are proving right and shaping mankind… Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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Smit Vyas graduated from School of Architecture, CEPT & set up Studio 4000 with partner Khushboo Vyas. In 2011, as part of the Moreorless Design team, they won 1st prize for the Spiretec International competition. Their Ahmedabad based firm has been collaborating with the Deendayal Port Trust to execute a range of infrastructural buildings since 2016 & was awarded the Young Designer’s Prize by IA&B early this year. Smit is a visiting faculty at CEPT & offers architectural designs studios as well as courses in history, drawing & representation. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Apocalyptic Dream by Albrecht Dürer, 1525. Berger writes, “The notion of the destruction of the world existed long before men had the means to destroy it themselves.”
At the still point of the turning world Author: Smit Vyas
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uring our years of studentship, a statistic one occasionally came across, was that more than ninety percent of building activity in India was carried out without the involvement of architects. It was the early 2000’s and being mostly in circles of friends and acquaintances who belonged to the field of architecture, this reminder of smallness and irrelevance within the larger scheme of things always came as a bit of shock. So much so, that few years later, when we heard Tatjana Schneider of Spatial Agency speak at a lecture in the city, her polemic about architecture being too important to be left alone to architects seemed outlandish and extremely first-world. Out here, in India, we could see ourselves within the context of an old civilization, with continuing traditions of making things through formats based on directness and personal involvement. Despite this first-hand personal framework, members of the profession were still seen with a degree of suspicion, struggling to win trust and be allowed to participate in shaping the real world.
Cut to 2018. We were recently engaged to work on an affordable apartment housing project at the outskirts of the city. With the smallest units ranging from 600 Ft2 to 850 Ft2, there was constant pressure from the developers to reduce costs at each stage- from layouts and number of openings to the choice of finishes. Any resistance or argument from our side was usually shot down by a conscientious reminder of design in the given situation being entirely need-based for the have-nots or at least for the have-veryless. Which was true, as most occupants were part of the lower income group who ran food-carts, drove auto-rickshaws, etc. and had to incur big loans for buying the apartment units. With this as the background, it was quite a revelation to find out in a small postoccupancy survey, that a number of households in the scheme had actually hired designers (fresh architects from tier 2 or 3 cities who worked alone) for the apartment’s interior. Much more than financial viability, we were struck by how pervasive the idea of working with Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Office in Small City by Edward Hopper, 1953.A question left strangely hanging. Is the office worker enjoying the view afforded by large openings or lonely in an uncertain place?
professional design consultants had become (a part of the needbase), even in sections of society where just a few years ago it would seem to be a complete improbability. The flurry of architects and architectural activity over the past few years is not difficult to notice. With more acceptance, more avenues of involvement have opened up- more work for small and big firms, more architectural schools and graduates, more collaborations, more award ceremonies and so on. Most discussion about sustainability and reflective practice has moved beyond its earlier narrow definitions. The entire playing field seems to have opened up. And yet, amidst the enthusiasm one also feels a sense of discontent. As one gets more and more involved with practice, teaching, networking, documenting, etc. one realizes that the prerequisite for belonging to the zeitgeist is a perpetual willingness to keep tripping on its hyper media-space. All of us are sincere, trying to do our bit, showcasing our efforts and – as a friend put it – caught up in the web of the present. Connect, and lose agency. And as a mark of the polarizing times we live in, the only alternative would be retreating into the deep silence of work’s personal exploration- have agency but can’t connect. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
Is the multiplicity of paths and destinations illusive? “They only make blobs, shards and perforated boxes nowadays” says an old teacher, while a plethora of publications and online channels showcase “new” ideas on a daily basis. For more confusion, there’s more introspection through shows and exhibitions by practicing architects than ever before. So, the state of architecture is established, declared dead and so on as attempts are made to replace the old mythos with a new one. Before starting to look at the content of such initiatives, their heightened need to break up and analyse the current situation, explain what’s going on, is in itself a telling story about the loss of natural ground and shared assumptions. Content wise, the tizzy of self-consciousness and self-promotion plays out through the same old mix of strategies- yearning for a bygone era, heralding a few contemporary projects, little bit about an ecosomething, funny takes by the political aspirant masquerading as court-jester, private memory and public places, rediscovery and documentation of historical buildings and so on- all wrapped in layers and layers of mapping. Perhaps it’s not right to see these efforts in such pejorative terms (most of them make for good studies, painstakingly put together and benefit a large number of students, practitioners and others) It also,
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Potrait Surrounded by Artistic Devices by David Hockney, 1965. The near and far, inside and outside, planes and solids, personal feeling (the sitter is Hockney’s father) and theoretical adherence (Hockney’s consideration of Cezanne’s work) held together in a moment of deep feeling.
more than anything else, smacks of the writer’s own anxieties and restlessness, his FOMO. How then, should we frame the question about (our) future of architecture? In the same conversation, my friend also mentioned something she’d read about how communism as a structure of thinking could only become possible in the 20th century. And then followed it up by asking, what has the 21th century made possible? But it is precisely this way of setting up the question that creates a particular diagrammatic relationship between past, present and the future- with the two arrows in-between pointing always to the left and right respectively. As architects, we are perpetually fascinated with the idea of making something possible- we call what we do “projects”, prophesising the experience of how something will be seen, played out, etc. But if the future can only be constructed and not lived in, available only as a possibility later on, then, this way of diagramming condemns the present to live perpetually outside of its body. Sometimes, in extremely rare moments of immersion and sheer involvement, the present participle offers a moment of salvation, as the arrows in-between the diagram are reversed. Freed from the
vicious cycle of expectation and despair, the still space separating the architect and the work of architecture is charged by a spirit of invitation and homecoming, rather than abstract speculation about things afar.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS Fig 1. https://blog.gwup.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Duerer_Traumgesicht.jpg Fig 2. https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/488730/1004971/ main-image Fig 3. https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/hockney/hockney.artistic-devices.jpg Illustration credits:
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Quaid Doongerwala heads the design practise DCOOP along with Shilpa Ranade and the firm has been involved with architecture and design projects for more than 15 years now. Their projects have been published in many magazines over the years. He has been the founding program director for the interior design program at ISDI, Parsons Mumbai from 2014 to 2016. He has also been a visiting faculty in design at the Academy of Architecture and at the KRVIA college of Architecture in Mumbai. Quaid has also been an associate with PUKAR, an organization dealing with research at the urban level. He has also worked on an installation which was exhibited in the exhibition “What Makes India Urban” at the Aedes Gallery in 2009 and was co-curator on the exhibition “Building India” in Amsterdam at the Arcam Gallery in 2008. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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The choice is ours: capitalism,consumption and its impact on the environment Author: Quaid Doongerwala
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n Amitav Ghosh’s “The Great Derangement” climate change is not viewed just as a crisis of ‘nature’, but also as “a crisis of culture, and thus of the imagination”. This lack of imagining and thus managing the world has led us to a point where rising water levels, undrinkable water and stark climate change are becoming the reality of life. As Mr. Ghosh points out, this is a “cultural” phenomenon. Technology, growth and progress are the pursuit of most countries in the world. Capitalism and its success as a phenomenon has deeply impacted the world, and we are now beginning to see the impact this has on the way the world is transforming. India is a great example to note the impact of capitalism in recent times. Post 1990, with liberalization and the opening of the economy, the country has fast metamorphized into a giant rolling ball of construction, growth and infrastructure which is largely made of concrete and steel. Voices beckoning for gentler interventions and concerns regarding environmental degradation are not only being ignored but are also berated as backward looking. All political parties are talking about making India a “superpower” and want to match the west in its developed status. There is a state of hyper energy and everybody seems to be on a mission to reach somewhere though most don’t know what that is. Costs on education, health, entertainment have multiplied exponentially (education costs have risen by more than 150 times!) in the last 25 years. Capitalism has put everybody on a fast treadmill. In this frenzied state, we need to ask some critical questions. When living in such a fast state of existence can one experience things fully? In the age of social media, can one connect deeply? What is the state of progress we are going through? With such fantastic advancement on the technological front, why do we still have such discontentment? Architecture is a strongly experiential medium and can have a powerful impact on people and their lives. The built environment shapes us as we move forward in our march as humanity. Architects, policy makers, environmentalists and all those who are involved with creating the built environment have a strong role in deciding the future of earth. It is here that Architecture can play an important role in shaping the future. Architecture can have the potential of creating a meaningful reality. Architects, planners, policy makers must take a critical look at the way the world is growing. Do we need such large highways? Do people need to have such constant states of accessibility and mobility? Do we need such large structures with such intense climate-controlled environments? Any act of building harms the earth and takes something away. Keeping this in mind, architects and designers need to think harder about what kind or architecture constitutes better living. Malls, multiplexes, large corporate houses, mega airports and tall skyscrapers can be very exciting, exhilarating and offer a momentary high. However, is that the kind of hyper-intensity we need to have in our lives constantly? Large structures have a major impact on the earth consuming very large quantities of resources and energy and creating
environmental imbalance. People are now consuming at a never before quantity, are travelling all across the world at a hectic pace, are living in more intensive climate-controlled buildings and ironically, are consuming more meditative and detoxing practices than ever before. This way of living is a choice and architecture plays a role within this. Buildings which are gentle on the earth and are in sync with nature and other living things must come to the fore front. With the advancement of technology and the rush of capitalism in the world we are now living in a very different state as compared to 60 or 70 years ago. Silicon Valley in the US has been the leader in the way the direction of the world has taken in the last 3 decades. All physical visions of technology, artificial intelligence and the future seem to be made of a man-made, synthetic construct. Most visual imaginations in movies, representations which are talking of the future, have space age vehicles zipping across and people living in environments which are very intensive on use of gadgets and other such tech intensive manifestations. The conversation on environment and living in relationship with nature seems to have already been lost. There are counter viewpoints which say that human beings will adapt to the changes which earth will go through. We are resilient and inventive and will find ways to deal with climate change, lack of basic resources and so forth. Does this mean we will slowly wipe out all other living creatures who are of no direct use to us? Do we want to eliminate plants, trees, animals and live on an earth which is fully artificial? One does not hear or talk about how the future will integrate nature and other living beings in our development trajectory. It’s a conversation which needs to be done urgently. Living in sync with nature means an attitude of “give and take” in a responsible manner. To be able to do this we need to live with less and calm down from the hyper active state of development the world is going through. Meaningful architecture would be based on creating strong and powerful experiences which help people to connect with themselves and build better relationships with other living creatures. An architecture for the senses would naturally lead one to that state of existence. Natural materials which are easy to replenish should play an important role in the way architecture is imagined. The built environment should be responsive to climate and location. This again helps to have a sensitive approach to the existing environment. However, to do this the world needs to stop, think and make a very large shift in the way things are being done. To achieve a balance with ecology and nature some fundamental lifestyle changes will have to be accepted by the world. This would mean re-looking at the way one is living. At DCOOP we are creating projects which are trying to embody some of these principles. Our buildings are not ostentatious and don’t consume high quantities of materials or energy. Programmatically they try to remain as small as possible. As a design approach, we consciously create spaces that allow people to inter-react and reach out to each other. The example of our housing project called “Sublime Ordinariness “illustrates this very well. This is a project located 60 km to the north of Mumbai and is designed to create better connections and an inclusive environment for the users. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Ar. Shirish Beri’s works, which strive to address his life values and concerns, have been bearing a distinct mark on modern Indian architecture since 1975. His works have been widely published and have won him a number of national – international awards and recognitions, including the highly coveted J.K. Great Master’s award and the A+D Hall of fame award. He has been invited to chair and give talks, slide shows and conduct design workshops in various professional and educational institutions here and abroad. His book (Spaces inspired by nature), exhibitions and a film (The unfolding white) on his work have been received very well everywhere. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Should we unhealthily pollute our living spaces to cater to our future insatiable needs?
