Seminars on Architecture 2011

Seminars on Architecture Presented by Students of the Department of Architecture

School of Planning and Architecture New Delhi 2011-12

Published by the School of Planning and Architecture 4 B Indraprastha Estate, New Delhi, 110002 India

Copyright 2007 School of Planning and Architecture Limited Edition Printed in September 2012

Series Editor: Dr. Ranjana Mittal Production: Shoma Mathew, Prayash Giria and Nakul Jain Event Coordinator: Dr. Ranjana Mittal, Prof. Jaya Kumar Inside Cover: Batch Photo on Timer set by Siddharth Suri Printed at: Dr. Ashok Kumar Head of Physical Planning Publication of Space Journal

Contents Acknowledgments Editorial Paper 1 The F word in Architecture Aditya Wallabh, Anupama Saha, Asim B. Mandal, Ridhima Mehrotra, Sneha K. Paper 2 The Devil and the Deep Sea Anshu Chaurasia, Ekta, Ekta Wali, Ksh. Rajkumar Singh, Kunal T. Gaidhankar, Susmita Jain, Vinutha Ginjupalli Paper 3 Let’s Not Talk About Aesthetics Nakul Jain, Kanika Ahirwar, Nakul Jain, Saumitra Sinha, Shinjita Roy, Shoma Mathew, Suri Krishna Siddharth Paper 4 The Arrogance And The Ecstasy Akshya Singhvi, Digvijay Singh Rathore, Karan Prasad, Rattandeep Ahuja, Sneha Jaiswal, Swati Sharma Paper 5 Animate Form Aastha Singh, Abhishek Behera, Hardik Panchal, Prayash Giria, Surjmani Laishram, Swagata Paul Paper 6 People | Power | Possibilities Abhinav Gupta, Abhiram Sharma, Abhishek Singh, Arpita Ghatak, R. Ramya, Shilpa Dahake, Vidhya Gopal Paper 7 Crafting Thinking Dwelling Anil Kumar K, Arun Cherian, Naveen Jose, Nishant Kumar Paper 8 Rethinking Vernacular Architecture Amit Singh, Ankur Roy, Nishant, Sugandha, Suman Saurav, Tarun Kumar

Acknowledgments On behalf of the entire batch we would like to thank our seminar coordinators Dr. Ranjana Mital and Prof. Jaya Kumar for their initiative and perseverance. We also thank all the faculty advisors and chairpersons who spared their valuable time and experience. Their presence lent immense maturity to our ideas.

Compiling these seminars was a learning experience in more than one way. It was challenging yet exciting and the outcome is something we are proud to present. We hope our ideas and expression delight you.

Editorial Design as a vocation in India, has survived much criticism over the years to emerge as a popular mainstream profession. One does not evoke the same shock in peers and elders these days by choosing to pursue a profession in fashion design for instance.

Recently, (in the last couple of decades), the whole of India simultaneously went under construction. While it is a good omen, a sign of prosperity and development, it can spell disaster if not directed in a constructive manner. The change in perception towards architectural design comes in good time. With the country’s public image in transition, were wearing the badge of “developing nation” to excuse the rubble that is India right now.

There is hope, to salvage a good end out of this phase, through intelligent changes in the design process that we as architects execute. Because, there will never be enough architects or designers to address each stack of Italian villas that mushrooms in the suburb, nor will it help if all architects disown the construction industry tagging it too commercial for their taste.

Change needs to be incorporated into the way we “think design”, hence the theme rethinking design dictates the stream of thought for the compiled seminar presentations of our batch. A few years hence, let’s not find ourselves sweeping the shambles of a culture under the carpet, while we serve sentence in a cheap imitation of what we think is desirable.

Shoma Mathew (Editor)

The F word in Architecture: Feminism and the present crisis of architecture Seminar held on November 2nd, 2011

Presented by: Aditya Wallabh Anupama Saha Asim B. Mandal Ridhima Mehrotra Sneha K.

Chairperson: Ms. Meena Mani

Faculty Advisor: Mr. Sudipto Ghosh

Resource persons: Mrs. Anupama Kundoo Mr. Badri Narayan Ms. Chitra Vishwanath Ms. Hirante Welandawe Mr. K. T. Ravindran Ms. Katherine Guyot Ms. Madhavi Desai Ms. Manjari Sharma Mr. Manoj Mathur Ms. Mona Chandra Mr. Riyaz Tayyibji Ms. Wendy De Silva

Introduction Architecture is a subject which demands to be understood in context: that is, within the context of its production (society, economics, politics, culture) and the context of its consumption, representation and interpretation (different academic disciplines, interest groups, institutions, users). In the light of enormous and rapid shifts in theoretical, historical and critical debates, particularly with respect to feminism, understanding architecture in relation to gender demands an urgent contextualisation. This is specifically relevant in a fast shrinking and a seemingly egalitarian environment with men and women enjoying equal rights.

A major change in thinking about gender, feminism, space and architecture has occurred in the last few years and it has become vital to place current discussions within an intellectual history, enabling some understanding to be gained on the basis and development of these contemporary ideas. The purpose of the paper is to provide an introduction to issues of gender as they pertain to architectural studies and to see how such an issue may impact the current practice and the trends in architectural education.

Today, many would argue, and correctly so, that the situation for women within many professions, architecture included, needs improving. Education has indeed expanded and diversified and become less sexist. However, the presence of very few female architect icons, confirms that the profession has managed to sustain its chauvinistic image. Statistics do nothing but

reinstate the point. Even though the ratio in architecture colleges is split even, there are less than half registered female architects in India as male.

Further, more than 30% of these do not end up practicing architecture full time or part time.

Throughout history women have not been thought of as doing ‘real’ work.

When they were paid for their work, it was little as compared to their male counterparts. They were employed “in the lowest paid, least stable and most unrewarding occupations” (Honeyman & Goodman, 2002). Women were forced out of the public work arena by men who felt threatened. The type of work that women could find was that of “unskilled, low status, poorly paid, seasonal, and irregular.”

(Honeyman & Goodman, 2002) Why has this neglect of women and a clear chauvinistic approach in the practice of architecture not been discussed enough in the professional circles or our classrooms? Certainly the male-dominated canon and population has much to do with it. But ignorance and naiveté will be architecture's loss as the practice and concept of feminism becomes one of the more transformative movements of this century, paving new directions for the twenty-first. (Azherton, 1996) This study also focuses on Modernity in architecture as a masculine construct..

Foregrounding rationality, truth and transparency from the irrational, false and mysterious, male modernist architects surreptitiously denoted such

values as masculine by words such ‘heroic’, ‘brutal’ and ‘the noble savage’.

Understanding the works of forgotten women architects like Eileen Gray, who were able to demonstrate Le Corbusier’s “Five Points of Architecture”, much before Le Corbusier himself could in Villa Savoy, allows us an insight into the movement and challenge the preconceptions surrounding it.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the issues of gender difference as they pertain to the discipline of architecture. This paper

also aims at understanding the modern space represented as pure, mathematical and benign as gendered, complex and violent, and thereby hopes to present modernism and the subsequent architectural practice in a different light.

Finally the study looks at the current crisis in architecture brought about by a form-centric and visual predilection and suggests that a different paradigm of thinking about architecture is required that might require a less masculine worldview.

History of Feminine Freedom The period of Enlightenment of the 16th and 17th-centuries gave us the concepts of logic and reason and provided the stimuli to challenge the conservative dogmas of NeoCatholicism. The ‘truth’ discovered through reason, freed women from the shackles of corrupt institutions, such as the Church and the monarchy, which misguided and subjugated them - bound them to the household. The concept of “feminine freedom” also became central to the newly independent United States, and in Europe under the French Revolution. (Stoneburner, 2005) The Industrial Revolution (1700 A.D. onwards) further changed social structures dramatically (Stoneburner, 2005) and capital came to the forefront of discourse, such as in the communist manifesto of 1948 that speaks of the repercussions of replacement of human labor by machines. It stated “the more the modern industry becomes developed, the more is the labor of men superseded by that of women.”

(Seymour-Smith, 1998) In 1848 AD, Karl Marx pioneered Marxism, a socio economic theory, which emphasized equality for all through a classless, stateless social system. Through the 1950s, rise of departmental stores all over England and France made women, participants of the urban space, making it, as elucidated by Theresa McBride in 1976, “morally and socially acceptable for women to be seen in public on their own”. (McBride, 1976) Thus tracing a timeline of women empowerment, we find: 1873: Mary L. Page becomes the first woman to earn an architecture degree in the University of Illinois at Urbana-

Champaign, U.S. 1888: Louise Blanchard Bethune became the first American woman to work as a professional architect.

1897: Julia Morgan becomes the first woman architecture student to be enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts, in Paris.

1910 AD onwards, Modernism.

Modernism Modernity was based on the immutable principle which in reality governs all things.

Modernity accepted these principles in their most universal sense. It was this notion of universality that contrasted it with tradition.

It refused to blindly accept the superstitious dogmas of the past and aimed to redefine the socio-economical and political structure of the society. (Armstrong & Zegher, 2006) Hence Modernity was based on the virtues of: 

Rationality



Transparency



Liberation from the shackles of the society.



Universality between class, culture and gender.

The pioneers of modernism are considered to be the likes of Gerrit Rietveld, Le Corbusier, Mies Van de Rohe, Walter Gropius, Frank Lloyd Wright and Adolf Loos. What is worthy of notice here, despite the hope of a greater equality of women in modernism, there are almost no female modernist architects that we know of whose works have been well documented or even taught in our history lectures.

Even after formal education and professional acceptance in groups became available to a large number of women, how

has history produced this continual marginalization of women architects?

Today Le Corbusier is regarded as one of the persons to have outlined the characteristics of the modern movement. Broadly these can be listed as: (1) The pilotis elevating the mass off the ground, (see figure 1.1) (2) The free plan, achieved through the separation of the load-bearing columns from the walls subdividing the space, (see figure 1.1) (3) The free facade, the corollary of the free plan in the vertical plane, (see figure 1.1) (4) The long horizontal slit windows, (see figure 1.2)

(5) The

roof garden restoring, supposedly the area of ground covered by the house (see figure 1.3)

Top to Bottom: Figure 1.1: Pilotis, Le Corbusier- Villa Savoy Figure 1.2: The free plan, Corbusier- Villa Savoy Figure 1.3: Roof Garden: Le Corbusier- Villa Savoy Figure 1.4: Roof Garden: Le Corbusier- Villa Savoy Source: Howe, Jeffery. LeCorbusier -- Villa Savoye. Retrieved October 8, 2011 from http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/Corbu .html

It is surprising to note that even though Le Corbusier established these principles in 1927, it was a women architect by the name of “Eileen Gray”, who began work in 1924 on her vacation house called E1027in Southern France, who demonstrated these principles first.

In other words, it may be argued that the father of Modernism, Le Corbusier, founded the principles of Modernism on the basis of Eileen Gray’s E1027 house.

This argument is supported by the geographic proximity of E1027 and Villa Savoye (heralded as the convoy of modernist principles as we know of them today) and the fact that Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier were friends until Le Corbusier’s mutilation (in a fit of jealousy perhaps) of E1027 through murals that infuriated Gray, who considered the murals outright vandalism. “Whether he painted this mural out of admiration for her work or jealousy for her accomplishments, Le Corbusier became intricately tied with the future of house. Failing to purchase it himself, he eventually bought a piece of property just east of E.1027, where he built a small, rustic cabin, "Le Cabanon." After he died, the whole area was declared a "Site Moderne," or "Modern Site," and deemed an area of cultural and historical importance and international interest, with E-1027 as the founding element of this site.” (Schilling, 2004) This argument alone underscores the marginalization of women throughout history not only in professional circle but also in academia.

Top to Bottom Figure 1.5 : Pilotis by Eileen Figure 1.6 : Slit Window by Eileen Figure 1.7 : Free Façade Figure 1.8 : Roof Garden Figure 1.9 : Free Plan Axonometric Drawing Source: Design Blog(September 28, 2009).

Eileen Gray's Classic Modernist Villa E-1027 Restored. Retrieved October 4, 2011 from http://goo.gl/sgscc

Kathleen Eileen Moray Gray (August 9, 1878 – October 31, 1976) was an Irish architect and furniture designer. Living and practicing from Paris, she built buildings which decided the initial direction of modern movement. Her style and design philosophy was way ahead of her contemporaries, but due to the private character of her life, could build only a few buildings and gained little popularity and was soon lost in the shadows of the greats of architecture.

(Schilling, 2004) Eileen Gray built few buildings yet numerous critics drew her work into their concerns. She began her creative career nearly a century ago and though she remained active until her death in 1978, she was virtually ignored for almost her entire creative life. In the last ten years of her life she saw some of her work, drawings of projects thirty years old, and gain popularity. Her furniture, rugs, interiors and architecture, appear at once with clarity and with an unsettled complexity. This condition reflects her knack for finding and exposing cracks in an aesthetic ethical idea, especially the Modernism of the 1920’s and 30’s, without setting another complete and stable idea in its place. (Schilling, 2004) Gray’s work works to unsettle. She chose to build on steep, isolated and visually inaccessible sites.

Her furniture’s exhibit opening up of concealed parts, and her residences have the hinge plan, which depict vague notion of symmetry alongside a spatial maze.

Top to Bottom Figure 1.11: Eileen Gray Figure 1.12: Eileen Gray works Source: Schilling, A.A.( 2004). Hinged Things: Concerning The Interior(s) Of Eileen Gray.Cincinnati:University of Cincinnati and Ohio

Unfortunately, Eileen is not the only one to be a victim of marginalization. Lilly Reich was born in Berlin, Germany in the year 1885. She joined the Deutscher Werkbund, or German Work Federation, a group similar to the Vienna Workshop whose purpose was to help improve competitiveness of German companies in the global market. She contributed work to the Werkbund exhibition in Cologne in 1914.

method. Marion's watercolor perspectives of Walter's design for Canberra, the new Australian capital, were instrumental in securing first prize in the international competition for the plan of the city. Marion managed the Sydney office and was responsible for the design of their private commissions. Marion Mahoney Griffin was lost in history just as the first employee and a contributor to the career of Frank Lloyd Wright. (Craven)

In 1920 Lilly became the first woman elected to the governing board of the Deutscher Werkbund. From 1924 to 1926 she worked at the Messeamt, or Trade Fair Office, in Frankfurt. Here, she was in charge of organizing and designing trade fairs. Lily Reich is only known today as a personal and professional partner of Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe. (Pfeiffer)

Allison Smithson and her husband, Peter Smithson are arguably among the leaders of the British school of New Brutalism but her husband took most of the credit for British school of thought - New Brutalism from his wife and partner Allison (Design Museum). That’s not all, there are many more.

"It is interesting to note that Mies did not fully develop any contemporary furniture successfully before or after his collaboration with Reich". - Albert Pfeiffer Denise Scott Brown is an architect, planner, writer, educator, and principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates in Philadelphia. Scott Brown has remained a prolific writer on architecture and urban planning (Brown, 1977). Although Denise Scott Brown, along with her husband partner Robert Venturi are together termed as one of the most influential figures of modern day architecture, the Pritzker Prize of Architecture in 1991 went to Venturi alone.

Marion Griffin (February 14, 1871 – August 10, 1961) was an American architect and artist. She was one of the first licensed female architects in the world, and is considered an original member of the Prairie School. Mahoney and Walter Burley Griffin had a partnership that lasted 28 years. They pioneered the Knit lock construction

Women architects of this period have always been documented through their relationships with their male ‘friends’ as if they derive their individual worth from these alliances. The reduced value placed on the works of women architects and neglected by architectural historians is perhaps why women architects were and even today are continually marginalized. It gives origin to the questions like: If Modernism was a “Mass Movement”, why were only women targeted, marginalized, left out and ignored?

How has a revolution with so many biases that favored men over women continued to influence global practice even today?

How it is that one face of the coin was either not documented or completely ignored?

Modernism in India “Modernity can have no respect even for its own past...” – David Harvey(1990) According to Harvey, modernity must embrace a meaning which is collected and defined “within the maelstrom of change” (Harvey, 1990).

The idea of “creative destruction”, the idea of abandoning the old in order to make something new, was

incepted by the Modernists. The arousal of new standards of criticism created a revolt against rigid modernist judgment of aesthetic value. It provided a spirit to the movements like Marxism, Feminism, Deconstruction, Post-structuralism, Semiology, and Post-colonialism. There was a realization that the universal values of modern art and architecture were actually the values of a small and elite body of white, often Anglo- Saxon, Protestant men. Although some male members of different nationalities and religious beliefs were allowed in its sacred precincts, it denied the entry of outsiders, being women and nonwesterners. (Faxon, 1997) Joanne Waugh has also addressed the issue of gender bias in modernist aesthetics. She said that due to strong domination of men in the production, language and criticism of modern art and architecture, it controlled the opportunities of women in the field.

Hence, the resulting analytical aesthetics is a “masculine aesthetics”.

(Waugh, 1990) The irony is in the fact that modernism claimed universality, yet, it came out of the particular context of Western art history. It nurtured an avant-garde that challenged accepted norms and traditions. “‘India has no avant-garde since the rebellious and progressive features of artistic development were channeled into the nationalist cause.” – Geeta Kapur (2000) Kapur (2000) argues that modernism, in the Indian context, forms a double dialogue with nationalism and the national and the modern are in constant dialogue. Nationalist art, for example, promoted the use of traditional or indigenous motifs. Modernism had constructed a paradoxical view of such motifs – sometimes rendering them as progressive signs, at other times

subverting them as conservative and traditional. Yet, this paradoxical position is a symbol of India’s particular form of modernism. The relationship between the notion of tradition and nationalism and modernism is a particular feature of cultural development in post-colonial societies.

(Kapur, 2000) India got independence in 1947 at the cost of partitioning the country into two separate states, India and Pakistan. In 1971, Bangladesh was created out of East Pakistan. International modernism took an uncertain entry into India before independence but it gathered speed after 1947. The first prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, dreamt of creating a secular state, based on economic and social justice, which would offer an ethical leadership to the Third World.

Nehru played a modernist who favoured state intervention in all spheres symbolized by the Five Year Plans. Before Independence, modernism was found in commercial buildings like Art Deco cinema halls, office buildings, and apartment blocks in Mumbai and Calcutta, built around 1930s, and not in official buildings. After independence, Nehru introduced modernism in public architecture in a bid to look to the future rather than the past.

(Mitter, 2001). Nehru invited the French architect Le Corbusier to design the capital at Chandigarh in 1951. “Le Corbusier’s uncompromising functionalism deliberately broke with the past ‘historicism’ of imperial architecture.” – Partha Mitter This was followed by an avant-garde architecture which was more machinic, abstract, brutal, and projected on the Indian urban landscape, which had traditionally been an absolute space of human relationships: mythic and haptic (Ghosh, 1996) . In this whole journey of adoption of modernism from West, women remained outsiders, still controlled by the domination of men.

Post-Independent architects were anxious about avoiding pastiche, namely the attachment of Indian motifs to essentially modernist architecture.

There was a search for more meaningful architecture rooted in Indian context.

This got exemplified in the works of Charles Correa who worked on the concepts inspired by Indian climate and traditional ideas to save energy and explored the planning of space in vastupurusa-mandala; B.V. Doshi who borrowed mughal structural features; and Uttam Jain who introduced indigenous modes of building in his work. (Mitter, 2001)

Women employed in the construction were given inferior tasks. They were not allowed to be the masons or painter but carried bricks, stones and assisted the masons.

Women played an important role in artisanal tasks like spinning yarns, shifting and kneading of clay for pottery and embroidery.

There were taboos against women touching the potter’s wheel or even the plough (Nanda, 1997) . But the pressure from the increasing commercial production demanded more women labourers. As women were a productive force, the male members and the society kept a strict control over them. They were inflicted with severe punishments if suspected of disloyalty on their part. (Rai, 2010)

Feedback In order to analyze the present situation and working conditions of women in architecture, a survey was conducted.

Architects both from India and abroad shared their experiences and observations regarding current scenario of women in the profession.

Women cited straightforward chauvinism about having women in senior positions and sexism. An Architect from UK, not willing to be named, said, “The system is set up for workaholic males. Only women that are prepared to be men’ have a slight chance of promotion.” Man is the referent in the above statement. It establishes male actions as the standard against which all actions are judged.

Hirante Welandawe, H W Architects PL, Srilanka, also shared the problem of sexism in the profession. She said, “As a student, one of my professors used to always think I had copied my boyfriend's design and never vice versa and then once another architect 'friend' had walked up to one of my client's and said ' why do you want to give a 50 storey tower to Hirante welandawe she is a woman architect’.”

Survey showed the high level of distrust of women architects’ abilities. Some women suffered from loss of confidence because of their treatment. Many women reported that their ideas were sidelined or given little credence.

According to Ar. Manjari Sharma, “Well, some male clients did turn to me for softer issues like “color” and “paintings on the wall”….while my male partner was trusted with the more “serious” issue.”

In an interview with Ar. Anupama Kundoo, she said, “the general difficulties of being a woman in India

was so general that they were not primarily felt by me, predominantly in the area of my profession. At that time I would have not even noticed this as an issue because it is the reality one has always lived with. Today I would see it clearer mostly because I have lived in various environments in other parts of the world and can see problems in India through a wider perspective. I think the issue of safety is a big one. I am also preoccupied that the women employed in the construction of our projects are given inferior tasks and paid less than their male counterparts. Why can't they be masons, painters etc, why must they only carry bricks and stones and assist masons etc.”

An architect from India (unwilling to be named) said, ‘I rarely went out on site or had to face a difficult client because my male boss dealt with these matters himself.’

Some reported that their experience and thus their career prospects were limited to working on details and CAD packages.

Dana Buntrock, Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkley commented, “in my experiences on construction sites and with contractors in Chicago, there was always this annoying ‘prove yourself’ beginning.”

In an interview of Sun Young Reih, AIA Associate Professor, Dept. of Architecture, University of Seoul, Korea, she said that if she would have been a white male, she would have achieved her goal earlier and further. She had often lost a few good chances because of her ethnical and sexual identity. She conducted the projects as a coordinator rather than a leader in order to reduce the negative response in case the clients would not have liked to have a female leader in the top position.” (Anthony, 2002) The question which bothers one is - why should one have to be a man to get what a man gets? What does it mean to be a man, if no woman with the awareness of her

womanhood is around? It’s obvious that women are being seen as a risk. They are being protected from undesirable situations. Is it not a well-intentioned form of paternalism?

The survey highlighted the uncomfortable working environment for women. In an interview with Ar. Manjari Sharma, she said, “ women are often not taken as seriously as men, especially by the less sophisticated gentry. The contractors and laborers have a comfort with a certain kind of language, which they cannot use in front of women. So communication is constrained. Most women might not be comfortable with these situations. It may sound lame and squally, but it’s an issue. For men it’s black and white but for women there are a lot of greys within black and white.”

Women have a natural tendency of not compromising on many things to get the job done. On contrary, male architects can modulate themselves to fit into any kind of situation to achieve the final goal.

“It's interesting how men are defined by their work and women by relationships" Shyam Benegal The survey also highlighted the tendency of women sacrificing career progression for the sake of ‘work-life balance’. Men define themselves by their work, but women define themselves from something very different – from their virtue of motherhood. If women find something unethical, unsettling, they have the courage to leave it and turn to their inside self.

Denise Scott Brown, in an interview conducted by Silvia Micheli said, “although women start out in practice equal with men, complications set in when they must juggle child-rearing and practice, just at the point in their professional development when

Figure 1.13: cartoon sketch Source: Johnson, A.D.G and Greed, C. (May, 2003).Why do women leave architecture. Retrieved June 12, 2011from http://www.architecture.com/Files/RIBAProfessionalS ervices/Education/DiscussionPapers/WhyDoWomenL eaveArchitecture.p

seniority brings responsibilities for project management and the need for one hundred percent participation in the studio. Then even if you are brighter than them, the men will go further than you, and you will think: There’s something wrong with me! There are other reasons why men receive preference over women when both reach “the glass ceiling”. And there are reasons – too many to consider here – why architects don’t make gurus of women. And another theory is sometimes offered women: You have power in your own sphere. Look at the power of the Spice Girls. Why must you compete with men? ” (Micheli, 2010) Survey also revealed that in some cases women were given lesser recognition than their male counterparts. Indian architect Madhavi Desai from the firm Archicrafts said that she had a joint practice with her husband; it worked in some ways because it gave her flexibility but it was a great disadvantage also, as the practice was identified with him.

Not surprisingly, many of the most famous men in architecture today, who are presently in their 60s and 70s, depended heavily on the support of their wives as they rose through the ranks. The wives ran their offices, raised their children and loyally bolstered their egos.

Who is an Architect?

If we think of the image of an architect in our mind, the model still promoted is that of Ayn Rand’s hero from Fountainhead; a white, male, middleclass, architect who conforms to a masculinity model that is ruthless, uncompromising, and noncollaborative. (Sara, 2005)

Architect as Individualist Architect as a ‘solitary genius’, who produces masterpieces one after another enigmatically, is the notion of the sanctity of the individual creator and an intangible knowledge base, “founded on an art legacy of male practices and standards.”- States Sherry Ahrentzen in the article ‘F-word of architecture.’

(Azherton, 1996) According to Sherry Azherton (1996), when women collaborate with male architects, their roles have been deemed marginal to the finished product, or even worse, their efforts have been inappropriately attributed to their male collaborators: Denise Scott Brown, Anne Griswold Tyng, and Truus Schroder are only a few cases in point.

Ironically, male architects collaborate, (for example, Robert Venturi, Louis Kahn, and Gerrit Rietveld) but the professional press often attributes their contributions as totalizing.

“For the architect, the development of modernist methodology offered a new myth of total knowledge and total control of the design product. It sets architecture within a framework of classical economic models.”- Sherry Azherton Over the past century, there have been many husband-wife teams. Typically the husbands have attracted the fame and

glory while the women worked in the background. However, Denise Scott Brown had already made important contributions to the field of urban design when she met and married her husband, Robert Venturi.

Denise Scott Brown said, “Architects, grappling with the intangibles of design, select a guru whose work gives them personal help in areas where there are few rules to follow. The guru, as architectural father figure, is subject to intense hate and love; either way, the relationship is personal, it can only be a one-to-one affair.... I suspect... that for male architects the guru must be male. There can be no Mom and Pop gurus in architecture.

The architectural prima donnas are all male.” (Brown, 1977) Most female architects have heard the horror stories: Mies van der Rohe’s elevation to the pantheon of modernist masters, as Lilly Reich dies in poverty and anonymity. Le Corbusier vandalizing House E-1027, Eileen Gray’s masterwork in the South of France. Robert Venturi’s acceptance of the 1991 Pritzker Prize as his wife and partner, Denise Scott Brown, went all but unrecognized.

Such examples are also evident in the profession, where the men inherently resist female architects in professional groups with male majority.

A Male Dominated Profession Architecture is a male-dominated profession. Prestigious awards such as the Pritzker Architecture Prize rarely go to women, and women architects don't often receive headline-grabbing commissions. Notable architects important to the history and development of the modernist movement who are reserved as ‘father’ figures or masters are all male.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Alvar Alto, Louis I Kahn and so on.

while the right brain tends to put information together to synthesize a whole picture.

(Dew, 1996)

Ar. Revathi Kamath states “First of all being a woman in this field is not a very easy task- on a daily basis. Every day you have one encounter that will put you in your place and keep you grounded.”

(Kamath, 2001)

H. Norman Wright, a psychologist, says: “One of the unique differences between men and women is that women use both sides of their brain at the same time because of the thousands of additional nerve connectors that are there. Men have to shift from one side of the brain to the other. They’re working out of the analytical, the left side, and if they have to move into the emotional area they drop that and move toward the right side. . . Men tend to be single minded. They get involved in one thing. And women have more of a capability of juggling”. (Wright, 1989)

The few women who succeeded in the profession have to make notable sacrifices to their commitments as a woman.

Examining Differences

Physiological

Considering the social issues to be the only responsible factor for such discrimination and not considering the physiological makeup which proves this kind of discrimination to be natural to a certain extent is not justified. Much of the variation in mental conceptualization and information processing results from the relative dominance of one of the two hemispheres in the brain.

Roger Sperry, a Nobel Prize winner, initiated the study of the relationship between the brain’s right and left hemispheres. Sperry found that the left half of the brain tends to function by processing information in an analytical, rational, logical, sequential way. The right half of the brain tends to function by recognizing relationships, integrating and synthesizing information, and arriving at intuitive insights. In other words, the left side of the brain deals with a problem or situation by collecting data, making analysis and using a rational thinking process to reach a logical conclusion. The right side of the brain approaches the same problem or situation by making intuitive leaps to answers based on insights and perceptions. The left brain tends to break information apart for analysis,

Women tend to communicate more effectively than men, focusing on how to create a solution that works for the group, talking through issues, and utilizes nonverbal cues such as tone, emotion, and empathy whereas men tend to be more task-oriented, less talkative, and more isolated. Men typically have stronger spatial abilities, or being able to mentally represent a shape and its dynamics, whereas women typically struggle in this area. Medical experts have discovered that women have a thicker parietal region of the brain, which hinders the ability to mentally rotate objects–an aspect of spatial ability.

Research has shown this ability in babies as young as 5 months old, negating any ideas that these abilities were strengthened by environmental influences. (Hensley, 2009) Are these physiological differences considered in architectural education?

Manoj Mathur, professor and Head of the department of Industrial Design at School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi said in an interview, “Men are hunters and women are gatherers and while judging the individuals we keep in mind the difference and thus emphasis more on their respective qualities.”

In an interview with Riyaz Tayyibji, an associate professor at Centre for

Environmental Planning and Technology University (CEPT), Ahmedabad and partner in an architectural firm Anthill Designs, Ahmedabad, said, "We have found that women who have worked with us in the office tend to have a spatial bias in their design development process. They tend to look at real requirements and circumstances with greater rigour. The men, on the other hand, are much more comfortable with formal processes. These are more

amenable to the accepted processes of architectural abstraction. Women often struggle with these; their methods of description are more directed, experiential and not easily put into words. The same is true also for my students" Feminist writers have argued that the architectural profession is entrenched within a masculine paradigm and that it is this inequality that is at the root of a current crisis in architecture. (Sara, 2005)

The Present Crisis and Conclusion The present situation is that every architect wants to do something new and innovative to become a star architect. The idea of an alternate model of practice based on interdisciplinary collaboration is not considered. This is the biggest problem that the generation of graduating architects face.

The present crisis in architecture is due to this situation that is fuelled by the image of the architect as a male-solitary genius, indoctrinate in a modernist ideology that stresses on abstraction, producing masterpieces that are formcentric and unique.

Women architects have been responsible for an enormous and diverse body of work in the last few decades.

