I am about to complete a 2-year Master of Science in Architecture degree in History, Theory and Criticism from the University of Cincinnati. I have a 5-year Bachelor of Architecture degree from Jadavpur University, Kolkata in India. I am a licenced...More
I am about to complete a 2-year Master of Science in Architecture degree in History, Theory and Criticism from the University of Cincinnati. I have a 5-year Bachelor of Architecture degree from Jadavpur University, Kolkata in India. I am a licenced architect in India. I discoverd during my time in practice that I like to reflect and pursue history, theory research stemming of the situations I encountered at work. So, over the last two years, I have dwelled into academics who pursue similar interests, while getting trained in professional writing and research. i have worked as an Architect on sophisticated buildings in the rather backward states of Chattisgarh and Orissa, in central India, for corporate clients aspiring to a global standard. Seeing projects from beginning till the end gave me a realization of the problems of practice in a rapidly developing country. The level of precision in construction essential to acheiving the aesthetics of globalization seemed alien in a land where people were still predominantly living in mud houses with clay tile roofs. I was seeing the difference between India and Bharat (as the non-English speaking populace of our country refers to the nation state) represented in the architecture that is aspired to and eventully realized. The efforts of a rigorous practice in detailing specific to typology was lost on local labor still trying to catch up with constructio methods oblivious and unsympathetic to the demands of our western-trained eyes. I am a firsthand witness to how such projects eventually embody a certain violence of both a projected ideeology on traditional craft as well as in reciprocation in the form of resistance to formal exactitude. Questioning the received principles of modernism following rejection led to a critical study of the history of modern architecture and its evolution, especially in India. Coincidentally, I became involved in a series of design jobs both in developed urban scenarios and backward areas of the aforementioned states. Continued engagement in the latter and its contrasts to the developed context gave opportunities to explore a suitable solution, inspired of theoretical studies. The attempted ideas and languages of these designs are based on the primacy of materials and construction techniques, as much as it is mindful of the mason's abilities and acumen. Traditional values and local asprations form the labor's ideals, providing best practices in technique and choice of local materials, even as modernism's ratonality is welcomed amidst the chaos of transformation. Given the difficulties of a craft renewal in a globalized world driven by industrially produced materials and systems, the need for both the public and private players in the building industry to reframe an architectural practice that is foregrounded against building and inclusive cultural production is imperative. Drawn by this urgent need for a solution, my work has stayed focused on evolving a theory of practice aware of existing skills and building practices, especially in backward areas, where most of the building activity is located and modern architecture stays critically influential.
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Spaces and Flows
