The Journey: Does life have a deeper meaning?
The Journey: Does life have a deeper meaning?: Introduction In these panels, I am sharing some of my life experiences in search for the Whole, which have found expression in my various activities like architecture, painting, poetry, traveling, & facilitating learning. In this journey, I could perceive four major shifts, each with it’s own prolonged, contemplative pause, followed by a crucial decision which has shaped my life. Each shift is preceded by a pause and a decisional panel which have their own colour codes. All these cannot be divorced from Life. They basically address my Life concerns. I invite you to my life’s journey to share, question, reflect, wonder, unlearn, examine or observe as a fellow traveler, a co-learner on this path of Life ! This journey is a ‘Process’ The projects & creations are the by-products. © Shirish Beri & Associates
The journey begins with the seed: Can we nurture our various potentials to fruition?
The journey begins with the seed: Can we nurture our various potentials to fruition?: Each of us has a seed or rather many seeds - potentials. We can understand them, when we live an intense, full life with a lot of assimilation, contemplation & experimentation. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Growing up: can we put aside all conditioning and be ourselves?
Growing up: can we put aside all conditioning and be ourselves?: In the search for one’s identity, we all pass through this vulnerable, impressionable period, lured by many prevalent ‘isms’ and movements. © Shirish Beri & Associates
The Study years: Could our work relate to these contextual questions?
The Study years: Could our work relate to these contextual questions? © Shirish Beri & Associates
Probing further: could architecture transcend it’s boundaries with multi-disciplinary approach?
Probing further: could architecture transcend it’s boundaries with multi-disciplinary approach? © Shirish Beri & Associates
A context for living: am I aware of the many contextual questions to my life?
A context for living: am I aware of the many contextual questions to my life?: A drop from the architectural education was envisaged after the 3rd year to question the relevance of architecture to our life. This resulted in solitary wanderings and ponderings for two months during every vacation. © Shirish Beri & Associates
On choosing the road: can the choice of living reflect one’s inner yearnings?
On choosing the road: can the choice of living reflect one’s inner yearnings?: A time comes when every person is confronted with a crucial life decision. I had three options: 1. Go abroad for further studies and perhaps a secure future. 2. Do something other than architecture. 3. Live at Auroville and explore new approaches with the group. 4. Live and work at Gaganbavda, a village on the Western Ghats with professional support from my father and brother at their Kolhapur office. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Living amidst Nature: nature has the magic. Could we be open to it?
Living amidst Nature: nature has the magic. Could we be open to it? © Shirish Beri & Associates
House on a mountain: a simple life can open us to the energies of life.
House on a mountain: a simple life can open us to the energies of life.: A life of solitude, simplicity & austerity.  Creation of a unified simple multiple use space that merges with the garden on the ground floor and with the beautiful view at the mezzanine level. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Experiments with other houses: could we share them with others?
Experiments with other houses: could we share them with others? © Shirish Beri & Associates
Spaces for the community: can aarrcchiitteecctturree bee sseenssiittiivvee tto tthee ccommuniittyy’’ss neeeedss?
Spaces for the community: can aarrcchiitteecctturree bee sseenssiittiivvee tto tthee ccommuniittyy’’ss neeeedss?: Creating spaces to facilitate chance meetings and fostering a participatory feeling in the community, while retaining one’s sense of identity and privacy © Shirish Beri & Associates
The Metaphoric Form: can we sense the inherent sacredness in space?
The Metaphoric Form: can we sense the inherent sacredness in space? © Shirish Beri & Associates
What is learning? Learning could be manifold doings
What is learning? Learning could be manifold doings: A networked web of structures addressing the various issues of learning together in an integrated manner, instead of loose, spaced out, independent buildings. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Expanding horizons: sometimes going out can take us deeper within.
Expanding horizons: sometimes going out can take us deeper within.: The free flow of the Noosphere with views of the Alborz mountains. The repository of book stacks spread all over the topmost floor to facilitate book dropping at any place below. Creation of equipotential flexible spaces by careful, well appointed & designed service towers. © Shirish Beri & Associates
A yearning for change: time and again there’s a need to pause, and re-examine life’s direction
A yearning for change: time and again there’s a need to pause, and re-examine life’s direction: Disillusioned with the present social structure, I took a long journey to explore the possibility of creating a utopian community on a remote island in the Andaman - Nicobar Archipealago © Shirish Beri & Associates
At the crossroads again: do we have a dream?
