Sthapati 2015

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Find us at ISSUU and www.arp.iitkgp.ernet.in For suggestions and enquiries, contact us at sthapati.arp@gmail.com

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Sthapati is the annual magazine of the

Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

The magazine is entirely compiled by the students of the department under the Students' Society of Architects and Planners.

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SSAP COUNCIL 2014-2015 PRESIDENT

AAYUSH BHASKAR

TREASURER

PRANAV KHANDELWAL

GENERAL SECRETARIES SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES SECRETARY MAGAZINE SECRETARIES WALLPAPER SECRETARY WEB SECRETARY ALUMNI SECRETARY

Cover Credits :

Pratik Patra

Third Year Undergraduate Student

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RUTHWIK BELLAM KEVAL SOJITRA HRISHABH AMRODIA APURVA DAPHALE ATUL GUPTA K VINAY KUMAR ANKIT BABU NIDHEESH GOPI

KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT BORDERS

14

INTERVIEW WITH

18

INTERVIEW WITH

20

LOTUS TEMPLE

23

TALL BUILDINGS

26

SUBTERRANEAN GHOSTS

29

Aziza Chaouni

Ar. Bijoy Ramachandran

Ar. Sujit Nair

Bahai House of Worship Farizborz Sahba Ajay Padmakar Gade

India's Forgotten Stepwells Victoria S. Lautman

BUILDING BRAND INDIA FOR ARCHITECTURE 36 Manit Rastogi

INTERVIEW WITH

38

INTERVIEW WITH

40

Ar. David Keuning

Ar. Smaran Mallesh

ARCHITECTING TRAVELS Anuradha Goyal

42

18

23

20

38

40

52

70 YEARBOOK

58 A TRYST WITH FRIEDENSREICH HUNDERTWASSER

58

Roshmi Sen

MATERIALS IN ARCHITECTURE

46

THE MEMORABLE INTERN

62

A SANDHI APPROACH

48

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND REGIONAL PLANNING

64

GAZING INTO THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE

52

YEARBOOK

76

Mohamad Shahrukh Shaikh

Professor Joy Sen

Ashris Choudhary and Ankita Diwan

Dr. Abraham George

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From HOD's Desk From a modest beginning a little over a decade ago, Sthapati, our annual magazine today, may well be considered the harbinger of the next generation students' journals.

Over the years, Sthapati has been portraying the true spirit of our department in more ways than one. It gives me immense pleasure to present Sthapati 2015.

Looking at the continuously improving standard of our magazine our department was also entrusted with the responsibility of publishing Indian Arch 2014 for NASA. With the experience gained by publishing Indian Arch at such a grand scale, the students were all set to raise the standards of Sthapati 2015 as well. Now I see it from an annual magazine to a serious platform to showcase our achievements, air our thoughts and raise pertinent issues in our field.

On behalf of myself and my colleagues of our department, I thank all the contributors and sponsors of this magazine and congratulate the editorial team for this commendable task.

The sterling performance of our students in NASA, ZONASA, INSDAG and other academic competitions, has kept the department vibrant throughout the year. And I encourage my students to continue to make us proud with their achievements. From my end, I promise you full support!

I also extend my heartfelt thanks to all colleagues for their continuous support in terms of logistics of handling such a big task.

Dr. Subrata Chattopadhyay Professor and Head Department of Architecture and Regional Planning IIT Kharagpur

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SSAP Advisor speaks Dear students, thanks for bringing out this sparkling edition of Sthapati 2015.

The journal has since its inception provided a platform where innovative and nonconventional expression of ideas has been encouraged. This platform can be used very effectively to exchange academic ideas within the department.

This is a carefully nurtured portal where contemporary and futuristic views are always expressed and creative ideas are generated.

Getting into the task of compiling a journal like this, triggers teamwork among the students. I congratulate the editorial team for showing the creativity and perseverance that is required to publish a journal like this. Surely, this has been possible due to their other classmates who have been a constant source of support and inspiration for them.

Sthapati is truly shaping up into a serious forum to put in your thoughts and I'm sure this magazine of ours, could very well be a technical journal with an ISSN number. Fly on the wings of your fantasy; let Sthapati have an ever ascending trajectory!

Prof. Haimanti Banerjee Professor Department of Architecture and Regional Planning Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

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President speaks It was early days in the Department and I still remember when my seniors while distributing Sthapati started having an attempt at tracing its history. From a small hand-made journal comprising of all in-house articles to 20-page thin printed journal with all texts and no pictures, sponsored by small shops outside campus to what they had in their hand. Eyes were moist and they had Goosebumps!! And why not!!! Their own “baby” was soaring new heights. It was 2010 and ours were the nascent feet in our Department. The year that saw IIT Kharagpur organizing the coveted Zonal NASA and there, as I recall, the path of Sthapati, as we see it now, took a humongous turn.

Catapulting itself from the cauldron of that big event, today it has reached a level higher than ever so fast that it almost seems miraculous. When I held the copy of Sthapati 2010 in my hand there was a mixed emotion of “Can it really be our own department’s effort?” and “Gosh! IT IS BIG!!” Albeit being a fresher and having no tangible stake in the making of the magazine, I still felt proud. It so happens that once you are at a level so high it’s harder to look down than moving up and that’s what happened. With Sid and Dada(Piyush) taking Sthapati further with illustrious articles from eminent personalities in ‘11 to even bigger one with a wholesome effort by Mallu (Malpani), Yeola and Anshul in ‘12. Then was the time we were looking at the stars and tempo was even higher. Fathoming the already established heights of “Indian Arch”, the most coveted Magazine published by students of architecture in India, was no less than a Herculean task. But we then saw warriors like Bellam, Ankita, Patra, Apoorva and Tropi (Abhishek) who made it look smaller than ever. Indian-Arch came with pomp and show of its own and went but a ‘rest’ after it was not accepted by us. A thought bore in our minds that Sthapati 2015 had to become better than its predecessors. The trend had to be followed. The fire-ball was waiting for the right canon to fit in. This year’s Sthapati is bigger, it is better and hope it continues to grow even more. Daphale, Vinay, Rodi, Sarda and Atul; kudos to you for being just the right canon for the fire-ball.

I just hope it hits the right targets with even brighter flare.

Sthapati brings the Department through multifarious ways and thus my appreciation and gratitude goes for one and all. Without you all it would not have been possible.

I also extend my gratitude to our beloved Professors for continuous support in terms of logistics of handling such a big task and moral support on all fronts possible. Over the years, the circulation, sponsorship and quality of Sthapati on the whole has grown by leaps and bounds and we only hope to see it rise higher. This would not have been possible at all without the benevolent and charismatic stance that has been taken by our sponsors in aiding this academic endeavor. We hope that you continue to give us support in future as well.

In the end I just want to say I was blessed with best seniors, great batch-mates, loving juniors and caring Professors. Without you all these 5-years would not have passed so delightfully. Endless running along the Atrium to keep the department alive and countless nights working for the department would eventually end but memories will always be there!!

To the MEMORIES \m/ Yo Archi!!

Aayush Bhaskar President SSAP

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Treasurer speaks Transformation is the essence of life. In the past 4 years I have seen “Sthapati” grow to new heights; improving in both quality and circulation. This year is especially memorable with the publishing of “Indian Arch” magazine which we released on a national level representing the National Association of Students of Architecture(NASA).

After successful launch of Indian Arch, we are proud to present this year’s “Sthapati” which is the binding element among us. A lot of hard work goes in backstage where our juniors break their sweat to get articles from eminent personalities, increase sponsorship amount and bring a quality publication on the desk. I would take this opportunity to congratulate them on this launch. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the sponsors for their invaluable support. I am highly obliged to all my professors for their continuous support and guidance to help us reach new heights.

Pranav Khandelwal Treasurer SSAP

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General Secrataries speak We are made aware of the passage of time by few artifacts which recursively evolve in the background, while we are busy keeping our pace with the time itself. And when we happen to notice its evolution, we are no more oblivious to the happenings ever since. Sthapati- for me- had been one such thing which synchronized my being in the department.

Sthapati, made richer and more valuable by the thoughts of our past, stratified layer by layer and year after year, to the stature it has attained now- speaking of the pleasures having been a part of Sthapati.

And it's time for another.

Congratulations to the team for keeping this running, and hope you enjoy reading.

Ruthwik Bellam General Secretary SSAP

Together we aim , go out and triumph over every challenges. We have spared no effort to carry forward the legacy of the department in each succeeding year, whether it is in architecture or culture. We have improved and achieved many goals with huge enthusiasm of people.

Each start is with a new zeal and target to reach and so the department turns to an unanimous body, commensurating with time and experience. Unconditional support by seniors and professors is always there, whether it is International competitions, NASA conventions, academic works or cultural activities. There are no regrets on failure, only impressions remain of success and integrity.

Since long, efforts have been made for betterment of architecture student community.

Congratulations to magazine team to come up again with a fresh issue of our annual magazine Sthapati. The team has put a sincere effort to give a new persona to the magazine to enrich the fresh minds.

Keval Sojitra General Secretary SSAP

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Acknowledgement SSAP (Students’ Society of Architects and Planners), IIT Kharagpur takes immense pleasure in presenting before you, Sthapati 2015. At the end of the journey of Sthapati 2015, we have bound together invaluable inputs and hard work from various minds. A small suggestion here, or a bit of transcription there, all together has allowed us to be able to get this beauty ready!

We take this opportunity to express our gratitude towards all the people associated with the magazine’s publication. We are grateful to all our esteemed professors, especially, Prof. Subrata Chattopadhyay, Prof. Joy Sen and Prof. Haimanti Banerjee for their support and guidance.

We are privileged to have Shree Cement as the sponsor for the issue of Sthapati 2015, without their support publishing the magazine would have been a distant dream. We would also like to extend our gratitude to Mr. JP Agarwal, MassNVoid Consultants and Department of Architecture, NEHU for their support.

A special thanks to Bellam, Tropi, Malpani and all the other seniors for their invaluable “fundas” regarding the magazine and also to our batch mates for their ever invigorating words and support.

In the end, thank you once again everyone, your constant support and efforts reflect in each and every page of the magazine.

Team Sthapati 2015.

Apurva Daphale

Hrishabh Amrodia

Second Year Student apurvad96@gmail.com

Second Year Student hrishabh.amrodia@gmail.com

Ashutosh Sarda

K Vinay Kumar

First Year Student ashutoshsarda@outlook.com

Second Year Student kvinaykumar380@gmail.com

Atul Gupta Second Year Student atulgupta150894@gmail.com

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KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT BORDERS

The competition to design a campus for the EuroMediterranean University of Fez (EMUF) was launched in February, 2014 by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), a partnership that aims to create unity among the EuroMediterranean countries. The objective of the competition was to compose an environment that establishes a platform for discourse and correspondence between the Mediterranean’s diverse cultures, as well as provide a medium to collaborate with Europe’s top accredited universities. Morocco was the chosen location of the new university, presumably because of its balance of Arabic, African, and European influences. The 17-hectare site is located on the outskirts of Fez, Morocco’s third largest city.

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In the first phase of execution, construction is set to be completed by 2018, and the plan is to enrol over 6000 students by 2024, composed of about 70% in Engineering, and about 30% in Humanities (Human and Social Sciences).

Future initiatives hope to have 10,000 students enrolled by 2032. As a private university, the EMUF will be funded in part by the UfM, the Moroccan Government, and other public and private investors.

Aziza Chaouni Projects, a multidisciplinary design firm based in Toronto, Canada, and Fez, Morocco, teamed up with two other architecture firms, NADAAA (New York and Boston, USA) and Omar Alaoui Architectes (Casablanca, Morocco), and one landscape architecture firm, Sasaki Associates (Boston, USA), to design a scheme that is holistic in both its functionality and its beauty, finishing as a top finalist in the competition.

The Euro Mediterranean University of Fez Sthapati 2015 | 15

The base requirements set by the University was to have

a coeurdu site (heart of the site), encompassing spaces such as the library and general exhibition hall, surrounded

by Engineering or Humanities-specific buildings, with the students/staff residences and other facilities on the perimeter. The design team’s scheme starts with an area that hosts publicly-accessible amenities, such as sports fields, to incorporate the city of Fez into the campus. Upon entering the university’s gates, the buildings are arranged into two interlocking rings, with the main library symbolically in the center of the interlock.

One ring houses the research spaces, while the other is made up of predominantly teaching spaces. The coeur du site is scattered throughout the two rings, which are placed based on surrounding programmatic requirements. Finally, the student and faculty housing, sports facilities, and concierge are located around the perimeter of the site, maximizing daylighting and views for all units. The key aim of the project was to create a sustainable campus, combining research, education, and social life, as well as integrating ecological and avant-garde concepts.

Urban Scope: The planning approach of this project connects the campus to the city of Fez and the Euro-Mediterranean region and is articulated around the three following concepts: - The creation of a public platform at the entrance to the university, showcasing the research work towards sustainable development completed on campus.

This area acts as an interface between the city and the campus, and between the public and the students/professors.

This frames the university as an active element in the social and urban development of the surrounding suburban area.

- The preservation of the existing olive grove and its extension throughout the site.

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it to the identity of both Fez and the Mediterranean region.

The project aims to highlight this space, incorporate it into the education curriculums, and use it to produce organic agriculture. It also inherently creates micro-climates that help regulate the comfort of outdoor spaces.

- The reinterpretation of urban principles common to the north and south Mediterranean.

Among these, a dense and homogeneous urban fabric, pedestrian networks irrigating the entire site, and a hierarchy between public/private spaces.

Architectural language:

Sustainability:

In the same fashion as the urban scale, the project’s architectural approach is based on a local and regional language of design, including:

It is the team’s firm belief that sustainability is of primary importance for such an institution, particularly that of a university that promotes learning about global economics and avant-garde technologies. The following initiatives, among many others, were taken to ensure a sustainable campus design:

- Using the courtyard as a base unit.

Our extensive research led us to the almost obvious solution that the building with a courtyard, so typical of Fez, is the most suitable architectural form. The simplicity of this form allows for greater adaptability to various uses and scales.

- Inducing a network of flux to create encounters.

The buildings were designed based on their use and occupancy in order to encourage more possibilities of both formal and informal gatherings. Meeting spaces of different natures are placed throughout to facilitate interaction and discourse.

- Repeating architectural typologies and forms.

This decision was motivated simply by the economical and timely benefits of increasing the ease of construction.

Adjustments were made according to each program.

However, the ratio of the inner courtyard to the height of the building was maintained in order to maximize the need for shade or light.

- Creating flexible buildings, able to change over time.

The arrangement of the buildings on the site, the spaces between them, and the urban fabric as a whole were designed with the potential to extend from its existing plan to accommodate for expansion if necessary.

- Using passive ventilation and heating techniques of traditional Moroccan architecture for all buildings.

- Restricting the use of private vehicles on campus.

- Catchment, filtration, and re-use of rainwater, grey water, and black water through underground reservoirs and living machines.

- Rooftop PVC panels for renewable energy.

- Highly comprehensive recycling and waste management systems.

- Optimal use of daylighting and shading through the orientation of buildings.

- Maximized green space throughout the site.