Our attitudes will shape the future of our architecture Authored and images by: Ar. Shirish Beri
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Could we continue to live happily in simpler, vibrant spaces? Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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ny discussion on the future must be generated from our understanding of the present trends that are an expression of the socio cultural values of today. The issue now is, should we as architects, in future, blindly follow and express these present commercial, consumptive trends to create garish, gimmicky, unsustainable, and not so humane architecture or should we deviate from this flow and create something that is more simple, sustainable and humane? Architectural briefs and systems of yesterday, which were more stable and simple have become more complex dynamic and diverse and would become more so in the future. Thus I now prefer working with a certain doubt and uncertainty - towards a more equipotential, adaptive and flexible architecture, that can allow for unforeseen, unknown anomalies. In future, we would be facing great scarcity of simple, taken for granted natural resources… like good air, clean water, fertile soil, nutritious food etc. Can our future architectural designs strive to use these resources to the minimum, pollute them the least and maintain the good quality and supply of these simple resources?
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Should we go for fleeting changing imagery?
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For this to happen, a major transformation needs to happen in our attitude towards life as a whole. Can we move away from the exclusive, selfish, human centric attitudes towards more inclusive, compassionate, holistic attitudes towards life? Can we shift our emphasis from saleability to sanctity? From glossy wrappings to inner content? From greed, corruption and Machiavellian politics to simplicity, social, economic, political justice and ecological integrity? If this really happens, our lifestyle and architecture would spontaneously become sustainable with a caring concern for everyone and everything around us. We need to be discreet in our choice of modern materials and techniques too by checking on the material’s environmental impact and human resource enrichment potential. Not just these modern materials, but virtual imagery and screens will change the entire conception of architectural elevations – aesthetics, scale and composition. Our visual sensory architectural experience will become an ever changing, fickle realty with very little existential
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rootedness to the physical environmental connections and memories. Artificial intelligence and robotics are bound to make their headway into the construction industry. Quick and accurate 3 D printing of proper full scale buildings doesn’t seem to be too far off.
hatred, compassion, anger, greed etc. or our intrinsic values have not changed much.
Here again, our attitudes and discretion will play a major role. Do we want this to happen? Would we like our psyche to mutate to a very different level of spatial experience? Should we adopt these technologies that would replace direct human employment and resources?
So can our future architecture help establish this inter connectivity with the ever changing relationships and structures in our new society? Can it help reconnect us with nature and our fellow human beings, and thereby, more importantly with our own selves?
We also need to re-examine our over dependence on digital data and what would happen if the digital dark age (as predicted by some scientists) actually arrives due to some wavelength damage or unexpected solar flares. One thing we must understand is that in spite of so many changes in the phenomenal world, we as human beings have not changed much – neither physically nor psychologically. Basic human parameters such as life span, our stature, our metabolism or our emotions of love,
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Thus, our perennial, inherent need to connect is still paramount.
So should we as architects create conditioned living/working environments with monotonous homogenization of our spaces, human centric attitudes to life, erosion of traditional wisdom or should we take an alternative stand that is based on the best of our traditional wisdom and the best of modern technology to create an architecture that is more humane, socially relevant, more sustainable and that which nurtures the human spirit? Each of us has to decide our stand, our priorities and attitudes in life. These in turn will decide the future of our architecture.
Architecture showcasing caring rooted relationships with the environment and people. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
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Kurula Varkey (1945 - 2001) P
rof. Kurula Varkey who died in a Road accident in October 2001 was the Director of the School of Architecture at CEPT Ahmedabad-now CEPT University, for 15 years from 1986 to 2001 He graduated from IIT Kharagpur. He did his internship at BV Doshi’s office & later, on graduating from the IIT also worked as an architect at BV Doshi’s- Sangath. He was also teaching at the School of Architecture in the 70’s. In the latter part of the 70’s he moved to the Nairobi University & was responsible to restructure the curriculum there wherein- the school emerged as one of the leading architecture schools in Africa. In the mid – eighties he went to pursue the Master’s Degree Program at Otaneimi Helsinki. In 1986 he returned to India & was immediately appointed as Director of the School of Architecture CEPT. Varkey & his work played a pivotal role in Shaping the Architectural Education Curriculum at CEPT & many of his Pedagogical ideas on Architectural Education were adopted by the Council of Architecture New Delhi- to shape the National Curricula for Colleges of Architecture across India. Accompanying on the next page, is a Seminal Essay Kurula Varkey used to share with Students in his History of Architecture Courses at CEPT between 1987 & 2001 - The Essence of the Indian Tradition. Additional credits Photographs: Sarosh Wadia, Ranjit Wagh, Sanjeev Joshi, Kurula Varkey Monograph 2002 Comics and cartoons: Architect Anil Achar Sketches by Kurula Varley: Courtesy Azmi Wadia
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Spirit of the Place called Kurula Varkey! “…The basic aim of the second phase of Modern Architecture is to give buildings and places individuality, with regard to space and character. This means to take the circumstantial conditions of locality and building task into consideration, rather than basing the Design on general types and principles”Cristian Norberg Schulz in ‘Genius Loci’ Foreword by Sanjeev Joshi
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he Future of Design and Architecture in the country- is inextricably inter-linked with the Future of Design and Architectural Education. If Design Education is in disarray today- its repercussions will be felt on the ground tomorrow- as the students of today are inevitably the practitioners of the future. So Architectural Education is inherently critical to Design and Architecture which emerges from within any Nation. In Post-Independence India there are a handful of academicians who have had a deep impact on shaping Pedagogy in Architectural Education and their systems/processes within the country and Kurula Varkey is certainly up there amongst this tiny group- for India. In order to speak or write, you have to remember, in order to rememberyou have to delve into the treasure-book of your memories and these memories have no past present or future. They simply exist. They are alive within you- much akin to a soul like Varkey. Though Varkey left us exactly 17 years ago; he and his spirit is very much alive- with us and has a place- deep within many of us. FLASHBACK- to the mid-eighties early-nineties- and December 1986 to be precise…began our beginnings towards new directions to our thinking processes. I recollect vividly the CDIA (Contemporary Directions in Indian Architecture) elective of Varkey. Our first encounter with his taught-learn rigor, intensity, sharpness and depth. At the end of a very intense semester and before the submission of our final assignment Varkey showed us the work of students at Helsinki- from where he had just returned after completing the Master’s Program. On the submission day deadline, we asked for a four hour extension. Varkey gave us 5 hours. He walked into the Studio at 8: 00 PM. There was silence in the studio; there was no discussion that day. He walked around looking through everything we had done, slowly and closely. His eyes moistened up- and ours too. We had ‘delivered’. Our overlapping journeys- had begun and over the next 5 roller-coaster years at the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) now CEPT University; - over history, over studio projects. Over electives we had signed up to dive deeply into a new rigor of things. Our cathartic tryst with new ways of learning had begun. These were also the times when World History was being reshaped – with Gorbachov’s ‘Perestroika’ and ‘Glasnost’ and the Collapse of Communism and the Berlin wall was underway. These were also times of a churning on the Indian scene. Leading Indian Practitioners like Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, Charles Correa and Raj Rewal and others were already beginning to relook at our own symbols and traditionsIndian Architect & Builder - October 2018