At the crossroads again: do we have a dream?: After getting married, I re-questioned my vision in life. I was compelled to ask what am I going to do in the next ten years ? 1. Go to South East Asia on a large housing project. 2. Go to Princeton on a fellowship. 3. Start my own experiments in sustainable living in Konkan. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Working with Nature: towards materializing the dream
Working with Nature: towards materializing the dream © Shirish Beri & Associates
Towards sustainability: what is our responsibility towards Life as a whole?
Towards sustainability: what is our responsibility towards Life as a whole?: Today due to overuse, the word ‘sustainable’ has lost it’s deeper meaning. With technology’s potential, do we want to drown the society in material overindulgence or use it’s good, benevolent qualities, as a means to an end ? Disturbing Nature in one place has adverse physical and psychological consequences on the whole human race. Could equity and the inner quality of life become the key measures of sustainability ? In the city we pay for some peace and quiet, in the village we pay for some noise. Man always wants that which he does not have © Shirish Beri & Associates
The blocks to sustainability: what can we do about these?
The blocks to sustainability: what can we do about these? © Shirish Beri & Associates
Experiments in alternative lifestyle: everyone can do something in their own way
Experiments in alternative lifestyle: everyone can do something in their own way: The healing of the land and purification of the human spirit are the same © Shirish Beri & Associates
My house at Nadhavade: can sustainable architecture bring us closer to nature?
My house at Nadhavade: can sustainable architecture bring us closer to nature?: Exploring nature within the context of the house.The house as me The house is an extension of one’s vocabulary, one’ values, and one’s aspirations. © Shirish Beri & Associates
The house is a second skin: outer space is an expression of inner psychological space
The house is a second skin: outer space is an expression of inner psychological space: Diffusing the boundaries between the realms of architecture, interior design and landscape to create a harmonious, integrated holistic environment - a transparent, simple life style. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Nature in urban context: blurring the boundaries of built form
Nature in urban context: blurring the boundaries of built form: Intermingling of the natural and the man made. Creating a larger visual space © Shirish Beri & Associates
Challenge of Urban Space: integrating with the urban fabric without loosing the identity
Challenge of Urban Space: integrating with the urban fabric without loosing the identity: Continuation of the city movement network through the building. Recognition of the city circle and the site configuration. Maximizing space utilization. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Different character for different contexts: can variations in form reflect different moods and ambience?
Different character for different contexts: can variations in form reflect different moods and ambience? © Shirish Beri & Associates
Working with our legacy: can we create a continuum with our heritage?
Working with our legacy: can we create a continuum with our heritage? © Shirish Beri & Associates
Transitional spaces: could we give due recognition to this twilight zone?
Transitional spaces: could we give due recognition to this twilight zone?: Spaces that prepare us to a new experience Spaces that act as a linkage between two activities Spaces that remove the abruptness and allow a smooth transition © Shirish Beri & Associates
Interactive spaces: can architecture help in bringing people closer?
Interactive spaces: can architecture help in bringing people closer?: Spaces that are eloquent and communicate Spaces that invite activity Spaces that bring about spontaneity © Shirish Beri & Associates
Exploring space defining elements: rediscovering the figure-ground relationship
Exploring space defining elements: rediscovering the figure-ground relationship: The architectural space need not be defined by walls, roofs, floors, doors and windows alone. Could it not include the sky, the trees and the hills beyond in it’s space defining vocabulary? © Shirish Beri & Associates
Relating to the site: maximizing the givenness of the situation
Relating to the site: maximizing the givenness of the situation: Before putting anything on site, should we not ask the site, what it would like to take? Our buildings have ultimately to belong to the site - more than they belong to the owner. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Re-reflecting: where am I today?
Re-reflecting: where am I today?: From the increasingly hectic professional activity, that sometimes falls into a rut, I took a month long meditative introspective retreat. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Choices along the way: can I affirm life inspite of it’s negative challenges?
Choices along the way: can I affirm life inspite of it’s negative challenges?: 1. Should I continue architecture despite deteriorating values in the profession ? 2. Could I involve myself in architectural education ? 3. Could I make myself available to various sharing, here and abroad ? 4. Should I retire and devote more time towards self discovery through meditation, poetry, painting, & more intense family life ? © Shirish Beri & Associates
Living by the sea: Isn’t the sea a great synthesizer?
