The Indian Arch '12 by NASA India

Indian Arch 2012

Acknowledgements The Editorial team would like to thank NASA India for the support and confidence shown without which the publication would not have been possible. We would also like to thank the Eminent Personalities, Architects, Faculty members who contributed in making the Indian Arch possible. We also commend the students the enthusiastic minds and their colleges/ institutes who through their writing, photographs have helped us in building the magazine. We also acknowledge the support from the Faculty and Staff members of G.Z.S.C.E.T. Bhatinda along with Executive members of NASA India. ISBN: Copyright©2012, Published by NASA India Publication Cell The content of the book is a compilation of the work submitted by the students, articles and interviews of the Architects and other personalities. NASA India Publication Cell is not responsible for the content matter of the same. All rights reserved No part or whole of this publication may be copied, used or reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher

Printed by: Naksh Technologies PVT LTD. Phones: 011-25531191 E-mail: info@nakshtech.com Cover page: Mandeep S Dhillon Team:Students Magazine Coordinator-: Namrata Deol Editor: Bhawna Jaimini Associate Editor: Aviral Sinha Photography: Mandeep S Dhillon Graphics: Samarth Shrivastava Correspondent: Jasveen K Sidhu Team: Faculty Patron: Ar. Ranjeet Kaur Nasa coordinator Ar. Prabhjot Kaur Faculty Editor Ar. Ripu Daman Singh

Editor’s Desk Bhawna Jaimini 6th Semester Architecture Department G.Z.S.C.E.T Bathinda

Do we really have a choice? To follow our own created paths, to chase our own decisive destination, to move beyond the human created periphery of system, to dare to write our own rules and regulations. Yes we do have. But the changed face of Architecture today is not the by product of choices bestowed upon us, but by the execution of the responsibility that comes with the choices. Our profession has given us enough freedom to cast all our thinking possibilities and fascination into tangible models. We have exploited this freedom to the extent that we now feel trapped and claustrophobic in this extreme sense of limitless liberty. We are increasingly looking for boundaries and confinements to help us come out of this dilemma. But all we need to do is accept the responsibility that comes with this freedom. The idea is not to limit and put a halt to our ingenious but to give a whole new facet to it. This facet should not just be shaped by our individualistic aspirations but by the need of the society, by the need of the 1.2 billion people. Though the thought of complete elimination of idiosyncratic desires is impractical and illogical as just the tag of noble profession doesn’t guarantee a living. We are a capital oriented society and we architects are vulnerable to its predicaments which has forced us to limit our roles in the society.

In the past, Architects were great change makers, involved at every step of decision making but today we find our roles marginalised to a great extent. Indian Arch 2012 is an attempt to rediscover our position in the society by taking a note of the issues which directly or indirectly are an outcome of the fact that architects ceased to take up the responsibility granted to them by their noble profession. Hope it will ignite some change that is much more beyond movement forward.

Council’s Desk Ronak Gangdev Vice President NASA India Sourabh Marathe Advisor NASA India

We are delighted with this year’s publication of the Indian Arch magazine as it has set a benchmark for the future publications. As the Executive Council of NASA India, we are most grateful to Bhawna Jaimini and her team from G.Z.S.C.E.T., Bhatinda for everything they have done to make this publication possible. This magazine will, we hope, draw attention to the importance of traditional Architecture and Urbanism and create greater awareness of their place in India’s culture and the valuable ole they can play in today’s India. We also hope that as a result of the magazine and NASA India’s wider initiatives, it will be possible to demonstrate through various existing examples and research papers, how traditional Architecture and Urbanism offer practical solutions to today’s requirements and aspirations. At a time of rapid change in India, it is important that we do not forget how the built environment shapes our sense of place and self and how it reflects our culture and traditions. If we abandon our traditional understanding and ways of building, we undoubtedly risk losing much of our identity and culture. Thus, the theme of this magazine is “Architecture-for the people, by the people and of the people”. Moreover, we are simply by the fact that by harnessing simple, and often forgotten, techniques and technologies,

coupled with the enthusiasm and enterprise of local people, it is possible to rediscover solutions which have somehow been abandoned in the march of modernization and globalization. We need to learn from the underlying, and timeless, principles of the ancient built heritage of India and view the traditional built environment as a vital means of inspiring and improving living conditions in today’s India. Equally, if the teeming cities of this century are to have any future sustainability, we must rediscover the subtle principles which underlie the construction of all the great cities of the past. Even huge cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata can be –indeed, we would argue they must be-formed of small neighbourhood units, just as the body (our divinely inspired model for all we build) is comprised of small individual cells. They represent, in a very real way, the fundamental “building block” of civilized – by which we mean settled – human life. In particular, it is so very important that we recognize the role of traditional Architecture and building practices in creating buildings which are environmentally sustainable and which, through the ways in which they have been built, can respond effectively to the challenges of Climate Change. Such considerations are vital if there are to be sustainable improvements in living conditions for our children and grand children.

National Association of students of Architecture India

National Association of Students of Architecture briefly designated as NASA India is a student body one of its kind of the undergraduate students of architecture in India. Started with 7 colleges in year 1957, NASA India today brings together students from around 120 colleges in India and even abroad. NASA India strives to provide a platform for the students of architecture to interact with each other and practicing architects and to share their experiences and difficulties. This approach helps students not only gain valuable information in the field but also makes them aware of the new innovations and ideas. The association also aims to spread and promote the awareness about architectural heritage, environment and human settlement planning among the masses via multimedia exposition. It also attempts to give the rural masses design alternatives and low cost housing idea. NASA was established mainly to provide students a platform for Interaction, to bring together the creative minds and work for the society, to document our rich heritage at the same time document the arch architectural developments in the country, to provide design solution for masses like slum development, earthquake rehabilitation etc. Also to bring together students from various cultures together at a common platform and bring about the cultural, traditional, knowledge exchange and to bringtogether students from various cul-

tures together at a common platform and bring about the cultural, traditional, knowledge exchange. NASA India organizes various events like Seminars, Panel discussions, Workshops, National and Zonal level conventions to fulfill its aims and objectives. These events see students from various colleges participate and present their ideas and concepts with enthusiasm.Registered under Societies Registration Act 1860, vide No. 24786 as applicable to the National Capital Territory of New Delhi We can be contacted @ www.nasaindia.co.in

Principal Desk

Prof. (Dr.) Jasbir S. Hundal Principal G.Z.S.C.E.T Bathinda

It is a matter of immense pleasure for me that Architecture Department of G.Z.S.C.E.T, Bathinda is hosting “Indian Arch 2012, the official NASA Magazine” for the Annual NASA Convention. The editorial team has been working hard for the past six months to make this magazine a success and set a benchmark. I hope all of you will find a voice through this and will enjoy reading it. I deeply express my gratitude towards architects who took time out of their busy schedules and gave their interviews articles & works, architecture student fraternity across India for contributing their views and to the executive council of NASA India for coming up with the initiative of the “Indian Arch” magazine to help students find a voice of their own. These joint efforts of the students and their mentors will surely create the new path of awareness among the upcoming generations of new architects. I would like to advice Dear students, the future generations of Architects that they should not blindly tame technological progress but focus towards sustainable development in the context of solving the crisis of environmental degradation, resource depletion, energy consumption, urban sprawl…and many more predicaments posing threat to the survival of the present and the future generations to come.

I extend my best wishes once again to the budding architects for the Annual NASA Convention 2012. May all of you learn and enjoy to the fullest, winning back laurels and experience that will help you all in your life your star studded careers ahead.

Faculty’s Desk Ar. Ranjeet Kaur Head of the Department G.Z.S.C.E.T Bathinda Ar. Ripu Daman Singh Assistant Professor G.Z.S.C.E.T Bathinda

Architecture has always been a great source of learning which offers reflections of history, geography, culture and climate. New creations and designs having wide variety of building materials and design features provide a measure of achievements. Our Endeavour of Indian ARCH 2012, the annual NASA magazine is going to be unique……..being our first such initiative. This provides us an excellent platform for the Architectural fraternity at GZSCET, Bathinda to generate awareness among professionals about the key issues that we have to face. This magazine is more like a knowledge centre where contributions have come from all parts of the world, all age groups and varied professional groups. My thoughts often gravitate towards the year 1989 when the Department Of Architecture at GZSCET, Bathinda saw the light of the day. My mind travels in spirit with the great souls who were associated with the department and who exhibited a zest for life and selfless service towards education. We have learnt a lot from the exemplary lives of such enlightened persons whose knowledge knew no bounds.The inception of the Department coincided with the turbulent times witnessed in Punjab. Those tears have often also been compared with the beginning of new youth inspired social consciousness as well as campus unrest.

The heritage of the Department provides an insight into the past and new inspirations for the future. The institute has skillfully combined the environment for learning with new demands of the profession. Once named as “The Stricken Temple of Learning”, the institute has grown in stature with our esteemed faculty and Alumnus having served in key positions of repute throughout the world. The students have been winning accolades in various National and International level competitions during the various periods of growth. The selected writings, images, interviews and profiles are a conglomerate of key issues confronting the profession of Architecture. The articles offer variety in thought of intellectual minds which deserve great respect. The writings are an attempt to elevate awareness and generate excitement about the contribution of the authors. Awareness and Education can alone assure the continuation of our link with the key issues. Once we recognize the real importance of these issues, we may move into action, integrating them into the future fabric of our towns and cities. This magazine is an excellent opportunity for the editorial team led by Ms. Bhawna Jaimini who has left no stone unturned in making the presence of GZSCET, Bathinda being felt in the Architectural Community across the globe.

Inside Perspectives

Vertical Fringe Development Suhasini Ayer on High Rise The Vertical Spread Commuting the Cleaner Way The Alternative

Talking Point

Neito Sobejano Architects

In Focus

Raas Jodhpur Devi Art Foundation

View Point: Architects Form Follows Compromise Earth Architecture Architecture Today Mass Housing

Photo Essay

Liveability of Cities

View Point

Creative Clutter Infected Growth of an Idea Skin- A Sensation Immortality of the Mortals

Events

Zonal NASAs

16 18 21 23 28

37 40

44 48 52 56

72 75 76 78

Anangpur Building Centre

The site demanded underground, undulating and understated built form. To keep up with the traditional habitat, courtyard as a central feature was the starting point of the design. The mainstay of the design was the minimum intervention by way of sourcing materials. R.C.C. was used judiciously and not completely discarded. The natural contours were followed by the building program, blending the levels seamlessly with the use of similar materials inside and outside. To add to the unison of the place, whole furniture was built of masonry.

A place where common sense takes centre stage by Bhawna Jaimini

rchitecture should be left to common senses. At the first take, this connotation appears to be one of the thousands quotes one receives after typing Architecture on the search engine Google. Or it may have been spoken in or out of context by some great architect, thinker or a social scientist. But its association with the present day architectural practises cannot be imagined. It only appears to be completely inconsequential and passable without any relevance when compared to the present scenario. After all with the spree we are invading and building, who has the time to give in to the common senses? Aren’t we only concerned about being the part of the race to develop and expand? But there are certain practices which are committed to a far greater goal than building. They challenge the conventional system of development and yet refuse to be called unconventional. Anangpur Building Centre is one such place which garners practises embedded in our cultures and traditions, our daily activities, our thinking possibilities which we continue to ignore in the lieu of untamed and irresponsible progress. The centre is run by a man committed to holistic and

The eccentric and unusual approach rooted in the practices goes beyond the periphery of normal accepted wisdom and perception. The architectural vocabulary sharpened over years falls short of words to describe the “strange place”. In sheer bafflement, amusement and visual inertia, words like unconventional and avant-garde comes to the rescue. What else can be expected out of student who comes to know that the Rubik cube can also be solved to make a roof system and domes can take their form without R.C.C.?

sustainable development for over 30 years. It was built way back in the year 1993 on the outskirts of the national capital. When the other architects were vying to set up their practises in the heart of metropolitan cities, the decision to move into complete wilderness did raise few eyebrows. But the architect knew well enough about “how to create a garden out of wilderness”. Situated in Anangpur Village, Faridabad District, Haryana, few kilometres away from New Delhi, the Anangpur Building Centre is a “strange place”. From the choice of 10

“strange place”. From the choice of the site to the building materials, everything adds up to the strangeness for any first time visitor. The land catering the centre was bought from the government at 50000 rupees an acre. Such low prices were due to the site being intensely quarried and nestled in the rugged Aravalis. But the wasteland had every making of a dreamland. It had plenty of resources to give the initial impetus to the building program. Availability of Delhi Quartzite stone, easy access to the Badarpur sand, an infinite supply of ground water turned the wasteland into dreamland.

The centre proudly displays the funicular shell roof waste stone masonry which surpasses the R.C.C. slab even when subjected to 10 times the loads. It is a compression structure which minimises the use of steel and cement which reduces the cost of construction. The cube on vertex is truncated to give earthquake resistant framing solutions which work on the principle of triangulation. Even the standardization of brick size and its use is challenged.

Another important award winning technology developed by the centre is the hollow core interlocking blocks made up of paper and concrete. They are manufactured for walling solutions. A number of other technologies are being developed and harnessed by the centre to minimize the waste by the building industry and giving a completely different approach to designing and building.