to seek out new paradigms beyond the ones offered by Modern Architecture. This was also an India without air-conditioning and computers …and with only 3 automobiles on its roads – on the very brink of moving forward. It was in this kind of a milieu of the late-eighties that change was set in motion at CEPT with Kurula Varkey at the helm. Varkey was a true teacher. Varkey’s History Classes drew us into this discourse- with long, intense and exhausting sessions – armed with his projector and slides and pieces of Chalk, Varkey drew every city every building- every plan, section, city-plan;- right in front of our eyesunraveling the multiple layers that went into their makings. These were our first steps towards an inquiry and search, understanding and questioning. Going through history and time in the Indian context and Global and of Architectures of and beyond Modern Architecture and Corbusier to the fluid works of Aalto and Pietila. Varkey had infused the new thinking process- which in turn begun to infuse into our design and studio works. The tapestry of exposure was very rich- from Badami to La Tourette to the Congrès internationaux d’architecture moderne (CIAM), post CIAM and Indian and International Works along with readings – from multiple Authors like Gideon, Noberg Schultz to Scully to Lannoy to Bronowskiand Romila Thapar to Aldo Rossi, Collin Rowe and also Heidegger and many others. Through these learning’s- we had begun to see and sense the richness of Architectural Possibilities and Concepts and the idea of the Indian Context and the Global Context- both historic and the moderncontemporary. It was all-encompassing. It was clear that Varkey had energized our beings, our resetting had happened. Varkey pushed the bar up for us Vis-a-Vis- readings, references and research along with the first instigations that any architecture emerges out of a ‘Context ‘and a ‘Landscape’ - both physical and ideational. Varkey’s electives became Vertical studios and the Studio Projects – each semester embarked on a particular Urban Theme VIZ- City in Transition/ City in Context etc. The urban context Inquiry and cognition became pivotal and so did the idea that the City was the Canvas for its Architectures. Analytical frameworks and design processes and understandings beyond the apparent were pushed. Urbanism studies got a decisive push in the Research Thesis Program
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under Prof. Varkey, Prof Vasavada, Prof Chhaya and Prof KB Jain and so did the kick start of an Urban Design Post Graduation Program then for the first time at CEPT. These movements enriched and excited a new discourse at CEPT and we …became the new soldiers of these Ideas. Over the next 5 years we got consumed by this new rigor, vigor and vitality. Kurula Varkey was at the centre of many of these movements and… even other things alongside the students- he was on the Campus for the midnight garbas, for jam sessions and for masquerade parties and during the SA Annual Festival – he also had his own trademark event - of the “Varkey Quiz”- silently and surely he was for and with the students- on all fronts- all along. Varkey’s world revolved around the school. We were not given the fish – as some thought- but were learning to catch the fish on our own- in our own ways, in our own waters. We found new grounds beneath our feet and new wings to soar. In this decisive phase Varkey exposed us to the Alphabets and Grammar of Architecture- from which we could derive our own diverse languagesfrom which we could seek out on our own….with our varied ideas, choices and interpretations. His sudden passing away in an accident in 2001- was a shocker to most of us. Today the math does not add up. He was just 40 when he entered our lives and he was 45 when we exit the Portals of CEPT…. and he then left usand the world at a young age of 56- while most of us today have touched 50. Today – in its second decade the famed Kurula Varkey Forum; an initiative of the Students body at CEPT and with a central Kurula Varkey Memorial Lecture reaching out to the Asian regions ;-mustseek to be a genuine tribute to a ‘Guru’ by an Institution, for his immeasurable giving’s. This we must not forget. In the 2009 -85 Batch Reunion at CEPT- our first after exiting its portals- all of remembered and missed Varkey- like we do today. Our desire was to meet up with Alice, his wife, to express our deep gratitude to both of them- to a great human soul- for what he had done to our lives and to so many lives around him. We perpetually continue to visit this almost sacred Place called Kurula Varkey-within us.
Sanjeev Joshi, Architect Urbanist- Studied at CEPT, Ahmedabad and ETH Zurich from 1985-1992 and received his Master’s Degree in architecture and urbanism from UPC Barcelona from 1995-96. Currently practicing at SJAC, he also teaches Architecture and Urban Design at the M S University Baroda. Sanjeev Joshi is also the Convener of INTACH Vadodara and the Vice Chairman of IIA Baroda.
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Original Interview published in 2011 by the INSITE Magazine.
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The Beautiful Room is Empty Extract from “Letter 30” in the Second Edition of LETTERS TO A YOUNG ARCHITECT. Text: Christopher Benninger
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half century ago, in 1968, the world was a completely different place where compassion ruled over ambition, and community ruled over competition. In Ahmedabad, a small coterie of true believers in architecture as a path to truth and self-realization, gathered around an ashram called the School of Architecture. Doshi, Hasmukh Patel, Anant Raje, Piraji Sagara, C. B. Shah and Panubha Bhatt were the high priests and gurus, teasing our youthful imaginations and stimulating our inner search for ultimate truth. In the stillness of the heat, devoid of air conditioning, television, computers, Internet, mobiles and even of telephones, more ideas flew in the air, and soared high in the night skies, than can be imagined today! Young minds were challenged, and stimulated, into debate much more vibrantly than in our socalled age of information. Perhaps ours was an age of wisdom, that is knowledge tempered by compassion! Seekers of truth, students hungry for knowledge, wanderers of the mind; all true shishyas in the ashram of gurus spent their hours in reading, discussion and debate. Amongst the dedicated shishyas, Karula Varkey, was the first to attain enlightenment, and his fellow shishyas venerated him as a true guru! There was a beautiful glow in his presence and it was the glow of truth and wisdom. It made the space around him beautiful; let us call it a “beautiful room!”
A month later I enter his room. He has invited me for tea. There is an electric coil heater glowing orange, with a pot of water on it boiling in the anticipation of a guest. That makes me smile. There are a few books on Kahn and Corbusier here and there. We look out of the window; the window of life; and we gaze into the infinity of possibilities.
It is in the late 1960’s. I search the side lanes on foot amongst the haath-gaadi wallas of Bhadra in Ahmedabad for Doshi’s office at Dhun House, a rickety old building. The air has an acidic stench making me walk faster. I climb up the narrow stairs with wires hanging and cobwebs dangling in the ceilings with paan stains decorating the corners. I find a door on the second floor. There is a young man standing there smiling, with baby-like smooth skin, and amazing large dark eyes in white globes. It is Varkey in his twenties, with a receding hairline, warning me that the boyish face hides within it an ancient man. Varkey invites me into the room.
The room is beautiful.
I enter the room where Kamuben welcomes me, saying Doshi is in Delhi. Our love of architecture and our youthful enthusiasm binds us into friendship immediately as Varkey shows me around Doshi’s studio. The messy studio morphs into a beautiful space. It lives on today as a secret room playing about in the antique land of our memories; in the minds of those of us survivors who were blessed in its shadows and laughter. Weeks later Varkey enters my room at “M Block” at the Gujarat University hostels. It is dark outside, but the room alights with the glow on his face. He had slipped on the mud outside and we both laugh. We are both students; he a trainee with Doshi; I on a Fulbright Scholarship with Doshi. The room is suddenly warm, glowing and full of ideas.
His room is beautiful. Life is beautiful! It is 1971. I have returned to Ahmedabad. I search down a muddy lane for Varkey, amongst a chorus of monsoon’s croaking frogs, for a small cottage in Azad Society where Varkey lives with his brother Thomas and the Kanade brothers. I look between the tall grass down a long kutcha path ahead. I see the warm yellow light in a room. Through the darkness I see people sitting in a circle talking and laughing. They all work for Doshi now: Varkey, Shankar and Navnath. I need not guess the topic of debate; it is ARCHITECTURE, and I enter the room of friendship, and join in the fellowship of laughter. It is the laughter of camaraderie around shared values and evolving ideas. There are issues demanding insight. We have all left our worldly bodies on the door hooks with old clothes, and our minds have drifted off into our secret world of true believers.
