Category Archives: Essays

Architecture, Essays, Places, Visual Culture

Dharmapuri

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Remnants of a Fast Disappearing Way of Life

A photo-narrative by Sneha Parthasarathy of the quintessential Indian village culture, lifestyle and architecture, against the backdrop of the Godavari River Festival. 

The Pushkaras, occurring annually, are river festivals celebrating in a cyclic manner each of the 12 important holy rivers of India. This year was that of the river Godavari and was said to be a ‘Maha Pushkara’ – occurring once every 144 years. The 12 day festival saw over 11 crore devotees, from Telangana-Andhra region rush to the river banks of Godavari to take the emancipating dip and pray for departed souls of their loved ones. There is something very powerful and beautiful about belief but mass hysteria and hype is worrying. Worrying because it leads to herd mentality; when you do something not because you deeply believe in it but because you do not want to be left out. Continue reading Dharmapuri →

Architecture, Contemporary Practice, Discourse, Essays

A Tribute to Charles Correa by Rafael Moneo

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Prof. Rafael Moneo pens a letter in tribute to Ar. Charles Correa. The gentlemen, both icons in their respective nations and across the globe, share a long friendship and mutual admiration.

June 30, 2015

It was with great sadness and surprise that I heard last week of Charles Correa’s passing away. I had seen him recently in Goa and although indeed he did seem fragile, I never thought he would leave us so rapidly. Continue reading A Tribute to Charles Correa by Rafael Moneo →

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 →

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, Design Thinking, Discourse, Essays, History

Andrew Boyd and Minnette de Silva

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Two Pioneers of Modernism in Ceylon

By David Robson

David Robson pens an empathetic memoir outlining the life and works of Sri Lanka’s two pioneering architects – a man by the name of Andrew Boyd and a lady by the name Minnette de Silva – in an attempt to restore their well-deserved place in the history of Modern Architecture from Sri Lanka and to bring into light their exceptional merit. 

Andrew Boyd

40.81-Portrait-of-Andrew-Boyd,-c.-1960
Portrait of Andrew Boyd, 1960

Born in Cornwall in 1905, Andrew Boyd was the son of an Indian Circuit Judge and experienced a typically dislocated Raj childhood, spending part of his childhood in India and part of it at school in England. His father encouraged him to join the tea business, and in 1927 arranged for him to become a tea taster with Liptons in Ceylon. There he was befriended by the photographer, Lionel Wendt, and moved in a circle which included the painter George Keyt and the poet/diplomat Pablo Neruda. Wendt kindled Boyd’s interest in photography and this in turn led him to architecture. Continue reading Andrew Boyd and Minnette de Silva →