Now almost 20 years old, Anangpur Building Centre doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem like a design drafted on paper, explained through plans, elevations and sections and executed by masons on site. It seems like a thought committed to a goal far bigger than just fostering the requirements of a research centre, office or a residence. The goal of preserving the past in the present, to safeguard the future.

1. Cube on Vertex roof over research centre cum office of the Architect 2. Plans and section of the residence 3. View of the drawing room 4. Twisted brick columns 5. Central courtyard of the residence

3 Photo and Text Courtesy: Mandeep S Dhillon

Pesrpectives

The Vertical Curse Commuting the Cleaner Way

Over

the years, more and more people are on the move, from central core to circumference; from clamor to calm; from downtown to suburban areas. It is an impelling phenomenon which forces people to move within the city rather than between cities. This has led to changing contours of our metropolises with real estate developers scrambling on the perimeter of our ever expanding cities and acquiring most of the fringe areas, otherwise occupied by lower middle class population due to lower land prices and rents. The real estate driven sprawls have developed into mini townships decorated with foreign motifs and named in foreign languages. The picturesque outskirts of our historical and traditional settlements have been occupied by these plush townships boasting of tranquil environs. Man himself is posing a great threat to the survival of living beings. Real estate developers, corporate giants, cultural confrontations, troubling conflicts combined with over exploitation of natural resources leading to adverse effects on our environment. The vertical expansion along the fringe areas has been quite haphazard and rarely regulated; thus putting burden on existing city infrastructure leading to non sustainable development. The vertical fringe development is eating out on the needs of poor people who are being forced to move away from their place of work thereby increasing their transit expenditure. To add up to the people’s woes, awful roads, poor sanitation, feeling of insecurity and

VERTICAL FRINGE DEVELOPMENT

A Telltale of the High Rise Phenomenon 16

people’s woes, awful roads, poor sanitation, feeling of insecurity and insufficient transportation result in disorganized development, with the new areas being viewed as disparate blocks rather than closely knit clusters.

As machines, our buildings have begun to look more and more similar, regardless of culture or climate. With machines as metaphors our buildings are fast taking on the characteristics of clinical assembly line productions.

By accepting the global corporate images for our vertical development, the practicing architects, mostly foreign, have clearly disregarded the regional context. The glass towers feature a composite blend of many Architectural styles signifying the desire to have global imagery, foreign facades and fanciful materials. These buildings put excessive energy load on the otherwise energy poor country like ours. The growing gap between energy supply and demand has worsened the already grim situation of the power sector.

An office building in Gurgaon now looks the same as an office building in Manhattan and both share the same “perfect” climate controlled indoor environment. At the same time, the loss of regional difference begins to undermine the uniqueness of place, removing us from understanding what local culture and climate have to offer. The architecture of the 20th century has seen the diminishment of the importance of art and “artfulness” in building and seen the emergence of engineering and technological solutions as the dominant factor in building 17

design, fitting for “machines for living in.” Unfortunately, like the machines of our age, our buildings use energy and materials wantonly, depleting resources and using energy in ways that is beginning to alter the very climate that we all depend on. In our haste to surge ahead with “progress” we lost the ability to discern between practices that are damaging to environmental health and those that are not. It isn’t our intentions that are wrong but rather the path we chose to get there. What is needed is a return to the old metaphor, one that respected regional differences and environmental health while embracing appropriate technologies than can give us the comfort, service and security we now expect. Continued....

High rise

will be a part of urban development for a long time Suhasini Ayer is an Aurovil-

lian Architect and is managing the architecture department of the Auroville building centre established in 1988. she has been working for the last 20 years on sustainable issues and has received several prestigious awards, such as the “Hassan Fathy Award”, and Honors Award for Innovative School Design from the “Design share”USA in 2003. Excerpts of the interview with Namrata Deol.

With

unprecedented pressures on material and energy resources, how do you perceive high rise phenomena in urban development?

Given the fact India’s population is increasing by 1.3% and a rural migratory trend towards the cities especially towards the top 5 metros for jobs, these two factors are making access to urban land critical. And as the value of urban land goes up… trend towards high rise is going to be more due to limited access to developed land. Cities cannot continue to spread beyond a certain limit without putting pressure on basic infrastructure, transport, water etc. So high rise will be a part of urban development for a long time to come till there is

allows more people to live equallyrich (socio-cultural besides economic) in smaller towns and villages with access to decent public amenities. Steel-glass-concrete…knowing how “resource intensive” it is … Do you think land scarcity is good enough a reason to let this vertical phenomenon eat up our roots? Instead of giving passionate statements about high rise is bad because of steel, concrete and glass by limiting our outlook to the present methodology of material usage, I think we need focus on potential of high rise in combination of cutting edge technology. Larger awareness and more citizens’ participation in the urban resource management could lead to a judicious use of high embodied energy building materials to maximise their potential; rather than the present system of using them randomly without proper analysis of operational energy management systems. Environmentalists who induce fear in the general public are actually doing us disfavour as this will produce fear based inertia and this will definitely not promote sustainability. Best policy to have a vision to bring about change in urban planning and management system which can be implemented incrementally in a manner that it gets popular support. Playing the blame game is counterproductive to bring about change! 18

Considering the number of initiatives in our country, sustainable high rise is a fact or a fiction? Here you have to go beyond the simplistic popular understanding of sustainability of equalling it to low-rise earth buildings of vernacular typology. Sustainability has several factors involved in it; like socio-economic impact, equitable access to primary resources like water and energy, right to education and health care besides conserving bio-diversity and clean air and water. Talking about urban functions like commercial, institutional, administrative, recreation, health and social there are factors like access to water and transport related, the most sustainable urban development will automatically mean better use of built up space, flexible functioning, less iconic spaces ,more multipurpose areas and technology. There’s no doubt high rise can be energy producer in the near future if we look at the cutting edge technologies that are coming into the market like thin film photovoltaic cells that can pasted on to your glazing, storing and reuse of latent heat, recycling within the building of sewage and using it on green walls, heating with solid waste. All these technologies are not yet in market like thin film photovoltaic cells that can pasted on to your glazing, storing and reuse of latent heat, recycling within the building of sewage and using

it on green walls, heating with solid waste. But this does not mean that I am advocating an indiscriminate use of all these technologies to drive the high rise development, rather these technologies could offset the negative impact of high rises when we cannot do any other form of development. So sustainability for High rise has to be looked differently than sustainability for domestic or rural architecture... it’s all contextual! With more and more cities fast catching up the urban league how do we relate the rich diverse cultural ethos of our cities with urbanisation? Cultural identity of a place is embedded in its climate and geographic location which dictate the food grown and consumed, habitat typology, language, dress codes and materials, festivals, recreation and composite of all these factors constitute a “Culture” everything. Therefore if the high rise in Punjab and a high rise in Trivandrum have been designed contextually in terms of space function and layout, it will definitely resonate with the local culture. The structural rigidity of a high rise has long been breached by the rigidity of our imagination that stand monolithic and therefore giving rise to the alienation of the urban population from the local cultural context How to relate government planning policies, slum population and ever increasing materialistic mindset of urban population for future development?

There is no such thing as purely planning. The acceptance of legislation politically and administratively is itself a complex process and even making changes in legislation does not mean that in reality it changes. There will always be somebody who can be bribed. So we are caught up in a situation where making changes is very difficult. In most of the urban cities the land holding and asset holding pattern is so interdependent that scope for large scale changes are rare. And in such a situation it’s not just the slum dwellers that suffer, middle, upper middle class, everyone suffers. People have to think so much in terms of income generation… that it’s not just a simple matter of planning and development. Slums exist because it’s economically viable for them to exist. For future development we have to make our cities more equitable in terms of land use because what we are constantly doing is the richer people who have access to transport, surplus income are the ones who are staying closest to the city centre and people having less financial stability are the ones further away. As an architect we need to break our insulation towards social awareness and generate more information based views then emotion based. Auroville has been an example for a sustainable, joyous and rich way of living .Despite all it still has an experimental status and is often tagged unrealstic. What’s your take on this? Auroville is about more elemental, essential, true way of living which is not 19

so dictated by the conventional social mores with the side effect of “kaun kya kahega”. Unlike other new cities which try to grow by offering better education / health or employment opportunities, Auroville has a specific spiritual purpose; therefore only people who would be seeking such a path in life would come to live here. Auroville is an international city in making where one of the purposes is to search for human unity within urban fabric involving all aspects of urban life. That means all the challeng es shelter, education, health, interaction between people who come from different cultures etc.etc. And how do-you actually live together without

sustainability for High rise has to be looked differently than sustainability for domestic or rural architecture...it’s all contextual!

externalized rules as given by any administrative or governing body; where people will collaborate and live together developing a self-administrating capacity that comes from a higher consciousness rather having the constitution, laws, police, the courts and prisons to manage the population. Any message you would like to give that will inspire the world we Young Architects are going to make for ourselves? The present generation of architects would need to comeo terms with the fact that “The Good days of the master architect are over, it’s finished and buried.” So even making emphatic statements like “high rise is bad” means that one is stuck in the judgemental past where issues and solutions were simplified for emotional appeal. There’s no such thing as a high rise dictated by an architect… it’s dictated by socio-economic, political situations and all other different pressures and an architect today is unfortunately only a service provider. He is not initiating govt. policies, he is not the job provider, and he is not the one who influences how the urban societies are planned and developed; which may have been true few 200 years ago. Over the years we have narrowed down our contributions in the society and as the result got marginalised to a role of a “diva” who is ornamental and not essential. The only way an architect today can change this is to take more social responsibilities then just being an emotionally temperamental designer.

Over the years we have narrowed down our contributions in the society and as the result got marginalised to a role of a “diva” who is ornamental and not essential. We must begin to realize that technology is not the limitation. In fact technology has given us access to critical information (locally and globally) and the tools to develop and analyze more options efficiently. A new architecture must emerge as an expression of climate and culture while being shaped by technologies that are bio-mimetic in nature. As Buckminster Fuller once said “we do not seek to imitate nature, but rather to find the principles it uses.” We can imagine whole cities 20

operating like complex ecosystems, processing water and waste while generating energy. The public of the next millennium will require that all buildings have zero environmental impact and maximum comfort. Exemplary buildings and communities will be restorative, pedagogical and inspirational Living Buildings”.

The vertical spread curse and cure

by Soumya Dasgupta Department of Architecture, Town & Regional Planning. Bengal Engineering & Science University, Shibpur.

Urban lifestyle in India is evolving

and is drastically adapting a new set of values, ideologies and beliefs. Whether this change will be for good, bad or ugly is yet to be perceived, but this change is going beyond our control. Architects are designing to offer a better lifestyle to the citizens; working for the people. But it is time to go beyond standards of living and consider revising our needs and requirements in the context of the everevolving lifestyle of the ever-growing urban India.

The Architectural images are always remembered by the people’s response and the spaces and forms imagined by the designer become reflections of time and context. The purpose of modern day development should be to improve the quality of built environment with more sustainable solutions. We must begin to recognize the importance of ecology and the rich unlimited offerings of nature for human well being. Man must create harmony for life by embracing nature, leading to more sustainable development. The new identity of our towns must be recognizable in style and character, with the judicious use of advancing building technology.

It is indeed the age of no compromise.We are doing more in quantity rather in quality. We have increased our per capita income but with an equal rise in corruption and black money business. We, in most cases are unaware of ‘whether we really need this’. We are taking more tests than our fathers, more pills than our grandfathers, working more than we should, and earning more than we can spend. And the more we are earning the more we are wasting and thus trying to believe that we are progressing to a better quality of life.

The article is authored by Ar. Ripu Daman Singh and Ar. Jatinder Kaur, Assitant Professor at G.Z.S.C.ET, Bathinda, Punjab.