It deserves a wider recognition. In order to achieve this goal, Brinda Somaya, from Somaya and Kalappa Associates, India, organized a conference and exhibition in February 2000. It was titled “Women in Architecture: Focus South Asia�, to celebrate the built work of women architects in South Asia. (Milka Bliznakov, 2002) In spite of these efforts by the different organisations all over the world, the problem of sexism, chauvinism, uncomfortable working environment, mistrust of women abilities, lesser recognition and their career sacrifice for the family, still exist in the profession.

There is an overt neglect or naive attitude of feminism in the practice and discipline of architecture. Yet most men and even women architects disassociate themselves from talking of gender

difference or social difference within the profession. The few women who succeeded in the profession have to make notable sacrifices to their commitments as a woman.

This paper aims at bringing forth a perspective of modernism which has been accidentally or deliberately overlooked.

Modernity in architecture is a masculine construct, characterized by words like heroic, brutal and savage. The entire movement, although conceived to be equal for both men and women, was based on the chauvinistic ideals of masculine superimportance and feminine side-lining. It is no surprise that these ideals have so entrenched themselves in the professional culture that women architects today, fail to even recognise the biases that may be inherent in the current system. Hence we have reached a state of crisis where the women are opting out of professional spheres, even though the gender-wise intake in architectural schools is even.

Is it perhaps the time for a new culture in architecture based on empathy, collaboration, negotiation, emotion and experience?

Acknowledgement This paper would not have been possible without the significant involvement and co-operation of our guide Sudipto Ghosh and the various architects whose responses we got through their interviews via electronic media. The authors would wish to express our heartiest gratitude to our guide. Without his valuable input this paper would not have been in shape.

Deepest gratitude is also due to the coordinators Mrs. Jaya Kumar and Prof.

Ranjana Mital whose assistance also

ensured the success of this exercise.

Special thanks to our resource persons Mrs. Anupama Kundoo, Mr. Manoj Mathur, Mrs. Manjari Sharma, Ar. Riyaz Tayyibji, Ar. Cany Ash, Ar. Wendy De Silva, Ar Madhavi Desai, Ar. Hirante Welandawe, Ar. Chitra Vishwanath, Ar. Katherine Guyot , Ar. Mona Chandra, Mr. K. T. Ravindran and Prof Badrinarayan for providing valuable information related to subject matter. Last but not the least our batch mates and all the well-wishers who were there to attend the seminar presentation and make it eventful.

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The Devil and the Deep Sea: Modernity & Tradition: 21st Century India Seminar held on November 2nd , 2011

Presented by: Anshu Chaurasia Ekta Ekta Wali Ksh. Rajkumar Singh Kunal T. Gaidhankar Susmita Jain Vinutha Ginjupalli

Chairperson: Vasanth V Kamath

Faculty Advisor: Anisha S. Mukherji

Resource persons: Anne Fenestra Vinod Gupta Revathi Kamath

Introduction “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the culture of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.�(Gandhi, 1982) From the beginning of time, society has always been shaped by two forces, tradition and modernity. Tradition by definition is not a thing of the past, but is the inherited and complex evolution of all things cultural, social, conventional and institutional. Whereas modernity may be defined as the irreversible advancement that profoundly affects a society.

Between the devil and the deep sea refers to being stuck in-between two difficult situations with no good alternative.

In present day India, modernity and tradition pose as opposing choices in which neither offers a favourable outcome.

One cannot alone choose either modernity or tradition. Those who chose tradition alone are cut off from present times and those who chose modernity are in reality choosing modernism whose principles are not entirely in sync with the Indian way of living and thinking.

So in actuality these two forces are two sides of the same coin where one cannot transcend without the other. But in today’s fast paced world there is an emerging conflict between these two forces. (Millais, 2009,p. 3) The conflict between tradition and modernization has been a very dominating debate in the fast changing modern world where every person faces contradiction between their traditional culture and modernization. The conflict itself arose due to the misinterpretation of both the meanings of tradition and modernity. Modernity today has come to be dominated by ideas of modernism as it has been made the symbol of mpdernity. Whereas modernism is defined as estrangement from the past including any trace of tradition. It is due to this misinterpretation that these two elements become two contradictory forces in India today.

2.1 Sabji mandi Source:images .google.com

2.2 High end super market Source:images.google.com

Universality and Plurality

2.3 Holi Source:- festivals.iloveindia.com

The very idea of modernity is that we all a have universal way of thinking meaning everyone’s thought process and aspirations are similar. On the other hand, A.K. Ramanujan says that Indian thinking is never singular and it is this diversity of thought that is highlighted and shapes Indian culture.

He claims it is this plurality in thinking that connects every Indian with one another. In the essay Ramanujan also mentions that the notion of universality cannot exist in India due to the very origin and principles of our country and culture, which contradicts modernist ideas of the West. So the very principle of a universal thought process does not match with the ideals of modernity we tend to follow. (Ramanujan, 1990,P. 2)

2.4 Party Source:- flikcr.com

Modernity Modernity in the world is supported mainly by the theory of rationalism which leads to the many parallel theoretical thoughts that prevailed in the last century. These include: 1) Universalism 2) Civic accountability, and 3) Integration of industrial vocabulary These very principles of modernity and modernism contradict the very ideals and outlook of Indians.

2.5 Source:-authors

It is this discrepancy which leads to further contradicting ideals.

As we know, modernity arose with the main principle of rationality, but as with the idea of universality it does not sit well in the Indian context. Even though rationality is an integral part of the way we think, it has always been our specific sensibilities that have shaped our actions and even our architecture. This may be due to the fact that since ancient times, we as Indians have believed in a cyclical process of living. It is this thought process that pushes us to believe that every action of ours affects

us in the next life and so on. It is also due to the vast diversity we find around us, that it is our sensibilities, rather than rationality, that have guided our lifestyles.(Dharmapal,1991,p.164) In the modern day world, due to globalization and standardization, we have started to lose the diversity within us and in our architecture.

Standardization has enabled easy access to common building materials and technologies, making buildings all over the world more similar.

However, in order to meet the sociocultural needs of our country we must realize that we cannot mimic the international icons which serve a totally different cultural and social context.

(Menon,2002, p. 1) To be able to create an indigenous design we must

understand that in a country as diverse as India there really is no single way of thinking.

This opposition between the prevailing ideas of modernism and tradition in India today has shaped our built environment into what many consider alien grounds.

Therefore, our built form which is intended to project our advancement into the future merely holds projections of this contradiction we face between tradition and modernity. It neither allows us to identify with the built environment nor project our true aspirations for the future. Due to this, our built forms have become estranged from our society morphing our lifestyle into an act forced upon us.

Contemporary Struggle for an Identity India and Identity Much of our present day architecture has been articulated through the lack of understanding of tradition and modernity as one entity, taking them instead to be two opposing forces. Such architectural spaces which depict this contradiction and confusion have now started to materialize in other aspects of society.

In the past decade modernity has brought about globalization and liberalization of the country.

Globalization is the integration of the world by breaking open barriers across nation states in terms of trade, finance, technology, knowledge, culture, and even movements of people.

It is supposed to be a lever with universal benefits, reaching out to all countries and all residents uniformly. But even with the many success stories of globalization in the Indian context, many of these are incomplete and distorted – never reflecting the real story of development.

Quantitative Economy

Change

in

Even though in the past few years our per capita value and GDP has increased at a staggering rate, our HDI still remains one of the lowest in the world with 42% of our population earning less than 20 rupees a day and 20% below the poverty line. So in this case the wealth is concentrated in the hands of just a few people. This fact causes the diversity in people no longer to be based on passion or skills, but on economic class, creating a barrier of misunderstanding and lack of respect amongst them.( (Bhaduri, 2009, p. 7) Due to globalization, many countries including our own main aspiration is to match the economy of the developed countries. It is due to this that Market and economy have taken a pedestal.

They have become the main driving force behind governance, community and institutions.

Modernity may have led to increase in luxuries, possibilities and global stature.

But it has also led to many unwelcome changes such as: Quantitative changes in economy Market-driven policies Priority to technological advancements Derecognizing our inherent strengths Migration, and Media impacts (Sen,2007, p.6) 2.6 Quantitative change in economy Source:-authors

These market driven ideals have led to the governance ignoring the possibilities and the need for achieving a decent level of living, or at best subsistence.

One forgets in country like India, with many already below the poverty line.

The majority of people have very limited access to the market in terms of their purchasing power.

Hence the state-led policies are responsible for inefficiency; mainstream position on globalization often fail to notice, let alone remedy, the limitations of the market in delivering what is described today as 'growth with a human face'.(Bhadhuri,2009) Priority to technological advancements:Even though there are great changes in technological innovations in communication, transport, industries, textiles, medicine, education etc., they often remain confined to those who can access these in terms of their buying power.

Also technology today has often been against the interest of manual labour. So Instead of creating more job opportunities at better terms, new technology which is used in industry often displaces manual labour.

(Sen,2007,p.12) This also leads us to neglect the many talents we as humans naturally have.

This in many ways has led us as a nation to derecognize our own strengths.

Migration Migration refers to the movement of people of different cultures to a different context. India, after globalization, witnessed two types of migration: the inflow of foreigners into India and the movement of Indians within India.

Migration brings into contact members from different cultures and societies.

Migration allows the intermixing of cultures. In India migration has occurred since the starting of time, with foreigners migrating to India, bringing and sometimes imposing their ideas on the Indian society. It is this intermixing of ideas which sometimes leads to progression but is also a cause of the disconnect and confusion we have with the past.

In the past when we were clear about our principles, we were able to adopt the ideals we were exposed to due to migration. Today due to confusion we are unable to adopt the ideas into the Indian framework, and instead we adapt ourselves to foreign ideas by mimics and copying most of the time.

(Dharampal 1991,p.134) A good example of this is when in medieval times stone construction was undertaken, the same construction techniques used in wood were carried over and stone continued to be used like wood. This led to many intricate carvings and a style very particular to Indians. It was this ease of adapting to changes to suit our requirements that allowed India in the past to create unique architecture

Media Media is one of the most influential factors in lifestyle of masses of people that form a society. It is a tool for promotion, news, information, a platform for sharing ideas and serves as a local and national mouthpiece for many organizations.

It also influences decisions and acts to inspire our youth.

Sometimes the messages that the media projects, however, are not all positive. It sometimes does not distribute accurate information, creating a misunderstanding among people. It may at times influence people with a

certain image without logic or true reason. Many a time we are sold images that do not work in our context but due to the media’s power to influence the masses, it becomes necessary for us to conform to the those images. Such is the case with glass façade buildings, fire places, indoor swimming pools etc.

These are ideas the media has projected from the West which in today’s world we have begun to copy blindly.

This is one main reason many buildings today are mere copies of buildings seen abroad with no contextual meaning or relevance.

One issue is the gap formed within economic groups based on their differences, which promotes unequal distribution of wealth among the masses especially in India .This difference causes the consumers and producers of these products to be restricted to richer classes. (Bhaduri, 2009, p. 3)

Qualitative Change in Society

The second issue that arises is standardization and homogenization of thought and exposure , under the hood of universalism, which have enabled easy access to common building materials and technologies, making buildings all over the world more similar.

This similarity results in the lack of contextual references when foreign images are substituted to serve local purposes. In the last decade, these decontextualized images have become the logo of modernism, hindering the characteristics of regional architectural identity in much of the Third World.

Thus, cities attempting to assert a local, modernist regional identity are increasingly constituted by the same kind of architecture with no unique quality differentiating them.(Menon,2002,p.3)

The combined result of these factors is a society whose priorities have been reorganized. We now give priority to meeting superficial global standards before meeting those of our own community.

In past decade, the number of land acquisitions made by the government has increased. This has led to the displacement of many communities from their own homes and left them without any means to fend for themselves - the aim being merely to increase our economic status around the globe by increasing our industries. (Roy, 2010, p.

92) Many other governmental policies have also come about in recent times, favouring the economy above the needs of the society.

Unlike in the past we no longer try to adopt external forces into the Indian way, adapting them to suit our ideals. In recent times, we have tried to directly adopt a framework of foreign notions of modernity, and fit the Indian way into it as and when possible.

These factors in total influence the way architecture and design manifests in the built environment.

Due to the media today architecture itself has also become a commodity that is restricted to the richer class. Even public buildings are designed keeping in mind that the users now are only one sector of the society.

It is this lack of uniqueness and hence, identity which does not allow such built forms to relate to a certain culture or tradition, as they are standard buildings that were intended to cater to a completely arbitrary social fabric.

Importance of Identity It is due to these problems and our constant struggle between modernity and tradition that we must come to understand our identity. We may not have one identity but we have many

qualities and principles that have come about due to history, topography and geography.

In the past few decades, one cannot argue that India’s development has been rapid. But these developments have not solved the main problems that still exist in India today. The best example of this is the contrasting sides of India we see every day: “the India that shines with its rich neighborhoods, corporate houses of breath-taking size, glittering shopping malls and high-tech flyovers, over which flow a procession of new-model cars. These are the images from a globalized India on the verge of entering the first world. And then there is the Other India. The India of helpless peasants committing suicide, dalits regularly lynched in not-so-distant villages, tribals dispossessed of forest land and livelihood, and children too small to walk properly yet begging on the streets of shining cities.�( (Bhaduri, 2009, p. 15) In the past as well, this difference existed in economic groups but due to globalization the gap is the deciding factor in many more decisions today.

Whereas in the past one catered to society as a whole being interdependent from one other, the present day scenario neglects most of the population in its decision-making and caters only to the rich. So much of the built form is alien to a majority of the population not even tending to their most basic requirements, such as equal opportunity, exposure to choices and the dignity of moving about freely (Bhaduri, 2009, p. 22)So how does one come to a resolution between the classes that can be manifested in our built form? It is this question which requires us to look into any binding qualities that one can label as an identity for our society.

Identity - Factors, Depletion, Consequences To understand what identity is we must understand by definition identity is the condition or state that defines someone so it ever changing and is dynamic.

Identity is influenced by many factors but these are factors that define identity are factors which bind us together as a nation and are influencing factors of the present state.

We as Indians seem at loss with identity in modern times because instead of incorporating modernity into the Indian custom we have done the opposite by trying to incorporate the Indian ways into modernity. It is for this reason that our surroundings most of time seem alien to us.

Factors Evolution India continues to change with time adapting to its needs and thought changes. However, when looking at what affects and constitutes the Indian way, one should look at what qualities have the power of binding us together as a nation; one can say these qualities have arisen first and foremost from our geographical location as it is the base attribute that constitutes India and is very important in setting apart our country from the rest of the world.

The other factor is the fact that the whole nation is connected through its heritage and the common knowledge of our heritage and history as a country also allows to connect as one nation.

Also many of the qualities and beliefs that render us Indian are all connected to our primal belief system.

Geographical Influence

Even though our country is one of numerous religion, society and caste we are connected as a nation, a civilization due to our geographical position.

It is due to our particular and peculiar geographic position that since the start of time we have enjoyed the abundance of sun and its radiating heat allowing us to live completely different life then the rest of the world.

The presence of the divine sun has defined our lifestyle directly or indirectly in some ways or the other. This is reason why we hold the sun to greatest praise; even many of our prevailing traditions have arisen from this thought.

The geographic position of being surrounded by ocean and the Himalayas, also the occurrence of monsoon has led us to worship these elements and symbolize them with power. This is what has led to creation of many myths that have been passed down as traditions and customs.

Our whole lifestyle has been influenced by this one factor, so many designs such as clothes, food ,and architecture which can be identified as Indian have been developed in response to our geographic location.

The main difference between designers of the past and of the present is that we no longer take into consideration these elements, which link and linked our country together. (Mukherjee,2010).

Transformations As when defining an identity of a person we must identify what defines them at the present time, it is not fair to define them based on what they were in the past. At the same time, we must also recognize that it is the past which primarily shapes their cumulative identity of the present. Similarly, the Indian identity collectively must be

defined specific to time. It is our past, our history and this knowledge of the past as our own that connects Indians together under one name.

(Lang,2002,p.9) It is our history that gives rise to our cultures and their dynamic shifts.

The cultures that surround us were based on certain myths and belonged to a certain time frame. These cultures have survived being passed on from generation to generation and contained within the social fabric .They make an individual realize the connection of his existence with the past sentiments.

These sentiments of an ‘Indian’ collectively render a creative response and as according to Tagore when a mass recognize a unity it lead to divinity.

So it is also our history that leads to a shift in culture and leads to a new identity but it also connects us all under one identity.

To conclude, Indian design in its every era has always been expression of time, but at the same time is deep rooted in the past. (Tagore, 1922, p. 2) Culture, Tradition and Plurality Culture is defined as the art of living it refers to “intellectual development evolved out of the physical and mental training acquired in the course of the ages in a country”. (Indian mirror,2012) In India, the culture and customs differ from place to place, it holds home to largest variation of religion and beliefs compared to anywhere in the world. But together Indian culture is said to be an amalgamation of all these varying culture.

Culture and tradition constantly has a great importance in India even with the diverse culture that prevails. The Indian cultures are constantly being influenced by many traditions and customs from

agents within in India as well as the outside world from the start of time. This kept redefining the lifestyle of people, food, literature, culture, architecture and everything. From the start of time, conquerors have come and tried to impose their lifestyle on India but even though India was continuously accommodating, tolerant and open minded but never shifting from the principles of Indian sculpture. This led to amalgamation of cultures of the external forces with that of India leading to the development of styles and cultures referred to as Indo-Scythian, Indo-Persian, Indo-Saracenic and many more styles evolved.

This shows how India continues to adopt and adapt continuously to whatever is given our way and neither reject nor blinding clone, therefore continuously allowing plurality in thought, styles and opinions to coexist and define us. (Gast, 2007, p. 9) What adds to plurality of Indian design is a age old list, to begin with we can relate it to the existence of various different school of arts, then the origins of various alternative Hindu thoughts like Buddhism and Jainism, which began with their own styles in architecture, and as tolerance is the basis of all Indian spiritual discourse, we accepted it, than oppose it or try to eliminate it. So this is where the tradition started, “AthitiDevoBhava” is the thought which fuelled the flourishing of the various rich styles of art India has been a cradle of. With the arrival of the Persians, and the Quaranic verses inscribed on the edifices, there was a new style India was home to, interesting to note, the style prevalent before this involved carvings of humans and animals which was in stark contrast to the Persian style not allowing it. The British and the colonial rule, brought to India, numerous new materials, and so evolved a new style. After the end of

British raj, what took shape was called revival gothic, or art deco. Ending which was the beginning another new era, the invitation of Le Corbusier, and the arrival of a new style which was the beginning of the Modernist style, this was sailed forward by the socialist philosophy of the government for about two decades, until the change of thought to liberalism in the beginning 1990’s, when the economic institutes allowing for foreign investment started modeling on the designs based on glass and steel.(Lang,2002,p.12)

Societal Ideas Social structure is formed from our belief system. We in India believe in a very cyclic system of life that is a total contradiction to the principles of modernism which believes in a straight path of life.

We believe that life has it stages and every life is cyclic and never ending it these beliefs which form the basis for many of characteristics. It is this beliefs which has allowed to respect diversity which in present days of modernism has been substituted by homogeneity.(Dharampal,1991) According to author Pavan Varma, now that status is achieved through factors like hard work and opportunities, not just by birth, one's status becomes associated with pride over one’s efforts and journey to achieve it.

He also talks about two strong traits that have come about over time in Indians.

The first is their ability to retain hope: “A person living in the most appalling slum in Mumbai will still nurture the hope that one day he will make it big, or at least bigger, and that his children will lead a better life. The trickle-down from the top to the bottom has certainly been inadequate, but it has probably been just enough to keep alive the intrinsic

Indian propensity for not losing hope.

(Varma, 2005, p. 132) The second is the resilience that has developed over ages from unfortunately not having enough opportunities and facilities around them: “Even a middle class Indian struggles for such basics as electricity, water, transport and medical care. The very poor, of course, survive the absence of all of these. This relentless grappling with adversity has bred by now an inventiveness and a will to survive that can only be called remarkable.”

Indian social thought and way of thinking like Indian cultures is so diverse but there is said to many common threads which appear. Taking that in mind, it still cannot be said that there is any single way of thinking. To be able to understand this, one can quote the article “Is There an Indian Way of Thinking?” by A.K. Ramanujan, as he says that Indian thinking is never singular and it is this diverse thoughts that are highlighted and shape Indian culture and this plurality in thinking is what connects every Indian with one another.

In the essay Ramanujan also mentions in India the notion of universality cannot exist due to very origin and principles of our country and culture which is contradicting to the modernist ideas of the West, so the very thought of homogeneous designs of modern standardized design of the west doesn’t really sit well with the essence of thinking our nation (Ramanujan, 1990) The schools of thought that arisen have taken utility as its basis but as Tagore and many others mention as India is more a country of practical approach rather than theoretic we are always is greatly influenced by emotions and other aspects. So we must understand that fragments of utility should never forget subordinate position of human affairs goodness.(Tagore)

Even according to the contemporary Indian architecture by Klaus-Peter, it is plurality of Indian design, socio-culture determinant which are significant features of the past, present and future Indian architecture. (Gast, 2007, p. 7) Even though India has no single way of thinking, we continue to live by the same sense of shared principles as country and race on whole. Indians are known to discover unique solutions that by-pass conventional methods through sheer experimentation and perseverance over time. We may take the example of traditional framework construction in wooden beams and posts. Even though stone construction became popular during the medieval period, the same construction techniques were still adhered to and stone continued to be used like wood.

“It was clear that, unlike wood, the framework construction method where stone, weak in tension, is used for beam and lintel is theoretically inferior compared with the arch and dome structure where stone and brick is stacked in a radial pattern and built over a large span. Nevertheless, people from India persisted in it and completed magnificent buildings. It resembles monophonic Indian music. Compared with Occidental polyphony (many voices) monophony is theoretically inferior. However achievement of art cannot be compared as superior or inferior based only on principle. Even if the music of India is monophonic, with exhaustive research it has acquired an extremely advanced theory and musical expression.

It is this perseverance to preserve what one believes to be Indian in a sense that has allowed Indian culture and traditions to stay deeply rooted within India and not flutter away with the various external factors.

Architecture Reflection of Architecture The present state of contemporary India is led by globalization trends and is stuck between values of modernity and tradition at the same time.

Our architecture reflects and represents this present scenario resulting in a varied built environment. First of course being the homogeneous buildings that fail to have a regional identity due to superficial understanding of their surroundings. These buildings end up being neither modern nor Indian but just alien.

Due to globalization, the present economic state largely influences the buildings we build.

A brief understanding of the market driven policies suggests that only the richer classes are being fed by the rising demographics of their complex success every year. The economy is becoming indifferent to other classes as consumers (Bhadhuri,2009,pg 9). A similar logic applies to the functioning of our buildings as well. They react in the same fashion: enclose the richer classes and exclude the poor (that compose 75% of the total population).

(Nath, 2011, p. 53) Of the approaches followed by architects today, one is where they are influenced by past:

as Indian identity. The interpretations have varied from reintroduction of spatial elements such as columns, brackets, jaalis, jharokhas, chhajas and cupolas to the remake of spatial themes such as courts, terraces, pavilions and caves. Yet other variation is to interpret the intrinsic spatial order and imbibing the spirit rather than form or elements recast these principles of space organisation in newer aesthetics, building material and construction techniques. Sangath, VidhanbhavanBhopal, Iskcon temple-Delhi, IGIDR are some of the examples.

Architecture as a Continuum of the Vernacular Reposing its faith in traditional wisdom, another emerging strand in contemporary Indian architecture is that of continuum of Vernacular, of course with due contemporanisation. Here the faith in local material, knowhow, skills and vernacular syntax is higher and yet, contemporary design grammar is overlaid and thus it emerges as contemporary resolution, but unique in itself as being very local to its milieu.

Centre for Development Studies, Kalakshetra, Barefoot College, Nrityagram, Nari Gandhi’s work, University of Jodhpur exemplify this strand.

Architecture reinterpreting the past and Indian identity

Another approach shows efforts based on the architect’s understanding of the physical manifestations of certain ideas:

One of the strands is to reinterpret India’s past and traditional architecture

Architecture as an artifact The third strand, convinced of the visual

impact of buildings, defines architecture as artefact. An object in its own merit, where its form and visual appeal remain fundamental preoccupation to the resolution of architectural syntax, Belgian embassy, AmdavadniGufa, MatriMandir-Auroville, Lotus Temple, British Council etc fall within this genre.

Also according to modern day ideals of sustainability, technology and modernity: Architecture as Sustainable Built Environment As socialist response the fourth strand of contemporary Indian architecture puts reliance on appropriate technologies and sustainability issues. Architecture not remaining and object is seen as microcosm of the larger cosmos. CMC, Deepalaya, CII business centre, Torrent Research centre, Centre for Science and Environment, Environmental Sanitation Institute, represent the varied interpretation of sustainable designs.

‘Smart’ Architecture Reposing Faith in Advanced Technologies Contrary to the reliance on low technology, the fifth approach puts its faith in present day technological advances and resultant architecture is an outcome of higher technologies. May they be the structural systems, environmental management systems, mass produced hi-tech devices and components or the mechanised and automated service infrastructure. Osho Commune Ashram, today’s airport, corporate headquarters, Parliament library, Gateway tower, CNG station Surat, KRL headquarters etc are a few representations of the same.

Architecture as universal idiom Sixth strand could be defined as the architecture with universal vocabulary.

As modern and international architecture occupies the chunk of India’s recent history and also it being consciously or subconsciously

remaining part of course curriculum, this strand follows the modern masters and remains within universal aesthetic grammar. Use of exposed brick and concrete, principles of austere/bare surfaces and designer centric space organization haunts this strand. IIMBangalore, EDI, India Habitat centre, Institute of Forest Management, Prathama Blood Centre etc may be considered examples of this strand.

All the six strands need not be totally exclusive mutual. All of the six mentioned above are in their own terms valid directions for shaping India’s landscape as long as they maintain clarity of their concern and remaining professionally responsible to propel India into 21st century with its own unique brand identity and yet remaining part of the Global village.(Sinha,2010,pg 1)The recent changes that have occurred in the built environment reveal the negative consequences of the unhealthy interaction between local and global forces. One can easily note this in the building typologies so formed. In this economy and market driven society, the typologies of buildings have changed and are oriented towards creating built only for the elite. So the separation between the different economic groups increases.

The different building typologies, such as Malls, Factories and Institutional buildings, are created purely for economic purpose.

2.6 Economy Source:-authors

system of design, which is to design in response to context, climate and culture in an authentic way.

These designs based purely on images fed by the media are superficial manifestations of the requirements of the market.

Projection of Architecture

2.7 Urbanization Source:-authors

This is even more due to the arrival of global practices, which have recently taken over the bulk of public projects from the government. As such, the priority of design of spaces is based purely on profit for the private firms. This kind of approach creates exclusive communities which are entirely isolated from their interdependent counterparts, both in the society and in the built form.

Nowadays, to meet global standards, high-end clients hire foreign architects who tend to intervene. An increasing number of foreign architects with different educational and cultural background are manifesting a different approach towards dealing with the Indian context. this phenomenon sometime results in the creation of buildings with a new perspective for Indians, a welcomed taste of the exotic.

At other times, it results in buildings which tend to be homogeneous or standardized, as they come from a context that is better accustomed to homogeneity.

With the onset of mass media, certain foreign images are projected to be the correct path to follow. However, these buildings might mostly be unresponsive and repetitive. This is due to the illusion created by media that global standards are more credible than the existing

Society influences architecture and viceversa. It is a cyclic process. Presently, globalization has failed to better our social strata. Instead it has given rise to economic groups with huge differences.

So the main question is how do we as architects reduce these differences or create equality and bridge the gap between these groups in the built setup we create. To do so one must absorb and enhance the unifying qualities and identities, common to all.

The other issue that reflects on architecture, due to the misinterpretation of modernity as modernism, is that our buildings have no connection to traditions or past.

We as Indians and then as architects should aim to banish this disconnect.

And thus shape the culture and society as well.

Current Situation Several attempts have been made to bridge the tension between global and regional concerns.

The sources of design in these buildings are aligned to the traditional culture. They reflect attitudes and techniques firmly rooted in the universal paradigm of architecture. It is through the process of design and construction that these sources are transformed and the qualities of authenticity and originality are revealed in the best contemporary role.

With the dynamism that our present society thus offers, we find several attempts in the present time to preserve the Indian traditions while moving ahead. Architecture and society are thus interrelated.

We may look at the contemporary scenario in India and find different architectural practices that are reflected in the built form today. We can broadly categorize these into Global Practices, Regional manifestation, Alternative practice.

Global Practices, fed by multinational companies, developers and even the government, adhere to global standards of professional architectural practice.

However, the structures they deliver tend to be predictable and fail to respond to the local environment and social setting.

The second category of architects attempts to respond to the regional context and social needs of the locale, in an original way, and while recognizing the benefits of modernity.

Alternative practices tend to experiment with technology and methods of construction, producing highly innovative and unique structures. Their designs are flexible, with the

craftspeople and builders making the bulk of decisions.

Such architectural practices demonstrate the ongoing process in which society attempts to mould its architecture to its needs, recognizing that advances towards modernity will in turn affect the society.

The primary problem in many buildings today is their lack of contextual identity.

Due to technological advancement, we no longer feel the necessity to build climatically responsive buildings. As a result, they lack the elements which were present in our traditional structures. This goes hand in hand with the change in materials and methods of construction that have taken place.

All this has resulted in an alien built environment. That is so because of the discontinuation of the ever evolving process of getting influenced and developing upon building methods.

Therefore, the society is unable to interact with the built environment, and vice versa.

Why are we unable to identify with it?

Conclusion the region, as these are irreversible forces and never change.

Some of the characteristics that seem valid even today are: Diversity Plurality Adaptability Social Interaction Connection with nature Emotional/Irrational Inclination 2.8 Unity in diversity Source:-authors

Binding Indian Identity “What is the relationship between the individual, the society and the state?

Which of them has primacy in which fields? What are the bases of healthy interaction between individuals? What is civilized behavior in various situations? What are good manners?

What is beautiful and what is ugly?

What is education and what is learning?” (Dharampal 1991,pg 164) Therefore the way we identify with the built form, as with anything, is based on the developing values that shape our identity. In order to understand this identity, one must be able to understand the forces that shape it.

We may arrive at the characteristics that form our present identity by looking into the history, geography and climate of

‘Unity in diversity’ is the phrase most commonly used to describe India. This diversity may initially have arisen because of the geography of the region, which exposes it to different influences from all sides. Aided by the geography, the history of India has seen many conquerors from varying cultures which have left their imprints upon the culture.

2.9 Adaptability Source:-authors

As a result of the same, we have become accustomed to coexisting with a multitude of ideals and values, and adapting to them within our social framework. Many a time, it is this

diversity and plurality in Indian thinking which serves as the connecting force for Indians.

It is a well-known fact that Indians are social creatures by nature, always waiting for the next opportunity to get together with friends and family. This need for social interaction can be seen in the magnitude of our celebrations and festivals. It is our climate which has opened our living spaces to the outdoor, creating a more public daily life. The social nature is also fuelled by our diverse and plural way of thinking.

