KS

The known Indian English writer Kushwant Singh position in public domain would remain unoccupied even if he had departed at 150. He is known as a writer in slightly formal way, but would more formally known as editor and journalist. However he never claimed to remain clamped in formality box because he has attained his image through aggressive writing on social, cultural habits and customs of our society with wit imagination and nascent promise.

In less formal sense he was a not a critical writer but could bring essence in his powerful wit and narratives. The book title “The Sex, Scotch & Scholarship” intended to portray the contradictory relic of our values and institutions with sarcasm and imaginary stories. On other side he could write wit on his own and community without any encumbrance or religious historical treatise.

A proud shikh, but staunch satirist and blatantly outspoken. He could relentlessly criticize the policy on golden temple attack or react by returning the highest citizen award. These are perhaps the imagination of  freewill writer, who believed that free to react, free to democratize, free to renounce. He supported the emergency but reacted sharply on policy of communal politics.

He remained subservient to Illustrated Weekly for many years, but never did he once change his opinion or reaction on anything that once he reacted upon. As matter of fact he gave new lease life to the magazine and demonstrated that how journalism can be instrumental in setting up democratic space. He engaged the various opinions on one issues, in spite of being varied and opposite, by various groups and class. 

He would make mockery of himself by stating that if one sends post card stating address ..KS, Bastard, India… I am sure I would get it without delay…. His important publications were “ Train to Pakistan” & History of Sikhs”, of course the last four line that he wrote on himself few years back” Thank lord, he is dead, this sun of a gun”.  Perhaps a parody & tribute to Sardar with smile.

KRVIA: FOURTH YEAR JURY

The fourth year jury was refreshing from the point of view of change of scale of projects. It enables to comprehend the contextual complexity,  micro-urbanism & resultant architecture. After reviewing the 10 presentation it was perhahps clear that architecture can not be afforded to get relegated to an object anymore. The distinction between regional and modern are always at conflict somehow. The resolution of both may be an ideal conditions. The regional is an condition that is embedded in our context and modernism that needs to be dealt with. I think we are exactly doing the reverse: modernism is assumed to be embedded and imagined that regional that we can deal with. The resultant manifestation is not unknown but our inquiry is still seems to be strangely obscured & contaminated with imagined elsewhereness.

The two projects were worthy of note, one with the clear diagram of reinforcing the main road axis and other axis  align with jetty. The resultant form was linear for functional articulation dotted with public spaces. The project had tremendous clarity and had clean urban gesture.

The second project was re-adavptive use of industrial sheds. The alignment of ramp with open space and connection of two old sheds with wrapped movement system, programmatic shelf inserted within are clear indication that architecture with small "a" seeking transition in context. The project demonstrated skill and spatial qualities. 

The quality architecture always has few properties and no matter where, 

Architecture as simple diagram representing context.

The depth of facade

The articulated perforation and spaces

The articulation of wall and roof.

The stylistic overlaying of distinct imagery and programmatic intervention does not amount to a progressive synthesis of contemporary condition of our architecture and cities.

COROLLARY HOUSE

The house is an expression of self imagination of mended undefined reality. The view that imagined to be framed by the window is a corollary to the desired views. The views and viewed are hinged on subconscious activity of mind. The view changes with intense distraction of what is viewed, the existence of window oscillates in ideality. The architecture of house is a subject of window whose existence depends on view and viewed. The subject of architecture and object of window is dichotomy of corollary house. The door that hinged in time, opens in anticipation, the window that frames the unframed in seeking ideality, forms a propelling device that drives the imagination of child. Which in turn pushing emotional and psychological depths of self and space to splintered corollary process.

The framed and frame of stilted space, seamless ground, bridging the intimacy of open and close is an outrageous imagination of child whose aspiration is to write manuscripts of delightful living space. The pilotis defies the corollary of house but subconscious mind builds its subjective truth in fleeting and uncontrollable world. The dream sequence of seamless space and elevated reality continues to be a constructed & forming an enduring image.

The idea of view and viewed continues to be overpowering idea of purity and realism. The chaotic existence brings up sudden calmness and idea of space looses in boundary. The hereness and thereness brings rare freshness to the teen’s imaginations who constantly struggled for its physical space existence. The directness of child attention is fused in passionate spatiality of endlessness. The space brings the object of thereness and subject of hereness, morphed into a strange relation of less is more. The corollary house is strange blend of seamless ground plane and boundless space.

The view and viewed corollary is an invasive percept of framed and frame. The struggles of writing and reading bring the dynamism of uncontaminated space construct. The views and viewed properties of window is subverted and forcing conscious mind move into the realm of orderlessness and unaesthetic corollary. The house determined to proclaim its poetic and formal independence. The corollary house is in state of confused tectonics yet excited with courage of furious motion.

The seamlessness and frame/ framed relation come to complete halt at edge. The clamped framed and frames are unprecedently morphed with time. The precision of time is encompassing the formal invention of house, weathering defines the character of stoicness and space limits folds in itself. The dream sequence of child begins to dwell on dematerialization of self and object. The seamlessness and bounded less condition morphed into the new reality of framed and frame of unseen. The corollary house continues to build as an assemblage of images in a peculiarly silent domain of shadowless world.

