Issuu

` 200 MUMBAI TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES INCLUDING COVER 92 INDIAN ARCHITECT& BUILDER EXPLORE

APRIL 2016

VOL 29 (8)

“I really believe in the idea FOCUS
of the future.” 361o Conference 2016,
‘Architecture & The City’
- Zaha Hadid(1950-2016) IN CONVERSATION
Tribute in IA&B May 2016 issue.
I M Kadri
ARCHITECTURE
Jindal Vidya Mandir, Ratnagiri

EXPLORE VOL 29 (8) | APRIL 2016 | www.iabforum.com

RNI REGISTRATION NO. 46976/87, ISSN 0971-5509
INDIAN ARCHITECT AND BUILDER

28 CURRENT Chairman: Jasu Shah
The latest news, events and competitions in architecture and design Printer, Publisher & Editor: Maulik Jasubhai Shah
from India and abroad. Chief Executive Officer: Hemant Shetty
Editorial: Meghna Mehta, Divya Pai
30 PRODUCTS
Information of state-of-art products, from across the globe, which are Email: [email protected]
slick, contemporary and innovation. Design Team: Mansi Chikani, Kenneth Menezes
Subscription: Dilip Parab, Prakash Powar
32 IN CONVERSATION Production Team: V Raj Misquitta (Head), Prakash Nerkar, Arun Madye
An Eloquent Balance Between Traditional And Contemporary Head Office:
Practices JMPL, Taj Building, 3rd Floor, 210, Dr D N Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001.
In conversation with IA&B, I M Kadri speaks about his early influences Tel: + 91-22-4037 3636, Fax: +91-22-4037 3635
and the architectural journey of I M Kadri Architects. SALES
Brand Manager: Sudhanshu Nagar
38 ARCHITECTURE Email: [email protected]
Educational nucleus in a natural setting MARKETING TEAM & OFFICES
Designed by I M Kadri Architects, the Jindal Vidya Mandir creates a Mumbai
collective learning experience through a climate responsive structure Parvez Memon
within a placid environment. Taj Building, 3rd Floor, 210, Dr D N Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001.
Tel: + 91-22-4037 3636, Fax: +91-22-4037 3635
46 361 DEGREE CONFERENCE 2016 Email: [email protected]
Architecture and the City Delhi: Suman Kumar
Exploration and meeting of ideas through practices seen from all over 803, Chiranjeev Tower, No 43, Nehru Place, New Delhi – 110 019
the world, 361 Degree Conference 2016 analyse-synthesis-evaluate the Tel: +91 11 2623 5332, Fax: 011 2642 7404
subjects for professionals and student participants. Email: [email protected]
Bengaluru / Hyderabad / Gujarat: Sudhanshu Nagar
48 POST EVENT Mobile: +91 9833104834, Email: [email protected]
An overveiw of 361 Degree Conference 2016, which was held at the Chennai / Coimbatore: Princebel M
Nehru Centre in Mumbai on 17th and 18th February 2016. Mobile: +91 9444728035, +91 9823410712,
Email: [email protected]
LECTURE SYNOPSES Kolkata: Sudhanshu Nagar
54 Toyo Ito, Toyo Ito & Associates, Japan Mobile: +91 9833104834, Email: [email protected]
58 Sir Peter Cook, CRAB, UK Pune: Parvez Memon
62 Scot Horst, USGBC, USA Mobile: +91 9769758712, Email: [email protected]
64 Yann Follian, WY-TO, Singapore
66 Chitra Vishwanath, BIOME, India ERRATUM
68 Sanjay Puri, Sanjay Puri Architects, India Article ‘In Conversation with Aniket Bhagwat’ in the January 2016 issue of IA&B: courtesy
70 Paolo Matteuzzi, Zaha Hadid Architects, UK ‘Terrace Alive’ magazine, an initiative of Dr.Fixit - Pidilite Industries with IA&B.
72 James Law, Cybertecture, Hong Kong Printed & Published by Maulik Jasubhai Shah on behalf of Jasubhai Media Pvt Ltd
74 Stephane Paumier, SPA, India (JMPL), 26, Maker Chamber VI, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021.
76 Ton Venhoeven, Venhoeven CS, Netherlands Printed at The Great Art Printers, 25, S A Brelvi Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 and Published
78 Eugene Pandala, India from Mumbai - 3rd Floor, Taj Building, 210, Dr D N Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001.
80 Christopher Benninger, CCBA, India Editor: Maulik Jasubhai Shah, 26, Maker Chamber VI, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021.
Indian Architect & Builder: (ISSN 0971-5509), RNI No 46976/87, is a JMPL monthly
82 EPILOGUE publication. Reproduction in any manner, in whole or part, in English or any other
Architecture in coherence with the city - an issue or a resolve ? language is strictly prohibited. We welcome articles, but do not accept responsibility for
contributions lost in the mail.
84 SPACE FRAMES
Craft - An Eternal Possession
A photo essay portraying a rich cultural heritage preserved and refined
with time in the blissful land of Uttarakhand.