Life is beautiful. It is 1973 and Varkey has been to Jaisalmer. He comes into my room, now an airy large studio next to Gujarat College. In that space, filled with his positive energy, he shows me his sketches of an ancient room in Jaisalmer. A few lines turn a flat white sheet of paper into a 3D view of an amazing place. In the middle of that static medieval room there is a static column! Varkey explains how as one walks around the room, the column stays in one place, filling the walls behind it with kinetic energy; the walls are moving, turning and twisting as one moves. The room is beautiful, and my studio room fills with positive energy. I am inspired. In that beautiful room of Varkey’s imagination I find a person; it is I! I am walking and moving, and my mind becomes a place! There is a model of my design of Alliance Française where Keshuvbhai Mistry is working, and I ask him to craft a round column and place it magically in the middle of the main hall of the model. As he does so, Varkey and I smile the bright smile of discovery and realization! A static room has been filled with the energy of moving kinetic space! The room is beautiful! Life is beautiful! Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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It is 1983 and Varkey has a wife, Alice, and an apartment and a car! He is teaching at the University of Nairobi. Varkey is standing at his apartment door with the interior light surrounding his shadowy silhouette in a saintly glow. I enter the living room, and Varkey switches on the fan. It is evening time and the sun is settling down through the ancient Jacaranda trees full of light purple flowers gathering illumination. Varkey smiles; the wise old man looking out of the young boyish face. We are laughing; he pours red French wine, and the room that was in faded light comes alive around a few candles on the table. Our mental energy leaves our bodies behind. Place making, low cost housing, the growth of slums in Nairobi, and the city’s beauty, all absorb us in thought, and the room flows over with ideas that drift out of the windows into a night air full of singing birds.
It is October 2001 and the World Trade Towers have fallen. I am sitting quietly in a room, on a hillock in Tuscany, gazing out of my window toward the towers of San Gimignano. I am looking out over the vast olive orchards and vineyards that are the ancient lands of my hosts, Rebecca Szabo and Vieri Salvadori.
The room is vibrant and full of energy!
Pity us…..
The room is beautiful!
In the beautiful room…..
It is Ahmedabad in the 1990’s and I enter a room full of students awaiting their jury. They are laughing nervously, awkwardly twitching and smiling! There are nine chairs in a row for nine wise men to sit and nitpick on the victims. There are chairs for Doshi, Raje, myself, Varkey, Kulbhushan Jain, Miki Desai, Chhaya, Muktiraj Chauhan and Kiran Pandya…all ageing relics from the school of architecture in the late sixties and early seventies; Creatures from an antique land where Kahn actually walked and talked. These were true disciples who had shared wine with and accidentally nudged the bodies of the modern apostles! They sat down and began their inquiry. As the jury proceeds, the rational triumphs over the iconic. Logic and order are the rules of the debate. The tyranny of the avant-garde is plundered like David slaying Goliath! Varkey fills the room with his love of students, spending more time elucidating the possibilities of the bad designs than the brilliance of the good ones! After all, Varkey was a “people person”, and architecture was just a vessel carrying the human spirit towards epiphany, enlightenment and self-discovery.
In its glow, so briefly.
The room is filled with laughter, love and beauty! Life is beautiful! It is mid-September 2001, and the final jury of Dhananjay’s thesis is quickly called to order. I, Dhananjay’s guide, Vivek Khadpekar the External Examiner, and Varkey the Internal Examiner all listen intently. The inquisition has begun. The topic spans the realms of architecture, planning, urban design and street people! Under the wrong hands it was a sure failure. Varkey grabs the moment, catches the core ideas and begins where the candidate must have started. His mind grabs the subject, the analysis and the findings like a super computer! The room awakes to his questions and to his insights. All are lost in debate! The room is alive with possibilities and shared conclusions. We are all lost in the world of ideas, considered thought and articulate reasoning. The room is beautiful! Life is beautiful! Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
It is beautiful. The sun is setting, turning the landscape into multiple stage sets, turning my mind this way and that in amazement. I pause under the spell of the valley’s mystery before turning on the computer. I get an e-mail that Varkey is no more, and I understand the meaning of emptiness!
The beautiful room is empty!
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Kurula Varkey (1945 – 2001) Tribute by: A.G. Krishna Menon
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ike many of his contemporaries, I of course, remember Kurula Varkey for his important, and widely acknowledged contributions to architectural educations, but now seventeen years after his untimely passing, on reflecting in those contribution, I am also aware of its continued relevance today. The issues of architectural education in the 1980s, when Varkey began engaging with it, are obviously different to those that challenge us today, but the generic nature of the concerns that generated his initiatives remain the same. Then as now, our society faces the challenges of modernization and the problems it creates for architectural pedagogy. Varkey’s great contribution was that he selfreflexively sought answers to those perennial questions from within the social, cultural and economic milieu, rather than adopt and adapt the forces of globalization that were transforming our society. In the late 1980s and 1990s, when he was the Director of CEPT, architectural thinking in the country was becoming aware that our society had unique problems and potentials that could not be elided in response to the forces of globalization. He and his colleagues responded to these challenges by formulating a pedagogic rationale that sought an authentic language for architecture in India. However, much water has flowed under the bridge since then. Neoliberal economic policies have radically changed our perspective on the kind of development we seek. The characteristics of our society and its aspirations have also evolved. The country is now much more networked and aligned to global economic and cultural systems and the field of architectural education seems to has accepted these changes in instrumentalist terms. Varkey, I think, would have critically evaluated its implications by taking cognizance of the contingent ground realities and it is in that context that I would like to memorialize his contributions. Perhaps Varkey’s visions emanated from his formative education, because I share those ideals. We were contemporaries studying architecture at IIT, Kharagpur in the early 1960s when the post-independence idealism was still palpable in our education. No doubt it subliminally seeped into our thinking. Thereafter we went our separate ways, and reconnected only in the later 1980s. In 1990, when we set up the TVB School of Habitat Studies in New Delhi, CEPT and Professor Kurula Varkey were already role models for those of us who wished to emulate their compelling academic accomplishments. Like CEPT, we too wanted our School to acknowledge the contingent realities within which architecture is practiced. It required a critical evaluation of the inherited systems of educating the architect which necessitated the formulation of a research based curriculum. Educational pedagogy based on a research agenda became easier for us to pursue because Varkey and CEPT had already shown the way and in the process established high benchmarks for others to follow. Of course, Varkey had inherited a substantial legacy from Professor B.V. Doshi and his colleagues who started CEPT, but by 1990s when we started our School, Varkey had institutionalized both its theoretical and pedagogic frameworks, and it was to him that we turned for advice and guidance. It was in no small measure due to the advice and support we received from Varkey among others, that our School was able to make its contributions in the field of architectural education.
Varkey foregrounded the disciplinary potential of architectural education rather than its vocational objectives. Then, as now, the implicit belief in the profession is that the objective of architectural education is to produce a professional who can be employed in an architect’s office. In academic terms, its objectives are limited in their scope because they only expect the syllabus and pedagogy to meet vocational ends. These beliefs do not recognize the importance of pursuing an educational strategy where the objective is to develop knowledge of the discipline of architecture and use it to mediate the development of the profession for the benefit of a postcolonial society. This is all the more relevant in a globalized context. The mindset with which we conduct architectural education in India has colonial roots. It suited the colonial administrators to structure architectural education in terms of purely vocational ends. This was however not the British strategy at home, but in the colonies the goal was merely to teach natives to be useful in architectural offices run by British engineers and architects. Colonial administrators identified students with a grounding in the sciences at the School level to study architecture, because they believed that their science background made more intelligent assistants. These colonial strategies have got completely internalized and the objectives of architectural education in a globalized world remains the same. Suffice it to say that the results of this self-defeating educational strategy can be seen – with honorable exceptions – in the bulk of architecture that has been produced since Independence: minimally competent in technical terms, but intellectually dependent on theoretical developments taking place outside the country. The current forces of globalization is reinforcing such dependency and it is in this context that we need to remember and learn from Varkey’s contributions. All over the world the more progressive systems of architectural education expect to guide the profession, not follow it. In India, however, as the common saying goes, actual learning takes place outside the School. This mindset is revealed in the syllabus most Schools follow. There is heavy emphasis given to translating a given programme into a credible design, working drawings and structural engineering. It marginalizes the study of theoretical subjects such as history or theory, for example, which could facilitate the development of critical thinking to redefine the architectural programme to align it with contingent realities. The world was a much simpler place when such restrictive objectives of architectural education were established. The fresh graduate did not face problems any different from those that the previous generation dealt with, hence, the previous generation could decide what the next generation ought to know. Challenging the debilitating nature of this reiterative process was the significance of Varkey’s pedagogic strategy. Its lessons are as relevant today as it was then. Prof AGK Menon is an architect, urban planner and conservation consultant. Practicing and teaching in Delhi since 1972, he co-founded the TVB School of Habitat Studies in 1990 and was its Director from 1994–2007. As a Conservation Consultant he has undertaken many pioneering urban conservation projects in India on behalf of INTACH and authored several documents setting guidelines for conservation practice in India, including The Charter for the Conservation of Unprotected Architectural Heritage & Sites in India, 2004. He was Convener of INTACH Delhi & he remains a passionate interlocutor in mediating the development of Delhi as a World Heritage City. Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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The search for “Meaning in Architecture” Tribute by: Durganand Balsavar
