the Bamboo grove

Its the first time I've ever filmed something and this is only an experiment with not so much meaning, more an experience for me which I was lost in completely. It did begin to have a purpose as I started to think about it.

I had been sitting for a while now in this bamboo grove. As the sun rose higher in the morning sky, the bamboo stalks and the ground in front of me shimmered with changing light.

I thought to myself, it's so difficult to create something and to create something this beautiful. I just sat there watching it all and gradually was deeper into this phenomenon as if it was the first time that I had noticed anything at all about nature.

As I listened, I started to think about architecture as we know it, architecture that uses materials such as brick and concrete, an architecture that has a structure so real and permanent that it stands there in front of us, for many years, totally unchanging.

And here, in front of me, was this natural environment that was gently moving as the breeze entered the grove, that was allowing some light and not allowing some. I asked myself then : "If I were to believe that this was architecture, what was I to learn?"

For me, it was more the process of being there and simply filming without thought that was a learning experience. It was time spent just to look at a branch, to look at the many leaves, to look at one leaf, to look at the ant that climbed up the bamboo stem, to pretend that this was a habitat where I was as small as that insect that stopped here for a moment and then left, to know another of nature's many worlds.

Design Inspiration at Lalbaug gardens

We had heard from some of our friends that the 'Green Heritage walk' organised by the group 'Bangalore Walks' was an extremely good one and something we must do. We took the walk this weekend. It is a walk conducted by Mr.Vijay Thiruvady every Sunday from 7am to 10am at the Lalbaug gardens in Bangalore. Mr.Vijay Thiruvady has immense knowledge about trees, is a great storyteller and you are bound to have a wonderful experience!

While at the walk, I realised that being there amidst nature was inspiring and generated some thoughts about design. I thought it would be nice to share this.


You come across these framed pictures of deities and you wonder who put them there? Does that person or group come back here to worship? Whose place of worship is this now? There's a fresh flower on the top of the frame. Is it from a passer-by? The frames themselves are partially covered with termites. There is not much it takes to create a place of worship. Life is sometimes both simple and beautiful at the same time.

This leaf we learnt is from the tree called Ficus Krishane. The tree gets its name from the shape of its leaves which form two cups or sometimes one cup. The Legend says that Lord Krishna is supposed to have collected butter in this leaf cup. Many of us have picked up a dried leaf. Others go closer to the branches of the tree to observe the green leaves that are cupped. Apart from being a cup leaf, I find the form of the leaf very interesting. If one were to make a paper lantern using this form and use an LED light within it, could it be interesting enough?

We then came across a tree commonly known as the 'Elephant apple'. Its botanical name is Dillenia Indica. For a description of the tree, I am linking here to Mr.Vijay's notes on this tree, which is a part of Vijay's musings about trees at Lalbaug. What was also interesting to know is that the leaves of this tree have been used traditionally to polish ivory. Here is a picture of the dried leaves of the tree. There's something nice about the dried leaf. It seems to have another aesthetic quality after it is dried up. If one were to study this leaf in detail for the design of a tensile structure, it may have some lessons for us. There is an increasing transparency to the leaf material as it ages.

We are almost at the end of our walk, the three hours have just flown by! The tree we are now looking at is a Silk Cotton tree many, many years old. It has these buttress-like parts of its trunk that spread out at the base. What is amazing here is that there are quite a few branches that go out almost horizontally for a distance of almost forty to forty-five feet! How does this happen? How can there be a cantilever this long? Would we have achieved this in steel? At what cost?

As you now look back again at the buttresses, you notice that there are thick roots also above the ground at some places that go out for long distances towards each of the long branches. Could it be then that the branch is able to cantilever itself because the root goes out in a similar fashion, more horizontally than the roots of other trees, that the vertical distance between the branch and the root are lesser than usual, creating a C-shaped homogenous form, of branch and root working together and giving it the stability to make possible this cantilever?

As we walk along a bit more, you can't help thinking that what you see on the ground is as inspiring as what you see in front of you everywhere at the gardens. Every step of the way, you see a beautiful composition. Sometimes, its the grass, flowers and the natural stone. Sometimes, its the patterns from the leaves of the tree just above and at some places, its the silk cotton that has travelled with the breeze to now rest with the dried leaves of a Juniper or a Candle Tree.

I link here to another blogpost that came about after this lovely nature walk. This is Mangoes for sale and is at my other blog : Indian Bazaars

Architecture Design process

This is something i wrote whilst travelling in Europe more than 12 years ago. It was the first time ever in Europe. Everything around was fascinating and intriguing and made me contemplate about experiencing life, experiencing architecture and about how these have shaped my thinking on the architecture design process.

Before asking people to share their experiences, I begin to think about the experiences within different environments that I have had. How do my surroundings affect me? What are the thought patterns that these environments generate? There are images reproduced here in the form of sketches, that my mind captured, at the plaza, on the street, within a building, on the train or in the cathedral.