Cover Image: © Iwan Baan and Zaha Hadid Architects

32

An eloquent balance between
traditional and contemporary practices

In conversation with IA&B, IM Kadri speaks about his early influences, his architectural
journey and finally the recent publication on his works.

Text and Images : courtesy I M Kadri Architects

Indian Architect & Builder - April 2016

37

↑

↑Jivan and Maneck. ↑Haveli House.

of a verandah within the home creates urban courtyards transported client’s property or possession. As every client must take pride in the
from the old architecture of Ahmedabad. buildings that I have designed for them, I reinvent and innovate in
every one of my projects.
IA&B: Clients play an important role in anchoring the growth
of an architecture firm to support its beliefs and philosophies. IA&B: Lastly, we believe you are launching a book on your wide
How did you gain the support of your esteemed clients? range of works. Could you tell us a bit about the monograph,
IMK: I’ll tell you about one of my clients - it all began with a design “The Architecture of I M Kadri”?
competition for the TATA Chemicals office at Bombay House. All IMK: It is after long that we have released the book ‘The Architecture
other architects had proposed, senior officers to be seated alongside of I M Kadri’. The book is authored by theorist Kaiwan Mehta. When
the windows whilst the staff was made to be seated deeper inside. I we began writing I did not know what to expect since it is a critical
reversed the planning – I proposed that all the staff be alongside the biography. But surprisingly, the book has turned out beautifully.
windows and senior officers be located in the interiors of the office. On
seeing my proposed design, the then Manager at TATAs called me and It is not just a portfolio of works but a thematic and historical analysis
said ‘I like you’. I was nervous. Turned out he was extremely happy with of the architect’s oeuvre. Along with being a monograph, it traces
my design as it aligned with his philosophy of uplifting the workforce. the architectural history of India in the decades post-independence
That was the beginning of a new relationship with the house of TATAs. through reflections on my works.
Following this, I got the opportunity to work on several projects with the
TATA’s including the TATA Chemicals Township at Babrala. The book has a lot of archival material. Axonometric views that
were developed to determine form and proportions of buildings and
An aspect of my work that I have consistantly maintained over the 200 meticulously done ornamental details at that time are all showcased
projects I have designed is that I never repeat my designs. I charge a in the form of hand drawings. The book has a Foreword by architecture
hefty fee from my client and I then believe that my buildings are my historian and professor of architecture theory, Peter Scriver.

Indian Architect & Builder - April 2016

54

TOYO ITO

Redefining Boundaries of Architecture

Toyo Ito is considered one of the world’s most influential
architects. His potential to explore new forms to address
the private and public life of an individual were some
of the key aspects of his seminal projects such as the
Sendia Mediatheque, Tama Art University Library, TOD’s
Omotesando Building and many more, which eventually led
him to win the Pritzker Prize in 2013.

Day 1, Lecture Synopsis: Meghna Mehta
Images: courtesy Archin Photo and Toyo Ito & Associates.

Initiative for Tomorrow’s architecture
Every year, regional cities, old dwellings and historical areas are destroyed and redeveloped
into new skyscrapers. Every building is a grid becoming neutral and homogenous. In skyscraper
apartments, it is separated from the outside environment. Each unit is identical, unattached to
its surroundings belonging to any floor rise or region. Not only the architecture, but even the
people have today, become impersonal and identical.