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rof. Kurula Varkey’s contribution to ‘Architecture education and critical practice’ provides a substantial reference for a broader discourse for the future, in a context where architecture schools proliferate at a rapid pace. At the core of Varkey’s teachings, resided an idealism - that meaningful architecture complements social emancipation. It stems from a conviction that good architecture responds to the gestures of human inhabitation and the environment. These humane ideas are more relevant today, as any other time. Ofcourse, times have considerably changed over the last three decades. Since the 90’s, between the onslaught of neo-liberal economic globalisation, the digital euphoria, followed by the Gujarat earthquake, Varkey was concerned by the shifts in the profession from one of social concern (1960’s) to laissez-faire rampant urbanisation (often callous). In sharp contrast to a ‘free-for-all whimsical’ process of design, Varkey evolved (through a process of scholarly reflection, practice, travel and research) - a broad framework of open-ended attributes, in search of meaning in architecture (attributes of human inhabitation, history, context, climate, program, landscape, order, scale, structure and materiality). The search for shared meaning is fraught with risk and opposition - that Varkey absorbed in his stride. It was a fortunate circumstance that Varkey accepted to mentor us through this significant transition (1986) - from thesis guide to teaching assistant, to visiting faculty at CEPT, both in the undergraduate as well as urban program and the international studios with Rensselaer Polytechnic-Newyork, Bartlett and Helsinki. While it may be imbued with memories (that Mrs. Alice Varkey and Mayuri were witness to), the significant contributions were in pragmatic education processes and the understanding of a critical practice - that Varkey espoused. Varkey was acutely aware of the Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
schisms that occur in faculty groups in Schools of Architecture - a schism between those dedicated to education (often with no practical site experiences) and practicing architects coming in as visiting faculty. A overview of the unfolding of the idealistic pragmatism and processes (60’s,70’s) - Varkey had a rigorous grounding at IIT, Kharagpur followed by working in the atelier of Prof. B V Doshi (IIM-Bangalore etc.), teaching at School of Architecture (CEPT), a phase in Africa followed by a Masters at Finland (Alvar Aalto and Pietila). Several faculty had contributed to the learning traditions of CEPT besides B V Doshi and Bernard Kohn - Anant Raje, Rabindra Vasavada, Christopher Benninger, Hasmukh Patel, Piraji Sagara, N H Chhaya, Bimal Patel, Madhavi and Miki Desai, Gajjarbhai, Lavingya, C B Shah, RJ Shah, VR Shah, Muktiraj Chauhan, Leo Periera, Gurjit Singh, Vikramaditya Prakash and several others. When Varkey returned from a Masters at Finland (1986) to assume the role as Director of School of Architecture, Ahmedabad, the discipline was in the throes of an uncertain transition, struggling to appropriate its own identity. The clinical sterile buildings of geometrically poured exposed concrete, steel and glass were seeking a new lease of life through generated theories - of critical regionalism, deconstruction, post-modernism and VISTARA in India. A post-colonial society was in a nostalgic search of its lost roots and its own histories. Kurula Varkey was conscious of this phase - the loss of moorings needed to be resurrected almost with a missionary zeal - which Varkey took on with self-restraint. Prof. Varkey innovated a faculty mentorship program complementing his own research - that symbiotically nurtured one another.
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As part of a larger process of mentoring, Varkey accepted to guide my urban thesis and assist him in History and Theory. There were several other students and young faculty who were mentored in this process. Varkey also re-introduced me to Charles Correa to work on Vistara in Ahmedabad. Those years of intense research and practice, revealed the creative potential of the history and Theory of architecture in the Design Studio. In the second stage of mentoring, Varkey suggested that I assist in curating the first exhibition of Anant Raje’s drawings at the Visual Arts and the exhibition of Le Corbusier’s work from Paris at CEPT - conscious of the fact that it would evoke a deeper rigor. And on graduation, Varkey took it upon himself to ensure I am apprenticed directly under Prof. B V Doshi, while teaching alongside him in Studio and History and Theory. Varkey created a list of precincts from ancient history to the contemporary, that I had to visit each month and return to discuss and rigorously analyse (both experientially and as abstraction)- Varanasi, Sikri, Ajanta-Ellora, Vijaynagara, Kutch, medieval towns, Stepwells, Pattadakal, Kanade brothers, Jaipur, Srirangam, IIM Bangalore, Kanvinde’s projects, Chandigarh, Correa’s projects, Anant Raje, intensive travels in Europe and several more. It also involved extensive discussions on literature, poetry, music, theatre, and art. This, Varkey believed was the grounding required to teach History and Theory and Studio at CEPT - since he believed that young faculty were certified to teach, however not qualified to teach. A senior faculty or Director required an in-depth knowledge of the discipline, engage in critical thinking and abstraction, immerse in the experience of practice, nurture the spirit of travel and observation, reflect on history and theory as a substrate for critical thinking and design. To nurture this process, Varkey constantly invited practicing architects into the Studio or organised “thematic lectures and seminars”. The range of invitations included - B V Doshi, Achyut Kanvinde, Leela Samson, Charles Correa, Arundathi Roy, Naseerudeen
Shah, Sen Kapadia - who visited our Studios, intervening and often open to a counter discourse - as a premise for breaking boundaries. The diverse discussions inspired the creative search for meaning and social relevance - a search for secret constants that can be invoked through patient observation and reflection, yet partaking in the celebration and contradictions of contemporary life around. Varkey’s conviction was at times, mistaken for autocracy. Since we do not often understand the distinction between the two (conviction and autocracy) - So autocracy by heads of institutions is often passed off as conviction of belief. Varkey’s conviction was tempered with patience and self restraint and humaneness - a willingness to respect and listen to points of view opposed to his own experiences. The process established an institutional dignity and an open-ended culture of creative exploration. Much of the pedagogic processes at CEPT today continue to evolve on the scaffolds of these contributions. An in-depth study of the principles and processes that Prof. Varkey envisioned, could provide a reference and inspiration for a meaningful discourse on the diverse directions of architecture education and critical practice for the future.
Durganand Balsavar was associated with Prof. Kurula Varkey at School of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad. He worked in the atelier of Prof. B V Doshi and founded The Jaipur Architecture Festival. Balsavar is a member of the Barcelona PostHabitat III Summit, Berlin Climate Policy 2050 Program, Sessions Chair at Cambridge -VIT Future Cities Seminar and CMDA Masterplan committee. The extract on Prof Varkey is from a forthcoming book.
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Varkey’s the person The following passages are excerpts from the Kurula Varkey memmorial lecture delivered in 2015 at the Kurula Varkey Forum. The excerpts bring together some threads of Kurula Varkey’s world view and his notions of Architecture and Education. Text: Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya After having practiced in Nairobi, Kenya, from 1975-82, Neelkanth Chhaya moved base from Africa to India. Started Mandala Design Services in Vadodara, with partners Kallol Joshi and Sohan Neelkanth. He retired in 2013 as the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad after a 24-year teaching sojourn at the School. He is currently adviser & Design chair at Various schools across India. …... He would not have separated out these four areas of interest— the individual, different shapes and groups of individuals, the world, architecture, all of these he saw as an interconnected set. He was a very complex human being and a very simple one at that. ... He had some favourite authors. And I will quote very freely from them, especially Dag Hammarskjold, who was the Secretary General of the UN during the peak of the Cold War, who wrote a book called Markings. What Hammarskjold wrote could almost describe Varkey at times. Here’s a passage: ‘To be nothing in the self effacement of humility, yet for the sake of the task, to embody its whole weight and importance in your caring as the one who has been called to undertake it. To give to people - works, poetry, art, what the self can contribute and to take simply and freely what belongs to it by reason of identity. Praise and blame, the winds of success and adversity, blow over such a life without leaving a trace or upsetting its balance.’ My friends will agree that this is Varkey. And after his studio, he would trundle is bicycle along to Liberty, which was the only place where tea was available after midnight, and on the way, he would be spouting T.S. Eliot’s poetry at the top of his voice. And on the way back would come the limericks, well into the night. So here’s a man of such parts. And when we talk together about the world today, we must remember that the world is not just an unhappy place. It’s a place of so many happenings. It’s a place of terrible things happening, and it’s a place of great joy and great potentiality. Varkey believed in the possibility of goodness in humans. So that was one image of man that Varkey had. Human beings could be so good, so compassionate, so courageous, and so capable of doing what is needed. But he also had another line, from T.S. Eliot: ‘Humankind cannot bear very much reality.’ And he could see both sides of this. What Kind of Individuals? The question is, what are we doing now, with the systematisation of life that we see everywhere? A five year old is already into systems, and right through, it is the system of life which takes the students away from nature, and has no tangible or deep relations with other humans. And the only direction that society shows him is of profit, no other direction. And so this young person is hungry. Illich has written, in his essay Philosophy, Artefacts and Friendship: ‘Our students show an amazing interest in the practice of philia—love for; In the practice of love. The more so, the more clearly they understand the sadness of having lost all moorings. For it is society that has made people without moorings. And I never cease to be surprised by the readiness of serious students to accept my claim that the philosophical grasp Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