Ayurveda, Yoga, and – all have developed as a product of our connection with nature. This connection is probably due to our diverse geography and topography which encouraged agriculture and therefore, familiarity with the land.

A good understanding of nature was required to cope with the harsh climate. The high level of social interaction in a diverse society, giving way to plurality, often requires a flexible thought process not bound by logic, but rather an emotional viewpoint. These characteristics are so deep rooted as well as valid for Indians today, that we should endeavor to imbibe them in our architecture.

Contemporary Attempts Aside from our traditional architecture of the past, we can learn from some more recent attempts to discover possible ways of creating a built form which is identifiable to Indians even today.

The American Institute of Indian Studies, by Space Design Associates can be seen to provide some of the variety that Indians are accustomed to.

The Institute serves as a place for American scholars to carry on their research on India, in India, and as such has attempted to embody Indian characteristics, drawing largely from traditional precedent.

Exposed brick cladding, teak interiors, and teracotta reliefs and textiles are used mostly as a visual reminder of the same. However the design of the spaces created within takes it further.

As asserted by an article in architecture magazine Inside Outside, "The diversity of functional spaces that an Indian building provides in the form of gardens, courts, verandahs, pavilions and passages in addition to the normal enclosed rooms, is one of the major differences between traditional Indian and European styles.�(Sharma,1999,pg 14)

2.10 AIIS Source: Journal Inside outside

The AIIS building reflects this Indian tradition by creating spaces of different thermal characteristics that respond to different times of the year: smaller coutyards may serve for small meetings in the summer, terrace gardens with modern pavilions which may be suitable for larger gatherings in the winter, and a central verandah suited for the monsoon period.

An element of surprise is created by the play of levels between two sunken (basement) courtyards, and a water courtyard.

Catering to the Indian closeness with nature, the Institute building is designed such that boundaries between inside and outside

are blurred, where "the other walls seem to define the exterior while courtyards, verandahs, and rooms seem to comprise the indoors.

2.11 TIIS Tulzapur Source:http://europaconcorsi.com/projects/83734 -Rural-Campus-for-TISS

The Rural Campus for the Tata Institute of Social Sciences attempts to connect with its context. If not in form, in function, at least, it has scope for directly responding to an Indian user base. It is located in Tulzapur, in the hinterlands of Maharashtra and is intended for a range of programs from social forestry to health and infrastructure. In responding to the local climate and the agenda of the campus, it responds to the Indian users' needs for social interaction and multiple uses through a set of buildings clustered around courtyards. The courtyards and terraces serve as gathering places in the evening or in cool weather.

Similarly, the housing units have a pavilion on the roof, which provides a covered outdoor space so that residents may sleep on the terrace in summer months (Europaconcorsi, 2009).

The construction of the campus relied on simple and basic methods that could easily be imbibed by the youth of the area. The introduction of wind towers as an aesthetic element is another attempt to create a locally relevant precedent to be followed and recognized by the locals.

Having

knowledge of the workings and construction techniques of their built environment is an idea already present amongst many Indians, especially in terms of passive cooling methods.

2.12 IIM Bangalore Source:http://www.iimb.ernet.in/aboutinstitute/iimb-architecture

The Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, designed by B V Doshi caters to the Indian custom of adaptability, in terms of the growth of the institute over time as well as in the design of smaller spaces. With an academic program expected to stretch and change over the years, the design aims to tie together several functional spaces, while evoking a sense of belonging to a larger fabric. This idea is articulated through a modest relation of the building to the ground, the sky, and the backdrop of the linking corridor.

There is a system of major corridors for movement, along which activity areas lie; the spaces between the activity areas become courts for extended activities. In the words of the architect himself, "these courts regenerate the primordial sense of continuity, growth, and tenuous linkages of the living and their habitat environment. (IIMB, 2009)."

Aside from the traditional vocabulary of interlocking courtyards, pavilions, and terraced gardens, the IIM-B finds a way of connecting users to the outside while remaining within the building. One manifestation of this are the long and unusually high (three storied) corridors with vistas of local points, and scope for interaction. They are sometimes open, sometimes partly covered with pergolas,

or skylights. The width is modulated in many places to promote casual sitting, interaction, or moving forward to a destination.

These links thus carry scope for a changing character according to time of day and usage by the students and faculty (IIMB, 2009).

This level of interactivity created between users and spaces in the complex generates a stronger sense of connection with specific areas or hangout spaces that tend to be remembered and revisited. Thus the building begins to address the emotional attachment that occurs when users grow and adapt with their built environment, as Indians are accustomed to doing.

Indian Identity & Globalization As with the architectural endeavors of Indian architects today, we as Indians cannot depend on modernism and globalization as the answer in such a context – as both the principles go against the Indian customs and their identity. Globalization itself believes in homogeneity whereas the common Indian identity is that of unity in diversity, understanding and respecting diversity.

But in a globalised world the division is based on economy creating a diversity in which different classes do not try and understand one another.

We as Indians believe in cyclic life. This is one belief shared by all religions of India, so why do we so easily incorporate rigidity into our buildings?

When designing we should be able to promote these qualities of us Indians such as diversity , polity , and cyclic thought process as in such a vast country one must not forget what binds us together.

Contemporary Indian architecture is a tangent of global architectural activity in the late 20th century. It reflects many specific realities – some stimulating, some disturbing – of the environment in which it is conceived. But it is not the product of an isolated culture. Faith in the idea of growth and change remains the driving force of modern India along with most other societies of the world today.

The world no longer differentiates between the East and the West in the international order of communication, trade and technology, by which even most disparate nations manage to maintain some common ground. Unlike traditional architecture, contemporary architecture has not evolved through our cultural values. It is the built expression of the socio-economic interaction between an interdependent global culture.

Should it not be more?

Acknowledgements First of all, we express our warm gratitude to each other for teaming up till the end and making this into a compilation we all are in agreement with. We thank our coordinators Dr. Ranjana Mital and Prof. Jaya Kumar for being patient enough with us and giving us valuable inputs to our work. Also, our guiding light, Prof. Anisha S. Mukherjee to have encouraged us for having a bold stand on the topic, whatever may. We

are very thankful to Ar. Vasanth V Kamath and Ar. Anne Fenestra to have been able to take out time to comprehend our work and raise its analytical level. We use this opportunity to also thank all faculty and students who had attended our seminar. This work would not have been possible without our friends and families, juniors, cleaners, canteen and mess workers.

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Bhaduri, A. (2009). face you are afraid to see.

David, T. (1983). Serch for Identity. New York: Grieco and Co.Inc. D’Costa, Anthony.P. ed.,2010. A New India-- Critical Reflections in the Long Twentieth Century. London:Anthem Press.

Dharampal,1991, BharatiyaChitta, Manasva Kala, Chennai:PushpaPrakashan Fregusson, James. 1867. A History of Architecture in All Countries, from the earliest times to present day.

London: John Murray.

Available at: <http://books.google.com/books?id=uSsDAAAAQAAJ&dq=indian%20architecture&pg =PA634#v=onepage&q=indian%20architecture&f=false> [Accessed: 10 July 2010].

Gast, p.-k. (2007). Modern traditions: contemporary architecture in India. berlin: Birkhhuser.

Gupta, B. (2008). India-A cultural declie or revival. New Delhi: D.K.Printworld.

Henket, Hubert-Jan. and Heynen, Hilde.ed., 2002.Back from utopia: the challenge of the modern movement.

Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.

Herrle, Peter. and Schmitz, Stephanus. ed., Constructing Identity in Contemporary Architecture: Case Studies from the South. Berlin:LitVerlag.

Malhotra, R. (2007). BEING DIFFERENT. BEING DIFFERENT , 13-22.

Nandy, Ashis,2004, Re-imagining India, New Delhi:-orient black swan Nandy, Ashis,2006, Talking India, New Delhi:-orient black swan Nath, P. (2011). The Union Cabinet gets healthier. 55.

Nadir, K. L., Professional Ideolgy. GREHA Archive, vol 180. New Delhi: Seminar (India) Magazine, Seminar Publications. Available at: <http://www.architexturez.net/+/subjectlisting/000054.shtml> [Accessed: 11 July 2011].

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A.G. Krishna., 2002.

Landmark library, [online] Available at: <http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1911/19110780.htm> [Accessed: 10 July 2011] The Modern Movement in India, an essay By BalkrishnaDoshi Le Corbusier: Elements of Synthesis By Stanislaus Von Moos Architectural Design, November/December 2007 Made In India By Kazi K Ashraf J.J.P. Oud’s “Architecture and Standardization in Mass Construction” (1918) Lang, Jon.T., 2002. A concise history of modern architecture in India. New Delhi: Permanent Black.

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2011

Ramanujan, A. (1990). Is There an Indian Way of Thinking?

Roy, A. (2011). Broken Republic. New Delhi: Penguin Group.

Shah.Jagan, 2008, The â&#x20AC;&#x153;New in Indiaâ&#x20AC;?

Sharma, M 1999, Building close to nature- The American Institute of Indian Studies at Gurgaon designed by Vinod Gupta, Inside Outside, January issue, pg. 160-165 Tagore, R. (1922). the moodern age.

Varma, p. (2005). being indian. london: Heinemann .

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Not Talk About Aesthetics Seminar held on November 3rd, 2011

Presented by: Kanika Ahirwar Saumitra Sinha Shinjita Roy Shoma Mathew Suri Krishna Siddharth

Chairperson: Ms. Jitender Shambi

Faculty Advisor: Mr. Amit Khanna

Resource persons: Mr. Manoj Mathur Ms. Tanya Kohli Mr. Suneet Paul Mr. K.T. Ravindran

Introduction “There are some buildings the World watches and some buildings that the profession watches…” (Mitchell, 1993)

concerned about aesthetics or is it because there is no real dialogue on architectural aesthetics?

Fig.5.1 Akshardham Temple, New Delhi. Source: Photo Gallery, www.akshardham.com

Diversity of Aesthetics Akshardham – a newly built Hindu temple inspired from historic styles, Ambience Mall a flashy glass mall in the suburb of Delhi and India Islamic Centre – a cultural centre built in the modern style with influences from the subcontinent all form a part of the public sphere of Delhi.

The existence of such contrasting architectural specimens existing in the same city in harmony is proof of the fact that there exists a very varied understanding of aesthetics in the people. It is impossible to isolate one predominant opinion of aesthetics but everyone from a slum dweller to a business tycoon would like to apply to his space his own aesthetic influence.

But during the creation of architecture, the people who eventually have to perceive these pieces of architecture are left out of the decision making process. Is this because they are not

Fig.5.2 Rendered visual for Spire Edge, Manesar.

Source: www.krishnapropinfo.com

Hypothesis Aesthetics is very subjective and hence it is practically impossible to have an absolute understanding of it. To try and generalize an opinion on aesthetics is even less feasible.

Fig. 5.3 View from the Charminar, Diversity of Aesthetics. Source: Authors

concept into built form. Architects get engrossed in the experiential quality of a space and the delight of the design. The architect’s aesthetics rises out of his focus on the “sense of space” factor of design.

Fig. 5.4 Architect Media and User.

Source: Authors

Yet, the perception of aesthetics of design or architecture can be analyzed by understanding how different stakeholders contribute to the aesthetics of a community, neighbourhood or even a city. On the basis of the nature of their occupation, social leanings and education three protagonists can be identified in the aesthetic ballgame, namely – the architect or the craftsman of aesthetics, the media or the propagator of aesthetics and the user – the perceiver of aesthetics. All people belonging to a community can be roughly divided into these categories depending on their scholarly, economic or political affluence.

Fig. 5.5 Collective understanding of Aesthetics.

Source: Authors

Aesthetics in architecture is a component which evolves with the process of creation of a building, from being conceptualized to being realized and built. At times, the aesthetic is unfortunately lost in the translation of

Yet, the understanding of this conceptualized design is not demonstrated as it is, but packaged and represented differently by media. In the process of packaging, very rarely is the same idea of aesthetics projected forward.

The user - or people who experience this design after completion - receive the aesthetic idea as per their understanding which is highly influenced by their own ideas. In this era of blogs and tweets, information is readily available at the tap of a finger. At the same time, availability of inappropriately edited, unsolicited, floating data often becomes the basis for formation of opinion.

The definition of aesthetic is changed many times over in this process and the user’s opinion of it may be much removed from the architect’s intent. This translation is inevitable and since the architect is ideally building for the people, he is obliged to take up this newly defined aesthetic to maintain his position in public popularity. This, and his personal understanding put together, sets the base for a fresh aesthetic in successive projects.

In other words, new media presents us with an incredible opportunity wherein, the contemporary notion of aesthetics can be evolved in a cycle from the architect to the user via media and back to the architect.

Our collective understanding of aesthetics can only get richer with every new work, but will it?

Who Contributes to Aesthetics and What?

“Irrespective of who is involved and whether this happens consciously or unconsciously, the formed environment is always an aesthetic environment” – Hauns Glauber, 2010

which a building appeals to the viewer by virtue of its aesthetics is an entirely different matter.

Many factors contribute to the development of the sense of aesthetics in a society. Unarguably, buildings are the most important.

According to Jonathan Hale, while talking about, “Architecture as Art” and “Aesthetics in Philosophy”, buildings, in a sense, can be read as cultural texts, essentially holding aesthetic information of the society. At the same time, according to Umberto Eco (Hale, 2000, p. 145) , “The interpretation of buildings can never be controlled by the designer, just as the author cannot predetermine the reader’s reading.” Both Hale and Umberto Eco, form part of a greater dialogue in architecture, wherein it is argued that all buildings are essentially semiotic in nature. Furthermore, the readings of this information may vary, making it subjective, giving rise to varied opinions on aesthetics.

Sometimes, buildings possess specific information on aesthetics, purposefully introduced by the designer; this information may or may not be directly understood by its perceiver. This is contrary to the belief that “beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”, which is essentially an irrational approach towards aesthetics. (Noorie, et al., 2001).

It must be noted that a building possesses aesthetic value simply by virtue of being a building; it need not be critically acclaimed or commonly appreciated in order to inform the viewer of its aesthetics. However, the extent to

Fig. 5.6 Google: the most active contributing to opinions on aesthetics.

agent

Source: Google Image Search

Apart from buildings, the more active agents contributing to the comprehension of aesthetics are the media and common public opinion. And lastly, there are architects and other trained professionals who largely promote an introverted debate on aesthetics, an aesthetic opinion characterized by elitism and disregarding user-demands aesthetic or otherwise. “…proponents of architecture as sculpture are largely indifferent to the requirements imposed on the architect” states John Sibler, in Architecture of the Absurd. (Silber, 2007) Recalling the example of the Bronx Development Centre, Thomas Mitchell states: The Bronx Development Centre for mentally deficit children in New York was completed in 1976. Well under a year of occupation, the building had already been awarded a string of awards for “architectural excellence”

and “ready accessibility for the handicapped”. “ The descriptions of the Bronx Development Centre in the architectural journals, all made before the building was occupied reveal that architects are often more concerned with formal beauty than with the satisfaction of user requirements” (Mitchell, 1993) While critics exclaimed the centre was “remarkable, extraordinary, dazzling” , as a response to the client’s demand for a “warm, homelike atmosphere” the architect created in his own words “a sense of space that responds to the special feelings and needs of the residents” The response was readily accepted by the architectural community but was rejected strongly by those outside the architectural community “This place is a fiasco…It won all sorts of awards for beautiful design, but its totally unsuited for the purpose for which it was intended” – New York state assemblyman Guy V. Vallela in Redefining Designing (Mitchell, 1993).

rarely concerns itself with architecture or aesthetics. However, as Rattenbury reports “Newspapers, in particular, provided a stream of regular and highly organized coverage- but as news or under property, housing, conservation, lifestyle or development tags, each having its own strong, well defined and consistent characteristics. “ These characteristics of the mainstream media are beyond the scope of this seminar.

(Rattenbury, Naturally Biased, 2002) Architectural media on the other hand caters to a smaller range of social forces, in general these maybe classified as: 

Vanity Publishing- High profit



Academic Budget



Tourist Guides



Manifesto – Philosophy



Architecture Magazines

Journals

–

Low

To sum it up, the architectural fraternity concerns itself only with the following aspects of formal aesthetics: 

Spatial Aesthetics



Exterior Volumetrics – Geometry



Material



Philosophy-Manifesto



Personal Style

Fig. 5.8 Architectural Digest Cover: March 2000 Fig. 5.9 Better Homes Cover: February 2011 Source: Architectural digest Website Source: bhg.com

Fig. 5.7 Indian Mainstream media: Noconversation on Architecture. Source: Hindu Website Menu Tab

When looking at print media, we can essentially divide it into two parts, the mainstream media and the architectural media. The Indian mainstream media

It is not difficult to guess the possible influences of content of each of these media, with the exception of, perhaps architecture magazines.

As per Catherine Cook & Jonathan Hill:

“(in magazines) the collection of images is clearly not just a sample; it’s a deliberate (if partly subconscious) editorial construction. The images were not selected in any scientific way or using any historical method. They are a deliberately loaded selection of ‘highcode’ architectural images as presented – almost exclusively – to architects” (Cook & Hill, 2002)

focused on certain non-pedigreed architecture, which is self-styled, but still contributes to the urban fabric. As a clarification it was mentioned that the seminar had limited itself to public architecture since one cannot dictate the aesthetics of personal space.

Fig. 5.10 Cover: 101 things I Learned at Architecture School, Matthew Frederick; Architectural Manifesto Source: Photograph of Book Cover, Authors

Individual Opinion Aristotle states that – “There are a number of arts in which the creative artist is not the only, or even the best, judge. These are the arts whose products can be understood and judged by those who do not possess any skill in the art. A house, for instance, is something which can be understood by others besides the builder: indeed the user of a house- or in other words the householder- will judge it even better than he does.” (Silber, 2007, p. 44) In the discussion that followed the seminar, a Eldo Alias, a fellow student pointed out that the seminar had not

Fig. 5.11 Demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex. Source: Wikipedia stock photos.

People have a say on aesthetics as they are the primary users of architecture.

They have a unique way of promoting certain types of aesthetics by word of mouth (or through media). This builds up to form what is known as the popular opinion.

In another review of the previously discussed Bronx Centre, critic Suzanne Stephens grudgingly admits that “The cool detached mien strikes many as beautiful, calming, salubrious, rational, recalling the utopian promise of Modern Architecture. The lay public often sees it as strange, off-putting, frightening – an impression that may or may not change with time. “ (Stephens, 1993) Minoru Yamasaki’s Pruitt–Igoe public housing project in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, completed in 1951, was a highly publicized architectural project. It was pulled down due to decay and social deterioration in 1972. The project continues to be discussed extensively in architectural schools as an example of unsuccessful architecture.

Some

professionals would like to believe “that the architectural design of Pruitt-Igoe had not really been a failure at all but instead had simply been the subject of an ill-informed media attack.” (Mitchell, 1993) Stephens raises a very important point here: “no one does know how people, any people will react to architecture” (Mitchell, 1993) Yet, it is a common practice in many countries to get a public opinion on architectural designs through exhibitions and competitions. Of course such systems demand the presence of a strong and well informed public opinion, something which India lacks.

Selective projection - Reception - Inevitable Bias Space - Time - Bias

Packaging

Bias is the central theme common to all forms of media. In 1951, Harold Innis argued that every medium is essentially biased either towards two general factors - time or space.

Packaging means presenting the attributes of a work in a way that may not convey all the information about it while projecting only what is desired to be conveyed.

A time-biased media is one which transcends the limits of time, but tends to reach limited audiences. Typically time-biased media would include clay or stone tablets, historic manuscripts, etc, which have endured the test of time, but whose knowledge is limited to the scholarly elite. Whereas space-biased media are fleeting in nature, but reaching a larger audience. Spacebiased media would include the breadth of contemporary media – newspapers, television, radio, which although have a wider reach, but have “short exposure times.” (Innis, 1951) According to Innis, “time-biased media favour stability, community, tradition and religion; space-biased media facilitate rapid change, materialism, secularism and empire”.

In the given scenario, what then is the ideal means to carry forward the dialogue between architectural aesthetics and culture? Is it the building itself? Time-biased and therefore tending to reach limited audience…

Or is it the fashionable architecture magazine? Space-biased but with an attitude of amnesia...

Where would one place the internet and its diverse sources in this classification of biases of media?

Fig. 5.12 The Dubai Opera House By Architect Zaha Hadid Source: Website: http://www.m3mare.com/

This projection of partial/biased information then shapes the understanding of the user about the work. In the case of architecture, selective information is presented in the form of magnificent views, fashionable facades and all that is considered good.

The client is provided with an image that creates a false idea of the building and an underlying factor of awe to it. This may be achieved by commissioning a photographer for the purpose of the building’s photography.

At several more complex levels, it affects how we interpret and value architecture. At the level of discussion, publication and reference, representation arguably surpasses the architecture itself.

(Rattenbury,Introduction,2002)

Before the invention of the camera, buildings like paintings, could not be viewed in isolation (out of context) or in part, dissected. Now, the building can be viewed in a flurry of contexts when “Pevsner said Lincoln cathedral was architecture and a bicycle shed was a building. You could easily argue that, if he’d only put the bicycle shed in one of his books, it would have become architecture.” (Rattenbury, Introduction, 2002).

Rattenbury explains that once a work of architecture is cited in a book/media of a time-biased nature, it develops a cult following and gets recognition as being the best architecture of a particular time.

It is important to note that however important or unimportant the architecture may be, it will get recognized only when it is published in a known media source. Rattenbury further elaborates that all forms of representation have their own bias.

These forms have their own cultural, economic and personal drives. Hence they might always be partial.

All forms of media – speech, drawing, writing, perspective, photography, film, and the various forms of computer information – have their own characteristics, biases and tendencies, as well as their own limitations. Matters outside their scope are implicitly and effectively downgraded – by sheer omission. (Rattenbury, Introduction, 2002)

Photography Photography is the backbone of all architectural media. Many authors have gone as far as to attribute the rise of new aesthetic styles to the invention of photography (Ackerman, 2002), while some others assert that “architecture exists to be photographed”. (Mattern, 2004)

put in a magazine, or in videos, where there is a montage of ideas and photographs in quick succession to each other. Various problems arise out The argument is based on the fact that “(architectural photographs) become more real, more ‘architectural’, than the built space itself”. With advent of modern photo-editing techniques, it would not be farfetched to say that photographs are most often surreal than real. As David Greene puts it, these (photo-shopped images) convey ‘here is what it could look like’ as well as ‘this is what it looks like’. Pictures according to Katherine Cook & Jonathan Hill “can seem more iconoclastically famous and even more satisfyingly ‘architectural’ than some of the buildings themselves.”

(2002) Photographs also capture a static representation of the building. In the age of information technology photographs are essentially time-biased, propagating the visual quality of a building irrespective of whether the building has aged, changed or even been demolished!

Contemporary media culture often demands that buildings be photographed even before they’re fit for occupation, it is common to see photographs of buildings with no furniture or people.

Fig. 5.13 The translation of some famous works of architecture through (a) sketches, (b) selective projection, (c) reality Above: Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim, Source: http://whistleforthewind.blogspot.com/2011/05/ca se-study-frank-gehry & html & http://www.worldofstock.com/stock_photos/TSP1 618.php Below: Zaha Hadid’s Ordrupgaard Museum, Source: Website: http://www.zahahadid.com/architecture/ordrupgaard-museumextension/

(a)

(b)

(c)

“The depiction of architecture (normally at that brief moment between the completion of construction and the occupation of the building’s tenants) through images that are timeless and undisturbed by occupation or the passing of time denies both the participation of the occupant and the process by which the building was designed. It denies both the presence and the participation of the ‘other’, raising architecture from its purposeful role to the realms of aesthetics or even high art, and excluding those who will ultimately use the building.” – (Brown, 2006)

Unsolicited Information It has become easy for anyone/everyone to communicate, transfer and reproduce information at the touch of a button. This ease in certain cases has proved to be a boon while in many cases, it has produced confusions. The variety and diversity of information is so overwhelming, that our minds get saturated and it becomes difficult to process all this information ourselves. This leads to information clutter and ultimately, the control over the selection and scrutiny of seemingly correct information is lost.

Fig. 5.14 Alberto Campo De Baeza – Works. Left: The public Library, Orihuela, Alicante, 1992, Right: Professional Training Centre, Salamanca, 1975 Source: Architecture Ebook: Alberto Campo de Baeza - Works and projects

When information can be exchanged and shared globally, there is naturally also a wealth of architectural ideas available. Ideas, technologies and philosophies in architecture are shared through many different media, like architectural blogs, unreferenced views, assessments abd opinions. These are the most common sources for an architecture student through which he gains knowledge of current advancements from around the world and may well be the roots of inspiration in many cases. We get fragments of baseless information which give us a half baked picture. The easiest and

obvious ways of expressing a design are through photographs, videos, writing about them describing the process of conception or by abstraction. Also, the photographs and videos are mostly shot with intent of publication, which may be biased, disregarding the wholesomeness of the design. Often, there is an over exaggeration in descriptions of buildings, many times attributing adjectives which may hold a different meaning. These adjectives may be wrongly attributed to elements and characteristics of a building, just for the sake of writing (Berger, 1972).

Fig. 5.15 Unreferenced information on blogs Source: Screenshot of Website: www.archdaily.com

Media- Academic/Professional AND the Non-Pedigree “There is a profound difference between how journalists tend to describe their work and how media researchers

describe it.”

Biased, 2002)

(Rattenbury,

Naturally

Just as with architects even media personnel bear social responsibility when representing public opinion. The inherent bias behind the journalist’s (or a group of journalists’ from the same school of thought) representation of a building in turn influences the readers understanding of the design. “Given the tiny volume of specialized architectural coverage, what looked like a national consensus… was in fact the organized opinions of a very small group of people” (Rattenbury, Naturally Biased, 2002).

Architectural magazines have with time become a powerful tool for interested parties to invest in with biased intentions, soliciting specific journalists for specific purposes, and not to obtain a fair review or critique of the building. In other words they purchase and promote what they want to, and not what they should with honesty. As people in the field of architecture it is easier for us to sieve information while reading, but magazines being a primary source of architectural information for laymen as well, portray an incomplete picture to someone willing to seek in-depth knowledge. If journalists cannot be trusted, who should the layman trust to jump the divide from the layman’s side to that of the “informed”?

Change “Contemporary design movements, whatever their ideological differences, can all be seen as reactions (or reactions to reactions) to the process of industrialization.” (Mitchell, 1993)

Fig. 5.16 A hotel in the Nikko national park Japan, designed by Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi Source: A+D Magazine, Jan - Feb 2000 Edition

In spite of decades of debate, we find ourselves in no position of authority to identify an absolute theory of aesthetics or a timeless architectural expression.

As the proverb goes, change has been the only constant.

At the beginning, patrons of the Modern movement believed that standardization was the key to civilization. Modern architecture aspired to create equality among people by basically providing equal lifestyles for all in the simplest possible way. But individual influences and aesthetic compulsions could never be kept completely at bay, since “aesthetic beliefs led to impulses that interfered with the architects’ ability to bring about a truly standardized and mass produced architecture.” (Mitchell, 1993) By the outright rejection of the ornament, the modern architects had created an aesthetic code of their own, one that was not always accepted by general public.

Postmodern Architecture sought to “acknowledge” the taste codes of the public as a source for inclusion in their compositions in the belief that this will help their work communicate with the users of architecture. Although the postmodern architects accepted the inherent flaws in modern architecture, they failed to go all the way in acknowledging the users opinion as a design derivative.

The post-modern architect was not willing to concede his stronghold over aesthetic decisions. As Robert Venturi admits, “learning from popular culture does not remove the architect from his status in high culture. But it may alter high culture to make it more sympathetic to current needs and issues” (Learning from Las Vegas, 1972) Further ahead, late modern and Deconstructivist architecture proposed an alienation of design from user where each specimen of architecture is seen as an isolated art form devoid of any social responsibility and the architect distant from any obligation to the end user. Mitchell suggests that Deconstructivist architects “are practicing an explicitly amoral and antisocial architecture… that is responsive only to the needs of a small group of aesthetes.” (Mitchell, 1993) Apart from many other things, the Deconstructive architect alienated architectural aesthetics from their eventual users, thereby re-enforcing the notion of aesthetic elitism that the architect perpetually celebrated.

Summarizing the outcome of each of these movements Thomas Mitchell states that “the architectural profession, no matter what it does, does not know how to respond adequately to industrialization”. (Redefining Designing, 1993)

Contemporary Controllers of Expression on Aesthetics At this juncture it is clear that the aesthetic leanings of the architectural fraternity is inevitably a biased one biased TOWARDS the elitist notions of architect as the sole guardian of aesthetic information and biased AGAINST the architectural taste of the masses - the commonplace.

The aesthetic sensibilities of the media similarly possess their own bias, albeit more complex. In the Indian context particularly, architectural media is the sole active contributor to the public perception of the profession.

Mainstream journals and newspapers very rarely publish architectural content as opposed to publishing frequent discussions on art, literature or cinema.

demolished freshly after completion due to user dissatisfaction. Despite very limited public debate on aesthetics, we do seem to have a national consensus on many issues.

An overhead metro line next to a heritage monument, a new office tower overshadowing the Jantar Mantar, or the police memorial structure blocking a city axis, all have faced the glare of the media for lapses in the appreciation and acknowledgement of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aesthetics. Many of these events were led by citizenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initiatives.

But why is the aesthetic dimension of concern only in the backdrop of heritage and conservation?

Fig. 5.17 Poster designed for an imaginary architectural show on television Source: Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got talent advertisement Website: tvserialsandshows.com: Edited: Author

Typically in a western situation, power politics are biased against the architectural community.

Several instances maybe found of projects by international architects being denounced on both design as well as aesthetic grounds. Examples proving the importance of public opinion may be found where the works of architects were rejected to the extent of being

Fig. 5.18 Police Memorial New Delhi, Pulled down due to aesthetic considerations Source: http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/ North/Delhi/New_Delhi/photo231602.htm

Identifying Power In the world today reality has become hyper-reality since much of architecture is sold as a dream. There have been so many abstractions to reality for the purpose of commerce, that one never has an experience devoid of preconditions. What one experiences is actually formed by the images projected by media. “The term real has been hijacked by the multinational conglomerates and turned into an empty advertising slogan claiming its authenticity against its very absence of authenticity” (Leach, 1999)

Fig. 5.19 The figure of the old testament prophet reading the truth is Madelon Vriesendorp’s Christmas card to her husband in 1995. Source: This is not Architecture, Kester Rattenbury

Architects as Authors In a field already devoid of publicly available architectural documentation, when an architect writes a book assuming the role of media, he

inevitably adds to his popularity whether negative or positive. Rem Koolhaas’s manifesto S,M,L,XL, produced with the graphic designer Bruce Mau in the architect’s own words “combines essays, manifestoes, diaries, fairy tales, travelogues, a cycle of meditations on the contemporary city, with work produced by Koolhaas’s office’. The piling on of images over 1,345 pages, many double-page spreads of varying graphic techniques, guaranteed it a popular success, especially among the MTV generation and architects persuaded of its message.”

