Tags:
Journalism of Courage
He frankly admits to being quite embarrassed at the release of the firstbook on him. Quiet Conversations: The Architecture of Kamu Iyer was releasedon November 3 by the Mohile Parikh Centre For The Visual Arts, ArchitectureForum. On the morning of the day of the release, he still had no idea whatthe book was all about. 8220;Frankly, I am quite curious,8221; he confessed,adding with a smile: 8220;It is nothing more than a glorified pamphletactually.8221;
Kamu Iyer graduated in architecture from Sir J J School of Art, Bombay, in1957. He studied under G B Mhatre and worked briefly in his office. Inpractice since 1960 with Architects8217; Combine, Iyer has built extensively inMumbai and all over India. A visiting lecturer in design at various schoolsof architecture in Mumbai, he also edited Buildings that Shaped Bombay:
Throughout the conversation, it is a mixture of modesty and honesty thatmakes Iyer so interesting. 8220;I started my work in the Fifties, at a timewhen there was a great degree of idealism. There was this movement in theWest too, as the war-ravaged buildings were being rebuilt.8221; He regards itas the beginning of modern architecture.
When you ask him about satisfaction as an artist, as an architect, Iyerconfesses that for him the fun lies in the process rather than the end.
8220;The way you look at a building, that is your expression, and that hasalways been my greatest satisfaction.8221; Talk about the Bombay of yesterdayand Kamu Iyer is quite a passionate man. For him, the city retains a beautyand a charm that few other cities in the world can match.
8220;It8217;s unique in the sense that it has had planned interventions yet it isnot a planned city like Chandigarh.8221; Planned cities, he feels, lackevolution, for things have just been transplanted and put there. They havenever gone through the process of growing, and hence lack vitality. 8220;Even acity like Jaipur, which is also a planned one, is unique for its layering,the growth of the last 300 years. However, in Bombay, even today you get tosee the growth patterns. You can still see the kohlis, the chawls and thenthe small modern apartments.8221; But as an architect, he finds old Delhicharming. 8220;It has its own character the shaded buildings and thedwellings of the joint family system. But the new read, planned city isjust too boring.8221;
Beauty? 8220;I don8217;t believe in applying make-up to achieve beauty. Beauty hasto arise as a result of the process. Gel details in a building, the restfollows.8221; However, change is inevitable, with industries booming and spacegetting less all the while. 8220;But what I don8217;t like about modern buildingsis that they appear to be self-conscious. Almost as if ideas have beentransplanted from here and there.8221; But more than himself, it is aboutanother man that he would rather talk. G B Mhatre. 8220;I feel it is veryimportant to know about him. Because he was a very prolific artist, with atremendous output. I wouldn8217;t say that he has been ignored, but then he wasnever commercially successful. And he was never given the kind ofrecognition he deserved. He couldn8217;t even afford a house of his own. Yet, henever compromised on personal and professional integrity, which is verydifficult.8221;
Iyer is a little quiet as he thinks before saying, 8220;Mhatre had a wonderfulsense of proportion. His works were actually acts of love. And it isimportant for people, especially in Bombay, to imbibe what his work meantand what he gave this city.8221; Some of the projects that Mhatre worked onwere the Baroda House, Rao House, Bank of India and the B K Shah House.
As the conversation flows, it is evident that for Kamu Iyer it was a work oflove, for architecture and for Mhatre, that prompted the book and the hugeeffort that went into writing and researching it. The title of the bookcouldn8217;t have been more apt. For, he is a man who definitely prefers thequietness of his work over the sound of those passing by.