Experiences in life make us think the way we do. Although two people could see the same things at the same time, they might not always do so. If I walk through a busy street, I see and remember. I walked through the street with you. What I saw is different from what you did. We walk towards the Eiffel Tower. I see the caricaturists on my right. You enjoy the river Seine on your left. I feel the arch above us, that holds the bridge. You see the ornament on the bridge. We walk to the Pompidou centre. I see the pipes and railings. You see the people on the escalators.

If you see the river Seine, you may also see the caricaturists the next moment. If you see the ornament on the bridge, you may also soon feel the arch above us. If you see people on the Pompidou escalators, you may not miss the pipes and railings. Time is a dimension to be considered too, is it not? Whilst walking, what might be within the range of vision one moment, might not be, in the next. If you don't feel the arch above us at this moment, in the next moment, we are not below the arch anymore. Experiences are linked with time, aren't they? Especially it is, when two people walk along a street, you experience in one moment the ornament on the bridge, and I, the arch above. In the next moment, you cant feel the arch and I cant see the ornament. It was only for the moment and that moment is now gone.

Here is a link to some of my poems & sketches of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

IIMB campus

Architecture is about the choices we make. In India, as elsewhere, there has often been a disparity between what architects value as good design and what the public perceives as design that is appropriate for them.

Architects often speak of their need for an “ideal client” This client is one who would not interfere with the planning of the aesthetically perfect building that the architect is trying to create. The client emphasizes at every meeting with the architect, his need for more user-friendly spaces; for finishes that are maintenance-free; for a building that will cost much less than what it is estimated to cost or at least not more. Architects find it difficult sometimes to have the same priorities.

On the other hand, users sometimes ask for a building that uses glass and steel facades, although the architect may be able to offer a better solution in terms of climate-responsiveness that uses brick or stone.

The design of the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore is the result of years of effort by the architect Balkrishna Doshi and his team to develop a contemporary architectural language with an indian identity. It is based on extensive research of the Indian architectural planning principles conducted by Prof.Kurula Varkey especially for this project.

There is a need for a platform that generates a dialogue between architects and non-architects about the various issues that influence design in architecture.

P.S. Recently, the film 'Doshi' was screened at the IIMB auditorium. Dr.Balkrishna Doshi was invited for the screening. There was a Q&A session after the film. Someone asked : "And, what about the aesthetic of frugality?" At IIMB, the Central Pergola is a beautiful space - spatially as well as in the way light enters the space and often people have asked if the expenses incurred and the absence of functionality can justify its existence. And, Doshi's reply " Must one take away from aesthetics to achieve frugality? I think the use of stone masonry for the walls has made sure that plastering is not required for the next 40 years. That is also a way to bring frugality into the architecture"

Another interesting part of the life of the IIMB campus has been the shooting for Rajkumar Hirani's latest film 'Three Idiots'. Over a period of six months, the film was shot at various locations within the campus and starred Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor & Boman Irani. One morning, there was a new clock tower at the main gate of IIMB. It was part of the film set. It looked real but more importantly, it looked like it belonged. Had the architect thought of a clock tower for the original design of the IIMB campus? Made one think about the role of the clock tower in american campuses. Cornell University's Clock tower had been an important point of reference for students and others.

The United States had a history of campus design that could be studied. Amongst the contemporary designers, one could study the work of Michael Dennis who had designed the extension to the University of Virginia and the Syracuse University, amongst other campuses. There were principles of campus design that had evolved over the years. These included developing a primary axis and several secondary axes. At Cornell, this primary axis had led to the Clock Tower. Actually, the secondary axes had too. The Clock tower was a stately structure, but it also had the chimes that every student at Cornell carried memories of for the rest of his life.

Here is a link to an article by William McDonough & Michael Braungart on designing a sustainable campus : A Building like a Tree, a Campus like a Forest

Designing a campus

An urban space at any point in time will have a past and a present and its effect on people will motivate designers to articulate it in order to serve better. A theme ‘Tradition & Modernity’ may not be about ‘Historic Preservation’ nor about ‘Styles’ but about ‘Continuity’, about preventing an encroaching alienation faced by us towards contemporary architectural and urban spaces.

Sometimes, it is the juxtaposition of an old building with a new one on the street and sometimes the co-existence of an old shopfront with a new one, both housed within the same aging building that has been part of the street for several decades. Or shaping a new “village” within a city where signs of the old dilapidated one still exist, the ‘urban village’ serving commercial needs in a modern but quaint fashion, as at the Hauz Khas village in Delhi. Even if one is designing a single new building in an existing campus, it must no doubt express what has been before and also reflect the inherent nature of the buildings around it.

What makes some campuses more spectacular than others? Is it the natural beauty; its landscape and perhaps that it nestles amidst the hills? One wonders whether this built environment without the trees, flowers and lawns could be just as special. And if not, i.e. if the landscape does prove to be a very vital part of the campus, does it then establish the fact that the ‘garden’ or ‘landscape’ ought not to be an entity separate from architecture but that the two be treated as an integrated whole. One must nevertheless make a substantial effort to sustain the relationship of the parts. How does one allow for growth & change and express continuity?