An interesting idea can be, to understand, how one changes the boundaries of architecture.
Modernist architecture clearly divided the inside and the outside. Toyo Ito’s architecture
attempts to redefine this rigid boundary. Sometimes, amalgamating the exterior natural
environment within the built, in other cases, the natural light or air ventilates through the
building, while occasionally creating system networks.

The Boundary
In contemporary buildings, the structure is disconnected from the outside due to the boundary,
the walls and the roofs. In olden days, Asian buildings had transitionary spaces from outside to

Asian Architecture
and cities have
inherited the culture
of integrating with
nature and are opened
to nature.

© CapitaLand

↑CapitaGreen.

Indian Architect & Builder - April 2016

55

© National Taichung Theater

↑National Taichung Theater, Taiwan.

© National Taichung Theater © Miyagi Prefecture Sightseeing Section
Indian Architect & Builder - April 2016
↑National Taichung Theater, Taiwan. ↑Sendai Mediatheque.

58

SIR PETER COOK

Dreaming Reality

One of the founding members of Archigram, the avant-garde
futurist architecture group of the 1960s, Sir Peter Cook, the
British architect, professor, and writer has been a pivotal
figure within the global architectural world. His significant
works are the Art Museum in Graz, Austria (Kunsthaus) has
brought his radical ideas on technology to the world. Sir
Peter Cook and other members of Archigram were awarded
the Royal Gold Medal by the RIBA in 2004.

Day 2, Lecture Synopsis: Meghna Mehta
Images: courtesy Archin Photo and CRAB studio

Architects can be understood as artists and dreamers while in the past they were considered You have a germ of an
as individual professionals. The architects of the past dreamed of being called artists. Le idea, you fabricate it
Corbusier is known to have himself called an artist as opposed to an architect. Today, the to a certain degree and
dreamers and drawers are part of the game, the encouragement can be seen in the form of then you log the bit
digitisation of processes where students dream and draw using the robots. For all the dull that was fabricated
architecture being taught today, many prefer to teach “What not to do, What not to try. Where and you turn it
not to go. Who not to read.”, because according to some, dreams are not meant to be realised. back on itself and
Dreams can be old dreams, dreams that might be realised, might not be realised relating reconsider the idea
directly to the tangible nature of things. and move it forward,
a roll over between the
Metamorphosis dream and the reality
The drawing of the Plugin city 1965 very often being misinterpreted, is an interpretation of and back again.
what happened to a little old village if converted into a city, hoping to bring the idea of the
nature of ‘Internationalism in architecture’. Physical Metamorphosis is an extension of an idea
or a dream, resulting into the transformation into a built structure which starts with the form
and is then left to be in operation. The accomplishment of the success of such an idea is when
the building takes over the patina of time, the vegetation starts to grow and the wood does not
remain pristine achieving a natural evolution.

The evolutionary process of an idea can be scribbled through or it can be an idea for an
illustration for a magazine. The metamorphosis of an idea lies in the process from its
conceptualisation to its fabrication to when it is rolled back and forth when it is reconsidered
many times to ultimately reach its realisation.

Slithering, Flying, Melting and Overgrowth
Philosophies of various styles of architecture have developed through time and some also into
‘isms’, due to the various interpretations defining models of space, form, order and design. The
notions of ‘slithering’, ‘flying’, ‘melting’ and the idea of ‘overgrowth’ are such ideas developed
through the thoughts and philosophies developed through the drawings and concepts imagined,
dreamed and evolved over many years.

Slithering could mean a gliding or sliding form around a pre-existent building or a bicycle
path, which becomes an animator, gliding through a student campus. It can be comprehended
as the form of the building or the idea of ‘slithering’ and translucency used together in a

Indian Architect & Builder - April 2016

59
© Ronald Kreimel
↑The Hidey-Hole seen at the Department of Law and Central Administration,
Vienna university of Business and Economics

© Peter Cook © Richard Bryant

↑Montreal Tower, 1963. ↑Drawing Studio, Arts University Bournemouth.

structure. The concept of ‘flying’ can be regarded through its many mediums. Some of the key
drawings of the 20th century architects, dream of using the idea ‘flying’ or ‘leaping’ out through
marvellous engineering techniques.