Through our team of different backgrounds, expertise, and perspectives, the scheme considered the valuable insight from all collaborators. The resulting campus master plan proves that transferring knowledge across countries and cultures greatly benefits the product, just as the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fez will do with its future students.

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Ar. Bijoy Ramachandran Bijoy has a Bachelors degree in Architecture from BMS College, Bangalore University (1994) and a Masters degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, in Architecture & Urbanism (1998). His firm, Hundredhands has been featured in Architectural Design (UK) magazine’s survey of contemporary Indian architecture. Other awards include an official selection for the Project South Exhibition and the Leone di Pietra at the Venice Biennale, 2006, and the Cityscape/Architectural Review Award in 2005.

In 2008, he produced ‘Doshi’, a documentary feature on the Indian architect B.V. Doshi.

‘Architecture & the City: A Bangalore Perspective’, a documentary feature made by him, is now part of the curriculum in schools across India.

Q.

Let us start by unfolding the mystery behind the name “hundredhands”. What is its significance and how did the title evolve?

A.

My brother, Premjit Ramachandran, suggested this name and it stands for collaboration - many people coming together to do interesting things. As architects we work with a large group - our clients, consultants, contractors and colleagues within the practice and nice things can happen only if there is a shared ideal.

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Q.

In your works, a special emphasis is given to the climatic conditions and reduction of mechanical load. With the global temperature rising and the air quality degrading day by day, you must be confronted with a lot of challenges in executing this approach. How do you manage to stay evolved to catch up with these changes?

A.

This is a tough question. So far we have been relying on natural ventilation and insulation strategies to counter adverse conditions. These simple techniques need to be re-evaluated given the twin challenges you mention. Air quality is the big issue.

Q. Being educated abroad, what difficulties did you have Q. Architecture is a lot more than just a career option. It in working in India? And what is it that compels you to come back to India for architectural practice?

A.

The central challenge is often a real opportunity.

Unlike in the US, standardisation of building systems and construction is not common. I remember visiting the site of a large apartment building (approx. 200,000 sft.) twice over the course of construction in Boston. Details and materials were all off-the shelf systems and there was no ambiguity in their application.

In India, we are often at site twice/thrice a week to clarify details, re-spec materials, and invent new ways to work around problems arising at site. This rather ambiguous way to build things has often proved wonderful - things often do get better in this process. Of course, this comes at a huge cost in terms of project timelines and efficiency.

Q. You seem to have a keen interest in filmmaking. Do you believe that visual arts like filmmaking and photography help you appreciate architecture in a better way?

is a lifestyle. You, living this lifestyle, must have witnessed its merits and demerits. How do you feel about working nights and weekends and sacrificing some part or sometimes the whole of your social life?

A. Yes, sometimes work does overwhelm everything else,

but one must find the time to do other things. Often the genesis of an idea comes when you least expect it and from an unlikely source. Though it doesn’t happen often enough, when you suddenly see a sublime way out of an impasse while designing something it is a real charge and then time, place, everything is immaterial and one gets subsumed by this. Given the paltry fees we get and the often substandard quality of construction it is for this charge that a lot of us continue this work.

Q. Your

buildings lack that pretentious ornamentation, just simple lines and planes composed with rational use of material. How do you manage to maintain this clarity of thought and stay aloof from influentiality?

A.

is centred on a desire to document and preserve for posterity the ideas and notions behind the making of architecture. I am also hoping that through films these ideas can reach a much wider audience. It is often quite a struggle to convey to our clients the benefits of good design and the fundamental importance of design in addressing the challenges we face.

We strive for this kind of clarity in terms of structure, organization and composition. It doesn’t always happen, but it is very satisfying when complex requirements are accommodated simply, clearly and (seemingly) without undue effort. We are after this kind of graceful, almost obvious condition. We have worked in the past with Graham Morrison of Allies & Morrison who calls this an architecture without adjectives. Their work is a huge inspiration for us.

Q.

Q.

A.

A.

A. Though related in many ways, my interest in filmmaking

Having worked for a film with Mr.B V Doshi, it’s definitely a chance many would like to have. Would you share the experience of working with such an eminent Indian architect with us?

Working on the film with Mr. Doshi was wonderful. It was, in many ways, a life changing experience for both my brother and me. He epitomises, for me, a complete person - who has a profound sense of his place in the world and those around him. Sen Kapadia puts it beautifully in the film, saying, “ The thing about him is that he doesn’t carry himself as a persona, he’ll just be with somebody. Now, to my mind, a cultured person is one in whose company you feel neither inferior nor superior. That is Doshi.”

Having studied architecture at Bangalore and the prestigious MIT, you must have witnessed the differences in study pattern and students’ attitude. Your words of advice for the students in India.....

Studying at BMS was wonderful. We were part of the yearly schedule and so spent almost half the year doing other things like traveling, watching loads of movies and working on NASA. We were part of a really rich ecosystem in Bangalore - one which has produced lots of wonderful architects. Being part of this unstructured, relaxed environment was a good prep for grad school.MIT, though a lot more intense, was also relatively unstructured, and open ended. We had very few required courses and it was up to each of us to structure our two years there. The big difference was the calibre of our teachers at MIT and the diverse student population, from all over the world. Doing a graduate degree is worthwhile for this exposure - it gives you a new perspective on the world and opens you up to different points of view.

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Architect Sujit Nair Sujit Nair is the principal designer and founder of SDeG. SDeG (Sujit Nair Design Group) was founded in 2007. SDeG believes in an architecture of overlapping attitudes, technologies and techniques, that respond to fluid project situations and contemporary urban transformations.

In the past, he has worked at Zaha Hadid Architects, London in project teams that won several international design competitions including the 'Aquatic Centre' – 2012 London Olympics.

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Q. When looking at your work, we find special

emphasis given to material and construction technology, could you elaborate on that?

A. As an office, we are interested in the many stages of

a project's evolution, especially once it’s off the drawing board. For eg: During construction documentation, we engage constantly with engineering consultants and technical experts to understand how we might be able to achieve more refined results at site. Then, there’s a constant back and forth, a feedback loop, that’s established between site and us. This helps us to identify better techniques and material palettes to build relatively complex parts of a building, examine alternatives to conventional site processes to accomplish unconventional outcomes. In India, construction processes/techniques are fairly dated – buildings tend to be born primarily out of RC skeletons, masonry infils, plaster and paint; it’s important to look at variants and alternatives to this formula – and maybe even innovate within this framework. Ironically, these alternatives exist, but there’s a tendency to not look beyond what’s established. This is essentially how we started working with ferroconcrete in some projects.

Q.

What steps do you think should be taken to promote technological innovations in the field of architecture?

A.

I will look to answer this question for its relevance in the Indian context. Innovative Technologies exist in extreme domains in India – homespun and contemporary. Like in several other industries, there needs to be a neo-indian blend, the ‘new between’. So it’s as important to promote traditional arts and techniques, as it is to encourage western/global technologies and materials.

At schools, students must be exposed to contrasting technologies - to both bamboo construction and 3D printers; and be encouraged to come up with crossbreed outcomes.

In the west, there are frequent product/technology collaborations between designers and manufacturers. This creates an efficient feedback mechanism between industry and designer, to create technologies for local use.

Both leading and emerging designers must be encouraged to share their international and indigenous experiences and know-how, engage actively with schools of design and with the manufacturing industry. Technological innovation must not be interpreted as simply borrowing from current global trends. We have the opportunity to innovate on our own terms. However, innovation thrives in an environment conducive to discovery.

Q.

Working with a Pritzker Prize winner is an opportunity only for the choicest of people. How was your experience of working with Zaha Hadid on the London Aquatics Centre?

A.

I was at ZHA during a crucial phase (2004 – 2005).

In early 2004, Zaha Hadid was awarded the Pritzker.

This meant there was a big shift in momentum – many commissions were awarded, many competitions were won, and the office grew rapidly around that time. This was also a period that saw ZHA expand their design repertoire – perhaps as a consequence of a shift in scales of projects, and a much deeper engagement with software, technique and inflow of international talent.

Q. SDeG has a different work culture including

training by you. According to you, what prerequisites are needed for students to work at a professional level?

A.

Focus, determination, patience are crucial as personality traits. The ability to work independently and as a team player, keenness to learn new tools(for eg, software), good communication skills, keeping in touch with local/ international trends/designers, etc.

Q. Could you shed some light on the importance of teachers to be practicing architects?

A.

Abroad, this is not as relevant an issue. This is primarily because, teachers actually pursue academic agendas through funded research in schools of design. It’s a very similar scenario for architects, who work/collaborate with schools of design for research, effectively forming a symbiotic relationship.

The important aspect is to be able to stay abreast of trends and forecasts. This may or may not happen through core/visiting faculty. It possibly must occur in the form of initiatives from the school – workshops, training, funded exchange programs for faculty(not only students), and effective selection criteria for faculty recruitments, etc.

Q.

Lastly, any message that you would like to give to students ?

A.

Believe! Look at, but also above and beyond the curriculum…Look to be multifaceted with your talents and enterprising with your attitude..

The Aquatic centre symbolizes this phase- it is essentially an object in the landscape, hovering above the ground and yet its fluid geometry is so vividly tied to the program. We were a large team for the competition entry, and at the time, it was a project that garnered a lot of attention within the office – it was a competition that the office was so keen on winning.

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Creation The Spirit of

As morning mist is cozy and cool...

The whisper is sweet and gentle…

Soft as the moonlight...yet bright..

Your chidings are, but honey...

You go down in my heart, into my soul....

It is irresistible...it is passion… the fire...

It is you the Spirit… of creation… I love…

In flames and wind...cooling, comforting....

Your Spirit caught me...unaware… I remain...

You took my soul, never bewitched…not once...

You touched my inmost… and my soul nourished….

You made bonding… bonding for a lifetime!

That no mortal could stop...no times might fail…

Nor evil intends thwart it’s flames...of love…

Creation that delights… a weary soul that beholds..

You are my beauty… my love... my life …

You made me make the world a place…

Taught me to transform… intends to spaces..

Spaces of communicational love… and beauty..

You alone I adore...you alone, my love…

You are my Spirit, my love, my life….

- Dr. Abraham George

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Lotus Temple Baha'i House of Worship

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"

the gift of god to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness of religion.

"

Since its inauguration to public worship and visits in December 1986, the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi has drawn to its portals more than 70 million visitors, making it one of the most visited edifices in the world. On an average, 8,000 to 10,000 people visit the Bahá’í House of Worship each day. It is a tribute to human inspiration, ingenuity and computer technology. It is the world’s largest poured-in-place concrete structure.

Why Lotus?

The growth of the lotus plant symbolises the evolution of the soul from the sludge of materialism, through the waters of experience into the light of being. Of all the water plants, only the lotus because of the strength of its stem rises above the surface of water and bears buds, blossoms and seed pods all the same time.

The lotus represents the manifestation of god and is also a symbol of purity and tenderness. Its significance is deeply rooted in the minds and hearts of Indians.

It is associated with worship and has been a part of the life and thoughts of Indians through the ages.

"

F

ariborz Sahba was asked to design a house of worship that would honour the splendid spiritual and cultural heritage of India and be synonymous with cardinal principles of Baha’i teaching - the unity of religions:

I am an old fashioned architect who has always considered architecture to be an art, and no matter how practical or technical it becomes, in essence it is a work of art which communicates with its audience.

- Fariborz Sahba

"

The Structure

Ventilation

The complex lotus-shaped superstructure houses the auditorium area and a basement. The outermost set of nine petals opens outwards and forms the nine entrances around the annular hall. The next set of nine petals points inwards.

The third set appears to be partially closed, rising above the rest, and houses the main structure of the central hall. The lotus is open at the top where a glass-andsteel roof provides protection from rain and facilitates the entrance of light into the auditorium. Below the entrance and outer petals, nine massive arches rise in a ring and nine entrances lead into the main auditorium.

The building uses natural ventilation.

Summers are hot in Delhi and humidity, though high, varies. The constant draught of cool air passing over the nine surrounding pools of water flow into the auditorium and out through the top. Openings at the base and at the top draw in warm air from the hall and expel it through the top of the dome. The ventilation is complemented by two set of fans arranged in the dome to cool the concrete shells.

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Water and Light

Geometry

The whole superstructure is designed to function as a skylight. Even the interior dome is spherical and patterned after the innermost portion of the lotus flower.

Light enters the hall in the same way as it passes through the inner folds of the lotus petals. The interior dome, therefore, is like a bud consisting of 27 petals, and light filters through these inner folds and is diffused throughout the hall. The central bud is held by nine open petals, each of which functions as a skylight.

The nine entrance petals complete the design.

Each component of the temple is repeated nine times. Seen from the outside, there are three sets of petals made from concrete shells and clad in white marble panels, fixed to the concrete surface with specially designed stainless-steel anchors and brackets. From the inside, the inner petal holds the dome in a canopy of crisscrossing ribs and shells of complex design. Each layer of ribs and petals disappears as it converges towards the top. The radial petals emanating from the inner petals converge at the central hub.

The external illumination is arranged to create the impression that the lotus structure is afloat upon water and not anchored to its foundation, by having the light focussed brightly on the upper edges of the petals. Nine pools of water surround the building, connecting to it via walkways, balustrades, stairs and bridges. The pools form the principal landscaping and represent the green leaves of the lotus afloat on water. Moreover, the pools and fountains help to cool the air that passes over them into the hall. The superstructure, the podium, and the pools are designed as an integrated whole.

"

I take satisfaction from the fact that my project communicates with people and is alive.

"

- Fariborz Sahba

Efforts to ease Construction The geometry is so complex that it took the design team nearly 3 years to complete the drawings. In conventional structures, dimensions and levels define the elements. In this instance, the spheres, cylinders, toroids and cones had to be translated into equations which were then used as a basis for structural analysis and engineering drawings. The shape, size thickness and other details were indicated in the drawings by levels, radii and equations, to achieve parameters that could be understood by site foremen and joiners. A system of coordinates was devised along x y and z axes for every 40 degree segment. These coordinates were simplified by working out coordinate levels and distances by which fitters and joiners could arrive at the surface and boundaries. 18 reference stations were set outside the building for setting out the arches, entrance and outer and inner petals. The temple is a marvel of inspiration engineering ingenuity and exceptional workmanship.

Sthapati 2015 | 25

Tall Buildings Future for Indian Tier Two Cities Development Ajay Padmakar Gade General Manager, Design & Development Marvel Realtors

Larose ooking back at the history of tall buildings, in the United States in the 1880s, there urban areas where increased land prices and great population densities created a

demand for buildings that rose vertically rather than spread horizontally, thus occupying less precious land area and providing a solution towards the sustainable rapid urbanization of growing cities. By the mid-20th century, such buildings had become a standard feature of the architectural landscape in most countries in the world. In India, the storm of tall building construction covered the 4 metro cities first and then rapidly spread as a common practice in tier two urban centers. Now, in the 21st century, these tall buildings also known as “Skyscrapers� have become a symbol of developed status, an icon of a town.

Pune Context Pune is not behind in the matter of its development and urban growth. In the late 20th century, it changed its skyline from 25 to 40 meters, which nearly covered the entire cityscape and now in the 21st century it is looking forward to be tall enough to join the tall developed cities club.