ABANDONED ARCHITECTURE

A local train journey reveals different city altogether. It is quite surprising to witness the tidal wave of development surfacing in the horizon while blocks of building remain dilapidated in most of the cases. The stretch between Andheri to Goregaon, from Kandivali till Bhayander, once can clearly imagined the the diverse as well as conflicting social and cultural corollary. The new economic restructuring has resulted in contradictory condition of margin peripherals and dominant centers.

 The city appears clearly as landscape of margins and dominance across the horizon. The rail journey portrays the valuable account of unaccounted part of our city. The profit and investment aspiration is an archetypal urban culture arising from imagined globalizing process.   Such part of marginal city is depriving from such imagined global processes and left over visual characteristic of blocks delineates the contrived notation of being abandoned.

Along the tracks is also the wealth of railway architecture, with immense architectural characteristics, subscribing the wonderful weathering of time. The foot over bridges, railway signal cabins, guard office block, load bearing bridges, railway stations are some of the artifacts of railways, demonstrating the rare freshness of engineering domain of architecture. 

The landscape of city through railway offers the complete new dimensions of overlaps of ideas intertwines of knowledge, intersection of aspirational path, amounting to be a complete city of buildings, tainted with destined texture and engraved in imagination of being abandoned. 

STEP WELLS

The ancient scripture on architecture prescribes the symbiotic relation of water and buildings & the  imagination of such (non) building type always historically preoccupied with presence of shrine prominence. The profound belief of symbiotic relation of water and nature found its resolution in architecture in various part of India namely temple and kund. Perhaps the ritual significance also allowed the elaboration of built (non) object with intricate detailing almost analogous to festivity adding it to     simple event & pleasure.

The most significance typology of such celebration and festivity are step wells. It is indeed intriguing that such typology was ever visualized as an architecture marvel. Some of the step wells were built next to the shrine while some of them built in isolation. This aspect also brings the questions that, was the typology extracted from symbiotic relation and made it to be a public architecture. The sacredness of this water shrines (monument) are evident from the various types of rituals that were performed on the edge of the wells. The purpose may be mythical but the main function of step wells almost stating the scarcity of water in the dry and arid region. But the typology almost became the integral part of daily life, may it be social or ritual, and that perhaps brings the question of architecture and didactic intent. The step well typology were also connected to the trade and ceremonial route which were subsequently used be next generation of ruler.

Historically the presence of step wells prominence is traced in myth and epic stories that revolves around. As in one of the local ode/ folk song (5^th standard Guajarati Text Book) narrating the sacrificial of newly married couple in step wells,  step by step descending down into the well, a mythical homage to water body and promise for abundant water resource for coming years.

 

POLITICAL JAMBOREE

The pre-election movement to implement Jan-lokpal Bill had very clear manifesto that it should  not amount to a gateway to main stream politics. The intent had mass appeal but it could not curtail or restrained its political aspiration. Now its ruling party of Union Territory and capital city. The absence of stalwart of the movement during the oath ceremony was clear hint to those who understand main stream politics. 

The vanguard of Jan-Lokpal movement has vertical crack in terms of its ideological root. This has been very evident in various occasions and event. But unfortunately the common voters perception are embedded in heroism out of ordinary like Hindi cinema. It was also very clear in the original agenda that its not a political movement but mass awareness towards righteous paradigmatic shift. It never had any aspiration towards formation of political party and a formal political platform. The movement not only limited to the nation but world over took note of that euphoria. The most unfortunate outcome was the formation of political party on en-cashing the mass appeal. Its quite ordinary politics of mediocre minds. It went further into regional politics limited to the city and capturing the burning issues and corruption of ruling party then.

Imagine the movement was not successful originally and had not attain the media attention than would it be possible to have such acceptance of newly married political party on one fine day and also as ruling party of the union territory. Its a question that the think tank of media need to address. The pre-poll promises are also executed without slightest understanding on the operative economics. Its really hilarious that the pre-poll agenda was to fight against the corruption of ruling party and post-poll alliance are with the same party makes it very ordinary brew. Suddenly the nation wide agenda were focused into a state agenda is not politics. 

The exiting party know it well that these promises are only focused on center election and the honeymoon period is only three months. The supporting party is also stuck with the alignment because neither they can withdraw due to fear of public dissent on not support on cost reduction nor they can support as it will affect the mind set of people that there is no will to address the real issues. The issues that new party could resolve in few days. 

The tarvelling by metro & auto rikshaw to mantralay is pure gimmick and shall reveal its routing ordinary soon. But it really raises the issue that are we really competent enough to exercise the democratic right amounting to vote? or its another epic heroism.....?

KRVIA MASTER'S THESIS-2012 BATCH

The master thesis work was presented to the external jury on 3rd December 2013. The overall work appears to be slightly notch above its predecessor. Especially the research work has set the fresh standard and quality of representation has improved. The thesis work by Anuja, Shikha, Purva, Rutuja are noteworthy from the point of view of consistency, commitment and quality of research. The design position is still a weak link to the research work. The conservation work has tremendously improved and quality of graphics and legibility of drawings seems far more disciplined. 

Lets hope that the 2014 graduating batch carry forward the analytical format to imaginative plane.