We are doing more than we should, and we have no concern about this ‘should’. The high rise phenomenon is no exception. We are stacking boxes one over the other, extruding as much as we can and saying that this is an expression of wealth and status we are touching the sky thus

Photo Courtesy: Samarth Shrivastava G.Z.S.C.E.T Bathinda

he idea of a sustainable society where we are incessantly redefining our needs and demands to secure resources for the future generations cannot deliver without the incorporation of a sustainable transport policy. As the current trends in transportation are breeding on shaky grounds, contributing to climate change, energy insecurity, congestion, noise pollution, and ecological impacts. Widespread uncertainty exists about how to address the goal of an efficient transportation system.

we can and saying that this is an expression of wealth and status we are touching the sky thus making an Antilia with a good view of Dharavi. The contrast is tragic and shameful to look at if we are aspiring to be architects who are by the people, for the people. Even if we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t consider the gigantic differences between the slum dogs and the millionaires, what about the aam-admi? Our new BHK apartments are not enough room for our retired parents, but we have allocated rooms for 24 hours servants. The problems may be socioeconomic, but are we architects devoid of social responsibilities? Are we solely concerned to satisfy the realtor and not consider the fundamental functional requirements of Indian families? Just because we can stack rooms over rooms shall we not consider that, shall we? Will architects define the needs of habitants or should they provide for them if they are to design a better life for the people? The answer is obvious but the implications are not. The most cited reason for the high rise phenomenon is the rapidly increasing population density with the urban incapability of horizontal spread. The FSI system allows us to repeat a floor plan throughout the zaxis and elevators provide the means of communication. Thus we can house more number of people on the same amount of land. This technological breakthrough has indeed helped in handling the population burst to a certain extent. It seems that verticality is unlimited . we believe that with improved

standards of safety norms,more efficient fire protection systems, reliable resistance against earthquake threats, we caneventually grow as high as we wish. But we need to remember that natural resources are very limited. The most directly affected resource is the ground water whose level is decreasing rapidly in the metropolitan cities all over the country. This is because; over the same amount of land we have more demand of resources as we have grown vertically. Further, the more we grow up the total energy required increases too. Moreover in most mass housing designs, the advantage of cross ventilation is sacrificed and it overloading the artificial air conditioning requirements which in turn affects the ecological balance. 22

The verdict of a budding Architect As architects or would-be architects we should research and choose an optimized magnitude of vertical spread considering the social impacts, the energy requirements and the resource sharing proportions irrespective of technical limits. We should answer the needs of the people not of the realtor. Photo Courtesy: Jasveen Kaur G.Z.S.C.E.T Bathinda

A sustainable transportation system requires a culture that not only sees sustainability as vital but also accepts the inclusion of sustainability concepts in the transportation planning process and supports the decisions necessary to make it a priority. The public and policy makers in this culture should understand and consider potential solutions at both minor and major levels (for example, bus rapid transit and car sharing). This cultural acceptance should be supported by the provision of adequate and reliable transportation funding consistent with fiscal constraints. Legislators and policy makers should recognize that a sustainable funding source is needed to meet current mobility needs while addressing the debasing effects of transportation. ISSUES TO ADDRESS Many challenges lie along the path of achieving a system catering to the needs of both present and future generations. The nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transportation system has enhanced quality of life through increased access

COMMUTING THE CLEANER WAY

Achieving sustainable transport for indian cities to health care, education, employment, recreation, and a wide range of consumer goods. These These benefits have not been achieved without costs. The negative impacts of the transportation system include congestion; fatalities and injuries; noise, air, and water pollution; greenhouse gas emissions; diminishing energy resources; and biological and ecosystem damage. The challenge of a sustainable transportation system lies in minimizing these costs while offering unadulterated benefits. 23

Air quality regulations, for instance have resulted in substantial air quality improvements. Air pollution has not been eliminated, but air quality is better in most areas. However, consistent effort is necessary, even in areas where progress has been made. Air quality has improved, but increasing travel volumes require continuing reductions in air pollution. Numerous redundant impacts of transportation demonstrate the challenges faced in transitioning to a sustainable transportation system

Sustainable Transport Non-renewable Fuel Depletion and Energy Insecurity The current transportation system depends heavily on non-renewable fuels. The rate of consumption of non-renewable fuel is projectedto grow as travel frequency of the Indian masses is increasing exponentially. The challenge is in finding ways to reduce the rate of consumption of non-renewable energy sources-- including more carbon-intense unconventional sources of petroleum--through the development of renewable energy sources, improved energy efficiency of vehicles, and increased use of public transport. Congestion Congestion would remain an issue attracting hassle even if an energy

source were developed with zero harmful emissions and was renewable. Congestion worsens motorizedmobility. The rise in congestion is attributed not only to increased personal mobility and freight movement but also to a lack of adequate and reliable transportation funding. Congestion negatively affects the economic and social health of the nation and, if not addressed, will leave future generations without a reasonable level of mobility Ecosystem Damage Motorized mobility poses a threat to biological resources. The effects can range from the death of individual animals to the loss of critical habitat. Some impacts are localized, such as animals killed along highways, disrupted migration patterns,

The rise in congestion is attributed not only to increased personal mobility and freight movement but also to a lack of adequate and reliable transportation funding. runoff that pollutes rivers and streams, oil tanker spills, and plants affected by emissions. Other impacts are more profound, such as fragmentation and loss of species and long-term damage to ecosystems.

Discouraged Innovation Innovative transportation solutions that could address sustainability issues are often discouraged by inflexible and outdated regulations, rules, codes, and standards.Flexibility must be provided to enable minimization of adverse sustainability impacts. Insufficient Assessment of Impacts A more coherent and integrated road ecology approach is needed. Transportation planning, particularly in urban areas, is based on already adopted land use plans and objectives. Integrated transportation and land use decision making has not been analysed. Land use planning and zoning remain the prerogative of local governments that strive to optimize their own objectives, which often directly relate.

Indian Arch 2011

STRATEGIES Adopting a national statement of values and definitions on sustainability, including a transportation component with specific national objectives and performance measures that can support review and revision of the objectives. Possible objectives include the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sources via energy efficiency, reduction in the use of non-renewable transportation fuels, and support of no technological solutions such as incentives for use of no motorized transport and public transportation. Building consensus on a sustainability policy across all levels of government-national, state, regional, and local. To lead effectively in com 25

munication and consensus building activities across relevant agencies at all levels of government, the Department of Transportation will need to determine how to bring about this collaboration and how best to support the efforts of local governments to tackle transportation sustainability. Cooperating with other nations to address the global dimensions of sustainable transportation. With impacts that are global as well as local and regional, this inherently international issue requires that India to work cooperatively with other nations to address sustainable transportation effectively.

Use Existing Institutional Structure but Address Cultural Issues The existing institutional structure of transportation planning-state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, and local planning agencies-is capable of integrating sustainability objectives into the transportation planning process. Planning agencies nevertheless face cultural challenges that must be overcome to address negative transportation impacts. Cultural issues must be accommodated to enable the incorporation of sustainability- friendly solutions such as integrated land use and transportation planning, crossmodal planning, and full-cost pricing.

of sustainability is needed. Educational methods such as professional development and training; public outreach; institution building; information disseminatioand adaptation of elementary, secondary, and tertiary curricula should be applied to appropriate stakeholder groups. Planning professionals need to be provided with the information, resources, andand adaptation of elementary, secondary, and tertiary curricula should be applied to appropriate stake-

holder groups. Planning professionals need to be provided with the information, resources, and skills that can enable them to deal with the complex interrelated issues associated with sustainability. As example, curricula on sustainability should be used in elementary, secondary, and tertiary schools to inculcate values in the younger generation. Achieving a sustainable transportation system, one in which current social and economic transportation

Adopt Use of Inclusive Long-Term Vision in Planning Adopting longer horizons and visioning techniques in the development of transportation plans will enhance the ability of planning processes to integrate sustainability objectives. Standard 20-year planning horizons need to be extended to at least 40 years to incorporate future concepts. In addition, public involvement should be expanded to enable plans that reflect a communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision, have support from a broad constituency, and are therefore more likely to be implemented successfully.. In conjunction with visioning and longer planning horizons, back casting should be encouraged. Back casting involves working backwards from a particular desired future, or set of goals, to the resent. Education and Awareness To build consensus and institutional capacity, education in the dimensions

needs are met in an environmentally conscious manner, the ability of future generations to meet their own needs is not compromised, is not a straightforward task. Transportation system planners and providers need to work with and respond to market conditions, demographic changes, and political challenges; it will not be possible to envision achieving sustainability otherwise. achieving sustainability otherwise. Despite the enormity of the challenges, transportation planning can play a significant role in a mix of public and private actions toward the goal of sustainability. Annually, millions are invested to provide transportation facilities and services by governmentalunits in India. Still most current practices are still rooted in more limited,

Transportation system planners and providers need to work with and respond to market conditions, demographic changes, and political challenges

raditional technical methods, evaluation schemes, and time horizons. A national consensus concerning sustainability, facilitated by dialogue and technical assistance supported by the Department of Transportation, will be needed to ensure that the entire transportation planning community makes the necessary adjustments to integrate sustainability into planning practice. The article is authored by Aviral Sinha, under graduate student of B.Architecture, G.Z.S.C.E.T Bathnda Photo Courtesy: Bharati Vidyapeeth College Of Architecture,Navi mumbai. G.Z.S.C.E.T, Bathinda

The Alternative

by Grace Ansica Designed Environment Academy & Research Institute, Trichy

Modern

world has squeezed into a big family. Modern commerce and trade integrate this whole world in a big economic whole. There would be neither a world market nor globalization nor liberalization without the existence of reliable, impeccable and sturdy means of transportation. In this modern world reliant on transport, the prices of commodities seem to have completely been dependent on it. Making the most efficient and productive means of transport has been a dream of every nation and in order to live this dream many experiments are being carried out in different nation. All modes of transport are an inevitable part of nation’s infrastructure. Good physical connectivity in the urban and rural areas is essential for economic growth. India has always been on a back foot for its transportation services either it being public sector transport or private sector transport. But in the early 1990s, with the introduction of the globalization, India’s growing economy has witnessed a rise in demand for transport infrastructure and services. The Indian transportation scenario can be divided into two parts: traditional transport and modern transport. “Living in the lap of nature is bliss” In earlier times the above phrase was the practice of people. People used the easiest means of transportation which was free from

harming the environment. Some of modes of transport of the oldest times are walking, palanquin, animal carts, cycle rickshaws, etc. Walking was the earliest mode of transportation adopted by man. Earlier people used to travel long distances by walking. But with the advancement of technology people don’t prefer this mode anymore. In India still for short distances walking is used and the government of India is building many skywalks in the metro cities for the safety of the people. Bullock and horse carts have been traditionally used by people living in the rural areas. It is banned in many city roads because of its slow movement, but it is still used in rural areas for transportation. Bicycle also known as cycle or push bike was introduced in 19th century. In earlier days cycle was not so much popular in India. because of its cost but in 2005, more than 40% of Indian households owned a bicycle. India is the world’s second largest producer of bicycles. But till now except Pune government, no other government has promoted this kind of eco transport. Bicycle is considered to be low in status symbol, that is why it not popular amongst working class people. Cycle rickshaws were introduced in India in 1940s. It is still used by people for traveling short distances. But in the year 2000 many states banned the use of cycle rickshaw because of in creased traffic congestion. 28

Man has always been experimenting with the nature and technology. He wanted to create the best he can. All the hard work by man created new means of transport which transformed the living and trading between people. The modern transport is mainly categorized in four divisions: 1.Roadways 2.Railways 3.Airways 4.Seaways. Roadways are the most used medium of transport in India. India has 3.3 million km of road network and the second largest in the world. The road traffic accounts for about 80% of the passenger traffic a 60% of the goods. In this mode of transport buses, automobile, auto rickshaws, two wheelers Buses take up over 90% of public transport. It is the cheapest of all modes of public transport for all classes of the society. Earlier the buses used to be run on diesel which caused a lot of pollution but now the governments in major states have started C.N.G buses for low pollution and cheaper travel services Also government is building BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) and introduces A.C buses for intra-state and interstate bus service to promote the uses of buses. Auto-rickshaw is a three wheeler transport providing door to door services. These are costly than buses, but provide semi-private transportation. These are mostly run by diesel. But the Delhi and Ahemdabad government have started C.N.G rickshaws to reduce the pollution in the city. With the increasing problem of acute shortage of fuel resources and increase in global warming the need is

to make the mode of transport more sustainable and efficient. Many carsre being experimented with alternate fuel such as hydrogen, water, solar energy, L.P.G, etc. But these fuels require a huge infrastructure which is not possible without active markets for it. The 3rd generation hybrid car TOYOTA PIRUS is about to hit the market with advance fuel technology. Government of India has ordered the

car companies to manufacture cars that can work on 5 to 10% ethanol (which is a waste product), so that it reduces the quantity of petrol used. Many electric cars like reva nxg and Chevrolet beat electric will be available soon in the market. Government should promote the traditional ways of transportation for short distances as they are eco-friendly. To achieve the modernization of the Railway

system, the main thrust-areas have been identified as: (i)Electrification, (ii)Up gradation of tracks & bridges,(iii)Electronic communication & signaling and (iv) High speed – high load ability wagons and other rolling stocks.

Talking Point

Neito Sobejano Architects, Spain

FUENSANTA NIETO and ENRIQUE SOBEJANO are graduated Architects of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura Madrid and the GSAP Columbia University, New York. USA. They teach currently at the Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM) and at the Universität der Künste of Berlin, and are partners of the office Nieto Sobejano Architects.

They won the prestigious Aga Khan Award for their projects Madinat-Al-Zahra, Cordoba, Spain in the year 2010. You have been involved with a number archaeological extension projects such as the San Telmo Museum extension, Moritzburg museum extension and Madinat Al Zahra Museum. What is the driving force behind taking up these?

We are interested in the relationship between memory and invention: how contemporary arch tecture can establish a dialogue with the architecture of the past. In recent years issues related to architectural history had been forgotten in the architectural discourse. For us, however, everything has a grounding in history, and even when we are not working in a historical fabric – such as at Moritzburg, San Telmo, or the

FUENSANTA NIETO and ENRIQUE SOBEJANO

Islamic Madinat al Zahra ruins – the past is always present. At the Contemporary Creation Centre currently under construction in Córdoba, for example, the site is across from the Mezquita, a former mosque and one of Spain’s most important buildings. Consequently, our building makes reference to it. We are not interested in building in con¬text in the conventional sense, but rather in a more open way of thinking. We believe that a contemporary in¬tervention should manage to find the key to the existing fabric and attempt to add a new chapter to the overall development. Of course this is a difficult aspect of architecture. Nobody expects to extend a symphony by Beethoven or a painting by Velazquez, but everyone understands that even very important historic buildings can be altered or added to. In this respect architecture differs from the other arts.