Land is a finite resource. Service land is rare and more valuable. In the beginning of my career, I used to hear of buildings being developed, demolished and re-developed.

Typically, it is not as some might expect, because the buildings are functionally obsolete. In most cases they could easily be refurbished or converted for another 25 years, or more. But it is because they are economically obsolete.

Or, to put it in another way, the owner can achieve more density on the site through re-development.

Pune is known for its historic and cultural heritage, in fact it is called the cultural capital of the state. These tall buildings, typically contemporary in nature, have a very big impact on the urban fabric, but at the same time they are the most sustainable solution towards rapid development and provides us some ease to conserve big pockets of the city having heritage value. Due to the unique feature of verticality and very less horizontal footprint, these tall buildings allow us to maintain the greenery of the town.

The proximity to city center, optimum utilization of existing 26 | Sthapati 2015

infrastructure & developed urban land and enthusiastic interest of the buyers towards the higher floors, has drawn estate players to adopt tall building as a solution towards catering to the urban demand of the city.

However, tall is not always good. High density development has to be accompanied by high levels of demand for accommodation, the provision of high quality infrastructure and services. A skyscraper in a desert (actual or metaphoric) is no good to anyone. But, good tall buildings in dynamic, growing city centers are a logical, economically viable and sustainable form of development. Equally, tall buildings provide excellent living, working or leisure environments. Ask anyone who works or lives in a welldesigned tall building. In context to Pune, the mixed fabric of contemporary tall building with old historic buildings of cultural heritage shall be the most interesting topic of discussion for future. Delineation of areas for conserving and development of tall ones shall be most challenging with given economic and urban thrust. The scarcity of urban land and iconic marketing value encourages construction of skyscrapers. Such vertical development predominantly has very less ground coverage, hence provides better scope for landscaping and economizing the services in comparison to any other normal development.

Our experience with respect to market response for our Kyra project is excellent, people predominantly high-end clienteles, are enthusiastic about higher floors as their residence. This over thought has excited us to go for tall buildings as a prime concept for development of future. We have a number of projects in our kitty, to be recognized as a high rise developer.

Kyra, case study ‘Kyra’, one of our most prestigious high end residential development, is located at Magarpatta Road, Pune. It comprises of 3 towers with 27 stories, upto100m tall, with a delicately designed landscape. These 3 lean and tall towers are interconnected with sky bridges that provide some amazing experience of common facilities like gym, spa, sky lounges on higher floors. Irrespective of which apartment you live in, you will still have the opportunity to spend quality leisure time on these plush sky-boxes. The amazing cityscape views with plunge pools on big eye level terraces, the project’s USP, is offered to the classy prospective buyers. Marvel Kyra offers 4 BHK bedroom apartments varying in sizes from 4665 sq. ft. to 6385 sq. ft.

Brand Marvel is known for providing awesome homes with necessary services blended with classic lifestyle amenities.

This is one of the leading projects of Marvel Group because the motivation behind Marvel Kyra is to fulfill the needs of sensible living space for people having great urge for aesthetics. The homes come fully equipped with international touchstone amenities, state of the art finishes and fully automated apartments, for those who want best facilities. Marvel Kyra is an exclusive example of harmony between greenery and built form. Marvel Kyra is strategically located in the prime location of Pune. All the important locations like eminent hospitals, schools, offices, malls etc. are situated within the minutes of the project.

Designed on labeled development components, Marvel Kyra is also outfitted with many easy services.

Sthapati 2015 | 27

The layout of the towers and their staggered positioning ensures that no two units have a direct view which results in absolute privacy. What’s more, the lobbies are designed to provide privacy to the fullest, with a feel of one apartment per floor, all floors catered by 4 high speed elevators, adequate fire safety and security to finest levels. We have cautiously designed this project to be at 100m, just plunging above Pune’s skyline which is now getting prominent at 50m to 70m. To minimize risk through air and on ground we have one of the best class security through automated surveillance and manned entire premises.

At Marvel Kyra, the facade has been designed with unique fins and ledges, such that the right amount of sunlight shines your home. The outdoor spaces feature green walls, a water stage, sculptural features, a squash court, decking & seating linked with a Jacuzzi pool. It also includes basement parking which makes it a vehicle free zone at the podium.

With these features and the kind of response we are getting for Marvel Kyra and similar relatively less tall projects, we are very enthusiastic on conceiving taller projects.

To conclude, I see the tall building, with its relatively small footprint and high levels of natural light as the most flexible of buildings, suitable for both commercial and residential projects that satisfies our present as well as future needs. It can be an answer to our increasing population. In the right place when properly designed and built, they allow efficient long term and sustainable use of land and infrastructure.

28 | Sthapati 2015

originally published in

Sthapati 2015 | 29

It’s

hard to imagine an entire category of architecture slipping off history’s grid, and yet that seems to be the case with India’s incomparable stepwells. Never heard of ‘em? Don’t fret, you’re not alone: millions of tourists – and any number of locals - lured to the subcontinent’s palaces, forts, tombs, and temples are oblivious to these centuries-old water-structures that can even be found hiding-in-plain-sight close to thronged destinations like Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi or Agra’s Taj Mahal. But now, India’s burgeoning water crisis might lead to redemption for at least some of these subterranean edifices, which are being re-evaluated for their ability to collect and store water. With any luck, tourist itineraries will also start incorporating what are otherwise an “endangered species” of the architecture world.

Rudimentary stepwells first appeared in India between the 2nd and 4th centuries A.D., born of necessity in a capricious climate zone bone-dry for much of the year followed by torrential monsoon rains for many weeks. It was essential to guarantee a year-round water-supply for

drinking, bathing, irrigation and washing, particularly in the arid states of Gujarat (where they’re called vavs) and Rajasthan (where they’re baoli, baori, or bawdi) where the water table could be inconveniently buried ten-stories or more underground. Over the centuries, stepwell construction evolved so that by the 11th century they were astoundingly complex feats of engineering, architecture and art.

Construction of stepwells involved not just the sinking of a typical deep cylinder from which water could be hauled, but the careful placement of an adjacent, stonelined “trench” that, once a long staircase and side ledges were embedded, allowed access to the ever-fluctuating water level which flowed through an opening in the well cylinder. In dry seasons, every step – which could number over a hundred - had to be negotiated to reach the bottom story. But during rainy seasons, a parallel function kicked in and the trench transformed into a large cistern, filling to capacity and submerging the steps sometimes to the surface.

This ingenious system for water preservation continued for a millennium.

Helical Vav, Champaner

Mertani Baori, Jhunjhunu 30 | Sthapati 2015

Agrasen ki Baoli, Delhi

Bhamaria Vav, Mehmedabad

Rani ki Vav, Patan

Gandhak ki Baoli, Delhi

Vikia Vav, Ghumli

Madha Vav, Vadhavan

Ganga Vav, Vadhavan

Mata Bhavani Vav

In many wells – particularly those in Gujarat – covered “pavilions” punctuated each successive level, accessed by narrow ledges as the water level rose, and providing vital shade while also buttressing walls against the intense pressure. For this same reason, most stepwells gradually narrow from the surface to the lowest tier underground, where the temperature is refreshingly cool.

By building down into the earth rather than the expected “up”, a sort of reverse architecture was created and, since many stepwells have little presence above the surface other than a low masonry wall, a sudden encounter with one of these vertiginous, man-made chasms generates both a sense of utter surprise and total dislocation. Once inside, the telescoping views, towering pavilions, and the powerful play of light and shadow are equally disorienting, while also making them devilishly difficult to photograph.

By the 19th-century, several thousand stepwells in varying degrees of grandeur are estimated to have been built throughout India, in cities, villages, and eventually also in private gardens where they’re known as “retreat wells”. But stepwells also proliferated along crucial, remote trade routes where travelers and pilgrims could park their animals and take shelter in covered arcades. They were the ultimate public monuments, available to both genders, every religion, seemingly anyone at all but for the lowestcaste Hindu. It was considered extremely meritorious to commission a stepwell, an earthbound bastion against Eternity, and it’s believed that a quarter of these wealthy or powerful philanthropists were female. Considering that fetching water was (and is still) assigned to women, the stepwells would have provided a reprieve in otherwise regimented lives, and gathering down in the village vav was surely an important social activity.

IUCAA, Pune, by Charles Correa

Takht Baoli, Narnaul

Rudabai Vav, Adalaj

Stepwells fall into similar categories based on their scale, layout, materials, and shape: they can be rectangular, circular, or even they can be L-shaped, can be built from masonry, rubble or brick, and have as many as four separate entrances. But no two are identical and whether simple and utilitarian, or complex and ornamented - each has a unique character. Much depends on where, when, and by whom they were commissioned, with Hindu structures functioning as bona-fide subterranean temples, replete with carved images of the male and female deities to whom the stepwells were dedicated. These sculptures formed a spiritual backdrop for ritual bathing, prayers and offerings that played an important role in many Hindu stepwells and despite a lack of accessible ground water, a number continue today as active temples, for instance the 11th-century Mata Bhavani vav in Ahmedabad.

Nowhere was a more elaborate backdrop for worship planned than at India’s best-known stepwell, the Rani ki vav (Queen’s Well) two hours away in Patan.

Commissioned by Queen Udayamati around 1060 A.D. to commemorate her deceased spouse, the enormous scale – 210 feet long by 65 wide – probably contributed to disastrous flooding that buried the vav for nearly a thousand years under sand and mud close to its completion.

The builders realized they were attempting something risky, adding extra buttressing and massive support walls, but to no avail. In the 1980’s, the excavation and restoration of Rani ki vav (which finally achieved UNESCO World Heritage in February, 2014) were completed but by then, long-exposed columns on the first tier had been hauled off to build the nearby 18th-century Bahadur Singh ki vav, now completely encroached by homes.

Sthapati 2015 | 31

Once Muslim rulers began to dominate in India (dates differ depending on the area) stepwells shifted in their design both structurally and decoratively. Hindu builders used trabeate (or post and lintel) construction with corbel domes, Muslims introduced the arch and “true” dome. Hindu artists carved sculptures and friezes packed with deities, humans, and animals while Islam forbade depictions of any creatures at all. But when, for a brief period in Gujarat, the two traditions collided around 1500 A.D. a pair of brilliant offspring resulted close to the new capital of Ahmedabad, and worth a detour for anyone visiting the modernist masterworks of Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, or B.V. Doshi.

As for the current state of stepwells, a few are in relatively decent condition, particularly those where tourists might materialize. But for most, the prevailing condition is simply deplorable for a host of reasons. Under the British Raj, stepwells were deemed unhygienic breeding grounds for disease and parasites and were consequently barricaded, filled in, or otherwise destroyed. “Modern” substitutes like village taps, plumbing, and water tanks also eliminated the physical need for stepwells, if not the social and spiritual aspects. As obsolescence set in, stepwells were ignored by their communities, became garbage dumps and latrines, while others were repurposed as storage areas, mined for their stone, or just left to decay.

Both the Rudabai and Dada Harir vavs are five stories deep with octagonal subterranean pools, each commissioned by a female patroness and, although Rudabai boasts three separate entrances (a rarity), it and Dada Harir vav are conceptual cousins, built at virtually the same moment just twelve miles from one another, commissioned under Islamic authority using Hindu artisans.

Each is elaborately decorated, but with a notable absence of deities and human figures, but compared to other, more somber Islamic-commissioned stepwells, these two are positively flamboyant.

Depleted water-tables from unregulated pumping have caused many of the wells to dry up, and when water is present, it’s generally afloat with garbage or grown over with plant-life from lack of attention, even in currently-active temple wells.

Stagnant water is the least of it: anyone with phobias for snakes, bats, bugs, heights, depths, darkness or filth will find many stepwells challenging. The unusual, 16th-century Bhamaria retreat well near Mehmedabad houses a colony of extremely vocal bats; the extraordinary 13th-century Vikia vav on a former caravan route near Ghumli is on the verge of total collapse. Stairs are unstable and treacherous. The list goes on.

Rani ki Vav, Patan

Bahadur Singh ki Vav, Patan 32 | Sthapati 2015

Anonymous Baoli (possibly Nagphuria ke Baoli), Narnaul

Do these unique edifices have a future? Grim as it may seem, the growing urgency for water conservation has spearheaded a few recent efforts to de-silt and “reactivate” a few wells in Delhi and Gujarat in the hopes that they might once again collect and store water. Meanwhile, a number of contemporary architects have taken inspiration from vavs and baolis (along with other stepped waterstructures like ponds, kunds, and tanks that are frequently mistaken for stepwells) which may help ignite more interest in – and appreciation for – these disappearing marvels.

Certainly, more books, studies, and articles are needed to help spread the word and anyone interested in further reading can look for these four invaluable tomes: Jutta Jain-Neubauer’s seminal (but out-of-print) The Stepwells of Gujarat In Art-Historical Perspective from 1981; Julia Hegewald’s costly but essential Water Architecture in South Asia of 2002; Morna Livingston’s gorgeous and informative Steps to Water, also from 2002; and Kirit Mankodi’s The Queen’s Stepwell at Patan (out of print) from 1991. But most important, gather your friends, get on a plane, and go see them for yourself before they dissapear for all time.

Mukundpura Baoli, Narnaul

Madha Vav, Vadhavan

Neemrana Baoli, Neemrana

Neemrana Baoli, Neemrana Sthapati 2015 | 33

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t

Graduated from the School of Planning antd Architecture (New Delhi) and the Architectural Association (London), Manit Rastogi and

Sonali Rastogi are the Founder of

Morphogenesis,

Building Brand India for Architecture

”

Their works are very much rooted into the culture, climatic, social and economic conditions of India. They are true to themselves and stand steadfast against the force of trend by not following the glitzy skin and forms pervasive in the architectural scene

”

-An extract from the Jury’s citation

one of India’s leading award-winning Architecture and Urban Design practices based out of New Delhi. They have recently been awarded Laureate of the SIA Getz Award for Emergent Architecture in Asia, Singapore 2014.

T

he practice of Indian Architecture is probably in the worst state of crisis today. There is a lot of discussion within the profession on foreign architects- WTO, Reciprocity agreements, Company structures and unlimited liability (Pvt Ltd, LLP being illegal under the Architects Act), Professional Indemnity, Intellectual Property, Fee Structures, the role of the Council of Architecture under MHRD or MOUD, Education, the growing disconnect between practice and academia, Capacity building, Examination for licensing, Certificate of Practice, Continuing Professional Development, etc. etc.

Although all these are issues that need to be addressed urgently for the sake of the profession, there is a larger issue - what really is Contemporary Indian Architecture? What is Brand India when it comes to Architecture? Is there a need to develop a discourse, a global discourse, on Indian Architecture? And if yes, then what is it that Indian architects are especially good at? In my opinion, what we are (or were) good at for a very long time is creating architecture that is not only highly sustainable but is also adaptive, affordable, imageable, liveable, socially and culturally responsive, and above all, built with very limited resources. In a world on the brink of environmental collapse, this is a highly valuable skill, and this is where we must focus all our issues related to the profession and education. The real question is how can we take what we were really good at and create a model for the future based on the present; where finance, globalisation and preconceived imageability currently take centre stage.