Living by the sea: Isn’t the sea a great synthesizer? © Shirish Beri & Associates
The synthesis: could we synthesize our many understandings in life?
The synthesis: could we synthesize our many understandings in life?: The life’s journey from Kolhapur-Ahmedabad- Gaganbavda - Nadhavade to Devgad over the past three decades has been evolving a unified approach through various experiments and understandings. © Shirish Beri & Associates
The house at Devgad: could our designs be pro-active?
The house at Devgad: could our designs be pro-active? © Shirish Beri & Associates
An Eco-friendly response: house as an adaptive, living organism
An Eco-friendly response: house as an adaptive, living organism © Shirish Beri & Associates
Teaching is learning: can teachers be co-learners?
Teaching is learning: can teachers be co-learners?: Can a spatial design express the same content that a poem, music, painting, sculpture, dance or a drama can express? Let us not be afraid of trying out a new idea, a new design - just because you haven’t seen anything similar before or just because the teacher or client may not like it. Ask ourselves - why not? Isn’t the basic design concept the most important & essential starting point in the design process? Can we explore the innumerable 3D possibilities that lie hidden in a 2D plan? Shouldn’t our designs be value based to play their role as an agent of social change? Can we be attentive, aware, observant of all that happens around us - learn from these live experiences and translate this learning into an architectural expression? Aren’t we all unique in some way or the other ? Do not compare yourself with each other - but compare yourself with what you are today to what you were yesterday. Can we ‘let go’? let go of conditioned responses and look at everything afresh with a child like curiosity, abandon and joy? Could we allow our sub-conscious to surface and work for us to create a design that is so much subjective rather than objective? Shall we allow our designs to transcend the various ‘isms’ to relate & respond to our daily lives? © Shirish Beri & Associates
Designing for learning: can architecture enhance the opportunities for learning anywhere, anytime?
Designing for learning: can architecture enhance the opportunities for learning anywhere, anytime?: Interpretation of child’s psychology in the architectural language. Design as a catalyst in the learning process. Evolving an organic plan with the existing trees as the formative force. © Shirish Beri & Associates
Spaces for research: can a sense of order be brought to the organization of complex services?
Spaces for research: can a sense of order be brought to the organization of complex services? © Shirish Beri & Associates
Ancillary spaces: Imparting a sense of belonging to the campus
Ancillary spaces: Imparting a sense of belonging to the campus © Shirish Beri & Associates
Spaces for healing: How could architecture contribute to healthiness?
Spaces for healing: How could architecture contribute to healthiness?: The specialist As a child, when you were hurt I took you to a plant or a tree. You said “Sister, please heal me!” The plant would caress your wound - within seconds the pain would disappear a smile would appear upon your face. Now as a little grown up you need a doctor, the hospital ‘sister’, medicines. .... People around you have taught you that plants, sun, rain, wind & mud do not heal you. You need a doctor, a person branded and licenced by the society to heal you, to kill you © Shirish Beri & Associates
The spiritual happening: Life is a continuous process of self discovery - inward & outward
The spiritual happening: Life is a continuous process of self discovery - inward & outward: The spatial experience created in this design, located in any community open space in any town-city helps to serve as an antidote to the surrounding tense, restless competitive lifestyle. Simple but effective changes in the quality of space, experienced during a persons slow walk, act as catalysts in relaxing and opening up one’s mind. The design geometry uses the universal inward centripetal & outward centrifugal movements of a spiral, in a dynamic balance © Shirish Beri & Associates
Major ongoing projects: could we impart a humane quality to large scale projects?
Major ongoing projects: could we impart a humane quality to large scale projects? © Shirish Beri & Associates
New horizons: Integrations and affirmations
New horizons: Integrations and affirmations: A time for reconsideration of options again ! I have been thinking of limiting my professional commitments to devote full energies to: create a centre for creative flowering of individual potentials through process oriented networks. further explore and understand the spirit dimension in architecture - the immeasurable in the measurable. explore the form of holistic and value based architecture © Shirish Beri & Associates
The search continues...
The search continues...: My voice called me two nights ago to reveal itself in me, To manifest itself in me, to show me where those parallel rails met. It may call again when I am in deep slumber to wake me and set me on the move again; that I would continue moving again. That it would call me again when I am moving when I am awake... © Shirish Beri & Associates