Madinat Al Zahra Museum

In all these projects, you have worked with a restricted palette of materials. Where as the original structures are rich and opulent with marble floors, gold ceilings, sprawling gardens, doors carved of ivory and sculptures. How will you explain this? Materials and structure should be linked as closely as possible to the project’s overall concept. For the Moritzburg castle, for example, we wanted a lightweight element to contrast with the existing massive, heavy stone walls. That is the reason why we decided to use aluminum plates in the new roof. In the museum at Madinat al-Zahra the references were more direct. The walls are white concrete and

the roof is sheathed in Corten steel, because the building makes reference to the original 10th-century Islamic palace city whose facades werecovered in red and white stucco. We are interested in these types of relationships, not in a direct use of the same existing materials. In the extensión projects where a lot of rich heritage is involved, a number of constraints come into 33

play. How do you deal with them? Working in a historical context is similar to drawing a frame when we look at something and disregard other aspects. What one selects has, of course, a great influence in the way of seeing our architecture related to heritage buildings. To explain I would like to cite an example. . The underlyingidea for our approach to the Madinat al-Zahra project originated in our

Moritzberg Castle Restoration

recollection of an excavation site in Syria that we had visited with students many years earlier. The archaeologists subdivided the site in a classic box grid and steadily excavated the layers. We decided to proceed in a similar manner. That led us to a concept in which the project is to appear as if it has been unearthed, as the inversion of an archaeologist’s work. Madinat Al Zahra museum won you the prestigious Aga Khan Award in 2010. How important are awards and accolades in an architect’s career? Awards are recognitions that one always receives with pleasure, but not all of them have the same importance. In this sense, the Aga Khan Award is without doubt one of the most prestigious in the world, especially because it considers the architectural project as a whole: not only the building quality, but also its sustainable apaproach, the response and use of the community, and, in the case of Madinat al Zahra, it,s relation to the landscape, museography, and the past islamic culture so important in the medieval Spain.

“The sensibility towards environmental issues is closely linked to the architectural conception and identity of the project itself, more than to sophisticated technologies.” building materials and insulation, renewable energies and efficient mechanical equipments: but it should be, above else, a philosophy of design that is present in all aspects of the project.We believe, as we have experienced in several of our previous buildings,that the sensibility to wards environmental issues is closely linked to the architectural conception and identity of the project itself, more than to sophisticated technologies. The Madinat al Zahra Museum was conceived and built mainly under the earth, so that the natural light illuminates the space indirectly through

patios.Passive sustainable design decisions, such as deep narrow courtyards protect form the strong sun lowering the average temperature in the ground level. Being underground, the building has a large thermal inertia thusreducing significantly the use of traditional energies. The leading architectural idea and the sustainability goals are therefore inseparable parts of the same design concept. A similar concept was followed in other projects we have built, such as the Joanneum Museum extension (Graz, Austria) and the Lugo History Museum (Spain).

The problem are not the skyscrapers, but the lack of a sustainble approach that links architecture, materials and forms to the specific characteristics of each place. Architecture and place are deeply connected, and many new developments all over the world have tried to convince everybody that unif-formed globalization is more determinant that the cultural, climatic and topographic conditions of each place, which is not true.

Our buildings take up 50% of the total energy consumption. How do you deal with the aspect of energy conservation in your projects? The link between ideas and their materialization, therefore sustainability and design should be integrated in the general architectural concept and idea. In our work we are committed to operate with the lowest possible energy consumption, reducing CO2 emissions by means of adequate

On one hand we are talking about curbing and controlling energy crisis and on the other hand we are building skyscrapers across the world. Do you think we areworking up and building contradictory terms for future architects?

Lugo History Museum

Developments all over the world have tried to convince everybody that uniformed globalization is more determinant that the cultural, climatic and topographic conditions of each place, which is not true.

Every period is specifically characterised by its architecture but the present world is going through an identity crisis. What do you think? 35

We don,t like to be so pesimistic, the present world has also some advantages, for example the interchange of knowledge and experiences all over the world. Therefore, the new leading growing economies, such as India, have the great chance not to repeat the models and mistakes that the western countries have done in the recent past, and rather find new ways of expressing their rich cultural identity with the new contemporary development.

Text and Photo Courtesy: Yolando Paramo

IN FocuslOTUS Design

et in the heart of the walled city of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, RAAS is a 1.5acre property uniquely located at the base of the Mehrangarh Fort. The brief was to create a luxury boutique hotel with 39 rooms in the context of the Old city quarter of Jodhpur. The property was inherited with three decrepit period structures (17th-18th century) set in a large courtyard. The central idea was to make old buildings and the expanse of the courtyard the anchors for the Raas experience. The new buildings are placed into the site to serve as framing elements and as contemporary counterpoints to the site and the fort. The old buildings have been painstakingly restored with traditional craftsmen in the original materials such as lime mortar and Jodhpur sandstone. Since the footprint of these buildings was very small it was decided that these would be best used as shared spaces to be enjoyed by all the guests, such as the pool, dining areas, a spa, open lounge areas These old buildings also house 3 heritage suites.

Lotus architecture +interiors Lotus is a multidisciplinary design practice whose work seamlessly weaves interior and exterior spaces, from large architectural ideas to the smallest of furniture details. they take a deeply contextual approach to its work and combines this with a strong focus on the tactile and sensory qualities of the space. The design process 36

looks at sustainability through the through the multiple lenses of cultural, social and environmental impact. There is an active engagement in integrating localized skills and resources with state of the art materials and technologies.

The balance 36 rooms are housed in contemporary buildings that become framing elements to the site and strongly respond to the context. Age-old materials and skills are manifested as a contemporary and understated graphic form derived from multiple functional and programmatic parameters These new buildings are inserted into the site in a manner that they accentuate the spatial and formal relationship among the old buildings and the Fort, creating a dialogue between the old and the new.

RAAS Jodhpur Inspired by the age-old double skinned structures of the region, (the traditional stone latticed jharokha form of Rajasthani architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which perform multiple functions of passive cooling and offering privacy to the user) these buildings act as lanterns framing the site. INTEGRATION IN SURROUNDINGS The three 18th century buildings on the site - together with the fact that they were building in the old city provided a very strong contextual framework to work within. The idea was to retain a sense of connection with the old city and yet create the feeling of being in an oasis within the hustle and bustle of things. The core discussion centered around providing visitors a tactile and sensual and authentic experience of 37

Project leaders: Ambrish Arora & Rajiv Majumdar Design Team: Arun Kullu, Radha Muralidhara, Anuja Gupta, Ruchi Mehta Photographers: Andre J. Fanthome, Rajen Nandwana Total site area: 6,000 square meters Built up area: 4,000 square meters

The core discussion centered around providing visitors a tactile and sensual and authentic experience of living within the historical context of the old city of Jodhpur. This guided the planning and placement of the new structures. The property has been planned as an inward looking development reaching out to include the surrounding walled city in the experience. This has been done by the following gestures: 1. The sense of arrival – The sense of meandering through narrow bye lanes of the walled city has been extended into the property through the architectural planning. The new hotel wing acts like a second gate that holds on to the dramatic ‘reveal’ as the guest enters the main courtyard. 2. The monochromatic palette of the local Jodhpur Sandstone in all its hues and textures seems to make Bring the Fort into the site and make it a seamless part of the experience of the Hotel 3. The new buildings respond both to the heritage structures and to the organic form of the Blue walled city dwellings, without aping the old. 4. Almost all the rooms had to have a view of the fort. SUSTAINABLE ASPECTS Localisation - Crafted by over a hundred regional artisans and mastercraftsmen, the development – building and interiors - is conceived and executed using the fundamentals of sustainable architecture. This was achieved by restricting ourselves to a very tight palette of using locally

SITE PLAN

of the materials and people used on site have been sourced locally, most within a 30 km radius. Passive & Active Cooling/ Heating The new buildings are designed as double skinned structure with the outer skin being a “breathing” stone lattice wall that keeps out heat and a deep recessed inner skin of glass. The fact that Jodhpur is one of the sunniest cities in India has been harnessed and all hot water in guest rooms is solar heated.The air-conditioning system is Variable Refrigerant Volume based, amongst the greenest technologies available currently for air-conditioning .

Stone Jalis

Managing Water: All the rainwater runoff from the buildings and rest of the site is being harvested through pits that are an integral part of the landscape.100% of the wastewater generated is reused at site using a Sewage treatment plant. USE OF MATERIALS The story of Raas is created using ordinary, locally available materials. Jodhpur has a very strong living tradition of craft - stonework, woodwork, metal work and access to local craftsmen and artisans of the highest caliber.These simple materials were then worked on by a team of craftsmen to hone and transform into something extraordinary. This transformation is what imbibes a sense luxury to the hotel.Every element is handcrafted with a focus on simplicity, and function – beauty being the skill and care of the craftsperson that has gone in to creating the piece.

Devi Art Foundation The

project involved providing interior treatment for an office space which doubles up as an Art gallery. the intervention of the design team at the at the drawing board stage of architectural design of the building defined a highly integrated approach allowing the approach to tweak the architecture to neatly address interior requirements and visa versa. The line that distinguishes architecture and interiors was made to disappear. Approach The office building stands in great contrast to the spate of glass and steel building s in Gurgaon, a satellite city near New Delhi, India. The architect had chosen to work with cornet steel, concrete and fired bricks as his palette of materials. The material palette chosen for the interiors was an extension of the architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s palette such as mild steel, saw cut local wood, stacked plywood and paper. The basis of our design approach was honest application of the material and an almost naked nature of the interior where there was nothing hidden, nothing cladded. So no additional flooring, no false ceiling, no wall paneling, no veneers or laminates and no paints! Instead construcion techniques were explored such that they could sit comfortably together to offer a warm office space. Design Intervention The concrete floor being cast for the building was implemented with a vacuum dewatering process (VDF)

and treated with industrial sealers to provide for the final floor. The shuttering patterns of the roofs were provided with a definite texture to generate a play with light and enhance the linearity of the spaces. The linear quality of the building naturally led to a layout where the cabins were lined on the outer edge and the common workspaces spilled out on the inner edge. By lifting the slab under the cabin we could create a better connect to the central courtyard. Also provide for the air-conditioning to be tucked away without loosing ceiling height. A prefabricated skeleton like mild steel skin was inserted in the architectural shell, which integrated and gave immense flexibility for lighting, partitions for the cabins. The workspace furniture in mild steel and glass also integrated a linear lamp running across the corridor like space providing for the ambient lighting. The external skin of the building was constructed with corten steel wrapped on mild steel framework with a thermal insulation on the inside. The interior spaces were finished in saw cut local wood clad over the metal structure providing further insulation and bringing in the warmth. All the furniture was designed exploring the technique of stacking plywood sheets. Forms were generated and profiles cut to be pasted together with horizontal tied rods for 40

all the ledges, the work desks for the or the cabins, discussion rooms as well as the boardroom. Multiple variants of the same technique are expressed all over the office spaces. The reception area and the cafeteria also display furniture with mild steel and stacked plywood configurations. The metal trellis provides lighting in the cafeteria but also builds a relationship with the architectural walls which deviate from the parallel walls of the building.

Design Team: Arun Kullu, Ambrish Arora, Ankur Choksi, Kanupriya Goel, Mohammed Naushad Photography: Eye Piece Completion: 2008 Area: 20,000 sq ft.

View Point

Camillo Rebelo Satprem Maini Gita Balakrishnan Yatin Pandya

Form Follows Compromise Who dares to say this is formalism?

(Image 1)

FORM is one of the main themes in our discipline and has been discussed over and over because it is a very controversial topic. Should we work with existing forms or should we create and develop new ones? What makes a form contemporary?

Camilo Rebelo(above) is a portugeese architect with a diploma in architecture from Faculty of Architecture of Porto University. He worked as a collaboratar in Eduardo Souto de Moura(2011 pritzker Awardee) office.he established his own office in the year 2000 and has won many awards and accolades since. He won the Prize in the competition for the Museum of Art and Archaeology of the Côa Valley in the year 2007. He is currently the assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture of Porto University and invited professor in École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Forms are normally related with the time of their creation. I believe that technology is highly important on this issue because it allows us to make buildings with new dimensions and expressions. In the car industry, as an example, we can easily understandhe way the design changes, but the

spaces function, can influence directly the project’s body. In this case, the process to find the form can be compared to a sculptor at work.

the way the design changes, but the cars still have engines, wheels and doors – in architecture it happens the same but the progress is so slowthat it becomes even more difficult to realize. The architect needs to learn with the knowledge of past experiences and understand his own time. For this, the commitment between curiosity, availability and the interaction with all the architecture agents is absolutely crucial. When we talk about forms, it is common to focus mainly on exterior aspects – I would say, that regarding the project, we cannot forget these two limits, the interior and exterior parts. The interior spaces have forms as well and sometimes they are directly related to the

back to the exterior view, context is several times the reason for a certain form and expression of a building – from the beginning we need to work with ideas that will be developed to become something real – the final achievement is a synthesis that can express the fusion of the author’s criticism and the site’s atmosphere. Each project has a unique circumstance. The site is the architect’s field, where he works, where everything comes together.

my own experience I am not able to exclude one of the referred options. If context and program announce a specific form, something that we can recognize as a good answer for the problem, we need to accept this initial input to improve and work the spaces and typologies.

