I explored the sensorial experiences of Indian heritage when I led a study titled ‘Idiosyncrasies of the Built’ as part of Samira Rathod Design Atelier. The study is imagined as a collection of drawings tied together with a fictional narrative enabling me to capture our sensual engagement with historical and modern structures.
(above) Banni houses, Kutchh
The harsh sun caused a complex series of shadows on ground, which formed various shapes, and spun its own stories through the day. Barren desert - to marshy land- -salt pans to vegetation- along that, the settlement. This settlement of homes resembled the formation of the sun, and yet, within the circular form, it was as though another world. A portal sheathing you from the rash winds outside to the safety of inside. A home full of belongings, each wall layered with objects. the mirrors spewing colours of the vernacular craft across the landscape. The indents on the surface of houses gently manoeuvre in and out of the cylindrical wall, topped with a conical roof of grass. Shadows move along these wall much like sun on the body of a moving camel.
(above) Golconde, Pondicherry,
Architects: Antonin Raymond and George Nakashima(1936 and 1942)
In the french quarters of Pondicherry, wandering along the entwined streets, you come across an oddly looming structure, in an otherwise quaint little town. The plot lined with a tall obscure concrete wall, and one high opening. A wooden door, with a tiny lotus symbol engraved on it. Peeking over its compound wall are large coconut trees, competing with the high walls of Golconde, both in a seeming attempt to reach higher up An architecturally unique residence for the Aurobindo ashram, reflecting the first modernist ideas for then colonial India, this structure was designed in 1936. Detached from externalities of the settlement it resides in, Golconde looks inward, while also looking out onto its landscape that generates a pleasant microclimate for itself. The lowest floors seamlessly weave with the ground, bringing you closer to solitude. Its corridors and breezeways compel you to quieten and look within your consciousness. The filtering light, and large, old trees in the backyard, gently swaying in the breeze, comfort you within the rooms. The humble appearance of the quarters, filled with diffused light filtering through the precisely detailed louvres. The building allows you to clothe or unclothe it as per your comfort. Sophisticated use of geometry and proportions dictates the structure of the building, its skin, its corridors, rooms, gardens, and hence its experience. One’s perception of the building is heavily influenced by the underlying geometric exploration in its form. Moving towards the idea of architecture as ‘the manifest union of aesthetics, technology, and social reform’.
