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Journalism of Courage
Humanism is the principal element in design,8221; says the pioneer of the Modern school of thought in architecture, Padmashree Achyut Kanvinde. The eminent architect was invited to exchange his ideas and present a slide show of his memorable works. It was organised by FEED Forum of Exchange and Excellence in Design, a consortium of faculty members of the five city-based architecture colleges on the occasion of World Architecture Day on July 7, at the Balgandharva Rangmandir.
The patron of humanism elaborates, 8220;The humanist element initiates your sense of feelings for form and spaces. For example, when designing a museum functional aspects like materials, warehousing, and others have to be worked out. But the most vital function is to sustain the museum as a centre of learning. It has to be designed so that people can walk through it for an hour or so without getting bored. The continuity of human association should remain afterwards.8221;
This was also part of his advice to students of architecture who came in full force to attend the open interview conducted by architect Narendra Dengle on Wednesday at the venue. Dengle requested him to talk of his meeting with the famous French architect Le Corbusier, whose work Kanvinde admires immensely. 8220;I didn8217;t know French and he spoke broken English, but nevertheless I asked him about city planning because the space relationships in his designs was fabulous,8221;he says.
Speaking on democracy and architecture and why architects were criticised for not building for the masses. 8220;The democratic system has prevailed only in this century, earlier it was a dictatorship. It is the political will that activates an architect8217;s role. Unfortunately, most political planners have a superficial understanding of design. For instance Pune8217;s assets should be taken into consideration while planning, and the architects, the government officials and the city fathers should sit together to plan the town development,8221; he advises.
Kanvinde is also in favour of different curricula for Indian schools of architecture. He is opposed to a uniform pattern of education when the requirements of one region may not suit another. 8220;For example, Kashmir8217;s alpine regions, Rajasthan8217;s sands, the Eastern earthquake-prone regions demand different styles of structures. There should be more decentralisation,8221; he asserts. What does Kanvinde feel about Vastu Shastra which is fast gaining popularity? 8220;In an urbanised world, Vastu Shastra has limited practicality and it is not possible fulfill its requirements.
quot; If you have a plot with a great view in the west, and since Vastu says the west-facing areas are not healthy, how can one resolve this problem?8221; he says, once again revealing his humanist philosophy. And still true to humanism, the best designed cities of his choice are places where there is life. Kanvinde doesn8217;t believe in building for the sake of building or create spaces which will lose their human appeal with time. 8220;That is why Chandigarh has not done well. I find the older cities more purposeful. In Italy, Sienna and San Manjiano, Jaiselmer in India are self-contained cities,8221; he discloses.