Politicians as Power Holders During the discussion that followed the seminar, the chairperson questioned why the seminar did not include politicians and administrators, as stakeholders in the making of the aesthetic, since they are the policy makers of our society. It was clarified that, in the current scenario, politicians do play a role in dictating the aesthetic quality of public spaces, but the execution of their ideas occurs in almost the same way as that of the common man – through an architect/designers intervention and media propagation. Also the basis of classification into the three identified categories was cultural baggage & academic training, under which criteria a policy maker in spite of elevated authority falls under the same category as the common man i.e. A “user” of aesthetics.

On the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales used his position as guest of honour to launch a vicious attack on the work of the architectural community in Britain.

Mansion House), a ‘municipal fire station’ (ABK again). More broadly, he denounced an entire profession for arrogantly promoting a failed and unpopular modern language in the teeth of public hostility.” (Rattenbury, Naturally Biased, 2002)

Fig. 5.20 UK’s number one architectural critic: Prince Charles with Charles Correa (far right), to whom he presented the 1984 RIBA Royal Gold Medal before turning his guns on the whole profession Source: This Rattenbury

is

not

Architecture,

Kester

“With a battery of instant-fame squibs, he lambasted major projects going through the planning process – a ‘monstrous carbuncle on the face of an old and much-loved friend’ (ABK’s extension to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square), a ‘glass stump, better suited to downtown Chicago than to the City of London’ (the Mies van der Rohe office proposal for

In the Indian context, the liberation of the economy in the early 1990’s completely changed the parameters by which aesthetic decisions were made.

Populism today holds a significant role in shaping architectural sensibilities.

Architects need to observe worldwide tendencies and market economies (usually tending towards privatization) and devise construction projects and design proposals which would appeal to populist markets. “This means that they are being called upon, more than ever, to try to achieve “what people want,” which, in this case, is usually equated with the will of the consumer.

Simply put, the market tempts and encourages us architects and designers to become populists – to anticipate the will of the people.”

(Shamiyeh, 2005)

Conclusion Architects create a value system for architecture which is not socially accepted. They generally consider their peer group knowledge of higher value than that of other participants in the process of architecture. (Paul Jenkins, 2009) Acknowledging the user’s sense of aesthetics is possible only by widening social participation in the architectural process. In a nation like ours, where the architectural understanding and awareness has taken a back seat in daily discussions, a dialogue on aesthetics can be expected much later in the process of architectural education of the masses.

With the basic understanding of the built pattern and the contextual setting of this built, the user can then be expected to form an opinion about its aesthetics, and so judge a design.

A concern was raised by the chairperson at this point about the nature of the process of exchange of ideas. It was debated whether this would be a linear process wherein an architect “imparts knowledge” to the people, or a discussion where an architect learns from the interaction too.

Our resource person, Ms. Tanya Kohli, echoed the thought by pointing out that sometimes the user is more informed than the architect himself and that we need to “engage” them in the discussion, rather than “educating” them.

Ms. Manjari Sharma appropriately identified that there is a requirement to initiate a feedback loop wherein a common person can be witness to the professional exchange between two architects. In all other professions such a feedback loop exists.

Fig. 5.21 Is it possible to maintain a democracy on aesthetic decisions? Source: Authors

Aesthetics an Art Issue or a Matter of Social Concern?

Aesthetic opinion may be subjective, but that is no excuse for not having an opinion at all. It is however not for the user to dive into the vast aesthetic archive and dig out his sense of aesthetics. As a professional, the architect carries a huge social responsibility to communicate to the people he builds for. A design is successful when the people it has been designed for, can understand experience and form an opinion about it.

It is true that every opinion will be different and based on the subjectivity of the user’s aesthetic understanding. “In the context of the Third World the architect must have the courage to face very disturbing issues. For what is your moral right to decide for a hundred thousand, for two million people? But then what is the moral advantage in not acting, in merely watching passively the slow degradation of life around you.”

(Correa, 1985). The architect needs to

“act”. To educate the layman and take him through to the other informed side.

To make the public aware of his design decisions and make a rightful part of the design development process. Charles Correa in his ideal world would like to see a purely democratic implementation of all aspects of architecture. But is it really possible to fulfill the aesthetic requirements of two million people in a single architectural intervention?

Architecture Vs Public Opinion: A New Dialogue.

In the discussion that followed the presentation of the seminar, Professor Anil Dewan proposed that the process of democratization of aesthetics should begin “at home”. He suggested that students of SPA should be allowed to express their opinions on the design of the new college campus.

Fig. 5.22 A dialogue on aesthetics representation of all stakeholders.

with

Source: Authors

An architect for sure has the background knowledge and understanding to foresee how the built will make an impact on the site. Yet it is not practically possible for one architect to have a wholesome understanding on every field that he designs for. Then how is he to design on behalf of the

people who are going to use the space so designed by him?

The benefit of this dilemma can also be taken advantage of by many (architects and others) to sell their design’s flaws behind the shield of subjectivity of aesthetics; but does that give us reason enough to not want to make the discussion publicly relevant?

“Few people genuinely like what architects do today or what they have done in the last decades. Yet many people go along for the ride because they are afraid of being thought to have a ‘bad taste’ or afraid to seem ignorant of the niceties of Architecture with a capital A… like the sinister tailors in The Emperor’s New Clothes, they use the ordinary person’s fear of seeming ignorant as a weapon to maintain monopoly on the profession’s status quo. Above all, they use it to keep a secure hold on money.” (Alexander, 1990).

Alexander believes that this constant pressure that architects exert on users is leading to dissatisfaction, which urges users to appoint contractors to do what they want when architects will not agree with them. This will eventually render architecture an “irrelevant, academic discipline”. (Alexander, 1990). Architects build for the people. Yet this everlasting communication gap between the public and the architect is not a matter of concern large enough for either of them to make an effort to bridge.

If we proudly claim to be a developing nation with a modern outlook because we accept contemporary movements in movies, music and technology, why do we leave architecture out? Is it way too much to expect an architecture column in the newspaper? It should be the primary concern of the architect to initiate a dialogue with the people he is building for. Only then will he earn the

eager ear and respect that he expects from the common man.

For this dialogue to initiate and flourish, the new media should be a platform, and a moderator of biases. A radical transformation from the viewpoint of Nietzsche who opines, “Everyone being allowed to read ruineth in the long run not only writing but also thinking.”

(Mattern, 2004). Only when people will be allowed to read what they ought to read, can true “democratization of knowledge” take place.

“And so let it be for you to create an art, that is made with the hands of the people, to the joy of the people too. An art that will be a democratic art …

Because there is nothing in common life- too mean, in common things- too trivial, to be ennobled by your touch, nothing in life that art cannot raise and sanctify.” - Oscar Wilde Within the desire to exist in such a framework of sound aesthetic democracy, the media and the user stay constant in their willingness to share ideas on a public forum. The success of such a platform would need the architect to be available for dialogue.

We conclude with the expectation of such a dialogue.

Acknowledgments We thank all the people who have made various contributions towards the completion of our seminar.

We are thankful to Dr Ranjana Mital and Prof. Jaya Kumar for coordinating and suggesting vital changes for the clarification of content.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to our resource persons - Prof.

Manoj Mathur, Prof K.T. Ravindran, Mr. Suneet Paul and Ms. Tanya Kohli for their crucial inputs and useful insights.

We sincerely thank our chairperson Ms. Jitender Shambi for giving us her valuable time and inputs at the culminating session of the seminars at School of Planning and Architecture.

And lastly, we would like to thank our guide Mr. Amit Khanna for structuring our thoughts and providing us the freedom to experiment with an arguably subjective topic. With his firm and timely input we have been able to make informed decisions and express our own opinions in an appropriate manner.

Bibliography Ackerman, J. S. (2002). On the Origins of Architectural Photography. In K. Rattenbury, This is not Architecture.

Brown, J. (2006). Architecture and the Built. Sheffield: University of Sheffield.

Cook, C., & Hill, J. (2002). Iconic Pictures. In K. Rattenbury, This is not Architecture.

Hale, J. (2000). Building Ideas - An Introduction to Architectural Theory. Chichester, New York, Weinheim, Brisbane, Singapore, Toronto: JOHN WILEY & SONS, LTD. Innis, H. (1951). The Bias of Communication.

Leach, N. (1999). Anaesthetics of Architecture. MIT press.

Mattern, S. (2004). This Didn't Kill That: Architectural History through Media Ecology.

Mitchell, T. (1993). Redefining Designing. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Noorie, Bansal, Harit, Khanna, Prabhakar, Pramanick, et al. (2001). Rationalizing Aesthetics in Architecture. New Delhi, India.

Rattenbury, K. (2002). Introduction. In K. Rattenbury, This is NOT Architecture.

Rattenbury, K. (2002). Naturally Biased. In K. Rattenbury, This is NOT architecture. New York/London: Routledge.

Shamiyeh, M. (2005). What People Want: Populism in Architecture & Design. Springer.

Silber, J. (2007). Architecture of the Absurd. New York: The Quantuck lane press.

Stephens, S. (1993). Architecture Cross Examined. In T. Mitchell, Redefining Designing.

The Arrogance and the Ecstasy rd

Seminar held on November 3 , 2011

Presented by: Akshya Singhvi Digvijay Singh Rathore Karan Prasad Rattandeep Ahuja Sneha Jaiswal Swati Sharma

Chairperson: Mr. Amit Gulati

Faculty Advisor: Mr. Madhav Raman

Resource persons: Mr. Ram Sharma Mr. Sanjay Prakash Mr. Sambudhha Sen Mr. K.T. Ravindran Ms. Shikha Doogar Mr. Eash Pradhan Mr. Pratyush Prasan Mr. Ronojoy Sen Mr. Eric Zachrison

Introduction

8.1 THE ARCHITECT- weaving shackles or building visions?

Source: http://realitychaser.deviantart.com/art/howard-roark29304745

“Architecture cannot be the world’s oldest profession, but its antiquity is not in doubt.” (Kostoff, 1977, p. 2). The profession boasts of ample historic grounding. Traditionally, in the words of Plato “Architects contributed knowledge not craftsmanship” (Politicus, 259E).

Later, it was observed that the patron gained credit for the work of a master builder, whose mention and methods were kept under cover. However In the Middle Ages, there was a general shift from the Vitruvian image of an Architect.

Modern literature presented a transfer of sharing the credit between the learned patron and the anonymous master mason. A paradigm shift in the intellectual and social changes over four centuries, paved the way for Architecture to be recognized as a profession with defined role in the society. Competitions were organized for commissioning the major public buildings. Architects therefore had a new role of selling their designs in open rivalry with their colleagues. In this new role he became more professional in terms of the relationship with the client, setting up of offices, negotiating over the scale of fee, and control over the stages of work.(Kostoff, 1977) As a result the modernist architect carved for himself/herself a certain niche that remained rather exclusive. Ever since, the architect has built an image; that of a figure which invariably assumes a pedestal. A profession that is rooted in the deliverance of an expressionist object, architecture is typically perceived as the work of a sole visionary.

arises from ideals of a better world and a more responsible, sensitive, perceptive and compassionate humankind” quoted by Zvi Hecker, (Hecker, 2009) Ranging from an individual entity seeking assistance for a personal objective to a business model or welfare institution aiming to provide for the masses, the industry serves to be that indispensible interface, between the architect and architecture.

The Profession Describing the profession has never been easy for architects. As quoted by Architect Shikha Doogar in an interview, “Architects need to move away from the Romantic Idea that dictated Architecture ideology in the past. “

8.2 PHILOSOPHIES OF THE MIND AGAINST REALITIES OF CONSTRUCTION Source: Rene Fijten, http://renefijten.blogspot.com/2010/11/fountainhe ad.html

Introducing the Industry, Profession and Education At present, the complex world in which architects operate can be viewed as a biosphere of three realms.

THE INDUSTRY OR CLIENTELE THE PROFESSION AND THE ACADEMIA

The Industry The industry represents a spectrum of clients. ‘As the American poet Walt Whitman said: “Great poetry is possible only if there are great readers. In architecture, likewise, enlightened clients and occupants have an equally important role. “Profound architecture

The image we see when we think of an architect is an outcome of one of the three.

•Manifestation practices.

of

legacy

and

past

•A stylistic statement of the architect through the creation of a design object.

•Interaction with the industry and academia, based on how the architect operates.

While the first two are design centric, known to and propagated by architects themselves, the third provides us with a relatively objective approach.

Ar. Sanjay Prakash puts it in the following manner: “Our profession is splitting into three or four streams – the impatient global capitalism stream, the international modernism stream, the alternatives stream and the traditionalists – and within all that also the no attitude!” Concurrently, beliefs continue to float in the architectural circuit which reveal that “When you are practicing, your idea is to do something

good (more) for the humanity.” As mentioned by Architect Eash Pradhan.

From this, it may be deduced that architects are an eclectic mix of professionals striving to make their mark in a manner that justifies their ideology to a wider audience. (Mitchell, 1992)

The Academia The academia constitutes: The preparation for the profession along with the critiquing of its work and its output. It may be in the form of apprenticeship, a rigorous curriculum or journalism.

Anchored in pragmatism, education also endeavours to open the minds to the intangible aspects of practice. Book writing, journalism, the reading and analysis of professional papers, is what feeds back into education. At its core, the academia serves to be an arm of the profession and regulates how well the profession responds to the industry.

8.1 “When you have all the answers about a building before you start building it, your answers is not true. The building gives you answers as it grows and becomes itself."

LOUIS I. KAHN (Kahn, 1962) Source: Tracy A. Marciano http://preservationworld.blogspot.com/2011/0 2/louis-kahn-quote-about-architecture.html

Further, it is systematically ingrained into the academia, to perceive a design object as one to be celebrated. It becomes a goal, to produce an object of

reverence with every stroke of the pen or brick on ground. Architect Sanjay Prakash has pointed that “It’s idiotic for us to train all architects to become a Renzo Pianno kind of an Architect. The education is actually misleading students.” Education has always meant to broaden the students’ perspective on the world at large which would be otherwise restricted to just the building he anticipates. (Kendall, 2008) It needs to be taught, to apply the synergy of all creative aspects of life one can develop, to take an ‘architectural viewpoint’ on the burning issues of the day.

Architectural education must allow students to explore the flexibility of the profession. The changing world scenario has seen the evolution of an architect to have a lower response to self and greater response to conditions.

Notionally, the relationship of the above three is in a dynamic equilibrium. The demands of an industry instigate professional intervention, thus governing it to a great extent. The profession guides the industry, propagating a vision. The profession also influences education of the masses through architectural academisation spearheaded by architects and that of students in a classroom setup.

Meanwhile, education continues to mould itself fitting the collective mandate of the profession and the industry.

(Kendall, 2008) Aspirations and the requirements of each of the three feed and enhance each other.

The Changes Etymologically, architect is derived from the Latin word architectus, which is derived from the Greek word arkhitekton (arkhi-, chief + tekton, builder), i.e. chief builder (Wikipedia, 2005). This notion of the chief builder, though theoretically defunct, still exists in the realm in which the architect sees himself working in.

(Habraken, 2005) In the architect’s vision of the world, they play a pivotal role. But in an increasingly process driven world, this perception is not true. While the industry has undergone significant changes over the past few decades, fewer reforms have taken place inside the profession, thus compelling the architectural professionals to modify their agendas and respond to these changes. (Hecker, 2009) In this reference Architect Animesh Nayak feels that “The criteria for design selection must shift from the most competitive design quote to the most compelling and visionary design.”

However, these portray a typical outlook which evolves from the changes that currently affect a progressively more industry run profession. (Mehta, A Contextual Approach, 1993)

Policy Changes Indian economy had experienced a major policy change in early 1990s,The new economic reform, popularly known as, Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG model) aimed at making the Indian economy as fastest growing economy and globally competitive. (Narayanan, Seshadri, Subramaniam, & Gonjari, 2007) The series of reforms undertaken with respect to industrial sector, trade as well as financial sector aimed at making the

economy more efficient.

Rachita Misra , 2011)

(Mehrotra,

The LPG policy led to the opening up of world trade, development of advanced means of communication, internationalization of financial markets, growing importance of MNCs, population migrations and more generally increased mobility of persons, goods, capital, data and ideas. (Sharma & Dietrich, 2004) The post liberalization era in India, and the impact of globalization, has given rise to what Rahul Mehrotra refers to as impatient capital- Both Financial and Human.

It has been explained by Rahul Mehrotra how most of the global architecture is driven by the ‘impatient’ capital. It pushes the manufacturing industry and makes India look ‘more efficient and competent ‘in the international market. But in reality, it is superficial and a ‘divorce from the place and community.’ (Mehrotra, Rachita Misra, 2011) Industry has meanwhile grown itself to encompass a wider range of consumer base, moving beyond the traditional patron based model. With the advent of the fresh capital at hand, the profit driven industry aims to deliver timely, time being critical in determining the profitability.

(Narayanan, Seshadri, Subramaniam, & Gonjari, 2007) In the demand for a faster process the industry assumes to take control of the rate at which the projects are to be executed .It thus lays down the ground rules under which the architects operates. (Ghose, 2010) “….Good architecture needs time and the right conditions to be realised: its

own pace to evolve, mature and manifest itself as the most appropriate representation of society’s aspirations.

Most projects in cities, on account of the sheer pressure of land values, cannot afford the luxury of time. (Campanella, T. J., 2011) As explained by a practicing architect Mr. Eash Pradhan “It has globalized. Now a lot of MNC’s have come up and they are trying to dictate over us; suggesting what should be the nature of practice” As presently projects are predominantly driven by developers, who have limited ambitions beyond the financial ones and this is often not exciting enough for most good architects whose aspirations are often weighed by longer-term visions for society and for the context they are building in.”

(Mehrotra, Rachita Misra , 2011) Concurrently, the advent of a consumerist and industrialized culture has hastened the demand for renewing the built fabric.

Simultaneous advancement in networking has led to the emergence of a far more perceptive, motivated and aware patron client. This further increased a demand for value addition, by the architect. (Campanella, T. J., 2011) Furthermore the free availability of knowledge on the internet and free software’s (like Google sketch up) has made the client more aware and expressive in terms of what he demands out of a project. (Grover, 1993) Even though modernism proved to be a significant era in the architectural profession, the contemporary age is one that is identified by not just a rapid rate of construction but also an increase in area of operation and scale of project.

All, while aspirations continue to soar at an all-time high.

Project Resources The profession has also witnessed a change with the recent introduction of

innovators and technologists which influence a much wider audience with making their explicit expertise. The issue is clearly addressed by Ashraf Salama in his article on the role of architect. “The overall growth in demand for services has been accompanied by radical shifts in the types of architectural services. There are specialists in many new areas including architectural programming, cost analysis and control, designing components for industrial production, computer applications, research, and client relations”.(Salama, 1995) The industry demands for meaningful association among the professionals to provide for greater and meaningful value additions to the project. Regardless of the dynamic equations of the industry and profession, a project demands a constant set of resources: Ideation, Expertise, Employees and Implementation.

(Chauhan, 1999) However, their delivery and associated professionals are in a flux. While earlier on, the architect served as the fountainhead, today they strive to find value in any aspect that may seem neglected as the project takes shape; the concept, the practicality or the legalities; a view advocated by a practicing architect Ronojoy Sen as well.

Starchitect

8. 2 THE STARCHITECT- hands of god, minds of boys?

Source: Jeremiah Russel , http://archialternative.com/2011/04/25/this-iswhat-we-do/

“Unfortunately, in India, where the tendency for individuals is to believe that each person is an exception, it is very difficult to convince people to abide by rules. Thus, it is very difficult to begin the discussion of letting anyone else influence my design, my development or

my property.” As cited by Architect Eric Zachrison, a European architect who is currently practicing in Delhi. (Zachrison, 2011) These new systems have also given rise to a new brand of ‘starchitects’. (Mitchell, 1992) They work for recognition and have realized the potential in a fragmented design process, Delinked from the delivery process, their restricted participation works as a suitable business model.

(Nasar, 1999) As an outcome, an opinion surfaces, indirectly curbing changes of this nature.

“We should stop comparing everything we do with the “world out there. There is no way out but to be responsible socially, economically, culturally & environmentally.” This view advocated by architect Dharmesh Jadeja. As well goes in contrast to the vision of the contemporary practicing architects as mentioned earlier by Architect Eric Zachrison. Thus the vibrant equipoise existing seems to be in a state of imbalance.

The Crisis Change is an integral part of life, yet there seems to have emerged a growing uneasiness in the architectural community with any minute variation. Be it within oneself, or accusations towards the industrial procedures, there persists a stark impression of discontentment.

“People of our stature are doing the work which is not meant for them.” As said by architect Eash Pradhan.

Through this chapter we aim to paradigm a cross section of the crisis that plagues our profession thus inhibiting it from achieving its full potential.

As mentioned before, the three realms – academia, industry and profession are today, as they have always been, in a dynamic equilibrium. Change in any one, results in a reorientation of the others in order to maintain this equilibrium. A crisis has been instigated due to the unstable equipoise.

Ideological Divide In the architectural community, in the profession and the industry, uneasiness and a sense of mutual distrust seems to have arisen. Architects are wary of an industry, which causes them to question the line of thought instilled in them. The industry in turn is questioning the relevance of architects. Even within architects themselves there persists a stark impression of discontentment.

(Barkley, Cross, & Major, 2004) (Mitchell, 1992) (Ghose, 2010)

In post-independence India the government was the main builder and its aim was welfare of the masses.

Architecture was envisaged as a noble profession, one meant to uplift the lives of people. This view aligned with the requirements of the industry then.

Today, however manifestations of these ethics are in direct contrast to the motivations of the industry and this has led to large gulfs between ideology and practice. The motivations of the industry have changed from welfare to profit maximization. Even the government, the largest welfare builder has now shifted to a Public-Private Partnership model, which currently focuses more on swift delivery rather than overall welfare (although this might be easily altered).

(Campanella, T. J., 2011) (Sharma & Dietrich, 2004) While there is a need to maintain our ethical standards, those ethics need to manifest in a manner that is aligned to the interests of both industry and profession.

The following, are results of an informal survey, conducted among students of architecture across all years of the course. These findings assist us in understanding the various aspects of design explored as a student, while allowing us to interpret their connotations in the real world. Does this lead us to realize the truth in Architect Shikha Doogar’s comment “Architects in India, have no major values.” or do students formulate a different picture that signals hope? (Doogar, 2011)

8. 3: Excerpt from the Survey conducted for Architecture Student Source: Author

Stature of the Profession One of the manifestations of these ethics was that of the single head architect controlling each and every aspect of the building. It was the architect that was entrusted with the job of creating a built form that uplifted the lives of its users, and for this purpose he was given full control and a veto on design decisions. But in today’s world, there isn’t a project where an architect created in this image might fit in.

(Kostoff, 1977) (Kumar, 2005) Architect Sambuddha Sen has put it as “In building projects, out of 20 people, Architects rating in decision making, is usually among the latter 5” in an interview, which out-rightly exposes the anguish among the architects to paddle up the ladder and be the leading decision-maker.

The industry’s motivation of profit maximization has created a need for swift delivery. This need has further led to breaking down and distribution of the design and building process, with each step managed by specialists. The industry now seeks efficient solutions/value additionsnot disproportionate visions. This has further led to another conflict between the way we think we should function and the way we actually function. Architects struggle to accept other specialists as peers in the design process. (Sen, 2011) (Henry, 2011) The industry now requires architects to function in ways other than the standard modernist practice. A typical example would be the in-house architects for business outfits or established architectural firms hired as consultants for a part of the project.

(Ranjan, 2011) (Rastogi, 2002) Various people have dealt with these conflicts in different ways. While some have shunned this new industry and stuck to their modernist manifestations others have shunned ethics to embrace

it ,while many an architect fails to accept this course of diminished selfimportance, yet work their way round to deliver certain projects to sustain themselves.. The former type is, like the unchanging guidelines of the COA, a sect of architects is caught in the relentless pursuit of protecting their ‘rightful’ position- at the top. (COA, 2002) (Speights-Binet, 2004) Supporting the above argument Architect Ronojoy Sen has commented: “The profession must constantly adapt to the times, otherwise its dead. But a recent negative change is the lack of professional principles, which is suicidal.”

Lack of Community It is evident, that when we speak of architects, it is never a statement encompassing all architects alike. There is always a section that provides services of a contrasting order. This rift in way that different architects are functioning is further aggravated by the lack of community. (Gropius, 1965) (Kendall, 2008) Financially, the lack of a community has given rise to the phenomenon of undercutting amongst architects.

(Sharma & Dietrich, 2004) Whilst bidding for a project, architects undercut each other. What is not understood is that by undercutting fees, they are actually undercutting their value in the eyes of the industry. The client ranks the immediate profit of a low priced architect over the profit derived from good design (which requires greater gestation period) and this result in proliferation of bad design. (Ghose, 2010) This in turn reduces our perceived value addition and thus demeans our role in the eyes of the industry. (Habraken, 2005) Consequently, the industry is rather justified in upholding the belief, put

across by architect Animesh Nayak, that “There is no competition in terms of ideas and vision, only in terms of monetary gains from projects.” Due to lack of cohesion, our profession has ceased to guide the industry. The industry is now changing the profession, the change being under great duress.

Architect Dharmesh Jadeja expressed this view “A sense of community at social, cultural & spiritual level is still far away.” It is evident that presently there is a dire need for a strong sense of cohesion among architects; supported

by Mrs Shikha Doogar in her comment in an interview, “No, there is no sense of community. Even if it is bubbling there is no major platform. It is definitely required.” The problem is that different schools of thought will forever be in a conflict with the ideologies of one or more of the others and their code of ethics will always differ. While it is entirely acceptable to identify individual architects in light of their theories and creative inclinations, what disturbs, is the lack of ideological acceptance, tolerance and inclusivity of peers. Thus this cohesion should be based on some fundamental principles common to all.

This community might draw inspiration from the Indian constitution and democratic system which has aimed to create unity in diversity. (Osten, 2009) Architect Sambuddha Sen suggesting the benefits of mutual acceptance commented “Two things that a sense of community can achieve are, Raise the standard and have a better say.”

These conflicts have also lead to a scenario where the profession struggles to find a place for itself in society.

Analysis lucidly shows that these insecurities emerge, more than anything else, from our own notions of what an architect is. (Collins, 1965) (Hecker, 2009)

Status and Role Vis-à-vis Industry Expectations There is discrepancy between the industry and the profession on how an architect is judged. (Barkley, Cross, & Major, 2004) Three aspects that are commonly used to choose an architect are: design talent, experience and remuneration. An architect rates talent over Experience over Remuneration while the industry is guided by: How efficiently he delivers? What fees he charges, what value does he adds? In an environment where the architect is perceived as an overhead, the only thread that is keeping him in-charge- is the law. (COA, 2002) Another aspect that goes neglected is the monopoly of established architects and firms, even in the design arena.

Given that “experience” is a suggested criterion in the credibility of an architect, the younger generation, possibly coming up with fresh & new ideas is consciously sidelined. (Fernandes, 2006 ) There is thus the risk that older ideas might have dominance, and hence impart a stale aura to the cityscape. A first step would be to make aware the crisis. In the current Public Private Partnership module, wherein the financial aspect of a project is given high priority, architectural design competitions could be a way forward: Ones which value design, while providing a platform to youngsters and tapping their potential with due credentials. (Nasar, Design by competition: making design competition work, 1999)

Sharing the Design Process “Public Participation is very significantly needed in uncovering the problem. But the solution has to be given by the profession.” As suggested by a practicing Urban Designer and

renowned Academician K.T. Ravindran puts forth a view of opening up the design process.

The COA guidelines portray the architect as the supreme authority, One who governs and hence the one responsible. (COA, 2002) Architect Sanjay Prakash has pointed out a fitting analogy â&#x20AC;&#x153;Architects are like Directors and Developers are like Producers.â&#x20AC;? It thus follows, that an architect yearns for creative credit, Credit for successfully

materialising a piece of architecture, to which he assumes full responsibility.

(Chauhan, 1999) A crisis eventually emerges as the role of specialists is assumed to be that of sub-consultants rather than peers. The architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contribution is limited and the industry does not attach any value to the heavily guarded secret of the design process.

(Rastogi,2002)

The Crux A Closely Knit Community Since the practices within the profession are multifarious, it is evident that the mention of architecture community is multivariate and multifocal. (Kendall, 2008) ”A lot of different types of architects are doing lots of different things. Does this mean we cannot cohere?,” commented by Architect Animesh Marc Nayak while suggesting the need of coherence in architects.

Thus, the question that rises is, “What prevents us from presenting our community as a singular unit, as a single face that serves as a representation of our nature of work?”

In the 60s and 70s the sense of community came from the fact that all practices were similar in principal.

The students that the academia crafts are implanted with the thought where inspiration is alleged to be unprincipled.

The cohesion can now come from the sense of adopting open source principles which will impart a sense of empathy towards other architects.

(Sokenmoglu & Cagdas, 2007) These moralities need to be encouraged by the academia at rudimentary level of learning of the professionals itself.

(Grover, 1993) A cue could be taken from our constitution, which in itself is structured very delicately; similarly our touchstones have to be the principles of tolerance and inclusiveness.

Architect Sambuddha Sen mentioned in an interview that architects are very secretive. This confidentiality stopover the profession from consolidation as a single entity; abandoning this secrecy could prove to be a crucial tool for the propagation of a spirit that would hold the community together. (Kostoff, 1977)

This could be instigated with the support of a healthy and rigorous Architectural Journalism. A more robust intellectual spine of architectural journals and critiquing by the professionals can build a world of thriving architectural views and values, which will further trickle down to both the industry and the academia also.

Determining a Vision “It’s not just a building, we design a lifestyle.” An outlook of architect Eash Pradhan A significant step towards rising above our crisis is identifying that our services, to the industry, are not quantitative beyond a given point. As a result, the representation of our profession is limited to the extent of producing working drawings. Thus there arises an impending need arises to assert a vision. A vision for the practice, that which goes beyond the project scope. A vision that does not delve into philosophies, but makes available a concrete set of skills that the architect has to offer.

If one must compete with the global market, it must be made evident that the vision or the services the profession offers is a one stop solution to all the project essentials. (Ranjan, 2011) A thought that may be aligned with the target is that “A Good architect has an ability to evoke Empathy.” As supported by architect, urban-designer and academician K.T. Ravindran.

From small interventions to large projects, our only true contribution is perpetually locked in the design process. It is evident that now is the time to unlock it. It must be made clear;

the intention here is not to share underdeveloped ideas. Referring to Michelangelo and his inhibition from revealing the paintings of the Basilica until they were finished only reiterates the need for personal approval before presenting it to a wider audience.(Stone, 1961) However, there is now a shift from a Patron to a capital-centric scenario.

