From Pune to Ahmedabad, via Paris

When I returned from Paris (1956) to work on Le Corbusier’s buildings, I would hear surprised comments on exposed concrete buildings. People were not aware that Corbusier was inspired by Indian miniature paintings with its terraces, verandahs and semi-open spaces. British bungalows too had large overhangs and verandahs. Old Ahmedabad and Mylapore houses have courtyards and terraces. But with economic pressures, efficiency and lifestyle, these aspects have been forgotten. How does one look at the present, its innovations, new technologies and ancient knowledge? One needs courage to break rules to discover what’s apt. 

The School of Architecture

When I started the School of Architecture in Ahmedabad (1962), the idea was to question these aspects. We evolved a process suited to our ethos, climate, people and circumstances. For instance, every festival is celebrated and anticipated as well. It is a process of sarjan and visarjan, a cycle of creation, dissolution and renewal. Our programme had anthropology, dance, music, theatre, and history. We made models to understand the nuances of economy, structure, light and space. We learnt from ancient cities. I would ask students to speak in their mother tongue. It creates a deep-rooted understanding. Progress is not to imitate, but to discover.

We create our own new reality

We have the freedom to question and challenge reality. That’s how most of my projects have emerged. We are involved in creating city plans, institutions, urban design, and landscape as one holistic process. It explores time, my concerns, sensibilities (like Navarasas), sustainability and evolution. The early works were frugal, brick and concrete buildings, a study of services. Then I explored growth and mutation. I studied ancient architecture of cities like Fatehpur Sikri, Madurai, Srirangam and Jaipur. I established Vastu-Shilpa, which explores environmental design and is a collaborative practice, with architects of different age groups (from 22 to 88). We work with net-zero energy technologies, to create exciting spaces with a new expression, yet connected to ancient principles.

I designed my home with the garden as an extension of living. Flexible spaces can be used in infinite ways. Gathering, informality and sharing is the basis of designing a home. My design studio, Sangath, is like a village, with trees, steps, vaults and water bodies. It does not look like a conventional office. The Amdavad-nu-Gufa is like a mythical object with undulating floors, walls and forest of columns. I marvel at the indescribable forces of nature.

Housing design and mutation

When I landed in Ahmedabad, I rented a house in a co-operative society, which had ground floor structures. They had a verandah, room, kitchen, courtyard and a staircase outside. Residents could add or extend their homes. I thought this is the right way to design homes. The size of a family increases or decreases and hence the house must be able to mutate. From my early housing projects, this was the underlying theme. In Aranya (Indore), we evolved incremental housing with mixed groups. Housing should express our aspirations.

Education institutions

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) needed incremental growth and change in functions over time. Corridors are places of exchange and learning as much as classrooms. Nature comes in and diffuses the distinction between inside-outside. There has to be time to reflect, space to reflect and moments of surprise too!

Future cities

We are growing in population, new technology, changing incomes, economy. Rural areas too are rapidly changing. We need more social institutions. What happens to the family, children, elderly, our time and energy? Sustainable cities need to be in clusters, diverse and integrated, self-contained biologically, sustaining and ecological. They cannot sprawl indiscriminately. The city is a large home and the home is a small city. When I designed Khargar (Navi Mumbai), Vidhyadhar Nagar (Jaipur) and Bhadra Plaza (Ahmedabad), it was to celebrate life in our cities.

Harnessing the intangible

Life is full of unexpected events, which do not fit into the norm. Architecture is a living energy-force that constantly evolves, taking deeper roots responding to the ecosystem. My life has been a journey with different kinds of experiences. I do not like rigid rules. Architecture should express diversity and the immeasurable. There are infinite ways of looking at things, infinite ways to enjoy and infinite ways to create. You create your own reality. My reality is about diversity and heterogeneous homogeneity. Life is intangible.