36 | Sthapati 2015

Traditional Indian Architecture in today’s paradigm has always been green, as interventions have always been built within a localized context – usually in response to not having access to abundant resources of water and energy.

This attitude towards green building has inherently been different from the western model which is equipment centric, responding to a completely different climatic condition. Post the oil boom in the 60’s, with availability of cheap energy, there was an evolution of equipment centric, hermetically sealed glass buildings, disconnected from the environment.

Today this problem has been further compounded by green rating systems which by and large tend to have lower environmental standards, presumably as a means of trying to address a larger audience. Although they aim to provide better environments, the methodology adopted by these systems is generally equipment centric, restricted and

highly prescriptive, leading to higher costs of construction.

This results in limited application owing to the prescribed narrow definition of human comfort level.

The idea of sustainability should now move on from buildings to our cities as well. An assortment of problems of migration, traffic, pollution, water, electricity, sewage, public health, safety, governance and global warming issues are prevalent in most of our cities. There is a hidden opportunity that lies within our organically evolved citiesone of establishing a green and sustainable network as an alternative source of engagement with the city, for the common man. The aim should be to reclaim the derelict, the forgotten, the recyclable and the toxic by involving all stake holders; thereby collapsing the boundaries of decades of non-systemic thinking which have generated unsustainable urban growth.

At Morphogenesis today, we have become architectural activists in an attempt to affect change in our Architecture and our Cities. Our belief is that the new urban blueprint needs to be derived from the opportunity that lies within. The approach has to be systemic. Architecturally we celebrate identity and diversity versus visual homogeneity.

We think of our buildings and cities as Bazaars, places of human interaction along with being places of human habitation. It is this all-inclusive nature of design with a unique focus on passive and low energy architecture that we believe in as being the new emergent Indian architecture.

Today, developments across India are designed with a layer of sustainability or ‘green’ superimposed on. However, there should be a conscious attempt to step away from this system and incorporate passive approaches to design, right from conceptual and planning stages.

Optimization of all services is a pre-requisite to responsible architecture today. Unlike other nations, local resources, materials and methods of construction are still easily available to us. The most effective approach is to build with local materials in a manner that responds to the climatic needs of the region while remaining economically viable.

For example, the Nullah project is a proposal for the rehabilitation and rejuvenation of the 350kms of contiguous natural drains into fresh water streams with walking and cycling tracks throughout the city of Delhi. Similarly, in the 500 acre township we completed for Bengal Ambuja in Siliguri, the entire masterplan is based around an intricate interconnected water network that sustainably harvests 3000mm of rainfall a year without the use of stormwater drains. The idea is to move away from statistical methods of creating cities to one that relies on multi-dimensional interconnected networks around which Urbanism can organically evolve.

Sthapati 2015 | 37

Architecture Journalism

David Keuning Editor MARK Magazine FRAME Publishers

Q.

To begin with, what motivated you to pursue architecture journalism as a profession?

A.

During my architecture studies at Delft University, I worked as a student reporter for the university newspaper, Delta. The newspaper publishes general news items relating to student life and the university, as well as articles on research and science. I liked working there a lot, and soon enough I spent more time at the editorial offices than at the architecture faculty. After my graduation, I worked as an architectural assistant at a restoration office for some time, surveying listed monuments and producing working drawings. I liked my job, but I really missed writing, so I decided 38 | Sthapati 2015

to do a postgraduate course in journalism at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. This one-year course is specifically designed for people who already hold a Master’s degree in another subject, to prepare them for a specialized journalistic career. In my class were people with Master’s degrees in law, economy, political science and international relations, etc. There even was a student with a degree in neurobiology. Part of the course was an internship at a big national newspaper, which I enjoyed very much. After that, the definite choice was very easy.

Q. Being a journalist and an architect you have knowledge Q. You sure must have had many memorable experiences

A.

I always say that writing is also a sort of designing.

A text and a building both need a clear lay-out, structure and grammar. It’s no coincidence that many architects refer to language when they talk about their designs. The difference is, of course, that a building requires a much larger time span in order to be realized than a newspaper or magazine. At Mark, I can hold the result of our labour in my hands every two months, which is very satisfying. A building typically takes many years to finish, and a proposal may never get beyond the design stage in the first place.

I know architects who have been working in the business for years, but have never been involved in a project’s full cycle, from initial competition entry to final completion. Then again: if a building is completed, the satisfaction must be all the more profound. Also, I like that working at a magazine puts me into touch with a lot of different people from all over the world. I find it very stimulating to talk to architects and other designers about their ideas and their practices.

Q.

You certainly have an edge over regular journalists while writing about architecture. What motivated you to writing books?

A.

Books offer a different publishing format. The high turnover of a magazine means that you can only discuss topics up to a certain level. There’s simply no more time and space - to flesh out the issues at hand. The maximum length of an article in Mark is about 2000 words, which allows for some degree of elaboration, but if you really want to delve into a subject, you’ll have to write a book. I really enjoy writing longer texts besides the ones that I write for Mark, as it allows me more time to think and to flex my writing skills.

Q.

Architects usually have hobbies like photography, filmmaking, writing which help them appreciate architecture. Was writing your hobby from the beginning or did architecture compel you to get into journalism?

A.

I only started writing for real when I studied architecture; at grammar school I never wrote anything beyond the obligatory essay; not even a diary. I have always loved reading books and magazines though, and books especially were abundantly present in my parental home. My other hobbies have nothing to do with the arts; I love rowing, sailing, cycling, running and anything else that happens outdoors.

in your profession. Any incidences that you would like to share with us?

A.

Besides the many inspiring conversations with architects, which are too many to count after fourteen years in architecture publishing, the most memorable experience is the one that happens every two months: the excitement and surprise of holding a freshly printed magazine in my hands. It’s always great to see how the choices that we’ve made earlier are working out. It’s good to be critical, and there are often things that I don’t like - mainly tiny details that only my colleagues and I will notice - but the overall feeling is mostly one of intense pride. I did get used to seeing my name in print over time; the first time when that happened, at the university newspaper, is probably the most memorable experience of all.

Q. Your advice for architecture students who love writing and wish to pursue architecture journalism……

A.

Journalism is a profession all by itself. If there’s a course available near you like the one I did, then I would certainly recommend it, but you can also learn it in practice.

Journalism takes a lot of curiosity about the world around you, a certain unwillingness to take things at face value, and a degree of mental independence. It’s important to identify with the person or subject you’re covering without being impressed or overpowered by it. And even though you need a sensitivity for language, the writing itself can also be learned by just practicing a lot. Repetition is half the battle.

"

about both practicing and writing in architecture, what difference do you find between the two aspects? Could you tell us about the merits a journalist would have over a practicing architect?

Writing is also a sort of designing

"

Sthapati 2015 | 39

Smaran Mallesh Principal Architect , Cadence Architects B.Arch, R.V.C.E. M.Arch, Ohio State University, USA

Cadence was started as a collaborative architecture practice by architects Narendra Pirgal, Vikram Rajashekar

and Smaran Mallesh in the year 2005. Having studied in the same school of architecture, they shared a common design philosophy and vision. It is a firm that designs as a 'studio'. The design process looks to transcend the obvious and to create a more pleasurable and sensorial experience, buildings that celebrated life and thereby made strong statements, statements that created a sense of identity not only for themselves but also their users.

Over the years, this design philosophy combined with an efficient management system and pragmatic approach, has enabled the team to handle projects of varying scales and complexities.

40 | Sthapati 2015

Q. What inspired you to become an architect?

A.

My father has been an industrialist, he has spent the last 40 years manufacturing objects out of ideas, from an early age this really inspired me.

Q. When looking at your work, we find special emphasis given to lighting, could you elaborate on the role that lighting can play on giving identity to a structure?

A.

We don’t look at windows as mere devices that get in light and air into buildings. Articulating windows in strategic ways not only gets in light in interesting ways but also helps sculpt/pattern the form of the building.

Q. When looking at your work, we find defining elements

in every space and an objective nature in the built forms.

Doesn’t it concern you that the forms might not be as fun with the time passing? What challenges do you face in pitching about those built forms to the clients?

Q.

What are your views on the importance of teachers being practicing architects?

A. As a firm we have always been interested in creating A. an unfamiliar aesthetic and experience that is stimulating.

Sculptural quality of form and space is a consistent quest in our work. Also the work truly is a by product of our sensibilities. Questioning clichés and trying to create buildings that are non-conformist is high on our priority list in our design process.

Our design studio is essentially a collaborative practice, we are three partners (Naren, Vikram and me) and there are a number of talented architects. The result of such collaboration is a wide variety of projects. We are able to feel the pulse of a particular client and give him the right solution. So no, it is not difficult to convince clients for the kind of work we do.

It is absolultely not important that teachers need to be practicing architects, infact some the best teachers in India and abroad are architects who have not had an active practice. As long as a ‘professor’ has something to ‘profess’ he/she will be a valuable teacher. Yes it is true that practicing architects do bring something else to the table but they cannot replace a good teacher.

Q.

Cadence architects are known as the master in designing innovative facades, what is your approach while designing these facades?

A. Firstlly, Cadence architects is too young to be a master Q. It is said that modern architecture makes us shy away from our rich culture, do you agree with this?

A. I completely disagree with that statement. Our work is a

result of our sensibilities and our sensibilities are formulated by the experiences we have had in our country. Yes with globalisation and exposure one does get an alternate perspective on design however modern architecture could be conceived in a way that it imbibes our rich culture while it looks ahead to the future. sensibilities. Questioning clichés and trying to create buildings that are non-conformist is high on our priority list in our design process.

of anything! We have a long way to go as a practise.

But as a studio we are deeply interested in the notion of ‘identity’. And as mentioned before we are really interested in creating sculptural forms while we question clichés in contemporary Indian architecture. So in a small way, the work tries to resist mainstream solutions that one gets to see all around in our country.

Q.

Lastly, any message that you would like to give to students.

A.

I really believe that in school one should indulge in speculative thinking. The idea of learning should be to really hone your skills, develop your own sensibility and sensitivity towards architecture, read a lot, be aware of architecture around the world and finally learn to be critical in your design ideologies.

Sthapati 2015 | 41

Architecting Travels I am not a student of architecture, but then do you really need to be one to fall in love with it. I have been travelling all my life, as a kid I lived in cantonments across the country then traveled for work across the globe and somewhere down the line travel blogging became one of my prime vocations and a strong identity. I was a computer Science student and worked in IT industry for good dozen years before writing happened to me. As I traveled, I discovered Art, History & Art History. Architecture is an integral part of all these, though a tad bit underrated compared to more basic things like food and music.

Architecture is what gives a city, a state or a region its distinct identity. Most people think it is a specialist field but to a keen observer architecture speaks volumes and tellsW 42 | Sthapati 2015

many stories hidden in it. I discovered that architecture of a region also moves like languages, changing bit by bit till it takes a distinct identity from the original one. Sometimes it mixes influences from various cultures surrounding it or inhabiting in it and evolves a new style. For example the medieval era architecture in North India carries a mix of Indian and Central Asian elements. Or the ancient temple architecture labs of Aihole in Karnataka located more or less on the dividing line of North & South, blends the two primary temple architecture styles i.e. Nagar style of North India and Dravidian style of South India to create a fusion style of its own. Sometime architecture adapts the popular tradition by localizing it like the terracotta temples of Bishnupur in Bengal where the lack of stone was compensated by the baked clay tablets – that still told the same stories.

I also started associating architecture for the timestamp that it carries on it, making it a living lesson in history. It tells the constraints and privileges of those times. The symbols it highlights tell us about what those generations valued and what was not, what they did, what they wore and how did they entertain themselves. They also tell us the prosperity that the era saw. Is it a sheer co-incidence that Chandela temples of Khajuraho and temples of Chola kingdom were being at the same time – separated by thousands of miles but yet both celebrating the peak of their respective architectures. Even the Solanki dynasty’s Sun temple at Modhera was being built around the same.

All these fine examples of architecture tell stories of the time when there must have prosperity and a highly developed aesthetic sense. Of course we only know about what has survived through the visages of time and that pretty much means the non-perishable bits of the whole.

Architecture must be an inherent part of the human collective human psyche, for why else would people who migrate for various reasons try to create their native architectures in their adopted lands. Be it the traditional Hindu temples being built in western world or the glass and steel structures of western corporate houses being replicated in the tropical climate of Indian sub-continent. There must be a comfort that the native architecture gives its people that they do not want to live without it irrespective of whether it is suited for the new destination or not.

For travelers like me, architecture of a place is its distinct identity – stamp that sets it apart from the rest of the world. Take the decorative architecture of Bhutan – one of smallest and a very thinly populated country – but it has its own distinct architecture with white walls and decorated tops and colorful wall murals. I still remember the letter ‘A’ shaped wooden houses in a remote village called Zakopane in Poland in the Tatra range of mountains. The shape was so common with its slanted roofs in raw wood, yet had such a distinct formation that you would recognize it without a mistake among a series of such houses. Of course there are box shaped houses that you can see across in regions dominated by the communist – probably are the most basic form of architecture of the contemporary times.

As a traveler, I learnt a lot about places, people and their cultural identities by sheer observation and it made me go back to a lot of literature to read more about them. This spiral went on and on – reading excited me to travel to places and actually see them and while I was there in the new place, I wanted to read more about it see the different time and space.

Anuradha Goyal Travel Writer Author - The Mouse Charmers Innovation Consultant Book Reviewer

Anuradha worked in the IT industry for more than 12 years and left her formal employment and now provides consultation service on business innovation.

Being a travel lover and keen reader, she took on to her blog and eventually to travel writing and reviewing.

The journey continues…

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Sthapati 2015 | 45

MATERIALS IN ARCHITECTURE

- Mohamad Shahrukh Shaikh

Fifth Year Undergraduate Department of Architecture and Regional Planning IIT Kharagpur

Each material has its own message, and to the creative artists, its own song….

Every new material means a new form, a new use if used according to its nature.

"

- F.L. Wright

When

architectural ideas transcend into the real world, it is materials which define them. The materials used in architecture inform our experience of buildings and spaces through the interplay of aesthetic, social and historic considerations. Both structural and decorative elements have a role to play, whether immediately visceral or only on a subliminal level.

The 18th Century witnessed the onset of Industrial Revolution.

The growth of heavy industry brought a flood of new building materials—such as cast iron, steel, and glass—with which architects and engineers devised structures until then undreamed of in function, size, and form.

Crystal Palace London is a fine example of how iron and glass were used to create a large span of uninterrupted exhibition space. Not only did it demonstrate a hitherto undreamed of kind of spatial beauty but also provided for natural lighting. Also as the iron and glass elements were mass produced, the building could be dismantled and shifted. Prefabricated material components also helped in reducing construction time.

Materials changed the way domes were perceived. Domes are generally made of material components which are good in compression. They are held in position by using a keystone that sits right at the middle. With the advent of 46 | Sthapati 2015

"

wrought iron and steel, it was possible to make a dome in steel and eliminate the use of a central keystone. The central portion of the dome could now be made using glass thereby facilitating natural lighting within the building. Bibliothèque nationale de France is one such example.