Value for money is expected right away.

Once our work reflects our value, then the client may give leverage. The architect must now strike a balance between developing concepts to a degree and sharing them at relevant stages, open for inputs from specialists in other fields.

As we extend our exclusive league of architects to a community of designers, a system would emerge wherein the industry would begin to appreciate our contribution, in a holistic manner.

(Chhaya, 1998) Customized to suit their specific needs, a team of specialists would prove to be that invincible force that the industry would be eager to tap.

Unlike the current day, prescribed system of an architect-head and subconsultants, a team of generalists & specialists coming together for the specific deliverance of the desired object would be of a far greater value.

The architect may be a mere facilitator, but he/she would be doing so in full consciousness of the fact and in complete transparency.

This would be aided by the introduction of competitions within the existing organization of profession. As opposed to the conventional process where the client identifies the architect based on prior reputation, in a design competition the client picks the designer based on design for the specific project (Nasar, Design by competition: making design competition work, 1999) In the Indian context, the Council of Architecture (COA), the body which

defines the conduct of architectural practices heavily advocates architectural competitions.

According to the “Professional Practice Competition Guidelines” the various merits of this system include – new architects getting a chance to prove their mettle, an increased chance for outstanding work to emerge and new solutions to be discovered.

Benefits of Competitions

Design

In a competition architects are pressed to do their best work. It is very different working to win than when an architect already has a commission…The client is like the dealer: He cannot lose. He gets a design, models, drawings and publicity. –Peter Eisenman (Nasar, 1999, pp20) In a design competition an architect is required to do his best work if he wishes to win. The complacency of getting a commission is replaced by the need to innovate .We can see that the most famous buildings of the world were the outcome of design competitions- La Grande Arche de la Défense, Parc de la Villette, Centre Georges Pompidou, Sydney Opera House and Royal Danish Library are only a few examples to prove this point.

Competitions have great potential because they open up opportunities to talented architects that may be young and unrecognized to become recognized - Cesar Pelli, architect (Nasar, 1999, pp20) It certainly as value in terms of giving that young practitioner the chance to be recognized -Steven Izenour,AIA National Honor Award winner (Nasar, 1999, pp20) A design competition allows new talent to emerge. A pioneering architect or

group of architects may never get the chance to propose their solutions if there are no competitions. A competition is the best way to award commissions on merit and help new talent to emerge and bring in new solutions.

Drawbacks Competitions

of

Design

Professional Juries are swayed by the look of the presentation rather than the substance of the design – Joan Blutter (Designer of the year, ASID) There exists an argument that the competition leads to a very superfluous examination of the design and that the jury in influenced by other things rather than just pure design. (Campanella, T. J., 2011) While this might be true, it is relatively easier to correct than the situation that emerges out of holding no competitions. The jury might include not only a jury of architects but also of the client and other stakeholders .If design is given its due diligence then good design will emerge.

Plugging the Architect Into the System The competition may yield remarkable designs but a lot more is needed to realize the project .The process from conceptualization to realization of a design is made possible by a wide array of expertspeople dealing in construction, management, marketing etc. This array is already in place in a builder’s firm and what is needed is to plug in the architect based on the competition. The architectural firm might exist in isolation and then be plugged into the system after winning a competition and then again plug out after the project is over.

Public Participation

So, in all these competitions ….the building has been a disappointment to the owners and the public – and the jury escaped unscathed. - Arthur Erickson, architect (Speights-Binet, 2004) another argument in contradiction of the competition is that the process is nondemocratic and elitist (Nasar, Design by competition: making design competition work, 1999). It is said that the common public is left out in the name of lack of expertise whilst simultaneously claiming that the process is democratic is for the greater public good. There are divided views on whether the general public must get a vote. Some people argue that the public isn’t sufficiently wellinformed when it comes to design whereas the other side argues that the public participation is essential if one desires the building to be accepted.

A solution might be to use a process in which due weight is given to the vote of the general public in conjunction with other parties (the client, the jury etc.).

The jury could as well be conducted in a two-step process. The jurors might shortlist entries and then open these for public vote or vice versa.

Reinventing the Profession The relevance of architects is a thoroughly debated issue. As architects, it may be unsettling to see the industry harbour thoughts which demean our value.(Henry, 2011) In fact Architect Sanjay Prakash puts it in the context of developers as “Private Real Estate has cracked the problem that Architects matter by making them not matter anymore.” However efforts must be made towards making our role suited to the evolved needs rather than assisting it towards obsolesce.

Open source principles, when applied to architecture would lead to a multidisciplinary contribution towards the specific needs of our society. The

current practices of highly deceptive design practices continue to infest our built environment. It is now time to extend a vision for an all-inclusive design strategy; one that creates a suitable corporate set up for those of us aspiring to make it big on the global scale. Architect Ronojoy Sen believes that “Architects need to respond with an uncompromising professional attitude & standards. (It’s working elsewhere, so why not here?) The architect must be a clever and sensitive team-player to get the best out of an assignment, leading without overbearingly appearing to do so.”

Extracting from the underlying principle of open sourcing, the architect must benefit from universal availability of ideas. (Kendall, 2008) Such ventures have a direct relation with the root thinker and credit is commensurate to the time and effort. The members are not trying to earn money from the complete ownership of the code.

Creative commons is one such model that promotes intelligent credit sharing.

In dealing with legal set ups, Limited Liability Company is also an efficient mechanism. When we extend these principles to an architectural practice, it follows that architects as well as other designers and specialists on the team need to be paid for thinking. Linking the payment to the whole building as a percentage leads to undercutting fees.

However what we don’t realise is that we are actually undercutting our own value in the eyes of the industry.

The proposed way of practice assigns a role and responsibility to architects which would be easily understood by everyone. Since the set up allows for specialists, generalists as well as industry representatives to be equally involved, it provides for clarity in the value an architect brings to the project.

The status of an architect, his stature in society and expectations from the

industry, thus fall into place and the architect continues to fulfil his creative passion, through in a renewed channel.

Unravelling the design potential among members of the design community, would not only make way for innovative, context specific building techniques, but also spare time for further creative inputs in one’s own specific field. It must be simultaneously understood that there is a stark difference between this and the methodologies of “copycat architecture”. As mentioned previously, such ventures have a direct relation with the root thinker and corresponding grant of credit. The moment we extend our thought process to the root of a product, dig to foundations and see where or why it took birth, we realise its actual worth and what emerges is an output which is far more creative and embedded in the specific context rather than a copy paste job.

In the aspect of remuneration, it is widely felt, that architects are not compensated adequately. There is always an unsettling truth about an uptight client, unwilling to dole out the expected fees. Why is such a scenario so prominent among architects? If the architect is satisfied the client is not, if the client is content the architect is not.

The solution clearly lies in making our worth, explicit and demands, logical. As expressed by Mr. Amit Gulati, there is a need for our philosophical agenda to be aligned to that of the financial and political agenda of the project. Lots of people are engaged in different parts of the design process. Prize them in man hours as per their experience and ability. Pay for thinking.

At this point, an impending insecurity arises which was expressed clearly in the words of Architect Ram Sharma. “In the context of the analogy of architects as film directors and developers as producers, “You have taken for granted

that the architects’ role is being undermined, which to my mind is not correct. Director is qualified to produce a certain kind of work. He is qualified; therefore it is as much in the interest of the producer to hire him as for him to be hired.

The issue however, is not that our role is recognized to be secondary, but that it is not understood fully by the stakeholders or the parties concerned.

The aspired way of practice confers upon individual architects, a role and responsibility easily understood by each one in the common pool. Since the set up allows for specialists, generalists as well as industry representatives to be equally involved, it provides for clarity in the value an architect brings to the project. The status of an architect, his stature in society and expectations from the industry, thus fall into place and the architect continues to fulfil his creative passion, though in a renewed channel.

It would be crucial here, to point out the acceptance of a transformed practice of architecture hinted at, by practicing architects.

“I think design-build firms can be a game changer, allowing for a happy marriage between good design and economics,” stated by architect Animesh Nayak as a suggestion to the required reformations.

Towards a Fresh Process The slow paced, intricately crafted architectural practices which owe their success to the attribute of a solitary mind can no longer be the only archetype of the architectural practice.

A new era has dawned upon us wherein the architectural output is no more a celebrated building on a sacred site.

Architectural industry now serves a far complex system of motives than the creation of an inspiring habitable space.

Mr. K.T. Ravindran has commented “The status of Architect is what the status Architect creates.” Today, an effective balance could be met by the coalition of fragmented sources in the industry, with due credits. ‘A Moral ethical position will be needed to put into motion creating forces that were silenced by the wide spread decadence.

A natural change of our aesthetic perception will follow. The inevitable slowdown of building construction and the emergence of another aesthetic reality will provide a fertile ground for the germination of new ideas, ‘referred to by Zvi Hecker (Hecker, 2009).

An immediate solution can be presented as a three point program which is rooted in the underlying principles of open sourcing and collaboration.

The role of the architect needs to be extended to the one who serves to facilitate, ideate or innovate. Along with a team of thinkers need to be developed who will tap the creative inputs of all associated specialists.

“We’d bring about another renaissance, where architects are again experts at more than presentation and construction,” as remarked by architect Eric Zachrison.

Conclusion It is time for architecture to transcend its boundaries. To extend our expertise to the finer aspects of building industry while integrating specialists into the creative process of conception.

Architecture today, is the material face of globalisation. While numerous industries have benefited from it, there remains no reason for the construction industry to delay tapping its goodness.

Wheels that were set in motion during modernism must now change track and carry with them the fruits of our post liberalized, globalized era. In the realm of architecture and architects alike; there is potential. There is expectation and there is the vigour. However, its manifestation comes through with immense perplexity. We have talked about the three chords that together

make the instrument of architecture- the industry, the profession and the academia. If not one is struck with perfection, the music falls apart.

From the current scenario, it may be concluded that the pace of the industry is at par with the diverse parallel fields of technologies in building construction, consumer anticipation and the business of real estate. The profession and academia on the other hand, are held up by principals and philosophies that not only gauge architecture on the basis of its habitat value but also on the architects’ personal choices.

On viewing the profession in light of the changes that have taken place, we can identify many loopholes that remain to be mended. From the time of modernism, several new phenomena have taken place in the industry. The globalized market, the abundance and

range of resources and specialists and changes in policy have deeply impacted the profession. At the same time, the profession has dealt with these changes and introduced diverse layers of architectural practices that do not necessarily comply with the conscience of their peers.

Thus emerges the lack of a strong architectural community that is unable to set standards, or critique the works of professionals in an unbiased fashion.

Consequently, the academia also faces the wrath. No specialists involve themselves in issuing statements creating public awareness and architects refuse to intelligently open up to the lay person propagating magazine architecture.

A divide thus emerges in the architects’ status, the perception of the profession and the expectations of the industry.

Each professional is out to win his or her own battle. While the policies intend for the architect to adopt complete ownership of projects, in effect, there is a throng of generalists and specialists who are involved with the creation of an architectural ‘masterpiece’. The vision for a project is no more, the construct of the architect alone. It may evolve from any related field. Once this is duly accepted, steps can be taken towards making amendments in professional procedures. Methods could be adopted for sharing credit as well as liability and the academia could work towards the pursuit of an architecturally enlightened industry.

It is time the profession began to respect the true needs of the industry. It is time the academia came upfront about critiquing the profession and started to work on the foundations for

the ideal future professional and it is time the industry stopped the exploitation of the profession for its lack of creative business plans and policies that suit an open minded professional.

“Architecture is not only selective sample of the world; it is a transforming of the world, an endless transformation towards the good.” Quoted by Hecker (Hecker, 2009)

Afterword We would like to conclude with highlighting a few jarring issues that were introduced during the course of our research, discussed in the preceding content and advocated by our chairperson Mr. Amit Gulati.

First of all, there persists a need to identify what kinds of architectural practices are ‘out there’, especially in India. What are they up against? What are the competitive forces? Architects are in the league of impatient capitalists.

Architects are entrepreneurs, especially when working independently. They are a potential for personal development, professional development and entrepreneurial development.

The second point of significance lies in the perception of a Starchitect: The assumption of architects, as a celebrity,an outcome of great work. One celebrates great companies, great musicians, great creative talent, once they have achieved something that has a social impact. The profession cannotgrow; neither takes off, with the celebrity status being a preconceived element of the construct of practice. All architects are not destined for being a celebrity. It is an outcome of a process, and not the starting point of the process: Something we tend to miss sometimes.

As a fellow traveller, Mr. Amit Gulati a product designer in partnership with an architect has worked a lot with

architects. In his experience, there exists this wired in celebrity status, often leading to dissatisfaction and prevents the real agenda from being addressed.

The final and a rather humbling perspective is that of an architect, as a component in a collaborative process.

The complexity and scale of larger, public sector, private sector and joint sector projects is such that the architect may not take a solo role in that. There need to be teams of architects working in concert. The framework requires the architect to absorb their personal ego and work in a collaborative core.

Consequently, even if there is a philosophical construct driving that process, it needs to be aligned. It is unprofitable, not to mention unwieldy to have different kinds of agendas trying to come together and make big projects happen. It follows that there is the reason why a lot of the really large projects are not done by Indian architects, because there is no concerted agenda where people can work in collaborative teams. A corollary to that is to see if there is a possibility to adopt a more corporate structure for architects to work in teams. Corporate structure is like a jungle. Only the fittest survive, but there is an ecosystem where fitness is a prerequisite.

Individual partnership doesn’t have a prerequisite for fitness every time. All the same, this structure needs to be accountable; it also needs to be something which can facilitate growth.

Thus, seeing the scale, and large teams that our complex projects need, a structure must be set, to bring in investment and provide for a certain scale to Indian practices.

There is a pressing need for the professionals to view their work in the context of a competitive environment where the developers and large clients are in the global market for architects.

They now have the financial deft to hire

architects from any continent, not just the Indian continent. How then, do Indian architects rise up to this challenge? We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use the law to protect us. No one can be forced to hire.

You are hired on the merit of your own capability, not what the law says.

It is important to understand, who sets the agenda. Architecture must have the

stature to drive an agenda. One has to build the stature for oneself. The architect has the experience, exposure and philosophical clarity to drive the agenda. The developer has only one agenda. Sell at the soonest, make the maximum profit. Is there a philosophical agenda that aligns with that? Or compliments it? That is the role of the architect.

Acknowledgments We thank all the people who have made various contributions towards the completion of our seminar. We are extremely grateful to our studio coordinars Prof. Jaya Kumar and Dr. Ranjana Mital for guiding us through the seminar program, our guide Mr. Madhav Raman for constantly guiding us, and introducing us to the realities of our profession.

We are very thankful to Prof. Ram Sharma, Prof. K.T. Ravindran, Mr. Sanjay Prakash, Mr. Sambuddha Sen, Mr. Ronojoy Sen, Mr. Animesh Nayak, Mr. Eric Zachrison, Ms. Shikha Dooger, Mr. Dharmesh Jadeja, Mr. Pratyush Prasan, Mr. Eash Pradhan, Mr. R.L.Kumar, Mr. Gerrard Du Cunha, Mr. Benny Kuriakose, Mr. Eugine Pandala, Ms. Suhasini Iyer, Ms. Gita Kapoor and Mr. Apoorv Goyal for dedicating your time and sharing with us your ideas and perspectives. We believe that it has greatly enhanced our understanding of the issues as we sync our stance with those of experienced professionals.

We are as well very thankful to all the people who have spent their precious time by sharing their knowledge and views about the topic, through interviews and surveys.

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Animate Form Seminar held on November 4th, 2011

Presented by: Aastha Singh Abhishek Behera Hardik Panchal Prayash Giria Surjmani Laishram Swagata Paul

Chairperson: Mr. Mark Arjun Warner

Faculty Advisor: Mr. Amit Khanna

Resource persons: Ms. Tania Kaushal Mr. Inato Sema Mr. Dondetti Karthik Ms. Priyanka Pande

Introduction ‘Architects have maintained an ethics of statics in their discipline. Because of its dedication to permanence, architecture is one of the last modes of thought based on the inert. More than even its traditional role of providing shelter, architects are expected to provide culture with stasis. This desire for timelessness is intimately linked with interests in formal purity and autonomy.’

Greg Lynn, from Animate Form Lynn’s thoughts echo a somewhat valid view that many fields of design (like automobile or fashion) have always considered context to be a vector quantity, but architecture has traditionally been firmly static. He argues that if we accept that our context changes constantly and rapidly, then why are we still obsessed with designs that are absolutely stationery?

This argument has sparked the base for this paper, which looks at an architectural future that is far removed from its present day conception as a firmly static entity. Dynamic Architecture as a definitive future for architecture is both reasoned and explained, and its implications looked at thereafter.

Lynn himself purports that his point of view stems from a westernized school of thought, where Greek Classicism has been extremely influential. Greek ideals like immortality and strength have directly translated to architectural aspirations like timelessness and permanence, and hence our fascination with all things monumental. There is a valid reason behind it, as architecture was considered to be a stabilizing element in the midst of rapid social flux.

This counterweight attribute meant that architecture was and is meant to be static, and its stasis will be the balancing force for an unsettled civilization.

If contrasted to eastern cultures, the equation gets murkier. In comparison to the Greeks, the different oriental schools of thought have always embraced the aspect of constant change – the classification and the change of the different ‘yugas’ (epochs) in Vedic (post Indus Valley civilization) thought is a perfect illustration of the same.

Architecture, hence, is considered more of an accompaniment to this change.

Architectural translation has been subtle but smart, much of domestic architecture in the orient factoring in ideas like multiple usage and extendable or shrinkable spaces.

Hence, we have examples like the Shoji Screens of Japan and the courtyard of the Indian Haveli. Even in static architecture, a sense of dynamism and fluidity is imbued.

As the world increasingly shrinks, these two schools of thought are colliding, and a new social definition of architecture is emerging.

What is architecture supposed to be in the midst of cultural change? Is it supposed to be a counterweight, like the Greeks, or is it supposed to be a catalyst like in the Orient? Moreover, is it still supposed to be a repeated reference to historic bodies of work, and technologies that we’ve been using for decades at a stretch?

An interesting response to all of these questions lies in the emerging field of dynamic architecture – of futuristic designs of skyscrapers that rotate, of offices that swim and homes that collapse into a suitcase. In this paper, the focus lies on this futuristic breed of design thought – whether it is more than a daydream, and how.

Defining Dynamic Architecture As said before, oriental architecture has always displayed traits of dynamism, but in the scope of the future, dynamism can be expected to be less simplistic than a multipurpose hall. Dynamism, thus, is defined (in the context of this paper) as an intentional attribute rather than a simultaneous phenomenon. Take for example the average bus shelter in Delhi, which many homeless use as a refuge at nights. The design is thus used dynamically. However, if the shelter was equipped with mechanized walls that would actually convert the whole structure into a small homeless shelter, then the design would be intentionally dynamic. With respect to the future, there is also an element of advanced technology, automation and mechanization, which make dynamic architecture even more obvious.

Image 10.1 A still from the 1927 German movie, Metropolis http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090415 180735/uncyclopedia/images/9/9a/Metropolis_lg.j pg

References Culture

So is this the dynamism we all seem to be headed towards? In all probability, yes, as further explorations into the topic illustrate.

from

Popular

Another portrayal of this dynamic architecture can be found in countless science fiction movies from Metropolis to The Minority Report. When it comes to portraying the future in cinema, one of the most prevelant themes is the overwhelming sense of motion that all on-screen architecture embodies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from legislative assemblies that can jet off as a space ship when under attack, to capsule sized homes that convert into every livable space at the touch of a button. Hence, it can be argued that the architecture of the future, at least in popular fantasy, is expected to be much more active and responsive than it is today.

Classifying Dynamism

3. Flexible Architecture

Dynamism, even if restricted to a highly mechanized and automated format, has a range of manifestations. Robert Kronenburg broadly classifies dynamic architecture into four categories:

Flexibility is somewhat generic, but implies ease of varied uses of the same space. Unlike traditional multipurpose spaces, flexible architecture is engineered with options to convert the same static space into a variety of visually different formats.

1. Kinetic Architecture Kineticism implies physical mobility.

Essentially, a part of the built form, or all of it, is physically movable, making it the most evident form of dynamic architecture due to its obviousness.

Image 10.4 Concept for sustainable, expandable design http://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_new s/2009/06/29/boxinacrate01.jpg Image 10 .2 Rotating Tower http://www.inhabitat.com/wpcontent/uploads/twirlingtower1.jpg

concept

2. Portable Architecture Portability also implies mobility, but in the sense of ease of change of location, where the entire built mass can be dismantled or collapsed or simply transported from one place to the other.

4. Adaptive Architecture Adaptive architecture implies a heightened sense of responsiveness, where the architecture is engineered towards quick responses to contextual changes, often by way of hyperactive building skins.

Image 10.5 Jean Nouvelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Institut du Arab Monde, in Paris, France http://c1038.r38.cf3.rackcdn.com/group2/building 10699/media/mkac_im5.jpg Image 10.3 Illyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concept portable kiosks http://www.thefoxisblack.com/blogimages/illy.jpg

Historic Perspectives For all its futuristic appeal, mechanized and intentional dynamism is not even a relatively new concept, and has been used through much of history. Moreover, it is not restricted to a few examples, but has been practiced across varied typologies in equally varied parts of the world, making its history both engaging and enriching.

Image 10.6 A traditional Japanese home http://goo.gl/xkbv7

Residential Architecture For over a thousand years in residential architecture the Japanese have famously used movable partitions to aid multi-purpose usage of spaces. An equally lengthy recorded history exists, in Central Asia, for the usage of the Yurt, which is a collapsible tented structure designed to be dismantled and carried off on horseback. Slightly more recent than the yurt is the wooden caravan used by European Gypsies, widely believed to be the most obvious precursor to the modern day motor-home.

Dynamic architecture is predominantly visible in the dwellings of several other nomadic cultures as well, such as Indian tribes who adopt the usage of Wigwams and Teepees. Dynamism here can be seen as a tool to aid lifestyles which make easy change of context a necessity.

Image 10.7 The http://goo.gl/DQ6kx

Image 10.8 Teepees http://goo.gl/sEkTG

Image 10.9 http://goo.gl/sEkTG

Mongol

or

Gypsy

Yurt

Wigwams

Caravan

Transport Architecture Architecture related to transportation should logically be dynamic, and there are abundant examples of the same, the movable bridge being a prime one.

Although primarily ‘engineering’ feats, bridges have often had design interventions. Movable Bridges are dynamic because of their functional requirements to provide clear passage for both land-based and water-based traffic. Essentially these were bridges that could open, raise, rotate or move certain parts in order to accommodate water traffic which required high clearance.

The very first kind of a movable bridge was probably the drawbridge, now associated with medieval castles. These can be seen across the world, and thanks to the animation industry, have become a popular feature of the ‘castle’.

Movable bridges built in recent history (19th Century onwards) are complex engineering feats, many having become iconic in their immediate contexts – like the Tower Bridge of London, UK; the Pamban Rail Bridge near Rameswaram, India; and the Vizcaya Transporter Bridge in Northern Spain, also a World Heritage Site.

Image 10.11 Vizcaya Transporter Bridge, Northern Spain http://everythingeverywhere.smugmug.com/Euro pe/Spain/Bilbao/GMA4922tonemapped/8881190 00_jDAA8-1000x1000.jpg

Image 10.10 Drawbridge in Portugal http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/t humb/f/f5/Lagos48.jpg/450px-Lagos48.jpg

Image 10.12 Pamban Bridge, Tamil Nadu, India http://pixdaus.com/pics/1234784666GN6uu34.jpg

In contemporary terms, Bridges have embraced architecture more fully, ceasing to be merely engineering behemoths. Architects, the world over, have experimented with creating movable bridges, to considerable success. Of these, the Rolling Bridge, London by Heatherwick Studios is a well-known, albeit tiny, example.

Liverpool’s Millenium Gateshead Bridge is the city’s most visited tourist attraction. Popularly referred to as the ‘winking eye’ because of its swinging action, the bridge is at the heart of a riverfront revitalization effort.

Its popularity is so immense that it is also inscribed on the face of the One Pound coin. These bridges have transcended their role as mere transportation links, and have become cultural landmarks. In these terms alone, they have been reasonably successful.

An adaptation of the movable bridge popular across the world is the air bridge, used at most major airports. In simple terms, an air bridge is an extendable, movable connector between the fixed terminal building and the aircraft gate. Its use eliminates the need for passenger buses, and is boon in inclement weather and for disabled passengers. Delhi’s own Indira Gandhi International Airport proudly boasts of 75 air bridges at Terminal 3 (a world record, according to the DIAL website).

Interestingly, in architecture as exposed to movement as that of an Airport, the air bridge is probably the only overtly dynamic element in use.

Image 10.15 Air Bridge http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getasset.aspx ?itemid=16445

Image 10.13 The Rolling Bridge, London http://www.evolo.us/wpcontent/uploads/2011/04/Rolling_Bridge_1.jpg

Image 10.14 Gateshead http://goo.gl/CC3am

Millenium

Bridge

Recreational Architecture Dynamism has also been an interesting accompaniment to recreational facilities, although with a fairly short contemporary history. Apart from carnivals and fun-fairs, where focus is on rides rather than architecture, an interesting example is that of the revolving restaurant.

views and has become a veritable city landmark since its opening nearly 30 years ago. As one food critic puts it, ‘The food is barely mediocre, but the view compensates for it all.’ Another similar example is the Parikrama restaurant in Delhi, where visitors continue to flock for the promise of the rare bird’s eye view of the generally low rise city.

Often translated as a revolving floorplate often set high above the surrounding skyline to afford great views, the revolving restaurant is marketed as a unique dining experience in its hundreds of locations across the world. Often, they are centrepieces of iconic towers like Toronto’s CN Tower, Seattle’s Space Needle and Auckland Tower.

In India, revolving restaurants can be found in many locations like Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat and even Patna. Of special note is Ahmedabad’s Patang restaurant, attached to the Chinubhai Centre, a riverfront commercial complex designed by noted modernist Hasmukh C Patel. The restaurant, placed on top of a freestanding pilotis affords great

Image 10.16 Patang, Ahmedabad http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQlnv GscwiJ1uGZznLwAqtR_zaVtY7LkL75AZT1_RK0j5awXgdULeWLr4F

Why Dynamism is the Future As the previous section illustrates, human beings already possess the capability to make large structures that can physically move about. Mainstream architecture that can do the same is often met by a large amount of cynicism.

This cynical attitude basically arises from concerns regarding the practical viability of dynamic architecture.

Technology Reminiscent of the reaction to the very first ideas of the skyscraper, the idea that technology required to engineer dynamic architecture is beyond us is pretty much a non-issue, as many built examples of mainstream architecture continues to illustrate that its not only possible, but even successful.

Take the Sliding House in countryside English, where the home is essentially a barn-like structure with a Glass Skin and sits on a low plinth. The owner asked dRMM architects of London to present a design that maximizes illumination by sunlight, and thus the glass home.

However, to combat issues of privacy and inclement weather, the architects proposed, and built, a radical outer skin of wood (with several openings for fenestrations), that slides back and forth along the extended plinth and covers the home like a sheath as and when required. The owners are extremely happy, and the home well documented.

Image 10.17 Sliding House http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/slidinghouse_more.jpg

Economy While technologies do exist, its affordability is a different issue altogether. Here too, technological advancements temper the impact as every innovation is followed by a subsequent rise in affordability â&#x20AC;&#x201C; like in the case of mobile phones.

Moreover dynamic architecture allows for a greater efficiency of available land by promising to factor in more services than is conventionally possible, thus making it a good economic decision.

The Wyly theatre in Dallas, USA is an excellent example of a flexible space.

Contained in a simple rectangular block, the theatre reconfigures the traditional

lateral spread of a theatre and its auxiliary services into a vertical stack, placing the utility areas above the theatre space, which in turn, is directly accessible from the street edge. The theatre itself works with a complex mechanism of movable rows of chairs and stages, allowing the theatre to be configured in any desired format (UShaped, 4-sided seating etc.), and even create a blank performance space which directly opens onto the street. The benefits here are many â&#x20AC;&#x201C; New York based REX architects have managed to super-utilize the value of the small plot of land and equip it with variety of theatre configurations, making it both, a local eccentricity and excellent business sense for the theatre owners.

Image 10.18 Wyly Theatre, Dallas http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a110/Dallasbrink/wyly-elevation.jpg

Sustainability The next obvious concern is sustainability. If buildings are to move around so much, where will we find the energy to power it? Time, again, is expected to play a role, as innovations are expected to raise the ‘green’ quotient of dynamic architecture.

Moreover, as said before, dynamism also covers under its aegis Adaptiveness, Flexibility and Portability, thus offering some important advantages over conventional architecture, like reduced footprints, lower environmental impact of renovations, extensions, or shifting, and greater sensitivity to context.

The Heliotrope is similar to a revolving restaurant – a cylindrical block of apartments that rotate around a central core. Here, the architectural concept

goes beyond simply providing a view, but incorporating several green strategies. The architect, Rolf Disch, built the first Heliotrope in Freiburg, Germany, in 1988, with the intention of designing a home that would harness the sun’s energy as much as possible.

The result is a home that moves according to the movements of the sun, and accompanied with a host of renewable energy generators. The results were of note: the Heliotrope claims to be the first structure in the world to generate five times the energy that it consumes, and even supplies some to the local grid. The Heliotrope is now a patent, with adaptations as varied as hotels and offices being or already built. The only drawback, as of now, is the high cost of building a Heliotrope.

Image 10.19 Heliotrope http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/08/heliotrope-ed01.jpg

Practicality Dynamism also brings with it a sense of greater practicality in architecture, by allowing temporarily unnecessary elements to be ‘pruned’, and also by allowing for a greater range of solutions to issues like growth / shrinkage requirements, change of location, inclement weather, etc.

Take for example the stadium-weather nexus. In 2008’s Beijing Olympics, Herzog & de Meuron’s Bird’s Nest

stadium became a global talking point for its unique appearance. However, to deal with the threat of rain during events like the all-important Opening Ceremony, the authorities fired raindispersing rockets, leading to environmentalist uproar.

However, much before that, stadia like the Amsterdam Arena and the Wembley factored in retractable roofs which simply moved across the stadium to cover the play-field as and when required.

Image 10.20 Amsterdam Arena http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Amsterdam_Arena_Roof_Open.jpg

Universality Finally, dynamism brings to its gambit a diverse range of issues and ideas that make it a very universal concept. Not only is it applicable to varied contexts and typologies, it offers solutions to many different problems related to lifestyle, weather, context etc., and promises to be a great solution for all classes of society as well.