For a positive interaction it is important that the author/ individual knows himself, both in his potential and his limits, in a way that can create something transcendent and superior – creativity is a goal on our discipline. The author needs to discover himself and reveal his identity – the architecture he proposes needs to reflect his personality.

This process happened in one of our last projects, a primary school in Switzerland (Image 2) – usually we work with themes and in this case we were focused on a “Flower”. We were looking for some aspect from children’s universe. The flower represents joy and happiness on their drawings and, at the same time, because this building is located in the middle of farms, we were searching for a shape that could deal better with the “waving” surroundings. A children’s school should look as a building for children.

I believe that Form can arise as an element from the beginning orsomething that we will just know almost at the end of the project – both ways are possible and from

The other way is possible as well – the Form as a result, a constant search during the creation process. The main themes like, concept, context, program distribution and 45

In the Foz Côa Museum (Image 3), the formal aspects were a constant concern and during the process we were testing different ideas, to find the balance between the concept and the built form. For us it was important to focus on two aspects, the topography and the cave’s atmosphere. At the beginning we were working with the terrain’s curves, following the topography, and on that shape we introduced some incisions. Developing the project, we realize that a long triangular form would define a more appropriate relation with the topographyand the proposed matter. Also, the scale of the landscape was a main concern to find the form - in the end we just added a new piece to the existing mountain. The construction is our main goal on architecture – so, the construction moment means that we need to create an artificial intervention, where we need to change the existent. We need to propose and look for harmony and beauty, considering compromise and seduction.

“the commitment between curiosity, availability and the interaction with all the architecture agents is absolutely crucial.”

View PointArchitects

What is the function of forms? To seduce? Seduction, as Baudrillard considers, is closely linked to artificially. I believe that architects need to work on an artificial basis. So, seduction is a conceptual part of the project/construction process – I would dare to say that is a need. Forms should and can seduce us, involving and interacting with our senses – seduction is a crucial aspect on architecture, no matter if is orthogonal, curved, abstract or figurative. Should we indeed feel emotionally attached, both on a physical and sensory way, means that the work achieved a superior state, with an emotional compromise. The limit of the formal process is the existence 46

“the construction moment means that we need to create an artificial intervention, where we need to change the existent.” of this compromise, and if there is a strong compromise between the author and the forms of his projects, we can have a contemporary form. BAUDRILLARD, Jean – De la seducción, Ediciones Cátedra, 1981 (2007), Madrid, pag. 33.

Earth architecture to empower the people Earth has been used as a construction material for thousands of years. The oldest mud bricks ever found were produced around 9,000 BC at Dja’de El Mughara in Syria and the oldest traces of large human settlement, the city of Mari in Syria, date from the 5th millennium BC.

Satprem Maïni is a French Aurovilian architect and is the director of the Auroville Earth Institute. He is representative for India and South Asia to the “ UNESCO Chair Earthen Architecture, Constructive Cultures and Sustainable Development” He graduated in France and has a postgraduate master degree in Earthen Architecture. He is an occasional consultant of the United Nations and a member of CRATerre/EAG (The International Centre for Earth Construction, France). He works as an architect and builder, consultant, researcher, trainer and lecturer.

Earth techniques are varied and used worldwide: according to UNCHS/ Habitat, 40 to 50% of the world population lives in earthen dwellings. The Ramasseum, the oldest earthen building still standing, is about 3,300 years old and lies on the west shore of the Nile, near Luxor in Egypt. UNESCO surveyed that 17% of the urban heritage sites are built with earth. Between the end of the 19th century and the second half of the 20th century, skilled earth builders disappeared and we owe the renaissance of earthen architecture to the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy.Building with earth is a means to build affordable houses and to empower people by giving them the opportunity to build their habitat themselves through a community process. The examples of earthen buildings all over the world prove that this material is economical, long lasting and can promote an endogenous and sustainable development

Following is the arcticle on “Earth Architecture by the ArchiGreen architecture is now a leading tect. trend but most of the green construc48

Auroville Visitors centre Visitors Center of 1200 m2, built in Auroville Recipient of the 1992 Hassan Fathy’s International Award for architecture for the poor Built in 40 months from 1989 to 1992

tions are built with hi-tech technologies requiring sophisticated engineering that most people cannot afford. The challenge is now to make green buildings affordable for the poor.

Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children.

technicians are often left aside. Moreover, trained people in this field are not organized in an effective and collaborative network. It is an absolute necessity to link individuals together after their training to allow them to implement what they have learned.

The Auroville Earth Institute in Auroville near Pondicherry, researches, develops, promotes and transfers energy and cost effective earth based technologies. These technologies are disseminated through training courses, seminars, workshops, publications and consultancies in and outside India. Since 1990, more than 7100 people from 72 countries have been trained. One of the goals of the Auroville Earth Institute is to give everyone the knowledge and therefore the possibility to build their habitat themselves using earth techniques.

The Auroville Earth Institute plans to create a new school that would be the missing link between architects/ engineers and technicians/masons by offering various diplomas: a post graduate diploma in “Earthen Architecture” to architects and engineers from all over the world, a diploma “Earth Construction Technician” to educated people and a diploma “Master Earth Mason” to uneducated people. The vocational training of technicians and masons will have a special focus on allowing them to, in turn, be able to train others. This technology transfer to people from varied social backgrounds will ensure the

Only a few institutes in the world train engineers and architects in earthen construction but masons and 49

Deepanam School Built in Auroville With 6 classrooms and a multi-purpose hall It is covered by a segmental vault of 10.35m span, 2. 25 rise, and ~ 30 tons â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vault built in 3 weeks using the free spanning technique (without support) Built in 20 months from 1994 to 1996.

dissemination of earthen building techniques to all levels of society. The architect has the responsibility of empowering the people. He/she should be at the service of the society and its people. The architect should not be only a designer but also a builder and he should be able to build with people so as to give them the means to build their own habitat. Since its creation in 1989, the Auroville Earth Institute has been researching and developing stabilized earth techniques. The Auram equipment for building with earth and esp-

Karneswar Nataraja temple Temple honoring Lord Shiva Nataraja built near Auroville. The cloister dome is covered by a 14 m long pyramid. Built in 6 months in 2006. ecially the Auram Press 3000, is sold worldwide. It produces Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) that can be used in many different types of projects, from low income housing to luxurious homes and public buildings. CSEB can be used for load bearing structures and can withstand the load of four floors without concrete columns. Arches, vaults and domes can replace concrete beams and slabs, thus bringing the overall cost lower than conventional structures. Furthermore CSEB do not necessarily need to be plastered. Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks have many environmental and social advantages. As firewood is not needed for their production, choosing CSEB over fired bricks limits deforestation. If planned in advance, quarries resulting from sourcing soil on site can be converted into rainwater harvesting tanks, wastewater treatment systems, reservoirs, basement floors or landscaping features. The energy consumption for 50

a m3 of CSEB wall is about 10 times less than a m3 of country fired bricks in India (Puducherry area). This outstanding energy efficiency is a result of the very little quantity of stabilizer needed to produce CSEB. The production of CSEB is an easily transferable technology that can be learned in a few weeks. The Auroville Earth Institute organizes one week training courses that guarantee a complete technology transfer. This technology allows unskilled and unemployed people to learn a new skill and find a job. Building with earth and particularly with CSEB, which is a labor intensive technology helps reducing unemployment and allows builders to lower and allows builders to lower their dependence on imported materials which decreases the overall price of buildings. Earth is a sustainable construction material that has beneficial social and

economical impact on the community. The role of the architect and the construction process has to change. Bringing awareness, uplifting local skills and empowering local communities, are essential to solve social and economical problems.

Al Medy Mosque Mosque of 457 m2 built in the heart of Riyad in Saudi Arabia. Finalist of the 2007 Aga Khan Architecture Award.2010 First prize ÂŤ Prince Sultan Bin Salman Built in 7 weeks between January and February 2004.

People need to be more involved in the creation of their habitat and environment. They need to be given back the means to do it. In this process, the architect has a very important role to play. Text and Photo Courtesy: Alisee Michau Bauchard

Architecture Today The topic “Architecture Today” can

be addressed from two perspectives – “Architecture for Today” and “Architecture of Today”. In an ideal situation, when senses and sensibilities are what they ought to be, when market forces have not overtaken the dictation of construction trends, when there is a fair balance between demand and supply, when corruption and unfair practices do not override the need to build sensibly and sensitively – “Architecture of Today” would end up being “Architecture for Today”.

A graduate from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi Gita Balakrishnan completed practical training at the Centre for Building Performance and Diagnostics at the Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh , USA . She underwent a training programme on Stabilized Mud Blocks and other alternative methods of construction at Indian Institute of Science Bangalore . Consequently, she has designed and constructed many buildings using alternative methods of construction in Bangalore She has also actively participated in a compilation and cost analysis of houses in Bangalore built using cost-effective methods. This work was later published.

If one were to examine the scenario today, the situation is far from ideal and not surprisingly so, with specific reference to our country. More than sixty years of independent India have gone by and if a lay person is asked to name buildings that can be identified with our country or with specific cities, we would still get answers such as Taj Mahal, Victoria Memorial, Gateway of India, India Gate and the like. While it does speak volumes for the immortal value of these designs, it also indicates that we, architects, have failed in creating newer icons. That is so far as one speaks of monumental architecture. With reference to commonplace architecture, residential, commercial, industrial architecture too, one generally finds the same lack of an enriched repertoire. Even when asked to recall architects, one finds that post-independence masters, such as Charles Correa, B.V.Doshi, Raj Rewal are rightfully still remembered and recognized by 52

Indians at large but not many other names are familiar. It is essential to mention at this point that there are many architects, such as Sharukh Mistry, Soumitro Ghosh, Shirish Beri, Nimish Patel, Brinda Somaya, Christopher Benninger and many more who are doggedly pursuing the path of changing this through their architecture, which is heartening. It is an often repeated observation that global architecture seems to be the flavour of the day. Globally, “green” has become the buzz word. Stakeholders who hitherto, ignored or were in fact ignorant about the construction sector’s impact on the environment have suddenly been driven by the market to think green in all their projects. But then this market-driven green is fraught with its dangers too. Many not-so-green practices and materials have found their way into current green practices. Our traditional wisdom on building while keeping peace with the environment is being left behind. A new unfamiliar vocabulary has been unleashed. This needs to be handled with care and caution and materials have found their way into current green practices. Our traditional wisdom on building while keeping peace with the environment is being left behind. A new unfamiliar vocabulary has been unleashed. This needs to be handled with care and caution.

“Architecture of Today” will set the tone for “Architecture of the Future”.

The chaos will either get so unmanageable that it will lead to a collapse and change will become inevitable. Or else good sense and sensibilities will prevail well before and one will see recovery. I fervently hope it is the latter, although the road to any measure of redemption will be a long one. While the onus of good designed architecture lies on the architects, the need to work on the aesthetic sensibilities of the public at large is equally important. As Winston Churchill is known to have said “We shape our buildings and then our buildings shape us.” The well-known cult architects should help alter the preference of their clients since it is their voices that will be heard and they would be in a position to afford some sacrifices that may be required in the process.

Winston Churchill is known to have said “We shape our buildings and then our buildings shape us.” They should lead by example and also establish a new trend. The “power of one” cannot be demonstrated more than in the case of Laurie Baker who single-handedly, at least in the initial years of his life as an architect, demolished the myth that one architect cannot make a difference. He believed strongly in what he did and 53

did only what he believed in and that made all the difference. There are organizations such as FEED in Pune, INCITE (InClined towards Ideas Thoughts and Expressions (in Contemporary Architecture) in Bangalore towards Ideas Thoughts and Expressions (in Contemporary Architecture) in Bangalore, and Chennai Architecture Foundation that are successfully working towards documentation and dissemination of information on architecture through talks, exhibitions and publications. Efforts of this nature need to multiply manifold and open up the exposure to the general public, to people in decision-making positions etc. Magazine houses should also play responsible role in spreading the word on examples of design and construction

what one sees on the way to work, the experience of unwinding in the evening or over a weekend.We also are supposed to wield the power of moulding lifestyles. Is justice being done? Are we creating spaces, experiences, lifestyles that are positive enhancements? By the time one gets into the rat race, one finds no time for all the ideals one swore by in designs in college.

that can be emulated. It is found that sponsored articles are finding an easy way into magazines which is not the right way to go about architectural journalism. Responsible design of public buildings and spaces would be a good beginning to make amends. If the designs were made public with the intention of inviting comments and suggestions before execution of the project, as is the convention in many countries, it could result in better architecture. Local associations and national bodies of designers could play a key role in building public awareness, if only they took this as a grave need of the hour. When one speaks of architectural education in India, we are dealing with fairly mind-boggling numbers - 236 colleges of architecture, some with an annual intake of more than 80 students – resulting in more than 5000 architects graduating each year from college across India. Many of these students have not been primed about the field before choosing it and find that they are not fitting in well. Our education system is so inflexible that it is not easy for them to make any change if they realize this a year or two down the line into studying architecture. There is hardly any understanding among students at the school-level on what they can expect in the field of architecture, during the course of study and further during their lives as professionals. It is always advisable for only those who are passionate about architecture to study architecture. The objective of those planning and directing architectural education should be to bring out quality archi-

The stipulated practical training semester could actually be put to the use of understanding the profession and one’s role in it better; to grasp that every line drawn, every brick laid has implications not only for the building it defines but its surroundings, the community around it, the labourers who are building it,the factories from where the materials would be arriving, the trends, tects, even if only a few rather than a large number of architects, many of whom are lost on the field. This would also help in avoiding disillusionment of young professionals with the field. Hence, the process of selecting students to fill in the seats in colleges of

“It is found that sponsored articles are finding an easy way into magazines which is not the right way to go about architectural journalism” 54

architecture and design is of utmost importance. The curriculum in many colleges for different years of study does not adequately expose them to realities of the field. There is not much practical experience for the students and hence they are not educated on the choices available to them, the materials available to them, the latest technologies etc. The need to make a difference, the passion to understand how their actions in design influence not only their project but that the impact is more far-reaching is not instilled in them. One is told when one joins architecture that architecture is the noblest of professions. Yes – we wield a lot of power to change or make what one sees out of his window everyday,

the market, the environment besides just the client one is designing for. Every student, in fact every architect, should also consider spending some time, even if it is just six months, working for organizations that work with social causes, the urban poor, disaster-management etc. This, I believe would build in a sensitivity as a part of their design persona which may be alive even when they are consumed while working in competitive professional environments. Yes – there is no doubt that architects are powerful and many have often been using this power not-so-wisely. This power should not be used to continue the perpetrations that are visible all around us, to go on a personal trip of enforcing an identity on all our work while throwing all other important criteria out of the window.