Eiffel Tower, designed by engineer Gustavo Eiffel is also a wonderful example of how wrought iron can be used to make an iconic structure. Though initially it did not go down well with the general public but after a few years of its conception it changed people’s perspective towards architecture. Now it has become a cultural icon for France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

Materials can give identity to a building. Lal Qila, New Delhi for instance, derives its name from its red sandstone walls. Also Taj Mahal is very much known for its white crystalline marble facing of the main mausoleum. The glistening effect created by the translucent marble is well described by Kalim, a Mughal court poet, who wrote that the Taj "resembles dawn's bright face".

Many eminent architects emphasize “material honesty” implying that materials should be selected and used on the basis of their properties. The characteristic of materials should influence the form that they are used for. Corbusier extensively used concrete in his buildings. He saw and used

concrete in full exploitation of its form, texture, and color. Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp and High Court building, Chandigarh are some of his great works in concrete. Laurie Baker developed cost-effective energy-efficient architecture using locally available materials. His buildings tend to emphasize prolific – at times virtuosic – masonry construction, instilling privacy and evoking history with brick jali walls, a perforated brick screen which invites a natural air flow to cool the building's interior, in addition to creating intricate patterns of light and shadow. Calatrava used concrete and steel properties to create innovative sculptural structures that reflected natural shapes and rhythms.

Materials can give identity to cities as well. Corbusier has creatively used concrete in a plethora of ways while designing the iconic planned city of Chandigarh.

Auroville gets its character from its vernacular architecture which involves efficient use of locally available materials. Materials like mud and stone can have cooling effects to meet the indoor comfort condition requirements. Early structures were often made from mud and stone as they were easily available, met the structural requirements and kept interior spaces cool.

Early load bearing masonry structures were replaced by reinforced concrete structures. Reinforced concrete structures worked on the principle of the load being transferred from the slab to the beam to the column and finally to the foundations. These concrete structures are now getting replaced by steel structures which offer more strength, larger spans of uninterrupted space, higher durability etc. Use of steel structures along with glass results in relatively lesser dead load of building which is an important issue to be considered specially for skyscrapers.

Pneumatic cushions made from ETFE have become a material of choice for innovative roofing systems and building skin design. Few materials match its transparency, durability, light weight and strength. The Watercube Centre (Beijing 2008 Olympic games) has an interesting exterior skin made from ETFE cushions.

Today, nanotechnology materials are coming up in a big way. Vacuum insulation between stainless steel cladding systems can provide very high levels of thermal insulation (4 to 6 times greater per unit thickness) than conventional foams.

Advanced research is also being conducted on smart materials such as shape memory material (SMM) and shape memory technology (SMT) .They have properties that can be changed with external stimuli like temperature, humidity etc. This could enhance day lighting systems, ventilation, alarm systems and also make buildings more sustainable.

New building materials are being discovered every day, allowing architects greater freedom to make the designs of their imagination reality. It is up to architects to explore these materials and successfully showcase their range of implementation, challenging long established perceptions. As has been rightly said by Mies van der Rohe “Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.”

References: 1. Marian Moeffett, Michael W. Fazio, Lawrence Wodehouse (2003). A World History of Architecture. Laurence King.

2. Richard Weston. (2003). Materials, Form and Architecture.

Laurence King.

3. N.R. Baddoo. (2008). Stainless steel in construction: A review of research, applications, challenges and opportunities. Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 64, 1199–1206.

4. Building Material. (2014). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_material as on September 26, 2014.

5. D. Michelle Addington, Daniel L. Schodek. (2005) Smart Materials and New Technologies. Architectural Press.

Sthapati 2015 | 47

A Twin ‘Pattern’ Foundation of Language Systems:

A Sandhi Approach Joy Sen, PhD Professor, Architecture and Regional Planning Head, Ron and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management Indian Institue of Technology, Kharagpur

Introduction SANDHI is a major ‘Science-Heritage’ initiative.

It means a ‘Scientific Approach to Networking and Designing of Heritage Interfaces’. SANDHI is a recovery and recognition of our heritage through the ‘lens of science’.

SANDHI is also the augmentation of scientific methodology by incorporating and absorbing inputs and processes embedded in our Indian and global traditional knowledge systems. It is the ‘Sandhi’, - the spirit of assimilation and integration of the two –Science and Heritage that matters.

SANDHI has three bandwidths of projects. First, it has a deeper level, where deep science and heritage interface based projects have been designed. Secondly, there are large scaled geo-exploratory and geotechnical riparian based paleo-hydrological investigation; epigraphic investigation and iconographic-archaeological interpretation; and contemporary application/ tourism revival projects, which are also inclusive of a very mega iconic project on ‘Varanasi’. Varanasi, as we all know, is

a living river-based urban civilization of over 3500 years or more. Third and finally, there are creative economic generation projects of which one is to re-explore the application and design of terracotta technology as a building material based on a pilot project in Kumartuli belt, Kolkata.

Under part one or level one, which is deep science and heritage interface based projects, there two language projects, one music project and two iconography-shape grammar based heritage projects. The two language projects will develop a scientific rationale of Indo-European Language Systems (IELS) applying computational linguistic approach (lab-tested) & cognitive geo-spatial and ethnographic pool-mapping techniques (empirical-graphic) and sonic (etymologic/ articulation based) matching innovations (fresh approach). In the present deliberation, a brief discussion is forwarded on the language project and mainly on the anthropometry of the varnamala.

The Language project

To summarize the whole truth behind the foundation of

Indo-European Language systems having Sanskrit either at the core or the apex of that very system, one may refer to the following words quoted from ‘Hymns to Mystic Fire’): 48 | Sthapati 2015

‘In ancient times Veda was revered as a sacred book of wisdom, a great mass of inspired poetry, the work of Rishis, seers and sages, who received in their illumined minds rather than mentally constructed a great universal

eternal and impersonal Truth which they embodied in Mantras, revealed verses of power, not of an ordinary but of a divine inspiration and source. The name given to these sages was Kavi, which afterwards came to mean any poet,

but at the time had the sense of a seer of Truth – the Veda itself describes them as ‘Kavaya satyasrutah’ or ‘seers who are hearers of Truth’ and the Veda itself was called shruti, a word which came to mean ‘revealed scripture’…’

Sri Aurobindo

A Research Abstraction

The abstraction is evident in the Figure 1 below showing a

morphological upward evolution, which can be reciprocally structured to counter a downward evolution of language systems from deeper (core) to surface (peripheral) levels.

The two-way ladder, in the form of a vertical tree-like structure is suggested on the basis of a three stepped inquiry (refer Figure 1). Sufficient work has been done till date to address:

Core formations Inner periphery Outer periphery

1. Earmarking an evidence of an upper strata leading to a hierarchy of surface (temporal and personified) and deep (universal) structures 2. Assessing further inter-linkages of ‘Shape Grammar’ depicting response-stimulus exchanges based on iconography (templates) 3. Establishing morphological evolution of Language systems based on hierarchy of response-stimulus exchanges through components: vowels, consonants, syllables, etc (bases of varnamala).

Figure 1: Involution of Language Systems

Towards an anthropometry of language systems: Architecture of the cosmos and sense-perception

To epitomize the whole truth behind the foundation of

phonological syntax (sabda) and the deeper phonetic semiotics and semantics (artha) systems of Sanskrit and its other derivatives in Indian Philology and etymology it is perhaps necessary to re-visit the following quotation (based on the environment-responder complementarities):

“There are two worlds, the microcosm, and the macrocosm, the internal and the external. We get truth from both of these by means of experience. The truth gathered from internal experience is psychology, metaphysics, and religion; (and) from external experience, the physical sciences. Now a perfect truth

should be in harmony with experiences (tanmatra) in both these worlds. The microcosm must bear testimony to the macrocosm, and the macrocosm to the microcosm; physical truth must have its counterpart in the internal world, and the internal world must have its verification outside. Yet, as a rule, we find that many of these truths are in conflict. At one period of the world's history, the internals become supreme, and they begin to fight the externals. At the present time the externals, the physicists, have become supreme, and they have put down many claims of psychologists and metaphysicians.”

Swami Vivekananda Sthapati 2015 | 49

A suggested research approach: Varanamala and its thermodynamic hierarchy

It is suggested that an inner or deeper hierarchy of a ‘thermodynamic’ evolution of structural or compositional part of language systems is operational. It is the Varnamala (Garland of letters*: Vowels, consonants and syllables), made hereby evident:

‘There is in the Rig-Veda, the oldest human writing in existence, a beautiful passage describing creation, and it is most poetical — "When there was neither aught nor naught, when darkness was rolling over darkness, what existed?" and the answer is given, "It then existed without vibration". This Prana existed then, but there was no motion in it; nidavâtam means "existed without vibration". Vibration had stopped. Then when the Kalpa begins, after an immense interval, the Anidavatam (unvibrating atom) commences to vibrate, and blow after blow is given by Prana to Akasha. The atoms become condensed, and as they are condensed different elements are formed. The Akasha, acted upon by the repeated blows of Prana, produces Vâyu or vibrations. This Vayu vibrates, and the vibrations growing more and more rapid result in friction giving rise to heat, Tejas. Then this heat ends in liquefaction, pah. Then that liquid becomes solid. We had ether, and motion, and then came heat, then it became liquefied, and then it condensed into gross matter; and it goes back in exactly the reverse way. The solid will be liquefied and will then be converted into a mass of heat, and that will slowly get back into motion; that motion will stop, and this Kalpa will be destroyed.

Then, again it will come back and again dissolve into ether.’*

‘The Sankhyas define it as the equilibrium of three forces, one of which is called Sattva, another Rajas, and the third Tamas. Tamas, the lowest force, is that of attraction; a little higher is Rajas, that of repulsion; and the highest is the balance of these two, Sattva; so that when these two forces, attraction and repulsion, are held in perfect control by the Sattva there is no creation, no movement in the world. As soon as this equilibrium is lost, the balance is disturbed, and one of these forces gets stronger than the other, motion sets in, and creation begins. This state of things goes on cyclically, periodically. In one cycle of cosmos it is a Kalpa.’

The works of Sir John Woodruff (Arthur Avalon*) and Swami Vivekananda ** on the one hand, and its complementarity with that of French mathematician Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier on the other hand hold the key. The phonological quality of sound waves is comparable to its thermodynamic property posited in a way that any function whatsoever can be thought of as consisting of a mixture of sine waves, and to this day we refer to the set of sine wave components necessary to make up some signal as the signal’s Fourier spectrum. When Fourier came up with this idea he was actually trying to calculate the rate at which heat flow in the medium concerned. Accordingly, the phonological property can be classified from two angles – anthropometry (which is based on measurements, proportions and distribution of waves on a human-centric anthropometric scale and can be said to be microcosm based) and thermodynamics (which is wider environment or macrocosm based on analyses of its propensity of propagation based on heat-based causation). Major literature review and initial analyses has been done till date to carry forward the intent of the approach suggested in Figure 2.

Possible conclusions: Hierarchy matching and Wavelet distributions An approach to understand the evolution of Varnamala based on thermodynamic property of macrocosmic involution can be best linked to a complementary and Cumulative hierarchy of evolutionary experience in the neuro-physiological anthropometric (2) framework (microcosm). The cumulative hierarchy has the two sides: On one hand, the Anthropometric hierarchy is based on the following distribution of the ‘pattern’ of language systems: 1. Retroflex murdhanya 2. Palatal talavya 3. Velar kanthya 4. Dental dantya 5. Labial osthya 6. Glottal (obstructive)

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On the other hand, the Thermodynamic hierarchy is based on the distribution of the anthropometric distribution of a thermodynamic range from ‘condensed’ to evaporative’: 1. Sibilant (Fricative evaporative) usmang 2. Semi-vowel antastha 3. Nasal anunasika 4. Stop sparsa (Unaspirated alpaprana or Aspirated mahaprana) 5. Liquid (condensed) drava The result of the research may establish the connection between the two sides and throw further light on the anthropometric distribution of the Fibonacci series of human and ‘proportionate scales’ of what is known as the ‘Red’ (Head or evaporative retroflex) and ‘Blue’ (the Heart or condensed ‘drava’ series. That can open up new chapters of research on which Le Corbusier had established his ‘Le Moduler’, and ‘Christopher Alexander’, of late had established his ‘pattern language system of design’.

Satvik or Manas Vikara* – leading to involution of Individual mind from Cosmic Mind (Chitta) Matrix (Mahat)

Complementarity Tamas Vikara for VAK* entropy based on tanmatra

Rajas or Teijas Vikara or PRANA* entropy (subtle to gross and grosser)

ENVIRONMENT RESPONDER Akasha

Karna or ear

Vayu

+Twak (dermis)

Tejas

+Chokh (eye)

Apas

+Jihva (tongue)

Kshiti

+Nasika (nose)

Sabda Sabda+Sparsha Sabda+Sparsha+Rupa Sabda+Sparsha+Rupa+Rasa Sabda+Sparsha+Rupa+Rasa+Gandha OUTPUT: Basis of spectra and transform analyses yielding quality, timbre, and U\Tvalue of Wavelet Signatures

Anthropometric hierarchy based 1. Retroflex murdhanya 2. Palatal talavya 3. Velar kanthya 4. Dental dantya 5. Labial osthya 6. Glottal (obstructive)

Thermodynamic hierarchy based 1. Sibilant (Fricative evaporative) usmang 2. Semivowel antastha 3. Nasal anunasika 4. Stop sparsa (Unaspirated alpaprana or Aspirated mahaprana) 5. Liquid (condensed) drava

Figure 2: Complementariness of anthropometry and Thermodynamics: a case of binary hierarchy References: 1. Alexander. C., Notes on the Synthesis of Form, Cambridge: Massachusetts: Harvard University Press (1964).

2. Alexander. C., Ishikawa. S., Silverstein. M., Jacobson. M., Fiksdahl-King. I., Angel. S.,. A Pattern Language, Oxford University Press, New York (1977). (written in English) [English Book] 3. Alexander. C.,. The Timeless way of Building, Oxford University Press, New York(1979)(written in English) [English Book] 4. Alexander. C., Neis. H., Anninou. A., King. I., A New Theory of Urban Design, Oxford University Press, New York (1987). (written in English) [English Book] 5. Capra, Fritjof, The Turning Point, London, 1982.

6. Capra, Fritjof, Uncommon Wisdom, London, 1988.

7. Corbusier, Le, MODULAR 1 and MODULAR 2, translated by Peter De Francia and Anna Bostok, Massachusetts, 1958.

8. Capra, Fritjof, the hidden connections, London, 2003.

9. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 8 Vols., Mayavati Memorial Edition, 1989.

10. Sen, J., Concept of Complete Religion, Kolkata, 2006.

11. Sri Aurobindo, The Foundations of Indian Culture, Pondicherry, 1995.

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Gazing into the

Future of Architecture : An Evolving Profession Abstract:

Ever increasing influence of globalization has made its influence on the higher education too, as in all walks of life. Trends manifest indicate the formation of multicultural, heterogeneous student groups in institutions of mass education. Increasing levels of obsolescence of the contemporary educational systems in terms of pedagogy, instructional tools, infrastructure and spaces pose a matter of concern. Contemporary architectural education is yet to respond appropriately to the needs of the multicultural, globalized societies, especially in imparting appropriate learner empowerment. Through the studies the problems of classroom communication and importance to develop appropriate graphic tools for classroom communication, learner participation and resulting empowerment are brought out. It is stressed that only through concerted efforts of CoA, MHRD, AICTE, educational institutions and professional bodies that quality in architectural education could be achieved. Moreover, a major revamping is suggested for restoring the lost relevance and imparting learner empowerment to facilitate long term survival of the profession of architecture.