of the nature of technology has become a fundamental condition for ethics in a milieu symbolised by Windows 95.’ What Kind of Society? They’re not hungry to find out how to do things, but why or what. What kind of society do we build? One I call the pessimistic paradigm, though it is seen by everybody as the most attractive paradigm—colourful, well illustrated. But I call it the pessimistic paradigm. What is the view? Humans are by nature greedy, selfish and afraid. Make systems that manage through rewards and punishment—that scatter the time and leave no time for aimless reflection. For justice you will need measurable standards so that everybody is entitled to exactly the same things. This reduces and flattens mankind into automatons in the system. Again, Illich: ‘The things today with decisively new consequences are systems. And these are so built that they co-opt and integrate their users’ hands, ears and eyes.... No longer open. No longer surprised. No longer adventurous.’ On the other side, at the other extreme, is the scepter of anarchy. If we don’t have systems, we’ll have anarchy. And everything will fall apart. And we will be ravaged by disease, terrorism, fear, all those things. But I suggest that in Varkey’s view there is a third possibility. That view has been held by artists, by people of literature. By ordinary human beings that tell stories to each other. They have known this for a long time. It is a very simple, realistic view of human beings: Human beings are complex creatures. At times they are capable of unexpected altruism, compassion, courage, sense of fairness. At other times, they are selfish, they are greedy. And both these things are part of being human. But the greater part of being human is that ability to be fair, compassionate, just. Also the unpredictable is the very source of being human.....But for that kind of society to happen, that society in which the better part of human beings are nurtured, are opened, then that society will have to have greater reliance on humility and modesty. A sense of caring and experience of the interdependence of all on each other and on nature. And an adaptability, that you are not fixed to certain conditions but you are open to many many different possibilities. Varkey, it was evident to us, had a faith that this could be actualised. But this faith is of what kind? Dag Hammarskjold: ‘It is not the facile faith of generations before us, who thought that everything was
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arranged for the best in the best of worlds. Or that physical and psychological development necessarily worked out towards something that they called progress. It is in a sense a much harder belief. The belief and the faith that the future will be alright because there will always be enough people to fight for a decent future. Enough people.’ Varkey brought this sense to the entire group of people who studied with him, is something which I think we have to hold together, as all of us who are holding this fantastic sense that together, something could happen. ~*~ What Kind of Education? You could look at education as a living process, as a process of opening up, a process of freeing, as you would free a pigeon and let him fly. Can schools be those places where the wings have become strong? Varkey, working at this university that was conceived as an adventure, made his adventure join the common adventure. A place of learning that had no preconcieved understanding of what is education. It had only a great hunger for learning, and for finding out. It knew nothing about what is education. When the school started, there was not one teacher with any qualification at all. There was not one classroom which made sense. And this adventure continued in the minds of all those who studied here and continue to study here. And this adventure of this great continent of knowledge, this great ocean which we don’t
know anything about. And there will be wild monsters in it and there will be wonderful dolphins and mermaids maybe. That adventure, is what the school should be. Such a place of adventure is based on some preconditions. According to Illich, it requires critique. The mind that is sharp and looks carefully. But equally, you cannot have genuine critique without ‘ascesis’. The ability to give up everything, the ability not to be encumbered, the ability not to need, and yet have the sharp vision, that is ascesis. Ascesis is the space for reflection, of going back inwards, leaving everything. That space has to be protected for education to be really something that frees. So that it becomes questions, not methods. Learning is an interaction, person to person, person to group, environment to person. Which creates sympathy, sharing. Which creates the sense that I put myself in your shoes, and you put yourself in mine. And still, still there is that sharing. So that is the task of education then. And Varkey would say, mischief is very much required. Without mischief, you will not learn. About what can we do mischief? You sit with an Aalto plan and you cut it, and then you laugh. This is what knowledge, or the sense of seriousness, is—at once combined with the sense of mischief. The difficult fate of the teacher is that his metier, the task that he has taken upon himself, requires him to explain what is unexplainable. How do you explain? How do you explain that the plan of Bank of England is a wonderful plan? Or that Sir John Soane’s work has some Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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value? You cannot explain but you can share the serious and mischievous appreciation of it, perhaps attract a student into doing the same. And Varkey was accused of teaching, in this place. As how with little children, we cut up the chappati into little bites so that they can eat, so he did that to Corbusier, to Indian architecture. Even to African architecture. He cut it up into bite size pieces so that the student could understand. Once having understood, then he demanded to have it show in the drawing, where no such understanding can work. This is the challenge of the teacher. So the teacher is an agent of transformation. He’s not alone because he himself constantly has to be transformed. And his transformation occurs in the group of teachers, in the community of teachers, in the community of thinkers, in the community outside. That the buffeting of the world must transform every day the teacher. So that the teacher is never able to fit into systems. Never. That is the challenge. There could be other modes of thinking about education. We need not go into them. There is no point in contrasting them. Today education has become a sort of business, in the late capitalistic period. Where education is also a commodity, which has to be attractively packaged, which you have to be willing to pay for, in order that you will get paid. The corruption is at both ends – the corruption of the consumer and the corruption of the producer. Education is about life so we have to talk about life. And whether there can be something else, and if that something else can be, what could it be? Well, there might be a few ground rules. I’m going to read these as if they are commandments. You know sometimes you have to do that. The simplest is the best. New is not necessarily better. Good is not always pleasant or gratifying. The best is unexplainable. And it can’t be sold. It can never be sold. What Kind of Architecture? Architecture—and life naturally flows into architecture—if we go by that paradigm of consumption, will become a commodity. Has already become, to some extent. There are courageous or wild or mad architects still making non-commodity architecture. Each product is packaged so beautifully that even if you don’t need it you salivate and you want it. That shutting down of all the ability to discriminate between what I will use and what I will flaunt. This is what happens with architecture as well. Because the magazines will promote, and you will think that, I have to become like that. But will you have to become like that? This is the question that I am putting before you. Your next five years, your next ten years before practice is established. Can you be that wild mad person? Most importantly, Varkey was concerned about significance. This brings gravitas, importance, to the act of architecture. And that gravitas will be replaced by self indulgent gratification, if we are not careful. The timeless will become a meaningless jingle. And yes, one more. The tragic will be replaced by the farcical. You know, in theatre, you have tragedy. Where a culturally important action comes up against great odds and finally accepts that life is complex, has many colours. Farce, on the other hand, only caricatures and laughs. And the tragic will be replaced by the farcical. Which we can see in much of architecture today. The erasure of scale, for example. Yes we need to make large buildings, because there are large organisations which needed offices and so on. But can the large building become something which has scales? I think of Aalto’s University. I think of Sir John Soane’s Bank of England. I think of Srirangam. Huge building, but has a sense of scale. Because it is also worked upon by time and many agents. And is not the work of a single individual. John Soane was a single individual. But others had made London before him. And he was working in collaboration with what London was. The Past and the Future So now, what about the future? I’ll read two passages from Hammarskjold. This he spoke at the beginning of an exhibition at the MOMA in New York, and he says: ‘We have to approach our task in the spirit which animates the modern artist. We have to tackle our problems without the armour of inherited convictions or set formulae. But only with our bare hands, and all the honesty we can muster. And we have to do so with an unbreakable will to master the inert matter of patterns created by history and sociological conditions.’
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So it’s not that you just accept. Maybe my talk is saying that we have to look backwards, timelessness and all that. So there is this very wonderful story about going forward. There was a man who believed always in moving forward. Never go back. Always forward. So he was walking and he came to the edge of a cliff. If he walked forward, he would have fallen 1000 feet below. So he walked backwards. And he said, ‘At certain times, walking backwards is forwards!’ This ‘backwards’ is what Varkey was interested in. This ‘backwards’—to go back to the juicy sources. So his favourite is this one passage by Paul Ricoeur: ‘The phenomenon of universalisation, while being an advancement of mankind, at the same time constitutes a sort of subtle destruction. Not only traditional cultures, which if destroyed might not be an irreparable wrong, but also what I call for the time being, the creative nucleus of great cultures. That nucleus on which we interpret life. What I shall call in advance the ethical and mythical nucleus of mankind. There is the paradox. How to become modern and to return to sources. How to revive an old dormant civilisation and take part in universal civilisation.’ This wonderful passage—doesn’t it say what we are all facing in our work, everyday? Students, as much as those who are doing work outside, who are teaching. All of us. So then how do we find the resources? One last quotation from Dag Hammarskjold: ‘To preserve the silence within amid all the noise. To remain open and quiet. A moist humus in the fertile darkness where the rain falls and the grain ripens, no matter how many tramp across the parade ground in the whirling dust, under an arid sky.’