If young professionals and to-beprofessionals were to pause and reflect on the current scenario in our architectural world they will realize that they have not inherited a treasure trove and any attempt to resolve the situation will mean a lot of hard work. But there is hope, if they make a picture of what they would like to see a couple of decades from now when they will be at the professional prime of their lives and work with determination towards that healthy picture. Spread messages on that picture and influence more to join the bandwagon to bring in that change. There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it’s easy. “Remember: if you do not choose to lead, you will forever be led by others. Find what scares you, and do it.

Mass Housing: A paradoxical idiom of Identity within conformity Is mass housing about massing the

Yatin Pandya born on 6th July, 1960, is an author, activist, academician, researcher as well as the practising architect, with his firm FOOTPRINTS E.A.R.T.H. (Environment Architecture Research Technology Housing). Graduate of CEPT university, Ahmedabad he has availed Master of Architecture degree from McGill University, Montreal. He has written over two hundred articles in National and International Journals. Several books authored by him on architecture, especially “Concepts of space in traditional Indian architecture”, and “Elements of space making” have been published internationally.

houses or housing the masses? Perhaps little bit of both as housing inherently is saddled with apparent dualities of quantitative versus qualitative dimensions. I.e. shelter versus home. With housing shortages estimated at 24.7 million in the year 2007, and expected to rise to 26.53 million by the eleventh planning commission, quantitative dimensions of housing cannot be ignored for countries like India. It becomes even more imperative when 99 percentage of this shortfall is for the EWS (21.78 million) and LIG (2.89 million). As against housing built every year remains only in the order of 1.5 million and that too primarily for the affording group. Overwhelmed by these numbers the policies and products remain driven by the quantitative dimensions rather than qualitative. Quality here does not necessarily refer to strength, light and ventilation translating into shelters, but rather refers to the appropriateness and fit to user’s ways of life and aspirations translating into homes. House is a visible symbol of family’s identity. Hence, while it gets conceived as standard prototype and 56

Such choices in the form of feedback and a “one to one” interaction with the architect is possible in individual houses but in planned mass housing projects, where the sponsor (agency or promoters) decide and they themselves provide, the end user is almost always anonymous, faceless and therefore “invisible”. Any form of dialogue or interaction between the actual user and the designer is nonexistent resulting in a “quantitative”, “product” oriented approach to housing, characterized by monotony, repetition and rigidity of form that gives rise to stark, stale and impersonal environments.

produced as mass replication, house essentially calls for the individuality, identity and flexibility to adapt to different user needs over time. Although, a house is a relatively simple assembly, it has immensely complex and variable uses. A house is not merely a shelter but embodies the values of the users, and forms an integral component of neighbourhood fabric as well as the entire social milieu. The behaviour of people is generally congruent with the settings and patterns of culture. It is a basic human desire to express one’s identity and individuality, be it in his costume or a building. In particular, the home which not only reflects the identity of a family but expresses a dynamic process of life as people’s needs and priorities for housing change over time along the family cycle and changing circumstances of city life. The dwelling is an act. Its dynamic process and personalized nature makes it inevitable that the problem to be tackled will change continually. The recognition of housing as a “process” rather than as a “product” makes it critical to allow for user participation and the freedom of expression. Only if people exer-

In contrast to this, squatter and traditional settlements, where users decide and users provide, by virtue of their spontaneous development, organic growth, and the freedom to build, offer a wide range of variations in their layouts and facades. These variations reflect the tradeoffs made by the users with regard to their needs and priorities founded on their socioeconomic background. These variations give identity to a place, enrich visual experience and animate life.

cise their choices of selection will they begin associating with a place. User participation in the housing process includes the entire spectrum of decision making, ranging from physical design and programming, to construction, finishes and supervision, to its subsequent management and maintenance. Varying with the context, the scope of such involvements mean the select-

ion of a dwelling location, choice of a building type, say in the activity programme, suggestions over the size and shapes preferences for space organization, selection of materials and finishes, partnership in construction and supervision, freedom of expression, control over the management and maintenance, potential for changes, growth and expansion and so on... 57

Being aware of the fact that a “one to one” dialogue is not going to be possible in mass housing, it becomes an additional challenge for the design to provide housing suitable to the individual user. The task is to identify a threshold for sharing decision making between the user and the designer. There are a few methods and generic approaches to provide options and create variations even in mass housing projects. Generally speaking, these are built in flexibility, catalogue

of options is important because the range must have variations which are not only meaningful to the user but also are within a common vocabulary thereby ensuring that the end result is not an incoherent collage.

A house is not merely a shelter but embodies the values of the users, and forms an integral component of neighbourhood fabric as well as the entire social milieu. of alternatives, and assembly of a kit of components. Built in Flexibility In this approach, the basic layout is flexible enough to facilitate the alterations and additions made by the users in accordance with their specific needs. The built-in flexibility of the basic layout allows for different uses and life-style requirements of the inhabitants. This approach demands an in-depth understanding of the user group, on the part of the architect, to be able to identify the “constants” and the “variables”. The layout needs to be flexible to allow for incremental growth for varying family size and financial resources; space organizational variations for different family backgrounds and lifestyles; and space subdivision for changing family composition and activities.

Structural systems, space articulation and dimensional modulation of building components are some means that allow for this kind of flexibility. For example the L shaped plan profile allows for flexible orientation and swapping of functions within flanges. Space organisation in bays allow for overlapping permutation combination. While, slab beam and frame skeleton structure allow for partitioning flexibility through structural system. Catalogue of Alternatives This approach provides the user with a range of alternative layouts from which a selection can be made. The user then chooses the one closest to his requirements and priorities. In this manner, some choices are offered to the inhabitants. In this approach, identifying the right range 58

These alternatives must include choices for different dwelling types to suit various family life styles; organizational differences in the form of introverted or inward looking house versus extroverted or outward looking house for varying family backgrounds and functioning; and basic form variations such as classical, vernacular, traditional or modern for individual preferences, aspirations and contextual needs. This approach is often employed in part by the private developer by offering basic layout types and allowing internal variations from these to users or by allowing choices of finishes from the given palette.

components can either mean a kit of rooms and activity spaces with different organizations and dimensions range; kit of furniture with different layouts and combination, a kit of facade elements such as wall, openings and projections, etc. or even combination of these. The most basic kit of components desirable is fenestration, facade projections (balcony, zarokha, veranda, otta etc.) and embellishments like railing, planters, panelling etc. Challenging as these approaches may seem, they are still very essential and as such absolutely viable. Here are a few resolutions representing the diverse set of approaches, in varying extents of their flexibility and participation, in different contexts of time and space.

Vernacular house forms, may they be pols of Ahmedabad or streets of Rajasthan, very effectively manifest this concept of plurality within mass production. Here column, beam, brackets, chhajas, parapet, windows, panelling etc were produced in mass, even though hand crafted, and were used in varied combinations. This approach offered specificity and identity to each home by unique combinations at the same time ensured overall conformity of the streetscape through standardised palette. Even as building types they have internal courtyard as well as external veranda, making it introverted or extroverted, to suit varying notions of privacy for varying activities, users as well as time. Which is why even after centuries the same mould has been effectively adopted by rich and not so rich, Hindus as well

Assembly of Kit of Components In this approach, the basic components of a house are identified and a range of variations is given for each of these components. The user chooses from the given range one particular set of elements that suits his needs best. Different combinations of the assembly of elements result in variations in the built-form, both in their layouts as well as their facades. It becomes extremely critical in such a method to identify the right set of elements and their meaningful variations.

as well as the Muslims, and then as well as now. Le Corbusier has adopted ‘bottle and crate’ approach in Marseille block where skeleton concrete frame is the constant condition for each house but houses have variety through layout choices as well as partition flexibility. This not only offers varied functional spaces within but also the unique spatial qualities with light condition and enclosure scale. Additionally he has also used laminated boards in facade panelling in modules whose combination again makes facade composition and opening positions varied. Habitat 67, by Architect Moshe Shafdie in Montreal, has precast prefab concrete units mass manufactured. But their stacking has sixteen permutations and combinations providing variations of sizes, terraces, internal volumes as well as spaceactivity relationship. All these render each home unique without affecting service efficiency or standardised/industrial mass production mode. Nakagin tower in Tokyo is an example of the utmost standerdised industrial mass production process with constrained insitu operations. As yet, it demnstrtes the diversity of units through three dimensional massing around the service core and choices of wall panels as well as entry point to dwelling. Personalisation by the users is well integrated in the design concepts of LIC housing at Ahmedabad, by Balkrishna Doshi, where these adaptations by individual inhabitants were

Depending on the context these components can either mean a kit of 59

including the site plan. i.e. orientation of accesses, plot location on site, choice of neighbour, nature of clustering as well as provision of amenities. This was arrived at through three dimensional simulation tools such as Styrofoam model as well as interactive processes of discussions and feedback. The units were also built through self help within constant parameters of size, unit types and adobe construction blocks. Each house not only became unique and perfect fit to userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs and aspirations but also generated sense of belonging.

foreseen, encouraged and accommodated through, frame structure in living room for divisibility options, use of bright colours to trigger personalisation through surface renderings and individual terraces for diverse outdoor extensions. Aranya low cost housing at Indore, designed by Vastushilpa Foundation, as sites and services approach has provided for the choices of how or how much to build to an individual owner within the standard footprint. In the demonstration houses it has provided for permutation and combina-

tion of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;kitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; consisting of the building components such as doors, windows, railing, projections and stair. The permutation and combination transforms each of the seventy two units unique over the same footprint. Housing by Atelier Five in Switzerland have offered varied building types in addition to partition flexibility. The combination of this freedom along with the overall massing created by the contoured site and scooped out circulation spines and group open spaces have rendered the ensemble humane in scale and vibrant with impromptu activity. 60

Tulip bungalows at Ahmedabad by VEE design has adopted practical approach of arriving at few basic layouts as footprints, for the up end housing, but has made variations in external interface and facade forms for the same footprints, translating each house unique in looks and allowing people the choices of form and image to identify with. Post earthquake rehabilitation at Gandhi nu Gam, Ludiya by us was an exploration of participatory design pro cesses where users were involved in the decision making processes-

These design approaches offering choices and possibilities of house form variationsto inhabitants within the mass production mode not only enrich the street facades and its external character for lay perceiver but also help the users express their identity. This arouses a sense of belonging essential to the healthy development of any living environment and its subsequent maintenance. The point is not to negate the role of the designer but rather to recognize the user as a potential resource and therefore involve him as appositive design development tool in the process. It is imperative that we stop assuming housing to be a product whose worth lies only in its physical qualities but instead visualize it as a process whose worth lies in the relationship between the object and the user; a perception that will help us transform houses into homes, shelters into symbols, clusters into community, enclosures into events and buildings into living environments.

A teashop owner in Chandni Chowk

proudly remembers his childhood days in a village of orrisa, where he grew up with his 5 siblings in an 8 bedroom house. He now lives in a small room of 8’ x 8’ with his wife of 2 years. On asking him why he left the comfort of a big mansion, he sighs and says “ bada ghar pet nahi bharta, bada sheher bharta hai”. Millions of people across India migrate to cities everyday in the lieu of “roti, kapda, makaan” which only our cities can endow with. But is it fair to expect so much from our cities? Is it fair to compare them to the likes of Shanghai and New York? Why is it so easy for us to step into the shoes of over demanding parents giving their child a rap on the knuckles for performing average in one of the subjects? Indian Arch explores different shades of cities across India and brings out the reason why they should be loved for not being replicas of over developed skyscraper cities.