Introduction:

Education is an ongoing process where there exist no ultimate peaks to the heights one could climb.

Educators in architecture; Pilgrims in progress who are in the pursuit of architectural education, often find their paths ever challenging and goals never cease enticing, thanks to the depths to be explored and the heights never ascended, especially in the context of cross cultural and increasingly interactive methods in the field of design, intended to facilitate assimilation, understanding and reinterpretation of the aspirations of a people who nurture creativity and originality in the process of establishing a meaningful continuum; Architecture. The challenges are even more thanks to globalization and liberalization demand a fresh understanding equally relevant for the professional architects and architectural educators. India;, has made her imprint in philosophy and education over the years. Founded on the timeless principles of love, sympathy and coexistence India, throughout the times has established learning centers of great wisdom and has produced learner-empowering systems of pedagogy for which the Gurukulams bear witness. The marvels of Indian architecture; the temples, palaces, towns with meticulous planning or even the highly 52 | Sthapati 2015

standardized, modular residential timber-architecture of Kerala are timeless testimonies. These built forms set in their respective landscapes are coded with societal considerations and remains symbolic; written texts in space, time and materials, over and above their shelter functions. The designers of such invaluable cultural products of our glorious past were empowered through an immaculate, interactive training system that imparted skill and wisdom beyond measure in its recipients. Times, values and considerations have changed since then, so too education in architecture. In the days of internationalism designers assumed a new role to create another world stripped-off regionalism and symbolism; a city beautiful for people of power and commons alike, mostly based not on user participation but on utopian ideals. Springing from individual genius wherein, the movement hoped to alleviate all drudgery of life by science and scientific designs. In the beginning of the nineteenth century based on ‘Ecole des Beaux-Arts’ concept; Aesthetics as a geometric property of objects that could be modulated to the required level by the designer, an elementary form of formal education was started in some of the European Schools, where Architecture was considered as another subject of Fine Arts. In the latter phase of industrialization, Walter Gropius established Bauhaus school of design in 1920, aimed to extend comprehensive formal education in Architecture and Industrial design by integrating art, science, craft and technology. Current pedagogy in architecture is created over a period of sixty years; commencing from early forties, without concern appropriate to changing times. Demands from architects radically changed with the emergence of varied building complexes to be finished in time and resource constraints [1]. Consequently, architectural education too, displayed a bias to the needs of rich urban middleclass.

Thus, architectural education also lost its valuable symbolic nature, sympathetic response to the culture and context and positive interaction among the students and modern gurus.

A similar bias is witnessed by advent of MNCs requiring specific corporate images with no concern for its context.

Today’s architecture education, shall discard formal images of what ‘architecture be like’ for creative designs to resolve issues of larger realities and also to synergies architecture with modern materials, techniques and context. Education in architecture shall produce enabled professionals who have sensitivity, sensibility, skill and analytical capability with creative and communicative powers in translating the spatial needs.

Impact of Globalization:

Influence of globalization has made its imprint on higher education. Trends manifest indicate the formation of multicultural, heterogeneous student groups whose prime objective is to acquire skills and learner empowerment [2]. Studies conducted world over establishes that higher education has to get adapted to the changing requirements of industry, employment patterns, student expectations and prevailing social conditions [3].

Moreover, there prevails an alarming trend among students in abandoning their respective areas of training for better jobs [4]. Compared to the earliest university scenario with uppermost strata of societies; indicating lower levels of heterogeneity, contemporary universities admit students without [5]. Globalization generated the need for greater institutionalized professional training. Students could find avenues for education in their chosen fields of study and institutions. Studies conducted by the International Institute for educational Planning, Paris, establishes recent trends with the increasing number of girl students, those from lower income levels, differently-abled and students from rural background with lower exposure [6]. Industry and potential employers have their demands that might vary from time to time. Learning habits too, are at variance due to many reasons like lack of time, resource, requirements of convenience and comfort.

do away with the current 60 year-old, obsolete syllabus, in favor of relevant areas of architectural, technological, cultural and anthropological studies and application.

Education in Architecture has to incorporate novel methods of information technologies and tools in teaching. Central aim is to make students comprehend and understand the interactive processes, make rational comparison of alternatives, quantify issues for making thinking explicit and understandable for others to take part in the decision making process. In this new order, architects may loose their ‘omnipotent image’ but, need to be only ‘one among the members’ of a larger team, with managerial leadership.

Imparting leadership in future architects calls for a more comprehensive, learner empowering and effective training.

Plainly speaking, Architectural education solely based on individual search alone does not impart comprehensive design education as it grossly lacks information and skills on technology assessment, managerial analysis and legal issues [8]. While technological and managerial skills are essential for effective architectural training, instilling sensitivity and sensibility to artistry, heritage and symbolic cultural systems of society is kernel to understand, reinterpret and transmit spatial messages through architecture [9].

Moreover, architecture devoid of the manifestations of culture and values of the society for which it is created, is far less than ‘meaningful’, especially in the contemporary world caught up in identity syndrome [10].

Contemporary issues of Architectural Education:

Failure of law enforcement system or degeneration of values:

The increasingly globalized communities with ever increasing digital divide are effecting changes the roles and responsibilities of architects. Such changes, in turn remold expectations of the prospective students of architecture. The students have higher expectations of rewards for the jobs done especially when compared with their engineering counterparts. It is a matter of concern that even in premiere institutions, 50% or more of the graduates of architecture turn to software and related jobs. The lure of the lucrative IT jobs; where one could get much higher rewards, compel the students of architecture to spend their time in acquiring software skills even at the expense of the time to be invested in design. Fault cannot be found in doing so for one of the reasons for having education is to secure a self-reliant life [7]. Moreover, teachers are hard-pressed to dilute the standard of education for want of minimum pass rate.

Genuine interest in professional training and research gets reduced progressively which now demands a revamping of architectural education to train students for the present and future of the ‘being-changed’ world. It is high time to

Young architects are paid a pittance for their works, thereby lowering the status, honor and respect of a great profession [11]. Despite the fact that after forty-two years since the Architects Act was passed, the profession and academics are constrained conditions that hinder smooth development. Efforts in striping Council of Architecture of its powers as a regulatory body by bestowing All India Council for Technical Education; AICTE, and now UGC, is not a recent erroneous trend! Time is up now for the architects in the Nation to ‘stop sleep walking’ and rise to defend and secure their rights and privileges. Deplorable are the acts of agencies employing non-architects! Architects are commissioned by Government bodies on ‘Lower Bidder’ basis. Urban development seldom honors the real social needs [12]. So far, it has not been able to pick out the exact issues of the industry and hence could not converge to a programme well tuned to the requirements of industry. An explicit statement of purpose of education is essential to enhance professional credibility for its long term survival.

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Need to produce more Architects of greater quality:

Continuous evaluation:

Though it is important to produce more architects to deal with the ever growing needs of India, it is also important to churn out quality professionals! Schools of architecture must give importance to understand the heritage and culture of India. Schools have to adopt appropriate strategy and foster research in architectural anthropology and encourage their students to be learning in the midst of the respective culture and its people. The designers shall be encouraged to be in union with people and their culture and to generate creative, yet meaningful designs rather than the utopian beautiful. Architectural education shall respond to the global concerns and the national policies and research needs to be initiated in the fields of disaster related architecture, socio-economic and cultural values, traditional concepts and their relevance, meaningfulness and aesthetics in designs, architectural communication, developing appropriate and ecologically friendly and performance standards. Education in architecture shall empower architects to learn from self discovery. Products of such an educational system are independent and unbiased thinkers who manifest sensibility and sensitivity to the culture and context maintaining scientific attitudes.

B. Arch course like any other design oriented courses has a more open ended, yearend evaluation system incorporating critical evaluation by external experts at different levels of the programme; from sophomore year to the final grand viva... Unfortunately, many a time these evaluations starts with data presentation, runs with design presentation and ends up with a bulk of unprocessed data, and excessive use of design verbosity. Evaluators, on the other hand, never attempt to evaluate the candidate's suitability and capability to perform various functions of the Architects [8]. Though the end product; the final design is important, architectural education shall lay stress on continuous evaluation of design, enabling them constantly to think, analyze and independently generate appropriate solutions. Continuous evaluation system CES, makes students proactive towards learning by changing ‘teaching activity’ into ‘learning activity’. In CES, students are encouraged to argue, explore and experiment. The assignments are directly drawn from the real-life context and issues in the society. Instilling values in students is central in CES and attending classes, discussions, examinations and other prescriptions by the teacher is compulsory.

Need to develop appropriate graphical aids for communication:

Changing roles of CoA and professional bodies in architecture:

Recent studies have revealed that there exists wide gap in architectural communication in class rooms, due to the growing heterogeneity in the ever expanding institutional campuses. While majority (75%), of students agree that the terms used in Architecture are relational and subjective, 40% of the students recorded difficulty in understanding the teaching. It is alarming to note that (75%) students interviewed registered difficulty in communication.

They could understand only 60% or below the total number of words used in any class! Lack of vivid explanation, use of jargons, unfamiliar words and incomprehensibility are cited as reasons for poor communication in a design class. Slide shows, personally oriented, informal and interactive classes, use of simple language and appropriate pedagogical tools would improve communication.

Architecture has ever remained a product of human culture which is a complex whole, comprising of environment, science, technology and people and their comfort. Research in architecture shall focus on the cultural, anthropological, material and technological aspects and the changing trends of any society. It is unfortunate that till very recent times research in architecture was almost nil with only ‘debate on research’ [14]. Education in architecture shall no more remain inert to research. By this, obsolescence in architectural education could be wiped off and learning be made relevant and joyful. Education in architecture shall be redesigned incorporating the necessary inputs to establish a strong theoretical base [8]. It is needless to state the dire necessity for support for research from Government, Organizations and Industry alike along with Partnership and collaborative ventures in research. Only by such novel methods the quality and employability of the graduates could be enhanced. Professional bodies and the CoA shall compel MHRD to allocate more funds for research and publication.

It is important to even out the differences among CoA, AICTE and MHRD for generating coexistent atmosphere.

Oversimplification:

Knowledge in architecture has become fragmented, compartmentalized due to over specializations leading to oversimplifications in its entirety. The complex whole is ignored in an attempt to simplify, model and understand in part [13]. Subjects like History of Architecture could be effectively used to integrate various compartmentalized knowledge into a complex whole. In any case the pitfalls of oversimplification have to be avoided since the reality is complex and education in architecture should equip the student to search beyond the reductionist, solutions.

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evaluation

over

end

product

Problems and Prospects of Classroom Teaching:

The lack of statistical information and data keeps the sociology of higher education still in infancy. Such a situation poses constraints in serious investigators and in management [2]. Various programs launched by the All India Council for Technical Education like the ‘Early Faculty Induction Programme’ testifies to the non-availability ofqualified teachers. There is growing difference in learning habits and expectation of students due to a steady rise in the number of women and children from working-class families.

Therefore, apart from the traditional academic motives for creating a new curriculum pattern, one must take note of the student’s demands for ‘relevance of any course’ against the skilled manpower needs and varying employment patterns.

It remains a vital question to be answered; whether to perform classroom teaching to impart ‘knowledge that transforms’ the student or simply ‘to secure a pass in examination’ in the process of acquiring a degree. Instead of facilitating the spirit of enquiry and dedication to the pursuit of knowledge, the monstrous sin of pride makes them commit gross perversions in their nature.[7] It is established beyond doubt that the purpose of communication is to empower and transform the receptor which applies to classroom teaching too, in which case the role of the educator is to lead the student to his own personal discovery thereby, ‘meaning’ is acquired and learning happened, rather than the student ends up in ‘mugging up’ of statements that are mere grammatical constructs.[4, 8, 15, 16] Empowerment of receptors is facilitated by the happening of a dialogue between them and communicator. Such a dialogue never happens unless learners speak through own questions and awareness.

Need for Learner oriented teaching:

Any shift in teaching with a concern for learning does not accept the ‘communication–learning fallacy’, which assumes that ‘information transmitted to the student is always learned’. This lead to a passive attitude towards student response: the students were seen in a dependant situation, relying on the information thrown at them. Learning, on the other hand, is an interactive, two-way process in which the role and experience of student are vital components. Here the student contributes and also receives and remains an active partner of the teacher and his perception of what is happening is quite as important as the perception of his teachers and his assessment of its value may be more than that of his teachers.[2, 17] Learner oriented teaching will consider what experiences will motivate the student and how a student can be gradually be moved from a reliance on extrinsic rewards to those which are intrinsic [18].

Learner-based system leads away from the conventional problems of teaching and learning to much wider issues; to a theory of instruction that seeks to take account of the fact that a curriculum reflects not only the nature of the knowledge but also the nature of the knower and the knowledge-getting process where the line between the subject matter and the method vanishes off. It facilitates the dynamic participation of the learner which makes possible the establishment of knowledge. This process of knowing with learner-orientation requires a positive change in the roles and interrelationships of teachers, students and other participants, if any. Here, the teacher himself becomes a learner because he learns more about teaching and the learner begins to assume greater responsibility for his own progress which in turn changes the ecology of the teaching institution by redefining its primary role in terms of learning.

Intrinsic rewards Empowerment

Extrinsic rewards

Information

Teaching

Learning

Figure 1: Teaching - Learning; information to empowerment Sthapati 2015 | 55

Characteristics

- Homogeneous, coherent group - Specific understanding

- Heterogeneous, loose group - General understanding

Recommendations: - Discussion mode with unstructured materials - Use of abstract symbols

Recommendations: - Lecture mode with structured materials - Use of representative

First Year

Final Year Program Duration

Figure 2: Characteristics - Program duration relationships

Search for a new model:

Conclusion:

It is high time to search for an effective model for degree programs in architecture. The intake to such programs could be made from a wider student base which could be gradually narrowed down to the precise student group possessing the required level of aptitude, flair and capacity for pursuing education, research and training in architecture. The new model shall be equipped with option for those students who do not meet the criteria to switch over to other appropriate programs with conferred degree or diploma at the end of three years. Moreover, diverse options may be made available for students to specialize in appropriate fields like interiors, computer applications, landscape, sustainable designs, green auditing, carbon credits, architectural anthropology, visual design, product design or the like over and above architecture. Further, the program in architecture could also be made integrated and more rigorous with increased duration of six years leading to professional Masters Degree in Architecture.

Such appropriate revamping alone could bring back the lost relevance to education and practice of architecture prevailing in the contemporary world.