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© Anil Achar. Architect Anil Achar is currently in independent practice based at Bengaluru. He Studied At SA 82 - ‘88 Worked with Mandala Architects Ahmedabad ‘88 - ‘90 & thereon at Edgar Demello Architects till ‘ 95. Anil was also the Resident Cartoonist Of CEPT Campus during the 80’s & Kurula Varkey was a recurrent Theme -as the ‘looking glass’ in his polemical Cartoons
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Never forgotten … Kurula Varkey… Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach. - Aristotle Tribute by: Azmi Wadia
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he title above may seem strange. Usually, one would write, ‘In Remembrance’, but that would be appropriate when you occasionally think of someone. What of him, who has helped shape your very understanding of design…of life…..? He could never be forgotten. This October marks seventeen years of Prof. Varkey’s parting, but he has been and will continue to be an ever present source of inspiration and strength to those who had the good fortune of knowing him. For those who knew Prof. Varkey knew that he just didn’t teach Architectural design with all its complexities, he taught one about life….its values and principles, about sincerity and dedication. These he didn’t preach, but taught by example. Ours was Prof. Varkey’s first batch as he took up Directorship and our seniors made no bones about the change in teaching methodology that we were to be taken through…. and gleefully labeled us Varkeyites….. a label we wore with silent pride. Prof. Varkey allowed us the freedom to grow, yet not without discipline, the freedom to think, to question and to experiment, yet not without responsibility. His depth of knowledge, articulated speech and excellent oratory skills had each one of us floored in the very first lecture. Initially it was this command over the subject that kept us in awe, but slowly over the years, it was the human being that moved us, that we grew to love and respect. A patient teacher – he would spend hours in the studio. His focus on designing with reference to context, his clarity of thought and expression, his structured teaching with stress on methodology, analysis and process are values that one appreciates increasingly in one’s practice today. Not one to give up - he expected the best from his students. He gave everything he had to the school, to his passion – Architecture and he expected the same from us. There were no two ways about it. Inorder to study architecture, you had “to breathe it, live it, sleep it and dream it”. And we literally did! Prof. Varkey didn’t believe in displaying sentiment, the strict disciplinarian that he was, but he kept a watchful eye on us, each and every one of us, and what he knew he kept to himself. It was not an infringement on our privacy, only a deep sense of responsibility and genuine concern. The epitome of dedication…how often was it that we caught him Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
working till 2 or 3 in the morning, getting his notes ready or preparing for the always welcome quiz? For the small snack that we carried to him at this hour, we would get the twinkling eyes, a nod and a quick thank you thrown in. We learnt slowly what his every gesture meant, the tilt of his head, the raised eyebrows accompanied by the twinkle in his eyes, that quick nod, the pursed lips, the wave of his hand, the admonishing finger, the wry smile, sometimes a guffaw and only occasionally a shocked look and that penetrating stare. The studio was his temple and drawings sacrosanct. But through all this, we knew and I think in retrospect, what I most respected about him was that he respected the student. An idealist at heart, he truly believed that each student was going to make a positive contribution to the built environment some day and he took it upon himself to see that every student was ready for that day. Yet, for all his wonderful qualities, this tall personality was a very humble man, asking and expecting nothing for himself. He was an excellent listener and no request made to him regarding infrastructure or facilities would fall on deaf ears. A walking encyclopedia, he would rattle of references before you had pen and paper out and attending a marathon lecture by him would leave even the most intellectual student mentally exhausted. The news of his death came as a shock to all those who knew him. After the initial pain, one could not help wondering why? There was so much more to be done, so much more that he could contribute to the lives of tomorrow’s Architects. One can only draw solace from the fact that his was a life well lived, a life that contributed immensely to future generations of Architects.
Azmi Wadia is Principal Architect at Azmi & Sarosh Wadia, Architects, Surat. She is currently Chairperson of The I.I.A. Surat Centre and Past Chairperson of the IIID Surat Regional Chapter. Azmi has been actively involved with Academics for over 23 years in various capacities and is currently Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, SCET, Surat.
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© Anil Achar. Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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Kurula Varkey. Teacher. Mentor. Architect-Poet. Dreamer. Tribute by: Nisha Mathew-Ghosh
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praise God for the life of this man so dear to our hearts. I praise God for his life well-lived and with humility.
Varkey did that to you. He commanded respect and work and commitment, not by demanding but by setting an example of the same.
Kurula Varkey could make you think of him as 7’ tall man, because of his integrity and larger-than-life-commitment to the world of architecture that we were born into in the month of June 1987 as fledgling freshmen. The batch of 1987 were taken under his wing as ‘his babies’ to be fed and nourished on the works of Indian architecture, early and late modernist works of the world (and of course his favourite architect who we then believed was Alvar Aalto!), and made to digest his ‘gentle threat’ that if we wanted to make money then we’d be better off selling groundnuts! We secretly admired his passion but couldn’t quite match up to his energy when it came to reading his meticulous notes and sketches analysing the works of Alvar Aalto. His dedicated and passionate plea for architecture was demonstrated by walks to the nearby works of B.V.Doshi, whose work enabled analysis and provoked thought, as Varkey would gently prod us with a question here and there, even as he regaled us with stories of sleeping on stairways diagonally just so that he would wake up on time to get back to the drawing board. In all of his countless discussions on architects, there was never a harsh word, never a hint of gossip, never a putting down of another. We loved his humane-ness!
Varkey brought a structured change to the relatively less-structured former years of The School of Architecture, and while this was hotly debated and disapproved on many counts, underlying this was a paradigm shift in the way he was enabling a rigorous re-thinking of, and demanding a “Clarity” (to quote him!) by which the (poetic) architectural idea may become the means by which all materiality and means of expression is subject. I don’t believe he was denying the very making of a work of architecture, its materials and spans and the understanding of its engineering: No, he was asking us to look beyond, by studying the past, to cultivate the tool of abstraction, to dream while being grounded. This ‘mentoring’ of students of architecture (along with all the other wonderful teachers), and suddenly everyone in the student body was engaging with this at some level or another. He sustained this debate as part of the very breath of campus by introducing Thematic lectures each week on Indian Architecture, with presentations in Studio on the works of various architects. His countless sketches of analysis have been an inspiration to generations of his students, and led us to discover meaning in our own. He believed in Architecture’s potential to make a better world, and urged us to dream it.
The ‘babies’ of 1987 grew up slowly, but as a parent would, he ensured us the best nourishment for each year, subject-wise and studio-wise. From Miki Desai’s incredible graphic ‘Workshop’, R.J Vasavada’s amazing Material Studio, to Leo Perreira’s Housing Studio, Neelkanth Chhaya’s History and Studios, BV Doshi for Studio 5 , AD Raje for Studio 8 along with Vasavada, and other subjects in between, with competent teachers at the helm, we bumbled along perhaps not fully recognising then this amazing array of teachers and how they would shape our thinking, our values and our integrity over the next couple of decades. All through this, Varkey kept a hawk’s eye on each of us as a parent would. Any of us could walk into his little room to discuss matters from projects to problems. After a general period of falling away from my work, I picked up ground once more to do a history analysis of AD Raje’s Forest Management Institute, only to find it one delightful afternoon pinned up on the wall of his little office. That was enough to revive my sagging spirit once more. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
On a personal front Varkey and Alice were easily accessible to anyone who went up to them. He deeply cared about the lives of his students, and anything adverse going on with them, became his problem. Every conversation wound around and came back to his love for architecture! My debt to him as an Architect is immeasurable, as a kind Mentor he stands tall, as a compassionate human being, he set example to us in humility. I praise God for the life and works of our beloved Kurula Varkey…..and I praise God that I was part of the batch of 1987. I know that I speak for countless generations of architects who have known, worked with him, or been taught by him. We will always love him. Record of School of Architecture, Cept, Ahmedabad India. Written in 2018.
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Kurula Varkey’s sketch on Azmi Wadia’s portfolio. Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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Recollections - Prof. Kurula Varkey Tribute by: Ar. Kurian George Vattakunnel
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Kurula Varkey’s sketch on Azmi Wadia’s portfolio.
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t was a time of many changes at the School of Architecture, CEPT and 1987 saw yet another change. There was a new director on campus, Prof. Kurula Varkey. His reputation of being a super tutor had preceded him. Not only did he remain true to his reputation, he exceeded it by leaps and bounds. This is a fact to which the proceeding years stood testimony. My earliest memories of Prof.Kurula Varkey were his history lectures. His explanations of the principles of orientation in Greek and Islamic architecture, and principles of relatedness to time in European Christian architecture still remain fresh in my mind. He made comprehension of Greek, European Christian, Islamic and Modern architecture simple and yet so provocative that it spurred one to dive deeper into understanding architecture through its history. Another distinct memory of him was his signature gaze which would hover over one’s forehead but almost never make eye contact. His intense gaze would be focussed enough to capture our attention making every word uttered by him impact our hungry intellects deeply. His sketches, simultaneously made, as an integral part of his communication would explain the words being spoken. These sketches were unique, speaking many stories together and were characterised by his signature wavy lines, which attribute, was instantly copied by many of us. Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
The greatness of the tutor in him was writ large in the explorations of possibilities he indulged in with each student, regardless of the extent of progress that the individual would have made. This approach encouraged many a student to get excited about their work and invest more effort and time. He strove tirelessly to make us understand architecture as deriving meaning from being contextually related. This contextual relatedness that he referred to was a holistic one. He repeatedly and tirelessly enthused us to understand parameters that he advocated by means of which meaningful architecture could be achieved. There was a certain rigour and definitiveness to his approach. The architectural outcome of processes that he advocated were also definitive. As a young student of architecture one would intuitively resist such a structured approach preferring an unfettered approach. It would take a lot of growing up to reflect upon and understand that he intended his students to understand rigour and order in architecture completely before venturing to break it. Directly or indirectly, Prof. Kurula Varkey played an important role in moulding the minds of a lot of students of architecture and remains respected and loved in our hearts. Each of us carry a figurative part of him that continues to give us direction. The spirit of Prof. Kurula Varkey will live on in each of us.
