All posts by Matter

Architectural Education, Contemporary Practice, Design Thinking, Discourse, Essays, Urban Design

Cities: Between Metaphor & Reality

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How the empirical and the scientific can sustain together. – By Narendra Dengle.

Narendra Dengle talks about the inherent contradictions in the much discussed ‘Smart-City’ idea that has captured political imagination by inclining the argument in favour of a city which has a place for all and not just the economy which builds it.

Once a client of mine discussed at length the requirements of an institutional project and stressed the importance of being rational, functional, economic, and energy conscious in approach. We agreed. The next day he called up to say, “Please make it Eco-friendly.” We said, ‘Oh yes’. Then he dropped by to insist that the Continue reading Cities: Between Metaphor & Reality →

Architectural Education, Contemporary Practice, Design Thinking, Dialogues, Discourse, Lectures, Praxis

In Conversation – Charles Correa, Raj Rewal and Mahendra Raj.

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From The Z-Axis Climactic Session – Moderated by Riyaz Tayyibji. 

The complete edited video from Charles Correa Foundation with a landmark conversation between Charles Correa, Mahendra Raj and Raj Rewal. Continue reading In Conversation – Charles Correa, Raj Rewal and Mahendra Raj. →

Architecture, Books & Films, Design Thinking, Discourse

Book: Balkrishna Doshi: An Architecture for India

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Written by William J. R. Curtis.

An engaging reprint of the seminal book by Curtis takes us through the experiments of the defining years of Doshi‘s practice – a practice that has presented us with some of the most challenging axioms and paradoxes of modern architecture in India and eventually – ‘an Architecture for India‘.

Book Cover
Book Cover

Continue reading Book: Balkrishna Doshi: An Architecture for India →

Architecture, Contemporary Practice, Discourse, Essays

AN ERODED PRIVATE REALM: P Venugopal

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In this comment, P Venugopal objectively observes our changing architectural perceptions of homes as a society and the subjective dimensions of the missing levels of humanising factors shaping the designs.

Museums are regulated environments. Artifacts on display are confined to tight frames of glass, and watched under spotlights. Curios in glass boxes are hermetically sealed. Relieved from the incessant gaze of the spectators, if they are taken back to the store, after the day’s work, they may recoup in the warmth of their ordinary storage alcove and breathe! They too can enjoy the privilege of a private realm. Continue reading AN ERODED PRIVATE REALM: P Venugopal →

Architecture, Contemporary Practice, Projects, Studio

Mobius House: Girish Dariyav Karnawat, GDKdesigns

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Elemental in its approach, the Mobius House in Goa by Girish Dariyav Karnawat of Mangalore-based GDKdesigns invites a reading less as an object of design but through an exploratory process, of a site of transformation. The architecture of the residence is grounded in an understanding found within inherent gestures of domestic occupation and the slow shifts of architectural representation. 

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“Mobius House is a resultant of the pursuit of the archetypal image of a pavilion in the landscape through processes that strive to accommodate contemporary building and living conditions, while in simultaneous dialogue with rich traditional and vernacular references,” writes Siddhartha Singh for GDKdesigns.  Continue reading Mobius House: Girish Dariyav Karnawat, GDKdesigns →