Cities Through The Lens

1. A child walks in front of a museum in Jaipur 2. Back lanes of Old Delhi during mid day 3. Dying entertainment acts. tapemaster searching for audience 4. Procession sharing space with vehicles on a flyover during wee hours

6. Streetscape of Jaisalmer 7. Deadend of a street 8. Rural acquainting the urban Photo courtesy: Aviral Sinha Samarth Shrivastava Mandeep S Dhillon Neeru Dhawan G.Z.S.C.E.T Bathinda Rahul Ramesh BITS Mesra

View Point Students

“Creative” Clutter

THE DAWN OF THE ERA OF FRAGMENTATION WHY CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE IS CLUTTERED by Anu Pallavi and Chanchal Bhatacharya M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore

Theories

from architectural history are frequently instructive, revered, and have existed since the antiquity. But as further advancement came and publishing became easier, there was an unmatched amount of work published in journals, magazines and books in the twentieth century. Consequently, architectural movement and styles came and disappeared rapidly, they did not stay longer as they would have in history. No political party being able to get a clear majority in our country, unlike in the past, is quite apparently indicative of very fragmented thinking by the people. As everyone is becoming more and more cautious of their own rights, their choices are going from being interdependent to independent of all grounds; moral, political and social. Architectural theories are being surpassed every day, and individualist pursuits are manifest in architecture too! Since the number of parties are involved in the construction industry now has multiplied exponentially, including the architects, town planners, builders, contractors and labourers, occupants, and clients, their ideas of architecture is becoming increasingly different and as a result, architecture is taking a new

and radical appearance for its own sake! A classic example is the Antilla residence of Mukesh Ambani. While some might think it is a royal waste of resources, the builder and occupant claims it is a “modest” and “fitting” residence for his 162 member extended family. It is the world’s most expensive residence for no rational reason! THE

“GREEN”

MASQUERADE

A spate of green skyscrapers has shot up in the last few years, as people learn that buildings account for more Carbon Dioxide emissions than any other single source. At the same time, we’ve seen a rise in green washing by companies recognizing the market value of green and making false claims to fit the category. In an exemplary meeting of these two trends, we witness a building in progress in Mumbai that calls itself the greenest of all the buildings in the Maximum City of 13 million people. If ever there were a literal interpretation of a deceptive green façade, this it! Renderings of the 27-story Antilla building depict a high-rise that couldn’t be greener. It’s covered in foliage, with living walls enclosing all four sides, hanging gardens and green rooftop. Just a few days ago, the architects boasted about its environmental features – primarily 72

in architecture, how culture takes into account “the global good” and this is probably why studies on culture and philosophy are well taught alongside building in architectural universities.

that the walls of plants will increase green space and combat urban heat island effect. But look behind the green façade, and as far as we can tell, there’s nothing else sustainable about the materials or construction. Architecture firm Perkins and Will doesn’t include the project on their site, but this week mentioned no other green features besides the literal green! The building will stand on Mumbai’s Altamount Road, where real estate costs as much as $1800/ square foot. Although Mumbai is the densest city in the world, with almost 30,000 people per square kilometre, this 500+ foot tall building will only be 27 floors where normally a building of this height would be 60, so that each floor can have exceptionally high ceilings, and 35,000 square feet of the entire building area will be the residential quarters of the Ambani’s single family!

There is the notion that contemporary Architectural theory has rooted from post-structural literary studies due the vast influence of philosophy and culture. As a result, architecture has taken a radical and new appearance for its own sake. Since the twentieth century architecture has materialized partially due to the increasing rise of globalization and urbanization and partially due to the practical realization of the need of dissimilar totality of a city. A part of the architectural profession, and also some non-architects, responded to Modernism and Postmodernism by going to what they considered the root of the problem. They felt that architecture was not a personal philosophical or aesthetic pursuit by individualists; rather it had to consider everyday needs of people and use technology to give a liveable environment.

Sustainability is most commonly defined as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Unless this goal is applied to everyone, it’s impossible for us to have a sustainable global society. Sustainability is about humanity as much as it is about greenery. Living walls are lovely, but they’re not a free ticket to environmental integrity.

INCLUSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES: The Design Methodology Movement involving people such as Christopher Alexander started searching for more people-oriented designs. Extensive studies on areas such as behavioural, environmental, and social sciences were done and started informing the design process. As the complexity of buildings began to increase (in terms of structural systems, services, energy and technologies), architecture started becoming more multidiscipli ary. Architecture today usually

Earlier, this was not the case! Architecture was considered as a common opinion of people and was fabricated and designed according to the choice and based on the taste of the masses, because it was by the people, for the people and from the people. Currentcontemporary architectural discourse theory focuses on the role of culture 73

requires a team of specialist professionals, with the architect being one of many, although usually the team leader. During the last two decades of the twentieth century and into the new millennium, the field of architecture saw the rise of specializations by project type, technological expertise or project delivery methods. . In addition, there has been an increased separation of the ‘design’ architect from the ‘project’ architect, showing fragmentation of work and more efficient delegation. But we have chosen to ignore the fact that with more delegation comes more opinions and more choices deviating from the common goal. Hence our buildings are becoming a product of a clutter of ideas! Sustainable practices which were at the core of vernacular architecture should be the driving force of design, providing inspiration for environmentally and socially sustainable contemporary techniques. The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system has been instrumental in this. But instead of looking to make greener buildings for a global good, builders are increasingly seeking the green building “tag” from LEED, just for its marketability and value! An example of an architecturally innovative green building is the Dynamic Tower which will be powered by wind turbines and solar panels, but one building which hides under the fake green façade is the Antilla residence. LEED must spot the not! THE NEED n an age of ever increasing urbanization with massive immigrations from the country side to the city, Asia is a

the country side to the city, Asia is at a crossroads. Either existing urban architectural models will be recycled to accommodate increased populations with devastating effects on land, infrastructure and environment or, new models of architectural development will be formed to take on the specifics of Asian urban development. Development of ideas and theories suiting urban growth and architectural form related to density, liveability and sustainability specific to the rapid and exponential growth of urbanism in Asia is the biggest challenge we are facing right now. Asia has to house people living and working and sets the stage for tremendous research and investigation into urban density, verticality, domesticity, work, food, infrastructure, nature, ecology, structure, and program – their holistic integration and the quest for visionary paradigm will be the challenges of this urban and architectural era. In the congested cities of Asia, the problems of urban sprawl, traffic con74

gestion and pollution have threatened the prospects of biodiversity, greenery, liveability and general wellbeing of the inhabitants. OVERCOMING GREED Asia going vertical in this scenario of lack of land space, housing countries with the world’s largestpopulations is very justified unlike western countries which are putting up meaningless tall structures with no need or occupants for them. Asia should be the one rightly seeking design solutions for a balanced environment for urban life where public amenities and work opportunities are within easy access. And for this, we need skyscrapers which are really green to the bone. Inclusive decision making should be inculcated but not to an extent where the irresponsible rich are allowed to construct unethical structures of vanity and self-indulgence. Everything should rightly be BY the people, FOR the people, and FROM the people!

Infected Growth of an Idea by Rishi Vora Academy Of Architecture, Mumbai

rchitecture that we see around these days, though is termed as “FOR” the people, it hardly is! It is the architecture for the architects themselves. Sometimes the products we produce empower the whole idea of dharma -”the real nature” of an architect. Architecture then becomes a mere display of context – devoid of ideas, which employ some alien technique for its manifestation, which serve nothing but the ego of the authors trying to propagate it for the very reason. The Dance Academy project gave an opportunity to place the user first- the most significant actor in the entire design process. The site- a ruined fort in Talegaon, near Pune , on the banks of the river Induri, which encompasses a couple of Temples within, still in use by the people of villages abutting the fort wall. The idea was to create an Academy which responded to the

existing fabric of the place, which would act as a hand in the existing glove, perfectly fitting in the place, complementing it rather than overpowering it. Even the core functional spaces devoid of a typical dance”form”,were developed onthe basis of the essence of different interpretations of the dance forms ,thus giving the user the opportunity to choose the dance, he would be taking up into practice from his very experience in each of the spaces. Devotion, Expression and Experimentation were the different dance forms’ interpretation that were recognised and manifested intospaces. This way the spirit of the user is valued rather than pushing him into a forced medium of “dancing”. This was a space with dual user, the villages using the temple every eve evening as well as the students en75

A sense of privacy for the students is valued as the same time not compromising on the sense of community triggered by the temple around itself. The river and the fresh air is made open to students with a double layered housing scheme wherein the students had a continuous layer or running balcony around the roof line which circled the inner courtyards and well as created a semi public space vertically. The two inner courts responded to the idea that there would be dance performances in the centre which the running balconies would serve as a viewing point for others. Through these attempts, a sense of habitat and a sense of identity is expected to grow within the dance community. Even the kitchen for instance is planned on the “pang at” type of dining inculcating, again, a sense of community and oneness. Even the construction is modern in the sense of spirit of use of materials, still the materials and the technique used is familiar so that even a local mason with burnt bricks can read the drawings and start to work. Use of filler slabs with glass bottles as the infill, use of exposed brick masonry, use of Bamboo as reinforcement are some of the techniques using the same locally available materials, which radically cut down the cost of maintenance and introduces a local vocabulary for the entire project. Thus this project aims to be a product achieved by the hard work of the user themselves. Hence here the role of the architect is to put the missing piece of the puzzle together rather than being the game himself. Here he infects an idea into a place and lets it progress and evolve.

SKIN- a sensation in Architecture by Amrita Sabhapandit Chandigarh College of Architecture ,Chandigarh

Skin is the cover that conceals and

reflects. It plays the role of the ‘first sight impression’ creator. So is it in case of buildings. Buildings communicate their function and status through a language of visual signs. A building with a steel and glass curtain walled facade reflects it to be a commercial centre whereas, a building with a cross on the top automatically signifies that it is a church. In the 20th Century the first “zipper” sign was hoarded in New York’s Times Square in the year of 1928. It was an illuminated bulletin board that transmitted the day’s headlines. Communication system was added on with dynamism. Not only the brick and the concrete but data reflected also started to help in communicating. Today, it is mostly in the form of advertisement that moves in the facade, but what if the building could actually respond ;it had a virtual life! Being confined by the other aspects architects and designers have finally concluded and decided to provide sensation to the building through the skin. The world’s biggest beating heart A pioneering “living skin” is the Blinkenlights project, in which Europe’s largest hacker group turned a building in East Berlin into a nocturnal public electronic doodle pad and game board. The system was strikingly simple; to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2001, the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) gained access to

the Haus des Lehrers (“House of the Teacher”) building in Amsterdamplatz and installed a 150-watt lamp mounted on a tripod behind each of the 144 windows of the upper eight floors. Each lamp was connected to a control centre on the eighth floor via a relay on/off switch and cables snaking through the building (5,000 meters of cable were used in total). From dawn to dusk for 23 weeks, the building’s 144 windows painted white for translucency were transformed into a monochrome 8 x 18 matrix, each window becoming a pixel with an on/off value controlled by a software system built in Gnu Linux. The CCC described Blinkenlights(the name is hacker jargon for the flashing frontpanel diagnosticlights on on public ground:” Passersby couldemail or phone in simple animations or play Pong with another caller, using the web-based “blinkentools” developed by the programmers. The project was so popular that it was further developed (using dimmer switches to allow grayscale images) for the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris the following September and “reloaded” at the Haus des Lehrers in 2003. Blinkenlights’ iconic throbbing heart became something of an international symbol of optimism amid the dour days following September 11, 2001. Kunsthaus Across the border in Austria, a more 76

curvaceous living skin was being developed for the new Kunsthaus Graz, a bulbous, creature-like building designed by architects Peter Cook (cofounder of Archigram) and Colin Fournier with Spacelab.UK to house an art museum for the city of Graz. Cook and Fournier’s competition entry had envisioned a membranous exterior that allowed occasional glimpses of action within: “signs, announcements, short sequences of film or images,” but with funds and time rapidly diminishing, this looked likely to remain a vision. Another Berlin-based architecture group, named

‘Realities: united’, founded by architect-brothers Tim and Jan Edler, who proposed turning the building’s entire curving blue acrylic glass façade into a media screen called “BIX” joined in. Although the installation was to be permanent, requiring a more durable set up than Blinkenlights, the basis of BIX was equally low-tech: a matrix of 930 ring-shaped fluorescent lights behind a 20 x 40 meter area of the translucent skin, each acting as a pixel controlled bycomputer. The ring lights could be dimmed, or varied at a rate of 18 values per second, but the display was of extremely low resolution.` Jan Edler says that high resolution screens become outdated so quickly that the building wouldhave been sporting obsolete technology almost as soon as it opened. Besides, it was a highly complex shape and they were looking for technology that was cheap enough to cover most of the outer surface. Equally important was establishing an economic model for sustaining the screen as an appropriate display surface for an art museum, rather than a source of revenue. the museum opened in 2003 with a specially commissioned series of sound installations synchronized with a lighting program developed for the exterior.Since the display system was developed before the skin was constructed, the living skin is highly integrated, giving the impression that the images emanate from within the beast itself. The tricky part, according to Realities:united, is sustaining an interesting level of commissioned work on the surface and not succumbing to the temptation to hand it over to the museum’s sponsors. When the museum’s director rented the façade to a local newspaper to celebrate its

100th birthday, the system’s creators and some local residents were incensed enough to complain. Chastened by public disapproval of its dalliance, BIX has remained commercial free since. Buildings that breathe All of the projects discussed thus far are based on display systems, a reflection that we are still in the midst of a “society of the spectacle.” But what if the building’s façade could physically change! It somehow brings in mind the idea of the ever-multiplying rooms in Mark Danielewski’s novel House of leaves Columbia University architecture graduates Soo-in Yang and David Benjamin, whose, firm is called‘The Living’, have developed a prototype wall that “breathes.” Exploring the idea of architecture that responds to internal or external conditions with movement, Yang and Benjamin came across shape memory alloy technology (SMA) metals that temporarily change their shape at certain temperatures. Deliberately avoiding the use of fanciful 3D renderings in favour of real working prototypes, 77

Benjamin (in collabora-tion with engineers at Columbia) built a prototype window that, on exposure to certain levels of CO2, automatically opens to allow fresh air to flow in. The window canbe surprisingly thin, and free of bulky mechanisms. When CO2 reaches a certain level, the wires contract, pulling open slits in the polymer. The future of architecture is enticingly acquiescent and collaborative. Without intense collaboration with artists, designers, programmers, and engineers it is almost impossible for architects to produce buildings responsive to a data feed. For this the building has to have a public canvas on which to see their creations come alive. Source and Reference: 1)Intelligent Skin 2)Living Skins: Architecture as Interface by Peter Hall

IMMORTALITY OF THE

has to be placed in north south direction with the head towards the north. The pyres are covered by a basic shelter roof to climatic conditions. It also has Samadhis of the two famous Advaita gurus- Shri Ranjit Maharaj & Shri Siddarameshwar Maharaj. These were the places where these two priests were buried. These have now become a place of pilgrimage and worship for the followers of these gurus.