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Crafting Abstractions & Reinterpretations Tribute by: Jayakrishnan G Nair
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t was during winter of ’86, at our 2nd Year “Contemporary Directions in Indian Architecture” elective course, was when Prof. Varkey entered our student lives. In the first lecture, I recall him taking a piece of chalk and proceeding to sketch freehand, no less than 25 nos. of Plan abstractions on the green board. They were of cities, institutions, legislative complexes, temple complexes, residential precincts, and public spaces et al. In 15 minutes the Green board was full, and started to resemble an internationalised version of Nolli’s Plan drawing of Rome, that unfolded magically in front of our eyes. Each plan abstraction, through his essence-capturing hands, was distinct through its geometric uniqueness. We were immediately struck by the width and depth of the subject, as well as the intensity with which we need to approach it as students, in order to begin to grasp its layers of complexity. He had drawn all those plans on the board unerringly from memory, without any external references whatsoever. He had already inspired us. He then proceeded to explain as to how these plan abstractions expressed specific “attitudes” that can be observed from all works of Architecture. The attitudes to “Landscape”, “Spatial Organisation & Route of movement”, “Light & Form”, “Structure & Geometry”, “Materials & construction”, “Meanings and Symbolism” and “ Urban context” were the layers that he introduced us first. I later realised how critical this base was, for the rest of my academic & professional life, both in India & abroad. With this framework of analysis, the layers of architectural intent could be de-constructed with rigour. This was to become a reliable analysis-methodology & communication-tool for me. That Semester-end student-work exhibition was unforgettable for us, and we could spot a quick tear of happiness in his eyes. We were indeed very fortunate for being the first recipients of his teaching
methods that was rigorously developed by him over the preceding twenty years or so. Later during the course of our studies, his treasure trove of slides on the works of Master-Architects as well as travels through Europe, India and Africa became another inspiration. It was he who first made aware to us the significance of traditional architecture of the Indian Subcontinent through its regional geographies. Detailed plan drawings & analysis of architectural ensembles such as Srirangam, Madurai, Tanjavur, Pattadakal, Badami, Aihiole, Hampi, Jaipur, Fatehpur Sikri, Padmanabhapuram, Ellora, were introduced through him. So much so that whenever I visited these places later, his observations could still be clearly recalled in one’s mind. He subtly introduced a conscious process of “re-interpretation” of the abstract as a tool for working, whether it is the contemporary masters work or that of the traditional Architectural works that formed one’s references. For many of us who were in the CEPT Campus from ’85 to ’91, academic life in SA & Prof. Varkey’s memories are inseparable. The year-end of 2001 was grievious for me personally at many levels. However as one gathered oneself and reflected, a deep sense of thankfulness remained, for the opportunity to have been his student. And the seeds of ideas and of the clarity on the subject that he had planted in thousands of minds over two decades, and the very inspiring example that his person provided would keep finding expression, spread worldwide, in various ways. Jayakrishnan G Nair CEPT SA 1985 Batch Based out of Singapore, Jayakrishnan has worked for several Global Architectural Practices over his 24 year career. He has served as Director of Surbana International Consultants (India) Pvt Ltd from 2008 and has directed the architectural designs of Highrise Building projects as well as masterplanning of Integrated Townships in India and overseas.
Indian Indian Architect Architect & Builder & Builder - September - October 2017 2018
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From the Acropolis to Suchindram: Beginnings with Kurula Varkey Tribute by: Sambit Datta
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eventeen years ago, Professor Varkey’s life was tragically cut short in a road accident. For many of us, the loss felt intensely personal and the grief immense. For he was not only a formidable teacher, theorist and creative architect, but an extraordinary observer of the mingling flows of architecture and its interaction with the world outside, open to the winds of change yet anchored in deep and ancient waters. It was thirty one years ago, as nineteen year olds, that we first encountered Varkey. It was the start of the CEPT winter semester, December 1986 or January 1987. Classes would begin at 8.00 am, just as the morning mist was gradually lifting. Second year students, we tumbled into a darkened seminar room for a history of architecture lecture. Attendance was thin, perhaps 10-12 students, a third of the class, mostly the residents of I block, and a few conscientious day scholars. Normally these slots were assigned to non design subjects such as structures, building construction and the like, but on that day, it was a lecture on Greek architecture, the teacher that day was none other than the new director of the school, Kurula Varkey. The slide projector was already humming and the beam of the projector lit up a diminutive balding intense man, unsmiling and tense, neatly arranging slides into two carousels. Most of us were looking forward to a pleasant nap before the start of official studio, which began mid morning, after refreshments at Harry’s canteen. As we settled in, he began. The first slide, a view of the Acropolis clearly etched in Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
my mind thirty one years later, “the Acropolis of Athens taken from Aeropagus Hill”, he said. Then, the slight quiver in his voice betraying his emotion he said “...where Socrates walked...” the next slide was a view of the rock hewn tank in the temple complex in Suchindram….. with a towering Gopuram…as if in prayer....”to know the present, one must appreciate what has gone before...and why” And so began our education.... a smorgasbord of history, architecture, philosophy, society, culture….Greek, Indian, Roman….for the next three hours….. So intense was the experience, as we travelled with him over the next five years, we emerged with new attitudes, to landscape, to material, to light….that began to shape us and gradually define a vocabulary and language of architecture. Varkey, as he was fondly called by all, gave us words, made us see light, feel forms and for a generation of young architects, he continues giving...and what a gift it has been. How shall we remember him? How shall we honour his gift? How shall we repay our dues? Gurudev said “Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.” The mist has lifted, we emerge from the darkened room into the winter Ahmedabad light, we hear Varkey, the slides click, and in our minds eye we see, it’s the Parthenon, bathed in morning light..... Sambit Datta is an architect, researcher and academic based in Perth and Director of Shunya. Visiting Professor of Computational Urban Science at Curtin University, Visiting International Professor in Infrastructure Design and Management at IIT Kharagpur and an Academic Fellow of the Australia-India Institute. He trained at CEPT (1985-1991).
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Life is not architecture alone
Kurula Varkey I miss
Tribute by: Vijayram Chakrapani
Tribute by: Jaimini Mehta
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Kurula Varkey was almost like my professional younger brother ever since our first encounter in 1976 when I came to teach at the school of architecture. He was asked by Doshi to show me the school and introduce me to the faculty. We sat by the canteen under the Neem tree to get to know each other first over a cup of tea. We ended up spending two hours talking philosophy, poetry, politics and of course architecture too. I realized that in this place there was at least one person with whom I could relate.
t is an extremely difficult task, to put in words, what Prof. Kurula Varkey meant to me. I, like many of his other students, have been deeply influenced by him in my understanding of ‘Architecture’, in addition to being touched by the amazing human being that he was. My first exposure to Prof. Varkey was when he joined CEPT in 1986, and took the ‘History of Architecture’ course for our batch of 1985. After the first few lectures he sensed our complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the subject, and saying “I need to start from fundamentals rather than history, he bravely embarked on the journey to teach us much more than anyone has since. We were already in our fourth semester, as yet struggling to understand ‘ Architecture’, and he was like a God sent beacon of light. He spent the semester teaching us fundamentals, primarily on how to ‘see’ buildings. Armed with his infinite number of architectural slides, his lectures would continue way past the allocated time, to much restlessly fidgeting and grumbling audience! Like me, I am certain; we all realize that it was that perception he gave us, that has taught us to appreciate architecture and Endeavour to contribute positively to the profession. In addition to being an amazing teacher, Prof. Varkey was a beautiful human being. During our Eighth semester when inspite of his advice to do ‘ Urban Design ‘most of our batch opted for “Institutional Design”, he still came around after the juries to congratulate us with a “Well done”. In spite of a lot of criticism from many quarters towards his teaching methodology, Prof. Varkey was never disrespectful of anyone. He was the most accessible Director our campus had ever known, with anyone walking into his office at any time of day or night. I was fortunate to have him as guide for my final research thesis, and I still recall what he said when I met him later, which took me by surprise coming from a man we knew had given his all to architecture. He said, “Life is not Architecture alone. Enjoy it “.
Over the years that bond grew. He also became a sounding board for my ideas. Whenever I wrote something or thought of writing something, I first tested it with him. He was always frank, objective but also constructive in his comments. I may have been perhaps the last person he talked to on that fateful day we lost him. I had come from Goa to talk to him about the upcoming meeting of the Goa school’s Advisory Council of which he was to be a member. After finishing our meeting we both departed for our respected home, he never to reach his. I miss him. Jaimini Mehta (Baroda, 1940) did his B.Arch from Baroda and moved to U.Penn to study under Louis Kahn with whom he also worked subsequently. He co-authored ‘Louis I Kahn, Architect’ with Romaldo Giurgola. At present he is the Hon. Director of Center for the Study of Urbanism and Architecture (CESURA). He delivered the Kurula Varkey Memorial Lecture in 2016.
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Indian Architect & Builder - October 2018
RNI No: 46976/87 Registered with Register of Newspaper of India, ISSN 0971-5509. Publishing Date: 1st of every month. Postal Registration No: MCS/183/2016-18. Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting office, Mumbai 400001, on 7th & 8th of every month. Total Pages = 110