Take for example a 24 square metre apartment in Hong Kong, a result of expensive land and high population density on the relatively tiny Hong Kong island. The owner, with greater needs, has engineered the apartment with a variety of movable elements that allow the whole space to be easily converted into different formats like the dining room, the living room, the home theatre, the study and the bed room. Dynamism as a concept easily adapts to the owners lifestyle and economic capacity.

Image 10.21 Hong Kong Apartment http://popupcity.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/24-Room-Apartment.jpg

Aesthetic Arguments Another argument against dynamism concerns its aesthetical attributes, with views ranging from ‘more machine than architecture’ to ‘ego-satisfying architecture’ to ‘pure stuntman-ship’. As is the tricky nature of an aesthete’s opinion, it would be both unfair and irresponsible to discredit the view of non-supporters.

However, the study for the seminar also involved an examination of several views regarding architectural expression; and then seeing their applicability with respect to dynamic architecture.

Mathew Frederick, architect-author for 101 Things I Learnt in Architecture School, confidently states: A static composition appears to be at rest. Static compositions are usually symmetrical. At their most succesfull, they suggest power, firmness, conviction, certainty, authority and permanence. Less successful examples can be unengaging and boring.

A dynamic composition encourages the eye to explore. Dynamic compositions are almost always asymmetrical. They can suggest activity, excitement, fun, movement, flow, aggression and conflict. Less successful examples can be jarring or disorienting.

The book itself, a self-styled primer for architecture students hoping to come-toterms with the initially confusing world of architectural jargon, is not exactly illfounded. Although his statement makes no recognition to the overall nature of the form (dynamic or static) and only to its superficial or volumetric treatment, the essence that dynamism imparts a sense of interaction that draws in the user is of note.

Further, he also quotes Louis Sullivan: ‘A proper building grows naturally, logically and poetically out of all its conditions’ Although one statement is not gospel for architectural expression, a dynamic form meets the above essence with ease. By nature, a dynamic form is what it is because of its need to change as per its contextual and user-based requirements. While static forms do address their context and respond in a fixed matrix of ways, dynamism implies a heightened responsiveness which addresses its context in completely new ways.

Steven Holl introduces Juhani Pallasmaa’s Eyes of the Skin with the words, ‘tight, clear argument for the pheonomenological dimension of human experience in architecture’. The book itself is a highly appraised theoretical argument which seeks to reaffirm the importance of the holistic sensory experience (beyond sight-based) that architecture entails.

‘As buildings lose their plasticity, and their connection with the language and wisdom of the body, they become isolated in the cool and distant realm of vision. With the loss of tactility, measures and details crafted for the human body – and particularly for the hand – architectural structures become repulsively flat, sharp edged, immaterial and unreal’ ‘Similarly, during the design process, the architect gradually internalises the landscape, the entire context and the functional requirements as well as his/her conceived building: movement, balance and scale are felt unconsciously through the body... As the work interacts

with the body of the observer, the experience mirrors the bodily sensations of the maker.’



Blank – by avoiding any formal or figurative aesthetic element, ornament or gesture.

A dynamic form too possesses some attributes that Pallasmaa expects out of ideal architecture. Based on the immediate understanding of his writings, Pallasmaa respects architecture that involves its user and invites him to explore, not only with sight, but with his/her other bodily senses as well. As suggested before, dynamic architecture promises heightened engagement with the user, prodding him/her with various possibilities and avenues of exploration.

The Yurt, for example, is a multi-sensory experience, that involves considerations for all the senses – visual, oral, aural, tactile, scent-based and more. The Yurt’s intrinsic standing in the life of the Mongol nomad stretch it far beyond an attractive volume to sleep in, to a full living space which must respond to the nomad’s sensory perceptions.



Pointing – that architecture must ‘point’ towards new social orders, new typologies, a new philosophy. It should not be confused with self-significance or political point-making.



Incongruous – at once maintaining and suppressing the given architectural resources.



Intensively Coherent – by stressing on the inherent properties of individual ‘monolithic arrangements’ to create unique relationships in architecture, contradictory or harmonious or in between.

Jeffrey Kipnis, another noted architectural critic, explored the future of architecture in his essay titled ‘Towards a New Architecture’. Therein, Kipnis tried to explore the direction in which architectural design should proceed, and goes on to make a manifesto of sorts, complete with his criteria of defining characteristics for the ‘new architecture’.

Kipnis, drawing from philosopher Robert Unger’s thoughts, states that New Architecture must be 

Vast – by finding a middle ground between the unlimited space (homogenous) that is the modernist ideal, and hierachial, articulated spaces. However, the space must remain democratic, and an emphasis on residual spaces hence becomes necessary.

Owing to the firmly static understanding of future architecture, a fair amount of interpolation is required to analyze the above statements, but dynamism seems to easily meet all the criteria.

Vastness is justified in dynamism’s intent of making spaces flexible and adaptive – at once undefined yet easily articulate. Blankness is achieved by dynamism’s inherent quality of change and a shifting visual perception, making it difficult to assign it one particular formal aesthetic. Dynamism is easily ‘pointing’, leading to a whole new school of thought in its base ideals.

Incongruousness is met by the fact that dynamic architecture jogs the usage of its architectural resources – the Wyly theatre is a simple example. Lastly, the quality of Intensive Coherence is easily achieved as the shifting attributes of a dynamic form open up a whole new range of interspatial relationships.

Effectively, dynamic architecture is a strong contender for being the ‘new architecture’ that Kipnis passionately writes about.

There are also crusaders for the cause of dynamism, like Greg Lynn and Roger Clark & William Zuk. All make no bones of their firm belief in the firm future of dynamism, and go on to detail out their understanding of dynamism. In Lynn’s Animate Form, the future is in complex, ultra-responsive and adaptive traits of architecture. Clark and Zuk’s Kinetic Architecture is now a fifty year old publication that still inspires many architects to mate architecture with the act of movement. Robert Kronenburg, another firm supporter of dynamic architecture, has spent more than twenty years researching and advocating the same, and has also written many books that explain his views and provide an excellent selection of built examples from the world over.

Pritzker winner Peter Zumthor, who in his book Thinking Architecture writes of introspective architecture that is typified by muted subtleties and nonpretentiousness and ‘objects that seem to be at peace with themselves’.

Zumthor also stresses the importance of historical referencing in problem solving.

Zumthor maintains that one must always consider what has been invented in the past (‘the reality is that there are very few architectural problems for which a valid solution has not already been found’). He acknowledges that keeping in sync with the past helps him in making an actual contribution to the development of design, more than forced innovativeness.

‘If a building is conceived accurately enough for its place and its function, it will develop its own strength, without any need for artistic additions’.

Contextuality, he later mentions, is two faced: it should not be overtly adhering to the traditional to the point of being forced and unauthentic; neither should it be radical to the point of having a sense of dislocation; above all, it should have a sense of belonging to its site.

At first glance, Zumthor’s work and writings are of little use if we are deliberating ourselves to look towards a future, to find something new. But therein lies its importance. It is not necessary to harp on about the future of design, to obsess over a new direction (if Zumthor’s writings are any key).

Unassuming architecture derives a new meaning in every day and age, while those with a forced message will all too soon become dated and face the contempt of those looking for a newer ‘new’.

Zumthor’s views are indispensible as they ask meditative questions that concern dynamism. But in this discussion, dynamism is less of a visual style, but more of a volumetric attribute.

It will be difficult to not tag a dynamic form extroverted and attention-seeking, but at the same time, it is contextually sensitive. Is it possible that Zumthor’s own introverted works can be accommodated in dynamic fomats? For a discussion as rooted in the possibilities-that-can-be, the answer is ‘probably, yes.’ Zumthor’s words are important to remember while designing for dynamism (for those who agree with his views).

Greg Lynn authored Animate Form to much acclaim, over 12 years ago.

Interestingly, his writing is still extremely relevant for its radical thought. Lynn begins with his definition of an ‘animate form’, stating that it is not merely architecture mixed with motion, but it is an evolving form, in sync with its generative forces. In essence, Lynn claims the ‘animate form’ to be truly organic, growing and virtually life-like.

Herein lay the problem with Animate Form: its inconceivability for present day architects, who are firmly rooted in architecture that is static and immobile.

Perhaps, because of the architectural ideal of permanence, Lynn points out that architectural design is one of the

few expression forms that is still ‘inert’.

Lynn clarifies that it is not wrong, as cultural demands have always preferred architecture that is ageless, and presented an obsession with formality.

Architecture has traditionally been a counterweight to the ever-changing notions of culture and society, and will possibly remain as such, and is hence static in its foundation and conception.

Presenting a design ideology that ushers in the concepts of dynamism will naturally be a bit hard to grasp for a profession rooted in the immobile. Lynn says that such change is both necessary and useful for the advancement of design. He draws parallel with other design fields, where the idea of transformation and interaction with natural forces is an essential fundamental, like naval and automobile design. Lynn proposes a deeper involvement of new-age computer systems to derive wholly new forms. His ideas have come to inspire a whole new range of designers looking to break the mould of the conventional architectural form.

Overall, Lynn’s writing is a fascinating, albeit technically advanced read, and Lynn’s vision for the future very exciting, however, as one critic points out, the work might just sink into the roster of a cult-book, rather than a design motivator. Another says that it is merely a written testament to our obsession with the future, rather than a conceivable manifesto for future design.

However, his detractors agree that Lynn successfully managed to spark a debate, and his notions of design have provided a direction for a multitude of architects experimenting in radical architectural forms and spaces.

Summarily Speaking With the above stated forays into examining the applicability of dynamism as the future of architecture, it can be safely said that dynamism is indeed the future. It is essential to note that dynamism is not a ‘style’, but a phenomenon that can be applied to all the known schools of architectural thought and radicalize them. Moreover, it seems only logical that in a culture and age that is as swiftly changing as ours, architecture should also aid the change and make it easier for the user to adjust to needs that will arise sooner or later. Static is acceptably not undesirable and has a host of merits, but in the face of the future, it has a sense of repressiveness.

Dynamic architecture, beyond its interpretations to the architect, also holds many benefits for the user at the practical level. While architects have come to handle the design process in a somewhat authoritative fashion, dynamism implies a sense of powersharing, where the architect still designs, but it is the user who has the power to transform. In essence, it is a democratization of the construction process.

Dynamism also meets real-time problems that plague the limited availability of land and the high pressure placed on it by promising a solution that maximizes efficiency and utility of the same parcel of land.

The Consequences Dynamic Architecture, if perceived as a mass movement of the future, will have varied implications – on the user, on the architect and on architecture itself. If a discussion is to promote dynamic architecture as a future phenomenon, it is essential that some cognizance be given to the consequences it may entail.

Implications for the User For the User, a dynamic future is, at first glance, a sure blessing, wherein they are expected to gradually gain more control over the space they own.

Traditionally, architects have articulated spatial flow. With dynamism, however, the user (or a group of users) takes the reins with regards to the transformability and usage of space.

Image 10.22 Wyly Theatre with an opera style seating arrangement http://stat2.architizercdn.com/mediadata/projects/012011/r990x990/e7 978c11.jpg

For example, the previously mentioned Wyly Theatre, Dallas, allows the facility managers to pick and choose the appropriate theatre configuration as the

dynamic design clearly hands them the power to do so. Comparatively, a static solution would have required a collection of physically separate theatres of each configuration.

Conversely, however, this free rein poses serious problems to governance, law and order. With all users playing ‘king of the hill’ architectural clashes can be expected, and such possible clashes need to be factored in when the time comes to rewrite governance policies. A simple example is a hypothetical case of expandable homes, where a case of residents jostling for space is fairly probably. Such possibilities need to be gradually worked in land policies.

Moreover, dynamism offers a universal solution to many issues that face current lifestyles. The previously mentioned example of the Hong Kong apartment with transformable interiors is a unique response to land affordability and space-crunch issues that are common across urban scenarios the world over.

Expandable housing concepts address issues like growing (and shrinking) families; while portable solutions are being pursued for travel-intensive lifestyles (historic examples like the tepee were a response to similar nomadic lifestyles). Similar issues that plague other architectural typologies find innovative solutions in dynamic architecture.

Shigeru Ban’s recent proposal adopts a fairly simple idea – using shipping containers as temporary housing in disaster-struck areas. Although they are a formal response to the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011, the design is universal and can be applied

to a range of scenarios – as houses for the poor, as temporary homes for refugees, as barracks for military personnel; by its simple virtue of complete portability.

Image 10.23 Container Architecture by Shigeru Ban http://i.bnet.com/blogs/container-architecturejapan-relief-elevation.jpg

Most importantly, dynamism factors in a certain ambiguity that is a reasonable accompaniment for social changes that are currently uncharted. The social order of the future is anybody’s guess, and tailoring changes in architecture to suit the same is a herculean task. In light of such possibilities, dynamic architecture has potential of becoming a kind of people’s architecture, which has a heightened response to its users’ immediate demands.

Implications for the Architect Dynamism may also imply a set of permutations and combinations that the user may choose to manipulate at will.

So does that mean the death of the architect?

Not quite. For the Architect, dynamism means a sort of redefinition, as the architect will have to imbibe newer skill sets to adapt to dynamism being the norm, and to gain the technical expertise required for its execution.

Moreover, the dispensing of spatial

power from the hands of the architect to those of the user is a figurative end to the architect’s ego. With dynamism implying that the flexibility of form and space be innate to the design, architects can be expected to return to their roots as master craftsmen, rather than political commentators on the usage of space. Within the architectural fraternity as well, a redefinition of all intermediary roles becomes obviously necessary, down to the site-workers.

As mentioned in a discussion following the formal presentation of the paper, it was pointed out that dynamic architecture would mean adoption of a collaborative process, where the architect would need the intensive help of several other technical experts in the successful conception of any project, thus implying changes in the processessystems.

Implications for Architecture As said earlier, dynamism offers quietly brilliant solutions to issues that plague architecture. However, in terms of aesthetics and style, dynamism also implies extensive change to architecture as a whole. Aesthetics itself faces uncertain waters with the ambiguity that comes with dynamism. As the base vision is that of architecture that can change, the range of aesthetic expression is thrown wide open and made all the more difficult to classify or define. In many ways, dynamism spells the end of architecture as we know it today, quite like how the internet has come to redefine modern communication. It poses a new creative challenge, which many have already begun to meet.

Summarily speaking, dynamic architecture represents a sea-change in our perceptions of architect and architecture. While a shift in spatial

politics is obvious, it also brings important ramifications in the economic and governance aspect of land. This, though, has been deliberately not studied in detail as land economics and governance is an area of research that requires study and dedication much beyond the scope of this research paper. What is of note, however, is the change in the architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skill-set, a point highlighted in the after-seminar discussion as well. The architect has never functioned as an isolated authority and has always required the help of a consultative team in the successful completion of projects, but this fact will only become more obvious with the arrival of dynamic architecture which would require immense technical contributions in addition to aesthetic ones.

Another response highlighted an interesting societal observation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that

stable societies would be ones that invariably make space for changes, and are hence more accepting of dynamism.

Hence, a general consensus was maintained on the idea that dynamic architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s influence would be significant on the user as well.

Examples mentioned in relation to the same looked at the immediate context of state-built apartment complexes, where tenants were forced to resort to either illegal means of constructing over courtyards and backyards to make way for expanding family needs; or break into smaller families scattered in different residences. The observation on stable societies was an obvious extrapolation of the same, but one can easily recognize possibilities that help dynamic architecture become an important contributor to self-contained social system.

Conclusion Over the course of the research, the authors have felt that dynamic architecture as a future possibility is very much realizable. Moreover, an acceptance of the fact should be factored into architectural education that, uptil now, has been firmly rooted in stasis.

Even in the architectural fraternity at large, the kind of interest current experiments in dynamic architecture deserve is washed away with cynical attitudes that abound.

A simple case in point would be the list of Pritzker Prize awardees. Although all have proved to be exceptionally talented architects, few can claim to have pushed the architectural envelope. If dynamic architecture is a parameter, then Jean Nouvel is probably the only Pritzker Laureate to have produced a successful dynamic form (The Arab Institute, Paris). Recent awardees like SANAA, Edouardo Souta de Moura and Peter Zumthor have produced exceptional architecture, but none toy with the idea of dynamism on a physically recognizable scale.

Image 10.24 Casa dos Historias by 2011 Pritzker Laureate Eduardo Souta de Moura http://qualityhomeconcepts.com/files/2011/04/edu ardo-souto-de-moura-casa-das-historias.jpg

On the other hand, Santiago Calatrava continually produces stunning forms that incorporate several dynamic ideals.

Although their aesthetic merit is debatable, their innovative streak does not get its due. Shigeru Ban’s experiments with materials like paper tubes in creating interesting temporary structures has a ‘cult’ following of sorts, but is routinely ignored by mainstream architectural thought. The end result is that while the brise soleil of the Milwaukee Art Museum is well ogled at, the prize goes to the maker of form (which may be exceptionally aesthetic) which sits ostensibly on the same ground in the same format for years to come.

Image 10.25 Milwaukee Museum of Art and its distinctive Brise Soleil, by Santiago Calatrava http://inhabitat.com/wpcontent/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/10/14.PhotoTimothy-Hursley.jpg

Pritzker-Politics aside, it is essential that if not dynamism, then atleast a concern for the future of architecture should be instilled in architectural thought at large.

The current focus on ‘Green’ architecture is a positive step, as it brings to the fore an anticipated problem and provides necessary solutions.

Similarly, it is essential that dynamism be considered more seriously as a real solution to impending problems and not as science-fiction gimmickry as it is often labelled. A simple indicator would

be the videos of dynamic architecture forms that are popular on the internet.

Although seen by a large number of people, their applicability is always in doubt. This attitude may or may not be justified, but it is simply a widespread mental block of sorts.

Also, this study has repeatedly tried to justify the reasons as to why dynamism is a serious direction for the future of architecture with built examples that have been reasonable successful in the current day with current technologies. If they are indicative of anything, then it is the fact that their performance can only improve if ample support and concentration is given to the advancement of dynamic architecture.

A recent story by Time magazine featured a community of Dutch houses that float on water, engineered to accommodate the rise and fall of the tide. The article claimed the users were happy with an affordable and unique space to call their own, while the architects were facing criticism and support in equal measures for announcing their intention of spreading such a housing solution to international high seas (including a confirmed development in the Maldives). The critics scoffed at issues like servicing homes that float on the ocean. Such concerns are not ill-founded, but seem regressive when they are made to govern architectural expression.

Because of the fact that the piping would not be appropriate, the idea of a new, floating home is under fire.

As the future inches closer, it must be realized that architecture is expected to be much more than it is. An analogy may be drawn with a shark, which invariably sinks if it stops moving. With technological advancements, stasis may well be equated with stagnation. This stasis may also point to any figurative mistakes in the design, which are fast

losing their affordability. Moreover, with the rising concern over environmental damage, architecture needs to respond to its contextual conditions in a manner that literally pushes the envelope.

The animate form is a complex conundrum. While it has obvious practical drawbacks concerning its viability, the issues are expected to iron themselves out with advancements in technology. What is important, however, is the range of solutions dynamic architecture offers to problems that plague us – it can be made sustainable, retain creative ‘wackiness’, be applied to a range of typologies, as well as address a host of issues from space crunches to alternative lifestyles.

Moreover, the lack of focus on any one ‘style’ but largely on the idea of ‘mobility’ means that dynamism in itself is not bound to forms that the lay would associate with being futuristic or simply crazy, but can be adapted to the creative preferences of all.

The concluding discussion at the end of the formal presentation of this paper threw up a varied range of reactions, with many questioning the ethics behind dynamic design – if it’s an actual necessity or just an egoistic whim.

Some even proposed defining a ‘limit’ to architectural design. Although the ethical concerns are justified, confining dynamism at such a nascent stage is somewhat regressive.

Conclusively, it must be said that dynamism must be given credence in mainstream discussion and not be treated as an occasional quirk. A short survey for research purposes highlighted this point, as many respondents echoed the concern that a cynical attitude towards dynamic architecture was the biggest impediment in its growth.

The after-presentation discussion too echoed the same view, that a proposal

for the future was evaluated with present day technological limitations and thus discarded swiftly. If attitudes are made more relaxed and forwardlooking, dynamic architecture can very well be a sooner possibility.

Acknowledgements Gratitude must be expressed towards all the people who helped in the realization of this paper:

To Mr. Mark Arjun Warner, for both, his insight in his capacity as chairperson and a resource person.

To the co-ordinators, Prof. Ranjana Mital and Prof. Jaya Kumar, who ensured the quality of the research and paper through their valuable suggestions and inputs.

To our resource persons, for their crucial inputs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mr. Inato Sema, Ms. Priyanka Pande, Mr. Aurgho Jyoti, Mr. Dondetti Karthik and Ms. Tania Kaushal.

To the guide, Mr. Amit Khanna, without whom this paper would never have been realized.

And finally, to all colleagues at college and the anonymous inputs received through the course of the research, for sparing valuable time.

Bibliography Clark, R., & Zuk, W. (1970). Kinetic Architecture. Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Frederick, M. (2007). 101 Things I Learnt in Architecture School. MIT Press.

Kipnis, J. (1997). Towards a New Architecture. In C. Jencks, & K. Kropf, Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture. John Wiley and Sons.

Kronenburg, R. (2007). Flexible: Architecture that Responds to Change. Laurence King.

Kronenburg, R. (2008). Portable Architecture: Design and Technology. Birkhauser.

Kronenburg, R. (2003). Transportable Environments 2. Taylor & Francis.

Lynn, G. (1999). Animate Form. Princeton Architectural Press.

McQuaid, M. (2006). Shigeru Ban. Phaidon Press.

Pallasmaa, J. (2005). Eyes of the Skin. John Wiley and Sons.

Siegal, J. (2002). Mobile: The Art of Portable Architecture. Princeton Architectural Press.

Siegal, J. (2008). More Mobile: Portable Architecture for Today . Princeton Architectural Press.

Zumthor, P. (2006). Thinking Architecture. Birkhauser.

BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 alexgarciagadea. (2009, October). ARQUITECTURA CINETICA_alexgadea. Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyYtt96--Eo Bascule Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bascule_bridge Could Buildings morph to optimum spatial efficiency. (2006, March). Retrieved from intractivearchitecture: http://www.interactivearchitecture.org/could-buildings-morphto-optimum-spatial-efficiency.html da8iwr. (2007, December). Newcastle Gateshead Millennium Bridge Tilt in Timelapse. Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q54VKT_mZfI diaboliqueguan. (2007, September). Rolling Bridge - Heatherswick. Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1NwXQaVAKA&feature=player_embedded Drawbridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawbridge Dynamic Architecture. (2008, October). Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MP-ODkY5Bc Folding Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding_bridge

Gateshead Millennium Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateshead_Millennium_Bridge giselbrechtzt. (2008, June). Dynamic facade "Kiefer technic showroom". Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAn4ldWjw2w&feature=related Heatherwick, T. (n.d.). Rolling Bridge, London. Retrieved from Hetaherwickstudio: http://www.heatherwick.com/rolling-bridge/ Horn Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B6rn_Bridge Jetway. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetway jorgeny1180. (2010, June). Kafka Centrum, Kinetic Architecture by Jorge Fontan.

Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCMoLWVEe44 Kinetic Architecture. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_architecture malakus33. (2010, June). Transducer Architecture: "Raise the Roof" Kinetic Architecture Design Competition. Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItRHxKlqE1g Mejia, J. L. (2010, February). Kinetic Architecture - Arquitectura Kinetica . Retrieved from kinetic-architecture-jose-l-mejia.blogspot.com: http://kinetic-architecture-jose-lmejia.blogspot.com/2010/02/kinetic-architecture-of-jose-leonidas.html Milwaukee Art Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Art_Museum mircovacchi. (2009, January). dRMM Sliding House. Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&v=GEUMVDEBea4 Movable Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_bridge Puente de la Mujer. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puente_de_la_Mujer Rolling Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Bridge Some thoughts on Responsive Kinetic Architecture. (2006, June). Retrieved from interactivearchitecture: http://www.interactivearchitecture.org/some-thoughts-onresponsive-kinetic-architecture.html Swing Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_bridge Table Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_bridge Tilt Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt_bridge

Design: People | Power | Possibilities Seminar held on November 4TH , 2011

Presented by: Abhinav Gupta Abhiram Sharma Abhishek Singh Arpita Ghatak R. Ramya Shilpa Dahake Vidhya Gopal

Chairperson: Ms.. Madhu Pandit

Faculty Advisor: Ar. Sandip Kumar

Resource persons: Ar. Manoj Mathur Ar. Sambuddha Sen Ar. Sudipto Ghosh

Introduction People, Power, Possibilities is essentially a story. It is based partly on fact, partly on fiction, a little retrospection, and perhaps a little imagination. It has three components.

The first, people, will look at instances through history, set in different regions, punctuating a period of ten thousand years. Attempting to string the instances into a single thread of logic will require a look at the second component of the

seminar – power. The expression of power by the ‘Individual’ or the ‘State’ has given shape to a large chunk of all that has been built so far. As for what is likely to be built henceforth, meaning, the third component – possibilities – one will have to begin the story, starting a long way back in time.

Snapshots of the Past Prehistoric man led a nomadic life. He built temporary shelters near sources of food and wandered in search of greener pastures.

The agricultural revolution was a turning point in human history. It was then, that settlements of a more permanent nature were required and the first communities were formed.

Catalhuyuk, in present day Turkey, is one such example. It was a dense cluster of similar looking houses, each of which was built by its owner. Needs were few and basic – mainly those of food and shelter. But the marshy lands that helped them grow their crops turned out to be a major constraint for later expansion.

Writer Peter Whitfield has pointed out that “there does not appear to have

been any planning involved in Catalhuyuk: each building simply abuts the next in a maze of units. The crucial element in planning – public spaces and public architecture – is missing here” (Whitfield, 2005, p. 10). What is also missing so far, however, is the presence of hierarchy in society, and thus the very notion of ‘public’ architecture. This instance is a representative of a scenario in which man has built for his own need and purpose, i.e., the architect and the user are one and the same. Hence, the influences on design here are simply the need for shelter and security from social as well as physiographic elements.

As settlements grew, so did the people’s needs, which gave rise to a number of vocations. Social order was introduced, with a ruler to regulate and oversee. The Mesopotamian city of Ur was one of the

first to reflect this hierarchy. The society, organized on the basis of division of labour, worshipped an all powerful king.

The scale of the buildings reflected the difference between the king and his people.

Monumental architecture was set up deliberately to overawe both subjects and enemies, to proclaim the god-like magnificence of their rulers. These temples and ziggurats were an entirely new expression of human imagination and technical skill, something totally unknown in the village or in the traditional arts.

Typologies in buildings had evolved. “In contrast to the grand temple complexes, the houses of the ordinary population were set in densely packed neighbourhoods” (Moffett, Fazio, & Wodehouse, 2003, p. 18) Also in sharp contrast to the previous instance, new stakeholders (the architect and the patron) now influenced the image of the city.

In some cases, kingdoms were gradually replaced by democratic governing bodies. This is seen in the early Greek Poleis, Athens being an example. The priority of the governing body chosen by the people was public architecture built for the benefit of the people.

The unique feature at the heart of the Greek polis was the citizen himself, with his democratic voice and his enjoyment of the public spaces of the city – the baths, the agora, and the theatre, the latter becoming specially important as a public forum for ideas and entertainment, which had no parallel in the cities of Egypt or Mesopotamia.

Cities continued to grow and along with this came new problems of

infrastructure. The governing body utilized the expertise of the architect to find solutions to these pressing issues.

Using the Greek forms as a base, the architect in the Roman Republic had to deal with the problems posed by a growing population. An added priority set by the government was the portrayal of a glorified image of the republic.

Civil wars and political unrest lasting many decades put an end to a seemingly stable form of democratic governance and resurrected the Emperor in Rome. At the same time, religion rose in power to play an equally important public role. Christianity had taken root across the Empire, the Pope being its representative.

Caught between the two forces, the role of the architect was merely to implement the decisions being taken by them. The Emperor would take decisions on the improvement of infrastructure. On the other hand, the completion of St. Peter’s Basilica engaged the services of some of the greatest architects over the next few generations.

Towards the beginning of the 17th century, the Roman Empire was struck by religious conflicts between the Catholics and the Protestants. The situation was worsened by political interference, leading to the 30 Years’ War. To make things worse, plague had struck and wiped out a considerable percentage of population within a year.

The need of the hour thus becameAbsolutism – a ruler under whose patronage order could be restored.

Louis XIV, king of France, was one such patron. The Palace of Versailles, the new seat of power, was built in three successive stages each with a different team of king and architect.

Industrialization completely transformed the dynamics of city function. With it came the mass production; the majority of citizens worked in factories that

heavily punctuated the city image.

“Formerly cities had grown because they were centers of government, of religion, of defense, or of trade; now they grew because they were centers of production.”(Whitfield, 2005, p. 22) Like all other post- industrial cities, Vienna of the 1850s was overpopulated.

But, being the capital of an empire of 50 million, it had to be portrayed in all of its Renaissance glory. Owing to the Industrial Revolution, the newly acquired skills of mass production enabled the housing of huge numbers in the city. As a result, the city was characterized by apartment blocks with palatial facades.

The uniformity of the facades was imposed by the dictator on the privately owned buildings. Within the buildings, one room tenements were occupied by multiple families.

At the turn of the century no less than 95 % of all the apartments disposed of neither WC no water installation and consisted of a kitchen and one room.

Often more than 10 persons lived in such a tiny flat, and additionally beds were let to strangers during the night or during the day to be able to pay high rents. (Forster, 2005, p. 2) Vienna during the Habsburg monarchy was severely criticized by Adolf Loos, who named it ‘Potemkin City’ – “a city that hid its true identity, its nature, its class reality, under the clothing, the rags made for it by its architects, just as Catherine the Great's favorite erected whole trompe-l'oeil villages made of cardboard and cloth on the desert plains of the Ukraine for the visits of the Empress” (Damisch, 2000, p. 2). Loos called the architecture of this Potemkin city “immoral”, based on lies, imitation, and a sense of shame. The architecture of Vienna at this point was thus born of a severe imbalance between what was required and what was provided, owing largely to the stakeholders in power –

the monarchs in large part, and to some extent the landlords (who prioritized profit).

Image 9.1: Potemkin city Source: http://conceptart.org

The natural course of things would demand a change in these conditions, which happened in the form of the collapse of monarchy and the advent of democracy in the 1920s. Private rental housing was put to an end; all land was owned and commissioned by the government that placed the need for an acceptable standard of living above all else. Architects were hired to design apartment buildings in what came to be known as “Red Vienna”. These houses were larger units, had basic amenities such as toilets, and there was variety in design. Other than housing, community

facilities were also provided. “Housing estates became a symbol of power” and the “right to its own history” of the labour class was recognized (Forster, 2005, p.

6). The new architecture, still reflecting the wishes of its patrons, had nevertheless taken the user into account.