MEMORIES OF MORTALITY by Saurabh Mhatre Academy Of Architecture, Mumbai

The poet Maurice Maeterlinck said

in 1911 about cremation: “Purified by fire, the memory lives in the heights as a beautiful idea; and death is naught but an immortal birth cradled in flame.” Cremation is the most literal societal disposal of the body- the most final method. Cremation it embodies the idea of “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The body is burned to a dust, returning it to the Earth from which it was born. The warmth and light of the fire erase the darkness and death, taking the soul to a new infinite birth. The memory is the only remnants; all physicality has disappeared, so the soul is free from all Earthly bounds. Fire becomes a triumph over the darkness of death; it is an illumination of the unknown, making the previously dark perpetual death brightened by eternal life. The crematorium becomes a physical manifestation for memory. It also embodies the idea of transition of the soul or memory to the next world or plane of being. It is a place for metaphysical transition, a place not only for ‘memorialization” but also a link to a world or existence beyond the Earthly. The crematorium is in a way a manifestation of the cosmos- the unknown. The crematorium is about trying to hold-on to the idea of someone’s of

life after they have died. Ironically in Hindus the cremation involves the act of burning which is the fastest way of physically degeneration iof the deceased, which involves the fastest detachment of the soul fromthe body, thus the fast way of emotional and psychological detachment from the deceased. Cremation leaves no physical remains, thus the idea of the necropolis seems to disappear, and the garden of memory is all that remains. The site is situated on Malabar Hill one of the seven islands of early Mumbai. The crematorium is the only 78

one in ward D. The site with its prominent north south orientation has a sea on the orientation has a sea on the west. The Banganga crematorium is the only crematorium in Mumbai which is located on a part of naturally sloping ground towards the sea. The site has major historical importance because of Banganga tank and Walkeshwar temple which is merely 200mts away. The site has three wood pyres, used for open air cremation. The orientation of the pyres is in the north south direction as the body while burning

There are memorials built by the affluent, in memory of their relatives who were cremated at the site. There is a temple of Lord Shiva on the site, which is also a regular place of worship for the locals. There is an infant burial ground on the site where children bellow the age of 11/2 years are buried.—(reason why infants are not burnt is because their spirits have not lived long enough to grow attachments to this world.) There is a main office building where the BMC officer is seated and the booking and receipt counters are situated. The Shiva temple, Samadhis and memorials are placed in the east west direction. The site also has an access to the sea to perform post- cremation rituals. There is also a wood storage building where about 5 tons of wood can be stored. There is also a small residence provided for the caretaker on the site. The northern part of the site consists of area which is not utilized. There are different user groups visiting the site, each user group has a different purpose to visit the site. The purpose of each user group is distinctly different which makes them have completely different

experiences at the site. Relatives of the deceased. Worshippers/ pilgrims Management Locals The physical hierarchy of the site 79

changes according to the different user groups.

Events ZONASA

ZONAL NASA ZONE-2

ith the support of Indian Institute of Architects - M.P Chapter & Indore Centre, the School of Architecture, IPS Academy, Indore has proudly hosted the Zonal NASA Convention “ARGHA “ reawakening values on 23rd,24th and 25th September for zone 2.

Hosted by IPS Academy, Indore

The theme for the convention is “ARGHA – Reawakening Values”. which is a unique concept which reflects the rich culture of Architecture & Aims to rekindle the values within every individual towards the appraisal of serving the human life form in a design lifestyle. With an ultimate amalgam of ideologies of the 1200 footprints of 20 colleges from the zone, the three day convention had a dash of pure fun and enjoyment and takes the knowledge and experience of budding architects to the next level. The inauguration of the convention was done by the eminent architect Sharukh Mistry followed by the Chairman of IIA M.P chapter Ar. JitendraMehta, chairman of Indore Centre Ar. Sanjeev Bumb and by the President IPS, Academy Indore Ar. Achal k Choudhary. The release of the college magazine “Voyage” along with the LIK publication was done by NASA India Advisor Sourabh Marathe and the other dignitries on dice. Later the evening proceed with the presentation by Ar. Sharukh Mistry and then the fashion show (trophy) organized by NIFD Indore. Followed by DJ Night. Workshops on - Geodesic Dome, Photography at Mandav, Clay and Scrap metal, Siporex Stone and wood workshop took place in which the delegates shown their keen inter 82

est and comes out with fruitful results. Prominent Architects like – Ar. Shahrukh Mistry, Ar. Vivek Bhole, Ar. Shubha Shukla, Ar. Umesh Wakele, Ar. Sanjeev Joshi, Ar. Jitendra Mehta, along with the other eminent architects from all over India, graced the convention and enhanced the knowledge of the students. Several Competitions both Formal and Informal were organized for the entertainment and participation of the delegates. The convention come to a close by the announcement of the Annual NASA Convention 2012 by Ronak Gangdev Convenor, Vice President NASA India which is then followed by the trophy distribution and momento presentation to all the deserving colleges and the eminent architects for their support in making the convention a success. At the end of it there was a rocking performance by Junkyard Groove which bids farewell to all the participating colleges. The overall event was a great success and takes the zonal NASA to higher level and contributed towards awakening the values of architecture for budding architects. The event was life time cherished moment for the host college.

Reubens Trophy : Citation - SCET, Surat Special Mention - IPSA, Rajkot Special Mention - Rizvi COA, Mumbai Special Mention - BVPCOA, Mumbai Cultural Trophy : Citation - SVIT, Vasad Special Mention - IPSA, Rajkot Special Mention - MSU, Vadodara

Fashion Show : Citation - BVPCOA, Mumbai Special Mention - Rizvi COA, Mumbai Redesign Trophy : Citation - IPSA, Rajkot Special Mention - Rizvi COA, Mumbai Special Mention - CANS, Nashik Overall Winners : 1.IPSA, Rajkot 2.BVPCOA, Mumbai 3.Rizvi COA, Mumbai

1. Students in a presentation 2.Ar. Jitendra Mehta rewarding the winner 3. Dj Sam and Bonjoqui 4. LIK publication launch 5.Fashion Show 6.Ar. Sharukh Mistry

Text and Photo courtesy: Gunjan Badjatya Convenor Zonasa Convention, zone-2

ZONAL NASA ZONE-4 Hosted by College of Engineering and Technology, BBSR 3

Experiences are seldom expressed

in words because language is the most imperfect vehicle of human thought. Varied experiences come in many colors. And in many hues. They go as quietly as they come. But some stay on. Forever. Hosting the Eastern Zonal NASA was one of these.

With a meager strength of 53 students in our department and a shorter span of time, pulling out such a grand event was indeed a task impossible. Wriggles, giggles, quarrels and reconciliations became a daily affair. Sponsorship for the meet was a tall order. To convince the sponsors that their money won’t go waste was like selling ice to Eskimos! We had to make use of all kinds of connections to build pressures on our paymasters. Few of us who were frequenting to different sponsorers had to digest humiliations

and the kind of treatment one would never think of. But as the first cheque of Rs. 8000/- came, we felt a little assured. Little confident. Of ourselves and our efforts. Gradually, with the help of faculty and alumni we could accomplish the target money set. Funds started pouring in thereafter. When one issue got settled, another issue cropped up. Department decoration. It started with shaky hands. There was little time. Day in and day out, the only thought that prevailed was to make our decoration as attractive as possible. Thoughts and hands quarreled within us to get the best out of us. We drenched in colors. Event management was yet another challenge. Without taking the help of professional event manager, we took the task upon ourselves. But it was found lacking experience. 86

So our super seniors came to our rescue in managing the show. Their presence was reassuring. The ‘ODESSEY’ magazine of our department released on the 10th of October demanded the magazine team’s creativity, dedication and devotion in such a short span. And their out of box concept was definitely surreal! The D-day came with the onset of 10th October, 2011. Fingers crossed, we started the event with a warm welcome. The 9 colleges’ flags waved, rejuvenating our dog tired souls. Events then started on a full swing. The colleges participated on with new enthusiasm and the surrounding was enchanting. The enabling atmosphere converted our 60 days’ toil into fruition. The extravaganza turned out to be a grand event. Appreciations on our efforts by the guest colleges were indeed rewarding.

1.Cultural night 2.Registeration Desk 3.Launch of ODYSSEY Magazine 4.Folk Dance 5.Fashion Show Text and Photo Courtesy: Saswat Mohapatra U-Sec College of Engineering and Technology, BBSR

Rewinding a few months back we

still remember the weird expressions that we had on our faces when our USec was happily announcing that we had won the bid for Zonal NASA. It was then we started working, started to plan out events and weeks of continuous hard work was what it took to finally pay off. Three days of hustling activity seminars, workshops, events and a lot more of bits and pieces. The inaugural ceremony was enlightened by renowned Architects and Academicians like Ar. Krishnarao Jaisim, Prof. H. D. Chaya, Ar.Chetan Siva Prasad, Prof. Ravi Anand, Prof. Satish Rao, etc. The second day kicked off in full swing with seminars by prominent architects and events were held all over the 300 acred campus.

The dance performances and the fashion show took place in the evening. On the third day workshops and seminars by Prof. Selva Raj, Prof. Satish Rao, Ar. Chetan, etc.,stood apart in terms of the subject they dealt with. All the delegates participated with high spirits and great enthusiasm. As the host college allowed musical instruments, all the colleges had the campus rocked for all the three days. Many new colleges celebrated their first NASA. All the participants had a great time. Those 3 days of convention were the toughest and restless days out of the whole 2 months which involved immense hard work and struggle for making the convention a success.

thankful to all those helping hands who helped the stones of ZONASA roll successfully in Acharya Nagargarjuna University.

1.Stage Set-up 2.Release of the magazine 3.Over-all winners, USD Mysore 4.Workshop

The Main Design Trophy KL Society Gogte Institute of Technology, Belgaum.

The host college i.e. ANU college of Architecture and Planning is very

ZONAL NASA ZONE-5 Hosted by Acharya Nagarjuna University, College of Arhitecture and planning

Zephyr (fashion show) MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru

Expression (dance) KL Society Gogte Institute of Technology, Belgaum.

The Reubensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Trophy Goa College of Architecture, Goa.

The overall trophy University School of Design, Mysore.

Text and Photo courtesy: Joshua Joel Unit Designee Acharya Nagarjuna University

NASA India

Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology, Bathinda

GIANI ZAIL SINGH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, Bathinda is the first institute in Punjab established with the full funding of state government in the year 1989 when the hon’ble Governor of Punjab Sh.S.S.Ray laid the foundation stone on 23rd October, 1989. Initially set up as Government Engineering College, it was converted in to an autonomous institute in the year 1992 and a “Board of Governors” (BOG) was constituted to manage the affairs of the College. The Chairman of the “Board of Governors” is the Chief Executive for technical education in the state i.e. Hon’ble Minister of Technical Education and the other members of “Board of Governors” includes eminent Industrialists academicians and senior representatives of the state Government. The College is affiliated to Punjab Technical University Jalandhar and provides an excellent academic environment under the able guidance of well-qualified and highly dedicated faculty.

Namrata Deol

Aviral Sinha

Nasa India Publication Cell is established by NASA India in the year 2011 for the promotion and publishing of students work complied for various trophies, events, thesis etc. The idea of NASA India Publication cell was to form a platform which will help students become accessible to the typology and thought process of various colleges across India.

Editorial Team

NASA India Publication Cell

Bhawna Jaimini

Mandeep Singh

Samarth Shrivastava

Jasveen Kaur