What role do landmarks play within a campus plan? Do they add grandeur physically and with their representation in the institute catalogs? Do they provide a sense of place or, render a feeling of security on a sprawling campus? Do open spaces that belong to a large campus also belong to the city? And, how much of the city may belong to the campus; of the streets that enter it and the open spaces that engulf it?

A campus is seen as a place formed not so much by the buildings as by the spaces in between. Is a campus born out of symmetry more difficult to nurture than one which is randomly planned? How does one grow a campus?

Jaisalmer and pre-cast construction

Jaisalmer as a city, as urban fabric, is in total harmony with its soil, its terrain and the lifestyle of its people. A city in yellow stone, a sculpture that emerges out of the landscape. But, Jaisalmer is a man-made sculpture of small well-designed parts. The parts that make the harmonious whole are the key to the urban fabric that one sees today in Rajasthan.

It is a system of carved elements - stone slabs, beams, columns - pieces put together, the putting together - a carefully pre-planned process. Stone carvers - the artists, the artisans working in groups to deliver the pieces as required, with every piece cut, carved, to make a railing, to turn it to make a junction or to break the monotony of a symmetrical façade.

Stone blocks cut and carved to make an arch, a doorway, a jharokha, brackets that support a circular jharokha, brackets that are radiating out from a point and therefore vary in their sizes, but must be carved to precision to take their place away from the courtyard of the carver's house, in the walls of the palace.

And today, centuries later, can Bombay, Calcutta or Delhi boast of a harmonious city fabric inspite of the progress made in construction technology? Should we not rethink about the city as a whole and apply the technology to the whole rather than to a part, a sole building? We make individual buildings with our technological inputs. Can we not energise our entire city system which may produce a building that reflects the common ideology? Can we use stone again? Can we carve again? We can, but perhaps at greater expense and therefore we may look for a less expensive alternative.

Can precast concrete elements take the place of stone slabs, beams, columns, brackets, railing? If we were to analyse the system of building in Jaisalmer and devise thereon a system for use today, we will perhaps have an answer to a better city fabric woven into the other townscapes and reflecting the current mind structure too.

Urban morphology in India has been studied before. Architects and planners know today how courtyards, streets and built-form come together to make Indian cities. Contemporary Indian architects are designing townships for industrial empires. Many of these reflect the Indian norms for City Planning, yet the built-form is a collection of units that are in concrete, and sometimes alien.

If we could merge the appropriate technology being researched and practised in some parts of India with these early canons of planning to generate urban patterns of relevance and create an aesthetic that one can relate to, we will again have cities and townships that we can be proud of.

Designing an apartment complex

Contemporary architecture in the cities in india is now a reflection of the needs of the urban indian.

In cities such as Bangalore and Chennai, these needs stem from the development of the IT industry, the large employment it generates, the rise in the standard of living and the growing expectations of a population of young people who are participants in this revolution. As this happens, there is a new architectural typology that is emerging – the Residential complex that consists of apartment units, a clubhouse and a convenience store.

In 2006, residential development in urban india is taking on a new perspective. The search is on for shelter that is not just a place to live but a place to create a new lifestyle. The price of the land is higher than the structures that are constructed on it. Therefore, it is more economical for a developer to build apartment complexes instead of a colony of houses or “villas” as we refer to them today. Each apartment unit sits with many other apartment units in a large complex that also offers a clubhouse, a swimming pool and a central landscaped area.

In chennai, it is the Old Mahabalipuram road where many such “gated communities” have begun to develop. What is a “gated community” and where does this term originate? In America and in some European countries, it is common for the rich city dweller to buy a house in the countryside which is one among a group of houses, sometimes nestled amongst the mountains and which is gated, i.e. provided with high security. People feel the need to have a house that is safe from the crime and violence of the city.

In India, living within a gated community is symbolic of a new lifestyle. It implies that you can afford an apartment that is well-constructed, that is maintained by a good management service that you pay a monthly fee for, that provides your children with a play area, that is private and safe, and that provides you with the amenities you need to counter-balance a work-life that is hectic and harsh on your health.

The design process for one such residential complex began with conceptualising a complex of building volumes that would be an interesting play of masses & voids; where the different planes of the façade would be planes of bright colours from a warm palette; where the light and shadow of a tropical sun would make the architecture a different experience.

What one learnt is that in chennai, the apartments that sell within a residential complex are the ones that get ample south breeze; where the kitchen & puja room are located as per vastu; apartments which overlook the ‘centrally landscaped area’ and which have two car parks. This is what is important for a buyer.

For the builder, that is the one who sells, it is important that the price of the land he purchases or partners on is reasonable; that the infrastructure – road and electric supply are available; that the architectural design is good; that the plan, the elevation & 3D views translate quickly into a brochure that is attractive; that the advertisement in the newspapers is appropriate and timely; that the apartments are booked early so that he recovers the money invested in the land or that which is needed to bring in the material for the construction to begin.