The concept of ‘Melting’ can be understood as an idea of the structure merging with the
ground. Interesting during developments, some conditions are ambiguous vegetation but
almost techtonic. The possibility is that patterns other than the repetitive rectilinear we are
forced into, can be designed. The layers do not have to be only vegetation. They can be
tectonic, made of machine origin parts, they can be drifted too.

The concept of The Three dimensional City is an awareness of the city which exists in our
immediate surroundings as a composition of multiple layers collating together in various ways.
A series of layers put together create a layered ‘pudding’ in the city is usually encompassed
and percolated. Architects extract these concepts into the design through verticality and the
idea of incorporating elements of three dimensions in their designs through layers; physical,
functional or emotive.

The Hidey-Hole
Inspired from the English tradition of Landscaping of strange hidden or secret places found
in the ground, the dream of the ‘hidey hole’ can be seen as innovative idea which can be the
need or conscious effort to deliberate escape or the challenge to insert small things within

Indian Architect & Builder - April 2016

60 © Peter Bennetts
↑Abedian School of Architecture, Bond University, Australia.

© CRAB Studio

↑Unique windows slithering in the Kunsthaus Graz building in Austria. ↑Sir Peter Cook’s sketches.

Indian Architect & Builder - April 2016

84

Craft - An Eternal Possession

A photo essay portraying a rich cultural heritage preserved
and refined with time in the blissful land of Uttarakhand.

Text: Divya Pai
Curated by: Dr Deepak John Matthew
Photographs: courtesy Ankana Sen

I ndia, with its diversity in art and crafts, influenced by every region’s own culture and
traditions is a collection of reserve in itself. Kumaon Region in Uttarakhand is one such land
of distinct ethos cultivated through folklore that defines it.
The significance and role of crafts still exists even after its social transformation. Local people
nurtured various forms of customs and beliefs, inspired by the natural splendor like - the lush
green environment, the clear sky, snow covered mountains and flowing rivers. The environment
has the power to provide a poetic touch to the people forwarding traditions and folkways to
carry on their originality, generationally. Throughout centuries, crafts have been embedded as
a culture and tradition within rural communities. They are a constant source of inspiration for
contemporary designers and the subject of global exhibitions representing India.
Lives of communities are bonded in a special relation of harmony between their people, nature
and creativity; while the raw form of civilisation can be easily seen in their art. To preserve
them and keep them alive by adapting them into contemporary methods is very essential.
Whether it would be possible to contest this invasion or not, it would be certainly possible
to preserve the memory of these rich cultural traditions and customs before they vanish from
our sight.

Indian Architect & Builder - April 2016

90

Ankana Sen Dr Deepak John Mathew

Ankana Sen is doing her PhD in photography at Dr Mathew was Head of Photography Department till 2013 and Founder of
IIT Hyderabad. She has a Masters in Photography the Photography Design Department at NID (National Institute of Design).
from NID Ahmedabad and UCA, Farnham, UK. She Currently he is working as an associate professor in the Design Department at
is from Uttaranchal, Dehradun. She believes the IIT (Indian Institute of Technology). Dr Mathew has developed the curriculum
connotation between human culture images is and designed the first post graduate Dual Master level programme in
very significant in narrating history and she uses Photography Design in India. With an experience spanning over eighteen years
it avidly, as a tool, to convey her ideas. Presently, in photography, painting and graphics, he has published several papers and
she is working on a research that is based on Photographic History of Indian conducted workshops on photography worldwide. Dr Mathew has taught as
Himalayas. As Himalayas have always been portrayed as picturesque, scenic visiting professor at many institutes in India, New Zealand and UK.
or romantic in pictures she is trying to find out and bring back the lost culture
through visuals. Deepak John Mathew’s Website: http://djmphotography.in/

Space Frames investigates issues of architecture and environment through the
medium of photography. To contribute, write to us at [email protected] or to the
curator Dr Mathew at [email protected].

Indian Architect & Builder - April 2016