Similar attempts at “re-housing” huge numbers of people were made all across Europe after the ravages of the World Wars. The trend is similar everywhere: government commissioned housing projects, portrayal of a unified image of an egalitarian, utopian society, modules of houses repeated over and over again. It has been argued, as for example in the case of the Gorbals, Glasgow that “…the new housing schemes had all the charm of a prison and for many who moved there it felt no different” (Rae, 2010). The deliberate eradication of traditional settlements with their variety and unique organic character, for this “prison like” situation, thus became an object of criticism. The intent of providing one and all with a minimum standard of existence morphed into the need to portray the image of a utopian society, the image thus becoming more important than the entity.

Finding Reasons The glimpses of history seen so far were few, spaced over thousands of years, and might not even fall into place to create one story. What links them is one protagonist who tends to appear in each instance; personified by certain individuals or group of individuals who took decisions for a larger set of people, and produced intended effects. This is what Bertrand Russell defined as “power” (Russell, 1938).

One of the popular theories on power, the Marxist theory, talks about how the “wealthy”, have ruled throughout history.

Marx has elaborated by establishing the richer classes to be the controlling ones, be it the industrial capitalists as compared to landed elites in the 19th century, or urban workers as compared to other urban dwellers and peasants (Hamilton, 1991).

These examples illustrate an aspiration or a wish to own something accepted as beautiful, successful or famous. Closer home, Gift city is a proposed project in Gujarat in which an assortment of famous buildings from all over the world will be presented together painting an image of prosperity. Lavasa is one of several attempts to create an image of the West in India. “And Lavasa itself is not a new idea…Developers have been ranting and raving over their California clones for years” (Bhatia, 2010).

Housing in Indian cities appears to rely heavily upon this advertising strategy.

Billboards strewn with cries such as “Italy in Kundli”, “Burj Khalifa in Gurgaon”, “Mera desh mera Cape Town”, “Live life Mediterranean Style”, and so on and so forth, are a common sight.

In the exploration of history thus far, it is clear that the ones who ruled or took decisions for the masses, were indeed the wealthy, be it the king, the government, the religious head or the dictator.

As man evolved, so did his statement and expression of power. In Ur, it was the difference between the royal architecture and the rest of the city that was representative of the power of the king. While for Louis XIV, building a palace that would be symbolized and imitated elsewhere, was the preferred method. Some of the classic examples of the desire to emulate the powerful include Inigo Jones being sent to Italy in the 1630s by King James to study the Palladian Villas there and replicate them for the Queen of England, or private residences such as the Chiswick House in London taking inspiration from the Pantheon of Rome.

Image 9.2: Gift city, Gujarat - mixed bag of famous buildings from all over the world Source: http://www.skyscrapercity.com

Image 9.3: Housing advertisements, Source: http://groundtruths.com

India

The “Aspiration” that has been spoken of so far has been induced probably by

a bigger force - that of nations. Nations have always influenced one another right from the times when the Romans took inspiration from what the Greeks built. Upto a few centuries ago, the methods of exercising influence by one empire or nation on another was Image 9.4: US capitol (left) replicated by the government, Yingquan District, FuNing, Jiangsu Province.

For instance, the architecture of Portuguese, Dutch and British colonies in various parts of the world was totally derived from what was built in their native setting. Despite being alien to the new context, however, these buildings did become inseparable from it.

When interaction among nations increased, influence became more of an imbibed rather than invasive act. But whether invasive or imbibed, it was the nation in power that influenced the rest.

Triumphal arches of Rome were replicated in Paris. So were Roman temples, like in the case of Le Madeleine. The Pantheon in Rome, of course, has been copied, in part or in full, countless times. The Pantheon in Paris, itself an example, became a model for future reference. In the USA, the University of Virginia and the Jefferson Memorial were inspired by the original model, while features of the Paris model can be clearly seen in buildings such as the US Capitol.

Soon the US Capitol, together with other symbols of power (such as the White House) was duplicated in China.

Source: http://de.wikipedia.org http://www.chinawhisper.com/

and

The Way Ahead? replicating what the U.S.A. (thereby the Romans, thereby the Greeks) have built.

Alternatively, it can go back to its traditional forms of architecture.

It is thus likely that the widely painted picture of the future will take up this new dimension of power and the aspiration towards establishing it. The thought

opens up a Pandora’s Box of questions – is this what we like? Is this what we are moving towards? Is there anything that should be done about this?

Image 9.5: Future skylines of China?

Source: Authors

The widely accepted method of comparative evaluation of the powers of nations has been the Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P.). Right from the first century GDPs have confirmed first Greece to be the most powerful, then the countries under the Roman Empire like Italy, France and Spain, and then the United States of America.

The predicted GDPs point towards China replacing USA as super power in the future. Does that mean that very soon the rest of the world will start building like China does? Following the trends seen so far, China might continue

What China builds in the future is thus likely to change the widely painted picture of energy producing, selftransforming, futuristic buildings and fascinating skylines. Whether this change is for the better or for the worse may be judged from the story this paper has attempted to tell – of power and the desire to express is, of the inherent wish to create one’s own copy of existing expressions, of this inherent wish reflected in the combined mass aesthetic of a nation, of entire nations playing the same game of power and reiterating the process to arrive at a possible combined mass aesthetic of the world. Will it even be possible to judge right and wrong with the sheer numbers constituting this mass aesthetic? The thought opens up a Pandora’s Box of questions – is this what we like? Is this what we are moving towards? Is there anything that should be done about this?

Acknowledgments This seminar would not have been what it is, without the active involvement and constructive criticism of our guide – Ar. Sandip Kumar.

We would like to sincerely thank the Seminar Co-ordinators – Dr. Ranjana Mital and Prof. Jaya Kumar, for structuring the seminar and supporting us at crucial moments; our chairperson – Ar. Madhu Pandit, for honouring us with her presence and moderating the discussion; and our resource persons – Ar. Manoj Mathur, Ar. Sambuddha Sen, Ar. Sudipto Ghosh – for their valuable time and input.

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Crafting Thinking Dwelling rd

Seminar held on November 3 , 2011

Presented by: Anil Kumar K Arun Cherian Naveen Jose Nishant Kumar

Chairperson: Ar. M.N. Ashish Ganju

Faculty Advisor: Ar. Jagan Shah

Resource persons: Ms. Manjari Sharma

Paradox of our age We have bigger houses but smaller families: We have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge but less judgements;

It is impossible to deny what the Dalai Lama says in this poem, that we live in a world full of contradictions. The need for further articulation of this fact is nullified by simply taking a look around us. It is, however, important to understand what effect this contradiction has on us and also why it exists.

more experts but more problems; more medicines, but less healthiness.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but we have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we have less communication.

We have become long on quantity but short on quality.

These are times of fast foods, but slow digestion; tall man, but short character; steep profits, but shallow relationships.

It is time when there is much in the window

Figure 7. 1 Which one do you want?

Fig 7.1 represents two contradictory worlds which have so far not been able to co-exist. Both of these images give us clues as to what we want. The city offers us the benefits of modern technology and the conveniences attached to them - a logical and rational routine of life – which is made possible by several events in history, each the product of an attempt to rationalize the world around us. But people from cities take vacations, to places far away from the city, deliberately distancing themselves from these advantages to periodically experience living in the idyllic hut, in the midst of nature whose rhythms decide the routine of their lives.

but nothing in the room.

H.H. The XIV Dalai Lama

It is this incompatibility and desire for the things offered by both of these worlds which creates a constant conflict in our minds (Heidegger, 1971) causing us to live a life of “harassed unrest” – in a situation which is seemingly beyond our control.

Dwelling earth. This distinction is highlighted in a paragraph from his essay.

At this point a valuable tool to more clearly identify our basic desires is a child’s drawing of home.

Fig 7. 2 A child's drawing of home.

Source: Authors

This drawing is much more than a simple visual representation of the child’s home. It represents the child’s idea of home. He places himself outside with his house behind him and chooses to include his family, the sun, flowers and trees. (King, 2008) These things are important to the child and come together to define his idea of home.

“The truck driver is at home on the highway, but he does not have his shelter there; the working woman is at home in the spinning mill, but does not have her dwelling place there; the chief engineer is at home in the power station, but he does not dwell there.

These buildings house man. He inhabits them and yet does not dwell in them, when to dwell means merely that we take shelter in them.” (Heidegger, 1971) The dwelling being referred to in this seminar is not a building; rather, the building is a physical manifestation of an idea of dwelling. (Heidegger, 1971)Thus dwelling would in any case be the end that presides over all building. Dwelling and building are related as end and means. Here, again, it is important to reiterate that we are talking about all man made things, and not just buildings which are used for sheltering people.

Though distinct they join together like the pieces of a puzzle, to fit inside a neat frame. There is a simple oneness, a poetic coming together of these elements. This drawing and idea of home is universal in children around the world.

The child has actually drawn his idea of dwelling, a word which has been written about extensively by Martin Heidegger in his essay – Building Thinking Dwelling. He suggests, by an analysis of language, that dwelling is not a building (a house) but rather an idea which is common in everybody and the basic act performed by all beings present on

Figure 7. 3 Heidegger's Bridge

Heidegger uses the example of a bridge to explain how building can be for dwelling.

This bridge forges a connection between people and places on either bank without disturbing the flow of the river and is in harmony with

its environment. It completes a picture and has a simple “oneness” similar to the child’s drawing. It allows us to dwell.

(Heidegger, 1971)

To dwell, to be set at peace, means to remain at peace within the free sphere that safeguards each thing in its nature.

The fundamental character of dwelling is sparing and preserving things in their nature.

Having defined dwelling, it is clear that in our modern world, most people are not dwelling and are rather in a state of constant unrest. So if we can only dwell by preserving our own nature along with the nature of things that we create, what constitutes our nature?

The child’s drawing is made up of certain components – his family - the people he loves; nature – the grass, trees, the sun and the flowers around him; his physical shelter – his house.

(King, 2008) These components all coexist harmoniously and therefore the child is able to dwell. A conflicted coexistence of these things creates the “harassed unrest” we talked about earlier.

In the modern world, there is a disconnect between man and nature.

We live in a more and more interconnected world, where our lifestyles have far reaching effects about which we may not always be aware and in other cases choose to ignore. For example, the electricity we take for granted may be generated very far from where we live. The raw materials used to produce this electricity may further originate even farther away.

Manufacture of the products that we use

may require huge work forces whose lifestyles we thus influence.

There is a disconnect between man and the man-made things around him.

These things are supposed to inform us – of where we have come from – and offer us a small glimpse of where we are going. An ethos should be expressed in the things we make, which in turn express both values that are found in different aspects of nature and in our own history and myth.

There is a disconnect between man and other men. We live in an age of rapidly changing technology. We can pick up a phone and talk to someone on the other side of the world. Social networking sites even try to create virtual online communities. There are completely virtual worlds which exist today. But all this technology, rather than bringing us closer together, which was its intention, has actually further distanced us from each other.

Today, there exists a huge disconnect between man and the things which allow him to dwell. But the common denominator in all of these examples of disconnection is man himself. Perhaps this disconnection is a circumstance of the “harassed unrest” we talked about earlier in which case the disconnect between man and the world around him is actually a disconnect and conflict within himself.

Figure 7. 4. The potter at his wheel

To understand what is disconnected within man, we have to examine an example of how he interacts with his environment, to understand the parts that make him up. The potter wants to mould the clay in a certain way. He thinks of an image in his head and tries to craft it using from the clay. But clay is stubborn; it has a nature of its own. It may not always accept the form the potter is trying to give to it.

The reality of the clay’s nature feeds back to the potter, through his senses, in the way the world around us informs us through our senses. This process of crafting and thinking continues, back and forth, until a sort of mutual agreement is reached between the image of the world in the mans mind and the world where his body resides – the world he has crafted around himself – and a piece of pottery comes into existence, in the spirit of its own nature but thought of and crafted by man, similar to the child’s drawing and the example of the bridge taken earlier.

So man’s interaction with the world around him is through the processes of crafting and thinking and a disagreement between the two processes is not allowing us to dwell.

Crafting

Richard Sennet in his book â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Craftsmanâ&#x20AC;? offers a time-independent and immaterial definition of 'craft'. He says that to 'craft' is to become highly proficient (the best you can possibly be) at your trade. If one dedicates his life to striving to be the best in his field he is a craftsman, and his trade is elevated to the level of a 'craft'. Here the craftsman is removed from his craft, his medium.

Craft encompasses all that is design including architecture.

Also, the craftsman, rather than being a rare commodity, is in fact rather common i.e. everyone is capable of 'craft' under the right circumstances.

This definition of craft focuses on the process of crafting and originates from it. Another definition may focus on the material, hands-on aspect of craft i.e. to craft is to create or build with ones own hands a physical object which has phenomenological characteristics such as smell, texture, sound etc. (LaNoue, 2011) From this definition of craft it follows that 'crafting' must produce a physical end product. Also, a work of 'craft' must fulfill some utilitarian purpose e.g. an ornamental pot or piece of furniture whereas art may not serve any purpose apart from an aesthetic satisfaction.

The first definition of 'craft' given by Sennet, separates it from changing technology in that regardless of the technology available to you, as long as you are striving to be the best at what you do, you are a craftsman. This will inevitably involve becoming intimately familiar with the technologies associated with your chosen field of craft. This also means that the definition of craft points more to a process and has a changing definition in the evolution of civilization.

The second definition, however, states that a physical entity or useful product must be at the end of a process of craft.

This definition though in keeping with the classical idea of 'craft' is unsatisfactory in today's world of industrialization, rapid manufacturing, demanding economies and changing technologies. Therefore, though the first definition is completely true, we take from both definitions to compose a more accurate definition of craft reflecting the ideas and technologies of today. 'Craft' is a culture of maintaining high standards in the design of products which may or may not directly be manifested in the physical world. We choose to make this distinction because in a world where the word 'craft' is not instantly associated with a physical product and a world where computers and digital media have become necessities, the craftsman may not always be in direct contact with the end product of his craft. This definition aims to encompass more modern methods of craft. Designing something like a threedimensional model on a computer screen which can be interpreted by a machine to automatically manufacture a product is as much being a 'craftsman' as creating the product with your hands.

Recalling our history, the history of art and craft, we can see that where we have come from and where we are going are two very different places. We have moved from using our hands to using extremely complicated tools to craft the objects that we desire. We are moving from a system where the conceptualization, construction and usage of an object were roles played by the same person to a system where these roles have been divided and subdivided so that many people are involved in producing a certain product and the user of the product is separated

from its manufacture. “Whenever craft took a step towards its development and improvement, it is a step leading towards a division of labor and towards technology. Any effort to return to the old personal unity is romantic utopianism.” (Dal Co, 1990) The division of labour is a natural process of working faster and increasing production rates. To put it simply, there are degrees of craft-making according to the labour involved, individual craftsmen, craftsmen who were working together in guilds or workshops and the more industrial craft that resulted from the invention of the machine. (Behne, 1922) (Mumford, 1943) Workers have been working in guilds from medieval times which ensured more output. It is the work of this time that has been mistaken as craft and the machine seen as a curse to this form of production.

The machine as many believe is not a destroyer of jobs but on the other hand helps manufacture more product. Craft at any stage in society shows the need and the creativity of a particular society.

Now ethnocentric societies are steadily

giving way to world-centric or global societies, and the craft in such societies is readily seen as television sets and shaving sets and packaged potato chips. What many people confuse craft for is folk art which is endearingly preserved by many people. This folk art can also be called kitsch and preserves communal artistic traditions. The same is being done now but with greater precision and technique by many companies who make utilitarian objects for people.

“It is often easy to confuse craft with technique. Generally technology is understood as different from craft at the point where a cohesive process of work is subjected to the principal of a division of labour: craft unifies execution and invention in one person, technology divides the process between the individual who invents, on the one hand and the others who realize.” (Behne, 1922)

Mass Reproduction The division of labour and increasing production rates eventually led to the advent of mass production and industrialization. In his book, Technics and Civilization, Mumford describes in detail how historically man’s preoccupation with the measurement of time and his eventually inventing devices to do so, created the possibility for the event that was industrialization.

The invention of the clock allowed us to set appointments (this day at this time), allowed people to create schedules for themselves (work from 9 to 5) and allowed for a coordinated work force to be developed which was one of the most important pre-requisites of the industrial revolution. Factories needed workers and the clocks allowed them to co-ordinate and manage their time.

The invention of money as a quantifiable way to measure a persons or objects worth went hand in hand with the measurement of time to give rise to the now common guiding principles of business - Time is money. Money is power.

In his book, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin says that a caveman painted not to put on display for his fellow cavemen his artistic talent, but rather his paintings are targeted towards the spirits (Benjamin, 1968). In other words cave paintings are an emotional expression meant solely for the caveman’s spiritual satisfaction. The change brought about by industrialization is the shift from the value of art lying in its exhibition rather than its ritualistic value Something which has changed since books could be published and even more so now in the age of the internet, where the display

value of art is more highly regarded than ever before. Mass reproduction has made craft more affordable to the masses. This shift happened because industrialization has succeeded in increasing the worth of items, while diminishing their ritual value. Modern mediums such as film require mass distribution and consumption in order to compensate their own cost. Though one can buy a painting, it is not feasible for one to buy a movie solely for one’s own consumption.

Architecture traditionally encompassed the idea of Gestamkunstwerk , or a complete work of art of which some of the best examples are the gothic cathedrals involved a complete collaboration between individuals, each skilled in their particular crafts. (Behne, 1922) Artists, glass workers, master builders came together in a craft oriented process to make architecture which can only be attained with a single unifying thought, a single complete unified picture.

Mass-reproduction changed the way buildings addressed dwelling. Le Corbusier calls the home a “machine for living in”. In a modern home, we have many “machines” that run on electricity, There are computers, washing machines, dvd players, air-conditioning systems, refrigerators, the electrical systems and the piping systems. These are integral elements of a modern home. At the same time if the dwelling was stripped of all that was unnecessary, it would be least machinelike and merely immobile masonry or woodwork. We are intended to appreciate the idea of a house being a machine to live in aesthetically.

He was of the opinion that modernity has changed human-kind and we need new ways of thinking and living. Modern humans would have no other context than their modernity. There was no geography or history of people that needed to be considered, only the fact that we were in a modern age. This dictum gave rise to a large number of buildings which had no relation to their surroundings at all. He too it for granted and said, â&#x20AC;?All men have the same needs.â&#x20AC;? This resulted in the building of houses like they were machines and the reduction of any aesthetic to what was purely functional.

Modernism ignored the activity of dwelling, in the belief that it was enough to build. It is only through understanding the connection of the building with its various subjective meanings that we can understand an object as a dwelling full of subjective meanings.

Linear thinking vs. Cyclical thinking The contradiction between urban and rural, east and west, between the rational and irrational ways of thinking may actually stem from a basic difference in the belief that there is only one lifetime to the belief that this is only one of many lifetimes and is only part of a much bigger cycle. The difference may be made apparent by the recalling the shape of the earth as it seems and as it is. What appears to be flat land that has a beginning and an end as far as

the eye can be seen as a metaphor for the linear way of thinking while our actual knowledge points to the fact that the earth is spherical, which represents the cyclical way of thinking. This gives rise to two distinct schools of thought, one whose core belief is based on a rational, logical, factual, near-sighted system and the other on an emotional, irrational, belief system. The difference between these two systems of thought can be explained through the following story: Alexander while on his march to conquer the world, comes to the Indus and sees a gymnosophist, i.e. A naked philosopher, who is staring at the sky.

He walks up to him and asks him what he is doing. The gymnosophist replies that he is thinking about the nature of nothingness. The gymnosophist then asks Alexander what he is doing and Alexander replies that he is conquering the world. Upon hearing the otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s answer, both of them start laughing.

(Patnaik, 2009) The elaboration of these two methods of thought beyond this point is beyond the scope of this seminar but what is important to understand is that there is a balance necessary between these two methods of thinking and at the same time important not to negate the existence of other ways of thinking and living. There is no one standard pattern of thought that can be applied to every situation.

The City

Figure 7. 5 The mapping of dwelling in Delhi

In the modern world, a predominance of the linear way of thinking has led us to regard Nature as a resource, Time as a resource and Man as a resource.

The cities that we craft stand as a testament to this fact. In the modern city, the city dweller is a nomad who dwells in many different places. These can be generalized into his homeexistence and his public-existence. (Dal Co, 1990) At home mass production has allowed individual users to customize their own spaces with more and more

detail and ease. Although we will not enter a critique of the housing situation in the city and country, it is important to mention that as we migrated to cities, ideas of ancestral land and blood ties began to be less and less important. If the home is the place where we learn where our family has come from and where it is going, the public realm exists to show us as a society where we have come from and where we are going. It is meant to merely inform us of our history rather than replicate it. In this sense, a loss of sense of place, both at the home

and in the public realm can be blamed for many of the problems of the modern city. We litter our streets and pollute our rivers because we do not care or feel attached to our place, or that our place in the world is threatened. Dwelling, as defined by Heidegger, is living at peace in a place. Our disassociation from nature, which manifests itself clearly in our distancing ourselves from our hands as tools of craft, removes us from what he calls the “four-fold.” where sky, earth, man and god (spirit) are united and exist simultaneously and symbiotically. The loss of dwelling is the greatest trauma that can be faced by man and manifests itself in many ways. As far as the public realm or architecture in general is concerned, it is a completely man-made construct, completely at our will and becomes the most important for architects to address.

In Fig. 7.5, we show a similar diagram to that of the child for someone who is living in the city. The city shown in the image is Delhi. We can see that all the elements that were shown in the child’s diagram in one single frame are now scattered throughout the city. The person has a home in Mayur Vihar, enjoys nature at the Lodi Gardens, and has his loved ones living in Connaught Place. It is beyond one person’s frame of experience. All the intervening spaces are part of his home. In this way we can extend the definition of dwelling to encompass a city. Millions of people share this intervening space and thus this becomes the defining aspect of the city. . A city whose main purpose is to increase the efficiency of its money producing industries, is a city of pure logic/illogic. Dal Co says the city is a dwelling of the mind. Its citizens are emotionless, slowly trained over time to ignore and tolerate the deficiencies of the city for fear of losing their place, and hence their livelihood, in it. A city as a

machine for living, is a city which has no attachment to its citizens and, in turn, a city to which none of its citizens has any attachment allowing them to focus solely of being “productive”. A city as a machine for living reduces the act of dwelling to an act of consumption and reduce dwellers to consumers.

In the last paragraph of his essay “Thinking Building Dwelling” Martin Heidegger offers an explanation, simple in its formulation but highly complex in its execution. We are no longer “building for dwelling or building for the sake of dwelling.” The role of the architect in the city is to bring these disparate elements together. According to the image shown above, the solution lies in bringing oneness of the elements that constitute dwelling at all scales in the city. This applies to the home, the neighbourhood and the precinct level scales. This also points in the direction of more compact, sustainable, neighbourhoods.

Public Space

Figure 7. 6 India Gate

Figure 7. 7 Pompidou Centre

Good public space reaffirms the faith of citizens in themselves and the feeling as being part of a much larger whole. On 2nd April, 2011, when India won the Cricket World Cup, all Delhites naturally thronged to India Gate to celebrate the victory. India Gate is an example of public space that attracts people not because of any commercial character or event but because they simply want to be there. The gate strongly defines a location. It connects us with our nature by providing space to walk about, shaded places to sit, green lawns to play in.

The Pompidou Centre in Paris is an example of a public space that is literally a platform for creativity both inside the building and in the plaza.

The building connects man with his own nature. It helps him connect to other people and defines a strong location.

This complex then qualifies as good public space in the city of Paris.

Conclusion When Heidegger investigates 'the question concerning technology' he is interested in the essence of modern technology, not just any technology; for it is modern technology that poses the problem.

beautifully solved by William Morristoday’s CNC routers, plasma cutters, and precision casting machines have opened up new possibilities for production.”

(Bonniemaison & Eisenbach, 2009)

The solution, for Heidegger, is not to do away with the technological way of relating to reality. That is not an option anyway. The technological way of revealing arose historically and we are stuck with it. However, we can do away with its dominance, which is the real problem. We can do so by recognizing that this way of relating to the world is really just one way of relating to the world. Heidegger further suggests an alternate way of relating to the world, one which held sway, he claims, in Ancient Greece. It is the way of the craftsman and the artist. For Heidegger, this way is a counter-part to nature. In the way nature lets a tree come into being out of a seed, a craftsman lets a pot come out of some clay. The pot was potential in the clay and the craftsman allowed nature to present itself in this way. One is more a part of nature rather than set against it, in a symbiotic relationship with it that allows reality to reveal itself to us in a myriad of ways.

Philip Rosedale is the creator of an online world called “Second Life”.

Second Life is a virtual simulation of a real world in which users are able to perform many of the actions they perform in daily life without the limitations of society and physics.

Probably the most interesting aspect of Second Life is a fully functional virtual economy, granting users the ability to create virtually any object and sell it (virtually) to other users. In a talk by Philip Rosedale filmed at Singularity University's Graduate Student Program 2009, NASA Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, he points out an interesting statistic differentiating Second Life from the real world i.e. many more people are creative or capable of creativity in Second Life than in the real world. Most users of Second Life design their own clothes, design and build their own homes, give virtual music performances etc. Users create these things entirely in a virtual space where restrictions of economy and the business models which aim to exploit the creativity of a select few and an audience of many are absent. Here, though the end product is only digitally manifested, the act of producing it can still be regarded as craft. Many users of second life even make a living from such 'craftsmanship'. (Rosedale, 2010)

Heidegger thus sees no danger in technological inventions at all, but in the way of relating to the world that has occasioned them which prevents us from experiencing alternate modes of living.

“The introduction of computer aided design and manufacturing has provided architects and other crafts persons with a seemingly inexhaustible array of new forms . Much like the nineteenth century’s integration of industrial machines into the decorative arts-so

Revisiting the rapidly changing world of technology, which changes too fast for architecture to keep up, we can explore the relatively young field of open source software which can have a very

interesting analog in the field of architecture. Open source is a worldwide movement to make the internet a truly democratic and free medium. It envisages software (such as a replacement for Microsoft Windows or Internet Explorer) which is freely available to and modifiable by everybody who has access to it as long as any modifications are re-released back into the vast online community surrounding the open source movement.

Open source allows us to choose how we participate in the community. If we choose to simply use software produced by others we may do so. However, if we gain some technical knowledge which allows us to modify a particular piece of software to our liking, we are completely free legally and otherwise to do so as long as what we produce is also open source. The Linux operating system is arguably the most stable platform which exists today making it the most widely used operating system on web servers which demand stability and security.

However, there is no â&#x20AC;&#x153;Microsoftâ&#x20AC;? behind Linux. It is entirely maintained and upgraded for free by a dedicated online community which continuously strives passionately to improve it. (Sennet, 2008) A more recent movement, known as open source hardware embodies the same concepts of freely distributable software discussed above but for hardware or material products. An online community creates product designs which can be modified and manufactured by anybody freely.

Advances in the open hardware movement have made it possible for internet users to download a threedimensional model of an object and manufacture it using a build-it-yourself 3d printer which is also open source hardware. Currently the scale of objects available as open source hardware and easily reproducible is quite small, consisting of wall-hooks and cups etc.

However, if we extrapolate this process to the scale of construction of a building, we can envisage a future where machines are capable of autonomously translating human designs into finished architecture.

A new field of architecture called Automatic Architecture uses computer software and millions of calculations to populate a bare plan with buildings in keeping with the parameters (e.g. figure ground relationship etc.) that govern a city. This technology is already widely used by Google in their Google Earth project. Greg Lynn in his talk: On calculus in architecture he discusses how companies like BMW are able to create a general brand image for themselves which permeates across all BMW car models but still allows the car at the top of the price range to be different from the car at the bottom of the price range, thus justifying the difference in their prices. The same principle of using algorithms to design can be applied to creating similar yet individually unique products (e.g. coffee pots that look somewhat the same and have the same volume but are individually unique).

Individual customization of factory manufactured parts is possible. (Lynn, 2005) If we choose to embrace this new technology and science is it not possible for a computer to perform the task of 'thinking' and a machine to perform the task of 'craft', both of which are tasks normally reserved for humans (designers and craftsmen)? If so where does that leave us, the users, the dwellers? Here we encounter a bifurcation. If our definition of craft holds true, then everybody is capable of being a designer. Modern technology allows everyone to also be a craftsman. Virtual environments such as Second Life have shown that people actually have a higher tendency to be creative than we think. The role of an architect, then, is

not to design buildings but rather to design systems which empower the dweller to be their own designer, and craftsman.

An excerpt from Christopher Alexanderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book The Timeless Way of Building provides an apt conclusion for this seminar:

Therefore the virtual world as a realm of creativity and expressed ideas has far greater growth than is possible in a physical environment where any production becomes laborious and time consuming. The translation of this into the real world would result in end-user creativity and craft which forms the basis for the idea of craft.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Building is a fundamental human instinct, as much a part of our desire as the desire for children. It is, quite simply, the desire to make a part of nature, to complete a world which is already made of mountains, streams, snowdrops, and stones, with something made by us, as much a part of nature, and a part of our immediate surroundings.

The essential task is to produce a state in which creation will be a common fact.

In which nobody will be denied their share in the cultural life of the community up to the limits of their personal capacity. The internet currently fails as a place to dwell, but it does provide a great platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration.

We find out that we already know how to make buildings live, but that the power has been frozen in us: that we have it, but are afraid to use it: that we are crippled by our fears; and crippled by the methods and the images which we use to overcome these fears.â&#x20AC;?

Acknowledgments We thank all the people who have made various contributions towards the completion of our seminar.

valuable time and inputs at the culminating session of the seminars at School of Planning and Architecture.

We are thankful to Dr Ranjana Mital and Prof. Jaya Kumar for coordinating and suggesting vital changes for the clarification of content.

And lastly, we would like to thank our guide Mr. Amit Khanna for structuring our thoughts and providing us the freedom to experiment with an arguably subjective topic. With his firm and timely input we have been able to make informed decisions and express our own opinions in an appropriate manner.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to our resource persons - Prof.

Manoj Mathur, Prof K.T. Ravindran, Mr. Suneet Paul and Ms. Tanya Kohli for their crucial inputs and useful insights.

We sincerely thank our chairperson Ms. Jitender Shambi for giving us her

Bibliography Alexander, C. (1964). Notes on the Synthesis of Form. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Baker, L. (1989). Is current building in India anything to do with art? In J. James, Art and Life in India (pp. 3-6). Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

Behne, A. (1922). Art, Craft, Technology. In F. D. Co, Figures of Architecture and Thought (pp. 324-338). New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. Bonniemaison, S., & Eisenbach, R. (2009).

Installations by Architects- Experiments in Building and Design. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

Clegg, B. (2008, November 19). Now Appearing- The writings of popular science fiction author Brian Clegg. Retrieved July 25, 2011, from http://www.brianclegg.blogspot.com/: http://brianclegg.blogspot.com/search?updat ed-min=2008-0101T00%3A00%3A00Z&updatedmax=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00Z&maxresults=50 Dal Co, F. (1990). Figures of Architecture and Thought. New York: Rizzoli International Publications.