Through the study it is evidenced that the influence of globalization has made its influence on the higher education scenario too, as in all walks of life. Trends manifest indicate the formation of multicultural, heterogeneous student groups in institutions of mass education. Increasing levels of obsolescence of the contemporary educational systems in terms of their pedagogy, instructional tools and spaces are a matter of immediate concern. Therefore, it is stressed that education in architecture shall respond positively in moulding empowered professionals who possess the required sensitivity, sensibility, skill and analytical capability with the much needed creative and communicative powers in translating the spatial needs of the contemporary globalized communities. Further, the importance of research and publication along with networking of institutions at the national and international levels with student and faculty transfer and sharing of resources is emphasized. Further, it is stressed that only through concerted efforts of CoA, MHRD, AICTE, educational institutions and professional bodies that quality in architectural education could be achieved. The importance of learning over teaching, and empowerment through learning in contemporary architectural education is brought out. Moreover, a major revamping is suggested for restoring the lost relevance and imparting learner empowerment for long term survival of the profession.

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References: 1. Raori, V.P., Development of Architectural Education in Today's Context. Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects. Vol. 62 Issue 9-10. 1997 SeptemberOctober, Mumbai: Indian Institute of Architects. 36.

2. Norman MacKenzie, M.E., Hywel C. Jones, Teaching and Learning: an introduction to new methods and resources in higher education. Second - revised ed.

Vol. 1. 1976, Paris: The Unesco Press and the International Association of Universities. 224.

3. Abraham, G. Adaptive strategies for revamping architectural education for multicultural, global societies with an emphasis on classroom learning. in Seventh International Conference on Humane Habitat. 2005.

RIZVI College of Architecture - Mumbai 4. Abraham, G. Strategy for revamping architectural education - A critical analysis. in National Seminar on Architectural Education, Indian Institute of Architects. 2004. Bangalore: IIA - Bangalore Chapter.

5. Bowen, J., A history of western education: Ancient world - Orient and Mediterranean 2000 BC to AD 1054. Second ed. Vol. 1. 1986, London: Methuen and Company Ltd. 394.

6. Rege, A.K., Architectural education in smaller towns.

Architecture + Design, A Journal of Indian Architecture, 1988. XV / 1(Jan-Feb): p. 53.

7. Mani, R.S., Educational Ideas and Ideals of Eminent Indians. 1999, New Delhi: New Books Society of India.

8. Abraham, G., Restructuring Strategy for Architectural Education. Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects JIIA, 1997. 62(01).

9. Krishna, K.S.A., Upgrading Architectural Training.

Indian Architect and Builder. 1990 June, Mumbai.

10. Abraham, G. Symbolism as Manifest in Architecture and its Relevance in the Design of Geriatric Centers. in Paithrukam; Heritage Conservation and Cultural Continuity. 2002. Trichur, Kerala: MES College of Engineering, Kuttipuram.

11. Claude, B., The prospect for Architectural Education in India. JIIA. Vol. 62, Issue 9-10. 1997, Oct, Mumbai: IIA. 3-7.

12. Mehta, R.P., Practice of Architecture; Issues of national concern, ed. P.R. Mehta. 2001, January 30: Council of Architecture, New Delhi.

13. Sabu, F., Objectivity and Chaos in Architecture. Vol. 62, Issue 9-10. 1997, September-October: Indian Institute of Architects.

14. Krishna, K.S.A. and S. Yalavigi, Architectural Research -Problems and Prospects. Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects, ed. A. Nagarath. Vol. 57 Issue 06. 1992 November, Mumbai: Indian Institute of Architects. 36.

15. Robert, H., The Language Gap - How classroom dialogue fails. First ed. Vol. 1. 1985, London:Methuen.

16. Kraft, C.H., Communication Theory for Christian Witness. 1991, New York: Orbis Books.

17. Janowtz, M.S., David, The social organization of education. The new media and education: their impact on society, ed. B.J.B. P. H. Rossi.1966, Chicago:Aldine.

18. Burner, J.S., The process of education. 1960, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Dr. Abraham George

Professor Architecture and Regional Planning Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

Dr. Susan Abraham

Asst. Executive Engineer, Research and Dam Safety Organization, KSEB

Sthapati 2015 | 57

A TRYST WITH

FRIEDENSREICH HUNDERTWASSER

IN VIENNA

Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser:

December 15, 1928 – February 19, 2000) was an Austrian artist and architect. Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna, he became one of the best-known contemporary Austrian artists by the end of the 20th century. He was fascinated by spirals, and called straight lines "godless and immoral" and "something cowardly drawn with a rule, without thought or feeling". He called his theory of art "transautomatism", focusing on the experience of the viewer rather than the artist.

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‘Who has eaten all my windows’ – (1996) The painting stands as a manifesto for the ‘window right’

F

riedensreich Hundertwasser’s works had a lasting impression on my mind when I saw them at Kunst Haus Wien last year’s autumn while paying a visit to my sister staying at Vienna.

They were so special and so very different from every other artwork I had seen before that it urges my mesmerized self to share my experiences about this genius and his works.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) was the most renowned 20th Century artist in Austria who forayed into Architecture in his later life.

The ‘Kunst Haus’ Wien is an ‘Art-House’ in Vienna exactly as the name translates from German to English. It has the largest collection of Hundertwasser’s works in the world, spanning throughout his life. A notable feature of this art gallery is the architecture of its building façade and interiors, designed in what is typically known as the “Hundertwasser style” characterized by curves and spirals and denouncing straight lines and functional architecture, which according to the the artist, were addicted to comfort ! The building interior skin was clad in mosaic tiles, along with undulating floor profile and a spiralling staircase connecting the floors, all of it making the lack of straight lines noteworthy.

I noted down the important milestones in this artist’s life from the audio guide provided by the museum authority during my stroll through the art galleries one after another arranged with the artist’s works in chronological order.

The artist born in Vienna in December 1928 experienced a tumultuous childhood following Austria’s annexation in the Second World War and the killing of his Jewish relations from his mother’s side. As a child, he was the first to master painting in perspective style in school and the first to give it up in search of his own style. His brilliance in combining vibrant colours in paintings was noted by his childhood mentors. At the age of twenty he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and thereafter started travelling extensively. He was largely influenced by the painters Gustav Klimpt and Egon Schiele belonging to the Vienna Seccesion art movement. He met the French artist Rene Bro in 1949 in Italy whose association rendered more abstraction to his works. In 1953, the artist started developing his theory of transautomatism, published three years later. It was a surrealistic style that focussed on viewer’s fantasy and freedom of interpretation rather than imparting objective meaning to art.

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Artist’s impression of ‘In the Meadow Hills’ project

For Hundertwasser straight lines were ‘godless and immoral’. He developed two different styles – ‘spirals’ and ‘drops’– to express transautomatism aptly illustrated in almost all his paintings.

Later in his life, Hundertwasser forayed into architecture beginning with manifestos, essays and demonstrations, interpreting architecture as man’s ‘third skin’ and the individual right to design it. He originated the idea of the ‘window right’ in 1958 according to which A person in a rented apartment must be able to lean out of his window and scrape off the masonry within arm's reach. And he must be allowed to take a long brush and paint everything outside within arm's reach. So that it will be visible from afar to everyone in the street that someone lives there who is different from the imprisoned, enslaved, standardized man who lives next door.

As an ‘architecture doctor’, he also redesigned the façade of Rosenthal factory of Selb. He gave the architectural concept for a housing project for Hermelinweg along with Architect Peter Pelican, named ‘In the Meadow Hills’ (1984-1992) where they designed single family houses against defoliation of landscape – living space was doubled by use of woodland, meadow roofs and two storied angular houses.

In 1988, Hundertwasser designed the district heating plant at Spittelace which offered symbiosis between technology, ecology and art. He also experimented with humus toilets without chimney vent and water purification with plants. This propagated the policy of achieving peace treaty with nature – helping vegetation achieve its rights with all means of disposal.

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”

Paintings for me are gateways, which enable me, if I have been successful, to open them into a world which is both near and far for us, to which we have no admission, in which we find ourselves, but which we cannot perceive, which is against the real world

“

The facade of the Hundertwasser village representative of the ‘window right movement’

The Kunst Haus Wien was built half a mile away from the Hundertwasser village, which is a municipality owned apartment block designed by Hundertwasser in collaboration with Peter Pelikan and completed in 1986, and an important example of the window right movement. Each resident of the apartment complex has the right to decorate the facade around their windows according to their tastes.

Lot of greenery makes the Hundertwasser village feel like an Oasis in the heart of the city where the residents on an average experience a much better quality of life according to the localites.

The website of the Hundertwasser nonprofit foundation describes Hundertwasser as ‘a visionary and responsible creator who mobilizes the power of his art in order to spread his message for a life in harmony with nature and the individual creativity’. It also gives Hundertwasser’s concept of five skins of human beings – epidermis, clothes, houses, identity and earth. As for his second skin,

Hundertwasser wore self made clothes preferably in stripped materials bearing asymmetry which have been carefully archived in Kunst Haus Wien.

Hundertwasser’s works also demonstrated numerous postage stamps, three of which have been accepted by the United Nations. The first stamp designed in 1975 was the ‘Spiral Tree’ which was the first stamp in the ‘Austrian Stamp’ series and reflected upon the ‘fifth skin’.

As I strolled past the Kunst Haus Wien and the Hundertwasser village, the architectures reminded me of the works of the 19th Century Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi.

What had been conceived by Gaudi in three dimensional curves, seemed to be experienced in Hundertwasser style façade patterns in two dimensions. This was perhaps because of the fact that both Gaudi and Hundertwasser were fascinated by curved lines, organic patterns, nature and spirals, though in their own individual styles of creation.

Roshmi Sen Ph.D scholar Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, IIT Kharagpur.

Façade of the Rosenthal Factory of Selb

It hurts to wait with love if love is somewhere else(1971) The painting represents transautomatism through the use of tear-drops syncronized with its theme Sthapati 2015 | 61

The Memorable Intern...

Two of our third year undergraduate students:

Ashris and Ankita did their summer internship in CEPT, Ahmedabad under Ar. Urvi Sheth. They were selected among 100 international students to attend the Smartgeometry Conference at Chinese University of Hong Kong. The theme for this year was “Urban Compaction.”

The Sthapati team discussed their works and their experience with them.

Q. How did you both take an interest in such a research based field and how did you know how to begin?

Ankita: We had been to National Institute of Design, Ashris: Adding to that, it all started with trying to figure Ahmedabad as a part of our second year field trip and were really amazed by how technologically sophisticated the design process had been. There were prototypes of models and artifacts that were fabricated using 3D printers and laser cutting machines. There were fabricating machines that generated forms which just couldn’t have been created manually.

out how use of computation helped architecture achieve these biomorphic form and how did they get translated into physical entities. The works of Zaha Hadid and Santiago Calatrava had always made me wonder the process through which they were created.

Q. So what did you find out in your initial part of your research?

Ankita: We worked in FabLab, CEPT in the month of Ashris: Although farfetched it sounds, it seems we are May. FabLab is a an initiative by Prof. Neil Gershenfeld, MIT who is dedicated to the project of establishing personal Fabricators one day where in people can fabricate almost anything. Imagine you’ve lost your keys but you have a digital model of them, so you can get a physical copy from the digital one as and when needed. Same goes forth with gadgets like an alarm clock or mobile phone. The way we download soft copies and can get a print, it may be possible that we download the ‘soft copies’ of gadgets like alarm clocks and literally get a copy of a working alarm clock.

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moving towards that age. While we were there, we learnt to build models using section planes with a laser cutting machine, build physical objects through casting, molding and 3D printing. Then, we had 3 weeks long experimentation with learning about electronics where in we learnt to solder chips, stuff them and then program them with Arduino. We built a magnetic field detector and a sensor that could detect the frequency of music being played. Our final project was to make a dynamic moving jail that moved according to the music being played. The prototype worked successfully.

That was something really cool we got to do. Ankita had particularly mastered soldering, I’ll have to admit.

Q. That sounds really amazing. How did all this link up with architecture?

Ashris:

Haha, Indeed. For quite a while, even we wondered how on earth we landed up doing electronics and programming. It didn’t seem quite ‘architecture’-esque. But, I realize that the world is quite dynamic today, no field is totally isolated from others and every development in some field triggers wave of innovations in others. Architecture is seeing that wave of innovation today. Digital fabrication technology has revolutionized the way we build. There are dynamic facades that change their opening sizes based on the the amount of external light to regulate the interior light.

Then, there are technologies in development that enable a building to mould its shape to stand against wind forces.

Cities are getting smarter where “intelligent technologies” are making things more efficient. Architects need to know these technologies and make a smarter future for us.

Q. So while we are at ‘cities’, tell us something about the Smartgeometry Conference on Urban Planning.

Ankita: The Smartgeometry Conference is held each Ashris: I worked on “Design Space Exploration” Cluster year on a theme that concerns the domain of Architecture and invites planners, engineers, architects and visionaries all over the world to work on a cluster theme- a sub theme.

This was the first SG conference to be held in Asia and very aptly was themed on “Urban Compaction”- a theme that concerns most of the over populated cities of Asia today.

I and Ashris worked on two different Clusters: I worked on “Spaces in Experience” Cluster which worked on how Spaces influence human experience and psychology. It was focused on finding about how the cities today with their ever changing typologies are influencing human behavior at large.

which essentially worked on developing algorithms that would simulate urban planning on a large scale. Taking Singapore as a reference, we tried to quantify parameters such as security, traffic circulation, urban density, parking requirements, etc and study what parameters do they depend on. There was an excellent team of Computer Scientists from ETH Zurich and Singapore University of Technology to assist in carrying out these algorithms while we, the team of Architects helped formulate the algorithm with our inputs.

Q. That has been an excellent learning experience for you both. To sum up, what would your final take-away?

Ashris: I learnt that there is infinite room to research

and study in Architecture and it is a field that shares and interacts with science and engineering more closely than I thought. While computation has been just thought of a representational tool in architecture, used to visualize the designs, the possibilities are lot more interesting.

Computation can be a tool to help us design as well and make our designs smarter. We still have been very conservative when it comes to embracing technology. The possibilities in research are immense in our field.

Ankita: Initially, all I thought was that Computation was

a new technique architects used to make parametric models and generate organic designs. But then, the relationship isn’t just limited to that. It was an overwhelming experience and made me realize that having a strong grip of allied branches is going to be the defining parameter of successful architecture in the future.

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DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND REGIONAL PLANNING IIT KHARAGPUR

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Intern Experiences Siddharth Pasumarthy Todd Jersey Architecture Berkeley, California, USA I did my internship at a small architecture firm of 5 people (which had its benefits). My first project was to design stations for a futuristic Ultra-Light Rail Transit system developed in collaboration with Cybertran International. The best part was to develop a 3D printed model of the final system design which later got displayed at the city station. The second project was the renovation of a guest house of historic significance. It was a great experience in terms of practical approach towards architecture and working with advanced technologies.

Pranav Khandelwal A S Architects, Inc. Baltimore, Maryland, USA My 6 month internship experience equipped me with the much required professional ethics and work culture. I worked in the planning and designing phase of Waste water treatmentHeadwork's Improvements Project, Baltimore City, a project worth $110 million. I also got an opportunity to get involved in graphical formatting and arranging design data for the Library Design at Hyattsville, Maryland. Building product webinars and “Lunch and Learn seminars� conducted as per the American Institute of Architect (AIA) format expanded my knowledge base in the field of Architecture. I travelled many places like New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, Boston, North Carolina and many others. I also got to visit the famous Frank Lloyd Wright building - the Falling Water. This internship experience will always act as a guide for my future quest for knowledge.