Dutton, D. (1990, July 4). The Difference between Art and Craft. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from www.denisdutton.com: http://www.denisdutton.com/rnz_craft.htm Ghosh, R. K. (1989). Art, Domesticity and Aesthetic Significance. In J. James, Art and Life in India- The last four decades (pp. 6569). Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

Heidegger, M. (1971). Poetry,Language, Thought. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers,Inc.

King, P. (2008). In Dwelling- implacability, exclusion, acceptance. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited.

Kubrick, S. (Director). (1968). 2001- A Space Odyssey [Motion Picture].

LaNoue, M. (2011, June 26). Margot's answers about craft. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from www.quora.com: http://www.quora.com/MargotLaNoue/Crafts/answers Lynn, G. (2005, February). Greg Lynn on Calculus in Architecture. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from www.ted.com: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/greg_lynn _on_organic_design.html Mumford, L. (1943). Technics and Civilization. Boston.

Patnaik, D. (2009). www.ted.com. Retrieved from www.ted.com.

Rosedale, P. (2010, January 31). Philip Rosedale - Virtual Worlds and Second Life.

Retrieved July 27, 2011, from www.youtube.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3LFqX6 YNY0&feature=related Sennet, R. (2008). The Craftsman. London: Yale University Press.

Simon, D. (Director). (2002-2008). The Wire [Motion Picture].

West, G. (2011, July). Geoffrey West: The surprising math of cities and corporations.

Retrieved July 27, 2011, from www.ted.com: http://www.ted.com/talks/geoffrey_west_the _surprising_math_of_cities_and_corporation s.html

Rethinking Vernacular Architecture Seminar Held on November 3rd, 2011

Presented by: Amit Singh (A/1852) Ankur Roy (A/1947) Nishant (A/1946) Sugandha (A/1940) Suman Saurav (A/1932) Tarun Kumar (A/1967)

Chairperson: Prof. Anil Dewan

Faculty Advisor: Ms. Aishwarya Tipnis

Resource persons: Mr. Manoj Mathur Ms. Revathi Kamath Mr. K.T. Ravindran

Introduction In the history of mankind, the primary motive is to find food and shelter.

Shelter was originally in the form of natural enclosures such as caves and later made from locally available material and resources.

The environment played a critical role in shaping the habitat.

Until a few hundred years ago, the relationship between human beings and their environment was characterized by their willingness to adapt to the environment and to live in harmony with it. May be the comfort requirements were very different in the past and should not be compared to today’s demands.(Gupta, 2008-09) As per Oliver (2008), local knowledge is the best. He further highlights the fact that local knowledge systems have been

developed over generations to suit and adapt to the climate and culture.

According to Amos Rapoport “vernacular architecture consists of buildings that represent the folk tradition of a culture and relate directly to the daily lives of members of the culture that created them. It is the direct and unselfconscious translation into physical form of a culture, its needs and valuesas well as the desires, dreams and passions of people.”

The term vernacular is derived from the Latin word Vernaculus, meaning "domestic, native. Hence vernacular architecture refers to ‘native science of building and is used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources to address local needs. (Brunskill, 2000); In contrast to polite architecture, designed

by architects, the knowledge systems in vernacular architecture are developed as per the local traditions and are based on knowledge achieved by trial and error. .â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Vernacular architecture is both regionally and socially specific. Each

community over the years develops a prototype that responds to local needs and carries it forward through generations.(Gautam, 2008)

Understanding Vernacular Architecture What is understood by the term vernacular?

Does it mean the architecture of villages and remote settlements, or is it simply defined by its opposition to the ‘modern’ or ‘designed’?

These questions, especially in the context of India, are not easy ones to answer.

Paul Oliver in his book Dwellings, states: ...it is contended that 'popular architecture' designed by professional architects or commercial builders for popular use, does not come within the compass of the vernacular.

Frank Lloyd Wright described vernacular architecture as; “Folk building growing in response to actual needs, fitted into environment by people who knew no better than to fit them with native feeling suggesting that it is a primitive form of design, lacking intelligent thought”.

As Rapoport states “Within a vernacular there are certain accepted forms which persists but are subject to change without changing their essential natures, it is the individual specimens that are modified, not the type”.

In the Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World there is a detailed definition, namely that it “comprises the dwellings and all other buildings of the people. Related to their environmental contexts and available

resources, they are customarily built utilizing traditional technologies. All forms of vernacular architecture are built to meet specific needs, accommodating the values, economies and ways of living of the cultures that produce them”.

(Oliver, 2007) Vernacular houses are born out of local building materials and technologies and produces buildings that are climate responsive and are a reflection of the customs and lifestyles of a community.

The physical manifestation of the same is observed in a particular geographical environment: for example a sloping roof surface to bear the rainfall or a circular house form to combat cyclonic winds or a thick flat mud roof that keeps out the heat of the sun or an inner courtyard which is the open space used in varied ways in south Asia, particularly India.

It is not just a style but it is a way of adaptation.

Influences on the Vernacular Having defined what vernacular architecture is, it is critical to now establish what makes the vernacular, what are the factors that influence the vernacular.

It is influenced by a great range of different aspects of human behaviour and environment, leading to differing building forms for almost every different context; even neighbouring villages may have different approaches to the construction and use of their dwellings, even if they are at first appearance the same. Despite these variations, every building is subject to the same laws of physics, and hence will demonstrate significant similarities in structural forms. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The morphology of a built environment is a consequence of a whole range of natural environmental factors: topography, climate, water and vegetation, modified by particular social, cultural and economic realities. Among the natural factors shaping the environment, climate is the most crucial and its effect on the form and structure of a settlement are the most noticeableâ&#x20AC;?.

- (P.Gabriel, 1989) In broad terms, the vernacular is developed on a three pronged approach of ecology, culture and technology.

Often a combination of a communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response to these three factors results in the product that we call vernacular.

1) Ecology-talking about ecology, it comprises of climate, topography and local materials. i)

Climate-One of the most significant influences on vernacular architecture is the climate of the area in which the building is constructed.

Climate makes our

architecture what it is.

Climate has a strong impact on architecture. There are different variables of climate to which a building needs to respond. These variables are temperature, humidity, radiation, wind, rain and light.

Different combinations of these variables create different climates in a location. In general, the ,climate of the world can be grouped into, broad groups such as among others, cold, hot arid, hot humid, temperate, Mediterranean, tropical, maritime. Depending on the climate, the variables become desirable or undesirable in creating comfortable conditions.

(Gautam, 2008) ii) Topography- The topography of the region is determined by its geographic setting and shapes different kinds of vernacular. The houses in the Himalayas are therefore generally built along the southern slope to get maximum sunlight.

For example in Spituk, in Ladakh the maximum houses have been built in way to catch the southern sun.

The geographical regions also determine the local material, e.g. while timber would be used in the hills; mud would be a common material in the plains. iii) Local material- The local environment and the construction materials it can

provide many aspect of vernacular architecture.

Areas rich in trees will develop a wooden vernacular, while areas without much wood may use mud or stone. In the far East it is common to use bamboo, as it is both plentiful and versatile. Vernacular, almost by definition, is sustainable, and will not exhaust the local resources.

Similarly the abundance of alluvial soil is seen in the use of burnt bricks across the Indo Gangetic plains and use of granite and laterite in the South of India.

looking at the dwelling which they inhabit, it is obvious that the poor of Delhi are in need of better housing.

Literary sources show that in past mud, straw, and reed were always the materials of the common people. Richer constructions were of wood and sometimes of brick. Also in richer houses the numbers of courtyards were usually more than the poor houses.

(Roy, 1957) . Materials used for construction were linked to the caste system. White stone was used only by Brahmins, red by Kshatruyas, yellow by Vaishyas and black by Shudras.

(Volwahsen, 1969)However, variations from this kind of system are readily seen in Jodhpur where Brahminâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s houses are in blue colour.

2) Culture-Another important determinant of vernacular architecture is culture. The term culture here is used to define a way of life, rituals, religious practices and socio economic considerations which vary from community to community.

3) Technology- The technology used in Vernacular architecture uses knowledge of the sun, wind and precipitation patterns to determine design of habitat.Technology has long been a very important factor shaping the vernacular buildings. It has been established that vernacular buildings are sustainable and have been developed in response to the available technologies. Vernacular architecture is essentially low tech.

This form of vernacular uses knowledge of the sun, wind and precipitation patterns to determine design of habitat.

Traditional buildings such as courtyard houses in hot and arid climates use convection of hot and cool air to create the right internal temperature.

The way of life of building occupants, and the way they use their habitat, is of great influence on building forms. The size of family units, who shares which spaces, how food is prepared and eaten, how people interact and many other cultural considerations will affect the layout and size of dwelling. Culture also has a great influence on the appearance of vernacular buildings, as occupants will often decorate buildings in accordance with local customs and beliefs. The vernacular architecture of a place also gives us insight into the culture. The status and wealth of a person/family can be inferred from

Vernacular Architecture

‘The architecture of India can be evaluated only on the basis of the culture that produced it.’(Bussagi, 1973) With various climatic regions, the traditional architecture of India displays a lot of complexity and variety.India is a country of continental proportions, unified due to the fact that most of its people share a common religion and culture. India has a wide geographical variation from cold deserts at 18000 feets to coastal regions at sea level (Wurster & Bauer, 1959). Climate is the main factor influencing the informal and vernacular styles of architecture in India.

India’s tropical climate is characterized on the one hand by pleasant winter with only a few cold nights and scorching summers with high humidity followed

by torrential rains on the other hand.

This results into various requirements and set-points for the concerned vernacular style in that region i.e. from the cool cave and cellar, garden with ponds and water channels, terrace and airy pillar hall, rising on a platform up several stories. (Fodors Travel Guide, 2007) ‘Indian architecture copied the extremes of climate with vehement symbols of creation and destruction.’(Fodors Travel Guide, 2007, p. 89) India nourished various cultures in ancient times in addition to literature, fine art, music, dance and drama, architecture too, in all its grandeur, rose to great heights.(Kamiya, 2003). Thus

vernacular architecture of a region like India can be valuable and visible document to understand the people of past.(Masalski, 1987) In Khuri village in Rajasthan plastering is done with a mixture of mud and dung.

Villagers travel miles to collect different varieties of dried mud which is then pummeled into a paste, which reveals the typical mud housing in that hot and dusty climate. (Massey, 1986) The sun in much of India is a "relentless enemy of comfort" so large windows are unsuitable. The small openings are preferred in these regions. To avoid direct sun windows are recessed -- and even more so on the South — to keep out the summer sun. Some houses are absolutely without windows, or in some cases, windows are latticed. (Masalski, 1987) The amount of local precipitation determines the shape and form of the roof. Where precipitation is normal/ moderate/ heavy, as it is in Kashmir valley of the Himalayas, the roof is generally sloped, regardless of the material that is used in building.

(Masalski, 1987) The densest rain forests lie in Kerala, on the southwest coast where the roofs are sloped. In Mahabalipurum, the five rathas, are easy to mistake for the small mud village along the roadside. Their carved roofs illustrates that rainfall in this area traditionally has been heavier than in other parts of India. (Wurster & Bauer, 1959) In much of India, because of the climate, little or no distinction is made between the indoors and outdoors. The climate forces people with their charpoi into the courtyard or the street. On the other hand, the pattern of development in Srinagar is in direct response to the cold climate of the Kashmir Valley. The open

space on the top floor here provides a place for storing wood. (Masalski, 1987) The influence of geography is evident too, when we look at the height of buildings. The tall thin structures, in Srinagar seem to assert their verticality while those in the Madras area, close to sea level, seem to hug the ground. The building colour is the same as the sandy soil in this region. (Massey, 1986) Besides reflecting the climate, the architecture of a region reflects available materials. Transportation remains a problem in rural India today, so the materials that are used tend to be those found in the surrounding area. (Bussagi, 1973) People in early times lived in houses made of mud and mud-brick, bamboo arid timber. Leaves and straw and thatch were used everywhere. Although there is not much tangible evidence of the early timbered/wooden huts exist, pictures of them have been drawn on stone in caves (Lomas Rishi cave, Bihar) which tell us about the type of houses in which people lived as long ago as third century B.C. Village huts today in many part of India use those same materials: from palm leaf huts in Kerala to mud-brick houses of almost any hamlet on the Gangetic plains.

(Fabri, 1963, p. 11) However, the face of villages is changing. There are fewer mud and thatch buildings and more village houses of burnt brick and the reinforced cement concrete (R.C.C) that is prevalent in the cities. Still, the local rose pink colour stone of Jaipur, described as the "tone of autumn sunset” is responsible for making her one of the most beautiful of all Indian cities. (Masalski, 1987)

‘Stone or wood is worthy of gods, Brahmins, kings and hermits, but unsuited to Vaishyas and Shudras.' from the Mayamata Manuscript as quoted in (Volwahsen, 1969, p. 173)) The vernacular architecture of a place also gives us insight into the culture.

The status and wealth of a person/family can be inferred from looking at the dwelling which they inhabit. (Roy, 1957, p. 9) ‘Interestingly, the early rules of colour also coordinated with sex. A temple of stone and brick celebrated a male god; brick and wood, female; all three; neuter’(Volwahsen, 1969, p. 173) Another characteristic of richer houses in some villages is the courtyard. The number of courtyards corresponds to the wealth of the owner or family, the more courtyards, the wealthier the inhabitants. (Masalski, 1987)Finally, tradition is reflected in the architecture of the people. Architecture in India has passed through a succession of vernacular styles from the times of the prehistoric river dwellers to modern steel and R.C.C construction. (Masalski, 1987)The early act of building began by determining the relationship between the universe and the chosen terrain. The earth must be placated to establish a favourable relationship between it and the dwelling that was to rise upon it (Bussagi, 1973, p. 65)some aspects of that practice remain true today.

Unfortunately, hardly any structure that was meant for a dwelling house of mere mortals and datable before the late medieval period has come down to us, so it is difficult to trace the traditions and morphogenesis of the vernacular architecture. (Masalski, 1987) The ancient "Shilpashastras" prohibited using certain wood for dwellings, those struck by lightning, those in which birds had built nests, or those growing near burial or crematory grounds, or those

trampled by elephants were not to be used. (India: Insight Guides, 1985) Some symbolism of Hinduism and Buddhism remain. For example, the form of the dormer windows and gable ends of Indian cottages is similar to the lotus flower and leaf. Rangoli designs, the colour powder decorations found outside many doorways, represent a tie with the past and can be found even in cities. The house itself is also an important symbol in orthodox Muslim families, as it represents the separation from women of all men except those of their own families. This custom is called purdah. (Fabri, 1963)Inside the Indian house, tradition is considered too.

Family members remove their shoes when entering the kitchen. Visitors to the traditional Indian home in custom must not even enter the kitchen. Even in modern apartments in Delhi, the kitchen is set away from general circulation for that purpose.

Village settlements in Uttaranchal are often characterized by houses of stone, timber and mud mortar on slopes, with thick stone walls designed to ward off cold. In Kerala, village houses are slope-roofed with Mangalore tiles and thatch to draw off and channel rain. In Assam, the same houses are often built on stilts, the better to counter the often damp ground. In Punjab, mud walls helps to cool down the summer heat.

In India, considering architecture the climatic zones can be divided as the Hot and Arid Thar desert, The Indo Gangetic Plains, the Western & Eastern Coast, the Himalayas and the delta. Each climate zone is unique in the type of housing where it would vary from a mud boonga in the kutch region to bamboo houses in Assam

(Masalski, 1987)

Figure 11.1 A house in Rajasthan, Figure 11.2 A house in West Bengal, Figure 11.3 A house in Kerala Source-www.featurepics.com, Source- www.shutterstock.com, Source- www.boloji.com

Vernacular architecture is locally distinctive and gives each place its individual identity. Thus Jaiselmer was easily distinguishable from Amritsar from the village in Kerala and Jaipur.

But today as globalization has knocked on our doors, every city in India is now dotted with malls and buildings of aluco bond.

In determining what qualifies as vernacular architecture Amos rapoport advocates a polythetic approach that is based upon multiple characteristics to indicate a vernacular rather than a monothetic or “all or nothing” approach.

Fig 11.4 & Fig 11.5 : Photographs of residential colony in Chirag Delhi Source: Authors

Cities are experiencing high level of globalization impact and are moving towards achieving an international image. The architecture has also responded in a similar manner. It is more about high tech and modern architecture. According to Maurice culot “historic cities are alike but all different. Modernist cities are each one different, but they are all the same”.

Globalization has made the world a global village and the needs and aspirations of the people have changed from local to the global.

Contemporary architecture is governed by needs and aspirations.

International design magazines set the trends for new buildings and are copied by the general public. With the advent of modern materials and technology, a new architectural vocabulary gradually evolved and the traditional regional architectural layer was forgotten. Though the new technology is here to stay it can't be a solution for everything. Developing countries like India have a peculiar scenario. In these countries all the layers co-exist, the traditional as well as modern.

A study conducted at Chirag Delhi showed that most of the residents believe that the vernacular house responds to many aspects like climate, culture, religion and their beliefs. Hence they gave preference to the vernacular house on these factors but at the same time their view on vernacular changes completely when it comes to economy, social status and maintenance. Hence, even though in discussions they preferred vernacular but

in reality most of the construction there was either modern or a mix of vernacular and the modern. According to them they earn more by rent when they have a modern kind of setup as compared to the vernacular set up.

The other important reason for this transformation is the overpopulated cities where most of the people live in a nuclear family in a rented house, so privacy and security within the dwellings become important.

100 90 80

70 60

YES TO VERNACULAR

50

NO TO VERNACULAR

40

Column1

30

20 10 0 BELOW 15 YRS

15-35 YRS

35-55 YRS

55 ABOVE

Fig.11. 6: Graph showing age wise preference for vernacular architecture Source: Authors

A survey conducted by the authors in Chirag Delhi gave some amazing facts. As is conveyed from this graph that most of the people below the age of 15 and over the age of 55 preferred vernacular but at the same time this graph has a completely reverse trend in the middle age group. The inferences drawn from these results are



The people in the age group of below 15 and above 55 wanted a comfortable and interactive environment which is provided by vernacular.



Whereas people from the age group of 15 to 55 gave more

importance to the social status and the economic concern. 

The age group that fall between15 to 55 is mostly involved in construction of houses. The modern (global architecture) has dominated the vernacular even in a setting which still clearly shows the remains of a well-established vernacular society.

In order to imitate the west and to look modern, they shun their native architecture. They feel that in todays globalised world, to remain stuck to ones tradition is to be backward. For example, living in the walled city is looked upon as a sign of poverty, in spite of the history and association with the dwelling. The needs and aspiration of the society for the want of contemporary and modern homes have diminished the value of the traditional dwelling. This is not a new phenomenon, So who is responsible for the death of the traditional dwelling as the most popular form of housing? A house design guidance published in 1935 by the Government of India, shows the “modernist and art deco” designs for houses as the aspiration dream house instead of the traditional habitat. Even after 50 years of independence the architectural education in the country is tuned by modernist thinking of the west.

Vernacular forms of architecture are not a major part of the architectural curriculum.

One of the examples which show the strength of vernacular technique was attempted by Mr. Laurie Baker. With the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, he understood the deeper role of his profession and devoted his life to bring about a revolution which not only helped in providing low cost housing but at the same designed houses keeping in mind the climatic condition of that area. Baker had one single purpose to create a beautiful and durable building using the minimum quantity of the material. Most

people think of slums as a blot on the city landscape, but according to him slum dwellers are an integral part of city life and they have to be given space there itself. One of the major works done by him in this regard is the Chengalchoola in Trivandrum. Once it was slum but as a Bakerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initiative it became decent housing for the poor.

Chengalchoola has no broken houses, roofs made of plastic and no dirty surroundings and it has been built at a very low cost, it has proper provision for day lighting and natural ventilation.

His idea was to give a proper space, surrounding and privacy to the people rather than just building row houses which has been the general solution.

But the reason for Bakerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success was that he understood their needs and worked accordingly. His major concern is to serve poor because he know that in a country like India the majority of people do not have roof over their head. He also setup an institution called COSTFORD in this regard.

If it can be used in such a way than why can it not be used to make sustainable modern dwellings? The other architects who have done similar works are Hassan Fathy, Nari Gandhi Anil Laul, Revthi Kamath,Vasant Kamath, Gerard da Cuncha etc. The focus of attention of architects of the vernacular has been primarily on the provision of low cost buildings using local labour, materials, and building procedures.

Fig.11.7 Chenganchool Before Fig.11.8 Chenganchoola Today source: flickr.com

source: flickr.com

Since these few architects took up the job with some social responsibility they developed some techniques. These techniques were good for building for the poor but they worked very less to make it fashionable to other sections.

So it’s the job of architects and engineers to minimize the technical limitations of vernacular and to make it fashionable, where people opt for it for social rather economic reasons. Few Architects romanticize the vernacular architecture but do not design, promote or live in. So what is the point of romanticizing the vernacular?

At the same time few architects without knowing their social responsibility marketed that architecture which is more profitable to them eg.

According to Hafeez Contractor “If a client wants a Spanish hacienda, I cannot refuse it.

Some people would suggest I have it as a theme and to make it a contemporary house, but what if the client says I want this beautiful arch, the rough flooring and this colour.

These are market forces. I am building for others not for myself. This is what I called architecture.”

The newer materials are not always environment friendly. The spatial patterns are also not responding to the socio cultural fabric. There is a need to make the built environment sustainable. If architects sensibly

control the built environment then it’s good, but at present builders command architects and that is going on the wrong track. Builders are supposed to work for architects. Architects must know their social responsibility. If they don’t they can’t design for human beings they design only for numbers. They blindly follow the byelaws which is again a policy which instead of giving benefits to the common public provides benefit to the policy makers and the builders. According to Anil Laul “Vernacular works with collaborative process like architects, engineers, masons, artists, artisans, interior designers work simultaneously and the architect is a group leader but at present architect design and other professionals involve later or may not involve and problems created may not be solved.”Anil Laul

Relevance of Vernacular in Today’s Context According to Mr. Deependra Prasad “Migration has often led to informal settlements springing up within urban centers or semi- formal settlements on urban fringes. These peri-urban populations tend to live in a vacuum, with neither the tradition and nor cohesion of rural life, nor the cosmopolitan and modern lifestyle of the city providing comfort.”

With the increase in world population, many cities are facing the problem of planning to meet with the demands of their inhabitants. The graph highlights the fact that there is a steep rate of migration from rural to urban leading to the rising demand of housing in the urban areas of the less developed regions.

Population explosion and migration results into high demand of housing, which often leads to growth of slums, shanty towns, squatters. It has been shown by various architects that vernacular techniques open up a path towards low cost, affordable and sustainable housing solutions which can provide better standards for living.

In 1980, Dean Hawkes defined two modes of environmental control, the “Exclusive” and the “Selective,” In Exclusive mode,  



Environment is automatically controlled and is predominantly artificial.

Orientation is disregarded and Shape is compact, seeking to minimize the interface between exterior and interior environments.

On the other hand Vernacular, which is a selective approach to the environmental control accounting for local climate

and regional practices, the internal environment, built form and orientation specific to climate influenced by regional practices and knowledge of solar geometry is essential.

The fenestration, in vernacular architecture having a capacity to inscribe the character of a region hence to express the place in which the work is situated.

“If change occurs such as to produce discomfort, people react in ways which tend to restore comfort.”- Michael Humphreys (1997); He shows that there is a strong correlation between ambient temperatures and acceptable indoor conditions. He elucidates the point that people are more tolerant of conditions in what he terms free- running buildings or vernacular buildings rather than highly controlled environment provided by ‘Exclusive’ design or Modern architectural styles.

The humanistic desire to be culturally connected to ones surroundings is reflected in a harmonious architecture, a typology which can be identified with a specific region. This sociologic facet of architecture is present in a material, a colour scheme, an architectural genre, a spatial language or form that carries through the urban framework.

Fig. 11.10 Housing in Shibom Source: Authors

The walled city of Shibam in Yemen has been called the “Manhattan of the desert” because of its densely packed mud brick tower houses, some ten stories high. Though Shibam is rich in history, the town we see today dates primarily to the early sixteenth century.

Is it Necessary Vertical?

to

go

It is very clear that as much we go high we need more separation between the buildings. If height of a building increases beyond four storeys, the cost increases, while the occupant density and human comfort decreases.

Moreover, it has been seen that neither high-rise modern buildings nor the low rise vernacular buildings alone could achieve maximum efficiency.

Thus the problem of the housing needs of the increasing population can’t be solved by either of them alone. Rather a mix of both with sensible thoughts and innovations would be required in order to optimize the use of space and material.

Vernacular buildings can peacefully co-exist with the modern sustainable buildings.

In every settlement, there is some hierarchy of streets and open-built relationships. For proper ventilation and natural lighting it is necessary to

have variable heights of buildings and appropriate building height to street width ratio.

Consider the fact that the world’s most pleasant streets generally have a ratio of 1:1 to 1:2. Thus, according to these principles the building heights in dense settlements would be around 20-30 meters, which can be effectively achieved by local material and techniques. Placing adjacent high-rise buildings close to each other would not be sensible and functional planning. Thus, high rise should be built in a logical urban pattern intermixed with medium and low rise vernacular buildings.

This can be achieved by Advancement and fusion of vernacular and modern  Research and development in vernacular and modern simultaneously.

This simultaneous development approach opens up a path towards sustainable future.

Problems in Adapting Vernacular Architecture in the Future It is true that many vernacular technologies, resources and or forms are suitable and sustainable, although it must not be ignored that some of them are currently no longer properly functioning because of changed culture and ecological situations. We can’t directly go back to traditional architecture and buildings for they were designed for a different culture and climate (Nicol, 2001, p. 3).

In the beginning of the new century, a major challenge facing the Global community is to house the billions of people of the world, now and in the future, in culturally and environmentally sustainable ways. Current estimates predict an increase of the world’s population to approximately 9 billion people in 2050, all of whom will need shelter.

Though actual numbers do not exist and estimates vary, vernacular dwellings , built by their owners and inhabitants using locally available resources and technologies , according to regulations and forms that have been handed down and adapted to circumstances through local traditions, are presently believed to constitute about 90 percent of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total housing stock (P.Oliver, 2006, p. 15). In order to meet the demand for houses it is essential that vernacular building traditions are supported, to assist local builders in matters of sustainable concepts, while at the same time learning and benefiting from their experience,

knowledge and skills. (M.C.Sundarraja, 2009) .

The building sector is one of the major energy consumers in the world. So the key challenge in the 21st century is to learn and understand the fundamental lessons and fundamental principles of vernacular architecture, and to find ways of integrating those principles into development programmes to upgrade existing settlements and to plan new ones. The challenge is to find out how the achieved knowledge, skills and experience of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vernacular builders may be fruitfully applied in a modern context. (M.Vellinga, 2006).

Conclusion: Rethinking Vernacular All the new houses are built for energy consumption. They are hot in summer and cold in winter, whereas our old houses are not. So we have not only to have new technology but look a bit to the old technology. There is much sense in what people have evolved over the years to suit their climate, their environment, their way of living.

You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t keep all of it, because our way of life has changed, but I think a lot of it can be adapted and made more efficient. (Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Former Prime Minister of India, 1980) The development of mankind in architectural knowledge and dwelling principles can be classified in two broad categories:ď&#x201A;ˇ Evolutionary ď&#x201A;ˇ Revolutionary

Fig 11.11 RTP Relation Source: Jain

It should be taken into consideration that evolutionary and revolutionary are not mutually exhaustive events in architecture. They are reliant on each other and architecture is reliant on both types for its growth. (Linder, 1992) Evolutionary or vernacular methods are the incremental addition of knowledge furthering and refining the process and the product. Moreover, this leads to increased efficiency. It is also what brings a sense of continuity to architecture.

Revolutionary methods represent a drastic change, or a giant step whose impact on the discipline of architecture is manifold. It could be either a change in design process or a technical change. These are often necessitated by particular circumstances and catalysts. (Browme, 2003)

Development and achievement in architectural timeline, has been marked by the combination of two factors: • Resources • Technology Let’s say that (R) is the measure of the resources and (T) as the measure of technology. So the product ‘P=(R x T)’ gives us the status or the development of architecture at a certain stage.

In the past, we had ample resources.

But we lacked in the technology and the skill of extracting it. Thus the product P=(R x T) gives a significant quantity.

Source: Authors

While, in the present context, we have ample resources and of course, enough technology to use them .Thus the product (R x T), today is a significant total.

In the future, we will have the finest of the technology, but the asset in terms of resources(R) will become very limited.

Thus even if the technology (T) is considerably large, the resources (R) reduces the product. Therefore, this theory shows that the future will be in the same position as the past was. Thus we will need the same mutual understanding between us and the nature, which is present in the vernacular architecture.

(Jain,2011)

Vernacular Architecture

Museumifiction

Continuity with Learnings

-Research by CAPART on vernacular building types

-Estonia open air museum -Museum of folk art and rural life- Kiev -Taman Mini Indah-Indonesia

Modified Vernacular with fusion of Technology

-World heritage sites -Architecture by Laurie baker and Hasan Fathy

-Havelis

Fig 11.12 Chart showing strategies towards reviving vernacular architecture

-Reasearch by IIT on Bhonga huts -Auroville mud and ferrocement technologies

Strategies towards Vernacular



Museumification of vernacular  Adapt Vernacular with modifications, research and technology  Retain the continuity and derive learning with certain regulatory measure(s) In this era of rapid technological advancements, Vernacular architecture provides more sustainable and climate responsive solutions to various problems in our country e.g.

Low cost housing, increasing energy consumption etc.

Vernacular architecture translates the culture, its needs and values into physical form of buildings. Thus, it respects the desires, dreams and passions of not only people but of the society as a whole. We must gain knowledge of the past and employ these strategies combined with research and technology in order to progress in the future of architecture. Furthermore, a balance should be struck between the developmental attitude to look forward and the conservationist attitude to look back to protect and preserve. In short it’s time to rethink vernacular and build a sustainable future.

Charles Darwin states that it is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.

Acknowledgments We thank all the people who have made various contributions towards the completion of our seminar.

We are thankful to Dr Ranjana Mital and Prof. Jaya Kumar for coordinating and suggesting vital changes for the clarification of content.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to our resource persons Prof. Anil Dewan, Prof K.T. Ravindran and Ar.. Revathi Kamath for their crucial inputs and useful insights.

We sincerely thank our chairperson

Prof. Anil Dewan for giving us his valuable time and inputs at the culminating session of the seminars at School of Planning and Architecture.

And lastly, we would like to thank our guide Ms. Aishwarya Tipnis for structuring our thoughts and providing us the freedom to experiment with an arguably subjective topic. With his firm and timely input we have been able to make informed decisions and express our own opinions in an appropriate manner.

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