Lakshya Gupta Baker Design Group, Inc. Boston, USA In my 6 month training, I worked on Trip Advisor World Headquarters coming up in Massachusetts, an office building for 1700 staff capacity. I had the perfect opportunity to learn and deliver under the guidance of Mr. Stephen Baker where I could put forward my ideas and designs and get them implemented. Having a 6 month internship was helpful as I was able to see and contribute as the design evolved from scratch and completed along with a 7 member team. Weekly Revit sessions were also held to hone the skills of the architects. Interning in a foreign country, working with industry experts, I was just lucky enough to be able to experience all this at just the start of my career.

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Avijit Singh Dogra Chinese University of Hong Kong This summer, I worked as a Junior Research Assistant for a period of 8 weeks, on a project related to urban resilience to floods. The main idea behind the project is to use traditional knowledge of people surviving in flood prone areas to develop ways in which cities can be made resilient to floods, rather than resisting them. Manila in Philippines and the Mekong delta in Vietnam are the two main areas of focus. These two months, I learned about both modern and traditional stilt housing practices around the globe to survive in floods.

This also gave me an insight into how architecture develops itself in response to existing problems and conditions.

Subham Malpani Shilpa Sindoor Architects Bangalore I have extended my internship in the same firm I interned in the last summer. So to say, the experiences were rich. The Principals of the 40 year old intern-run firm draw ideals from the experiences of building with Louis Kahn, Paolo Soleri (Arcosanti), Christopher Alexander, Doshi,... from the stones of Hampi and Bijapur and from the superstitions of building that have prevailed on this land since over a millennium. Or to say, Build blending with the materials and the ways of the Bengaluru Vernacular, a Modern Spatial Vocabulary suiting the Urban Context today.

Harika Nelli CPG, Singapore I was involved in Prince Aly Khan competition project as a part of a team of interns in healthcare. It involved designing the hospital in phases. All our different concept ideas became one concept as we moved up on our timeline. Apart from office learning, there is more learning from this city-state: its planning and user-responsive regulations. Green and building define the buildings in Singapore due to space restraint. I also had some userexperience on top of NTU’s iconic building: School of Art, Design and Media(ADM) building.

Being located at the site of Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, I got the opportunity to take site walks, inspection reports. Topping out ceremony is their builders’ rite held during the placing of last beam of the building. It is an unparalleled experience I had gained at CPG Corp Singapore, moving away from the comfort of the books and theories to a firm and a practice.

Arnab Kumar Mahanty Nathan-Jones Architect A sojourn in South-East After a short 5-week internship in my first year and a thoroughly relaxing summer in my second year, I headed for Penang, Malaysia this summer to gain some exposure on architectural practices in the South-east and discover a tropical paradise! Nathan-Jones Architect, a small firm with offices in Penang Island, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur, offered me the opportunity to work on diverse projects ranging from semi-detached bungalows, renovation of an existing school, a pro bono animal shelter project and a performance centre on the Penang Hill. Client meetings, presentations, detailed report on eco-friendly development of Penang Hill and drawing up a statement for an installation art design summed up an exciting work experience. The exotic food and locales only added to its appeal.

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Competitions

Winning

TEAM IIT KHARAGPUR Souradeep Paul and Sweeya Tangudu

Proposal

at

SMART CITY CHALLENGE

Our idea of ‘smart’ was not just technology incorporation but also intelligent design principles and peoples’ inclusion, to eventually improve the ‘livability’ of a city. Thus, our central-thought was on making places pedestrian and people friendly.

T E C H F E S T' 1 5 I I T B O M B A Y

A positive transformation can help boost business, bring in investment and turn College Street into the intellectual, social & cultural hub for Kolkata, hence enhancing the user experience.

This will simultaneously help promote the heritage, tradition and literature and give Kolkata back her status as the cultural capital of India, the city of joy as it has always been called.

Supported by DMICDC, MMRDA, CIDCO, IBM, AKSHARA FOUNDATION

SMART LIGHTING STREET SHOPS IN BAMBOO

BICYCLE PARKING

GREEN TRAM TRACKS

LINEAR GARDEN

Genre: Urban Aesthetics

ELEVATED PATHWAY

HERITAGE WALK

college street

BIM 2013 Represented IIT Kharagpur at the National Finale under BIM (Building Information Modelling) category held at ITC Grand Maratha, Mumbai - Proposed a Mixed-Use Infrastructure Development in Kolkata.

National Finalist Chirag Agrawal Mayank Baliyan

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- prosposed section

Transparence 2014 Eastern Zone Winners Nishant Nain Ankita Diwan Suneet Jagdev

Eastern Zone - Jury Commendation

Abhishek Kumar Apoorva Reddy Ruthwik Bellam

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Thesis Doomsday Museum

Nishant Vats Fifth Year Student The aim of the project is to make people aware about the ill effects of war.

It is not to be taken as a revisit of the horrifying incidents but a pedagogical method to prevent any such incidents in the future.

1. Horsemen Gallery 2. Gallery of Peace 3. Institute of Peace Studies 4. Memorial Tower 5. Auditorium

The proposed site for the project is located on the banks of Khadakwasla Lake with the backdrop of Sinhagad Fort. The site is adjacent to Military Institute of Technology and is in the near vicinity of National Defence Academy.

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Handicrafts

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Studio Works Architectural Design Design for the future - A sustainable activity platform for students to encourage interaction with continuity in the inside and outside environment.

- Softwares used: Energy Analysis : Green Building Studio Climate Analysis : Ecotect, Vasari Model : Revit Structure and Services : Revit Structure, Revit MEP Fourth

Year Students Sweeya Tangudu Souradeep Paul

Exploded View 3D View Modular form of Design and Construction

Interior Design

Restro Lounge Bar Third Year Student Ambikesh Mishra

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Architectural Design Third Year Student

Avijit Singh Dogra

Desert Eco Resort

African Theme Pavilion Third Year Students Ruthwik Bellam Vishnu Khandelwal Siddharth Singhal

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Department activities

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Achievements Zonasa | Second Runner Up

Gold in Formal Events including Gold in Landscape Silver in Reubens Bronze in Main Design Silver in Choreography

NASA Convention

Special Mention in Nari Gandhi Trophy

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YEARBOOK Abhimanyu Abrol ( aka Abrol )

"

"

ABE MUDIT; KHAANE CHALEGA??

abe suno...

HALLA mat karo

"

""

"

Aayush Bhaskar ( aka Baba )

"

"

"

Akhila Adusumilli

ab kya hi bol sakte hai... ye toh apni apni shraddha hai

"

AISA KYAA!!

"

"

"

Anuj Mehta ( aka Mehta )

Akshata Mohanty ( aka Chhata )

Chirag Agrawal ( aka Chacha ) Deepnath Majumder ( aka Deep Da )

i om surely gonna phail this shemestor...

I om more than 100% shure

"

Durgesh Kumar

" "

chal na..

Dance krte hain!

"

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"

"

"

Chalo bey, Poker khelte hain...

"

Kanika Gupta ( aka Kaki )

"

Meaow!

bacche samajhte hi nahi hai yaar

Are listen naa...

Peace !!

"

T V A K S H A T S

Abhishek Ramanathan ( aka Ramu )

Kuldeep Bakliwal ( aka Balki )

Mantosh Roy ( aka Manti )

Lakshya Gupta ( aka Lacchu )

"

"

"

sab moh maya he!

Aur bhai...

Oh Bhaii!!

"

Laga Liyo Shart

"

Mohamad Shahrukh Shaikh ( aka Shark )

"

"

chal.peace hain yaar... hmmm!! hmm!! (thinking thinking)

Mayank Baliyan ( aka Baliyan )

I have an idea.

Will you become my investor?

"

"

Mayank Choudhary ( aka MC )

"

" "

"

"

"

Naved Saeed ( aka Miyan )

Mudit Sharma ( aka Bhopali ) Piyush Jaiswal ( aka Dada )

"

Pankaj Agrawal ( aka Pinky )

""

Chalna hai??

CHALLLO BE!!

mujhe ni pata ...... haan..toh?

"

Nancy Charaya

mai toh keh raha hu Dubai chalte hai

baddy khelne jaana hain...

aise thodi na hota hai yaar!

"

" Nupur Agrawal

"

"

Hum keh rahe hain....

Pranav Khandelwal ( aka Khandu )

"

"

Rajiv Patki ( aka Patki )

dada students hain... thoda toh discount de do

"

"

"

tum log chalo mai nha ke aata hun.... tum log chalo

Pooja Rai ( aka Pocha )

Pika Pika

"

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"

"

"

"

Nooooooo !!!

I will kill you !

"

funda fundaa fundaaa

"

Sagarika Chatterjee ( aka Shango )

Veeran

"

Pranshu Goyal

"

I am from Hyderabaad!

"

Iske liye treat chaiye mujhe !!

"

"

SUN NA FUNDAE NAHIN!!

my name is prasanth and I am not a celebrity!!

"

"

Sahil Jalan ( aka Co er )

Kirit Sarvaiya ( aka Gujju)

"

abe sun na.. main bol rha tha ki ye kaam aise nhi hota hai,, isko aise karte hai.. chamka ?

Prasanth Sarvepalli ( aka Batman )

"

"

"

"

"

"

Siddharth Rath ( aka Rath Da )

Soumya Pasumarthy

Hiya! , Its Sweeya! like in <Sweet> - t + ya = Sweeya

"

"

karna hai karliyo, dekhna hai dekhliyo

"

Souradeep Paul ( aka Paul ) Sweeya Tangudu

"

"

abeeee!!!!!!!

Fundae lo

78 | Sthapati 2015

"

Siddharth Pasumarthy ( aka Anna )

Tuhina Chatterjee ( aka Halu )

Vishesh Gupta ( aka Vishy Da )

HeHEhe HEheHE

Oye !

Sun na !

" Sanchita Das ( aka Sancho )

"

eeeessshhhhh.....

Yo dada....!

Abe, khaane chaloge?

Abe, CCD chaloge?

Abe, 2.2 chaloge?

" "

Remembering Sahil Jalan...

The presence of Sahil looms our heart. His simple and candid presence cannot be forgotten. In Indian ethos, we know for sure, someone leaves the body and remains eternal. No one dies.

With Sahil we remain eternally connected, and hence with Sahil we remain ever connected.

I remember standing with Sahil on the highest hills of Kamakshya Mountains, on the other bank of Brahmaputra, overlooking Guwahati. We had gone together for a trip. This was in the 3rd week of December, 2013, when we had reached IIT Guwahati for Inter IIT Sports meet. There Sahil had taken us around the sacred complex and finally he showed us the way to the feet of the Supreme Mother. At her feet, we remain ever connected with Sahil.

-Prof. Joy Sen That refreshing smile, the crazy antics, the creative sparks amidst endless nightouts - that is Jalan to us. He has always been there whenever the society needed him and has been a great friend, an extremely talented and irreplaceable teammate. jOlan, as we fondly call him, is the inspiration of all the current members who aspire to explore their creativity in digital artforms.

He will forever be one of the best examples of all so humble and happiness spreading binding member of the group and we miss him every time we meet for our artworks. That smiling face who used to capture our every action to weave them into his brilliant memory pieces of videos will forever be the part of our best memories with Spectra."

-Team Spectra Sthapati 2015 | 79

MASSNVOID MASS N VOID DESIGN CONSULTANTS (I) PVT. LTD, a Team of Enterprising Architects, Engineers and Interior Designers, offers wide ranging Consultancy, EPC & Project Management Services in diverse areas viz. Architectural, Industrial, Commercial, Institutional, Interior Designing , Exhibitions and allied Engineering works.

M/S MASS N VOID DESIGN CONSULTANTS (I) PVT. LTD, promoted by M/S MASS N VOID DESIGN CONSULTANTS (A Pranav Group), will be focusing on diversification of the Group's portfolio to manage Architectural, Engineering and Project Management Consultancy Services. Whereas M/s THE HEIGHTS, will continue to head the Project Execution.

CONTACT: Corporate Office G-1/4 L.G.F. Malviya Nagar New Delhi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 110017 Ph : 011 26674800, 26674801 Telefax : 011 26674802

BRANCH OFFICES: Dehradun Ranchi Patna Ziro Arunachal Pradesh

The Department of Architecture, NEHU, Shillong will be organising an event related to Art and Architecture from 19th to 21st March 2015.

The activities and events will be as follows: -Workshops -Seminars -Exhibitions The details of the event are uploaded on www.nehu.ac.in

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Shree Cement Ltd (SCL), promoted by the reputed BG Bangur group, is present across the

core sectors of cement and power and is among the top five cement groups in the country. SCL is recognized as an energy efficient, environment and investor friendly organization creating sustainable value for its stakeholders. SCL has cement capacity of 17.50 million tons (MTPA) spread across North and East India with 4 MTPA of cement capacity expected to come up during 2015. It has power generation capacity of 597 MW and holds power trading license to trade electricity across the country. SCL is an ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and SA 8000 certified company and pursues best practices in Manufacturing, Energy Conservation and Environment Management.

Financial Performance – Turnover of the company for 2013-14 was Rs. 5887 crores and net profit was Rs. 787 crores. SCL revenue has grown at a CAGR of 26.8% in the last ten years.

It has increased capacity by 7 times during this period.

Rewarding Investors – SCL is among top 100 companies in India in terms of market

capitalization. SCL has a track record of continuous growth in dividend payment (200% in 2013-14). The book value of the stock has increased to Rs. 1352.25 per share as on 30th June 2014 from Rs. 10.50 twenty five years ago. The internal rate of return (IR) of an investor who had invested in its IPO in Feb’85 works out to a significant 27.87% over a period of almost 30 years.

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Operational Strength – SCL is known for its fast project execution capabilities as it has always completed its projects within budgeted cost and time. It has created the world record for fastest commissioning of cement plant in 330 Days against industry average of 630 days. It has one of the largest clinker manufacturing facility at Ras having capacity of 10.6 million ton.

Efficient Energy and Environment Management – SCL has set up Waste heat recovery based power plants of 81 MW capacity which is one of the largest such capacity in world cement industry. It has installed Air Cooled Condensers (ACC) in its 300 MW power plants whereas power plants of such size do not install ACC due to high cost involved. It was the 1st Indian cement company to join the Cement Sustainability Initiatives of the World Business Council for Sustainable Business Development (WBCSD), Switzerland and to fetch Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) on its Clean Development Mechanism project “Optimal Utilization of Clinker”. Also it was 1st Indian cement company to issue Corporate Sustainability Report following the highest level “A+” for reporting triple bottom line performance. It was nominated as “New Sustainability Champion” by the World Economic Forum in Sept’ 11.

High Standards of Corporate Governance – SCL routinely go the extra mile to disclose and share information with stakeholders providing them with insight beyond what's legally required. It has regularly surpassed its estimates of profitability and growth which has earned it the tag of “Walking the Talk” by the investor community.

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