Ever imagined how the world would change around a person who just got the ability to see? Everything he/she imagined to be, would multiply a million folds and one would, without a doubt find a million more minute details to observe. The blue skies above would seem one with the sea below, almost limitless. The clock tower that stood in the square would seem to be as tall as the mahogany across, the understanding of visually measuring heights and lengths would all slowly start to kick in.
The person would start to notice things that one never thought existed. It is only when you’re exposed to the opportunities of discovering and through that, learning, that one realizes the infinite possibilities, and perceives the depth in every creation, by man or nature. How people generally perceive their immediate surroundings or even circumstances depends a lot on what’s been imbibed into his/her system, unaware of how perceptions are ever-evolving. But these perceptions could change with the additional dimensions of curated architectural spaces or even geometrically absolute natural creations.
Nature Of Everything
Architecture has changed my perspective in not only how I view merely built structures around, but the minute details of everyday mundane lives, how it shapes our day, how there is design in everything. Architecture has made me observe how beautifully the trees stand out against the otherwise lifeless concrete jungles. How elegantly a precisely weaved cane pendant sheds its light over my cup of tea as I sit in this theatre listening to soulful music in the background. Architecture much like music fills you in and opens you up to possibilities you wouldn’t know of otherwise.
The patterns that replicate themselves effortlessly in nature such as the veins of leaves, the flowers opening up to be exact clones of its families, and even the clustered pentagons that spread themselves in the case of honeycombs. It seems to be second nature to humans that these natural forms could be studied and replicated since they exhibit ultimate, unaltered forms of geometric brilliance. Contradicting myself, this field has also taught me how much life a structure can have in itself, how oblivious we are to its character, and how many stories every structure carries within itself, every wall with chipping paint, tables with coffee cup marks, creaking of the wooden floors to the rhythm of raindrops as it falls off the edge of the clay tiled roof in my ‘tharavaad’ in Kerala.
A Spark to Ember Fascination
Before architecture hit me, the world seemed a lot less intriguing. Grey was just color between black and white and not a million shades in between, measuring the heights of buildings that stood so tall, it almost touched the sky or simply that of a door never seemed possible with the naked eye. Designing a building meant getting the plans done right and how it presents itself to the world but never did it ever mean going through analyzing volumes, the scale, the aesthetics, the experience, the views, the story behind every brick and stone, and the not to forget the number of working drawings that only began to exist after diving in deep into this field of architecture. From tables and chairs to towers and bridges, there’s not a lot that Architecture doesn’t spread its web of network on. A person who’s had even a tinge of Architectural exposure would start to see things differently. Not that by daybreak, he’d have a supercomputer in his brain to analyze the immediate environment, but there’s a start in the change of perception, a thought process to notice the hidden intricate beauty of Architectural creations and perhaps even an attempt to replicate.
More than it Meets the Eye
Buildings that seem to touch the sky never really caught my curiosity, they never did appeal to me. These structures were the only ones that lacked any inspiration to stand out or make a difference, the ones that would rise till it tears through a crow’s airstrip carrying as many people as it could. But others behaved differently or rather were created differently. Auditoriums and theatres were just lined with fluffy stuff in a pattern before acoustics was introduced. The sound-absorbing materials that covered the walls didn’t look so absurd anymore and seemed to have a reason for existing. All the minute things that didn’t catch my eye before suddenly started taking shape and making sense.
Observation through Architectural instincts and thanks to the curriculum, ingenious designs were drawn to my eyes such as the Kanchenjunga by Charles Correa, Bosco Verticale in Milan, and the Park Royal by Woha Architects which redefine the long lost meaning of skyscrapers or high rise buildings. F.L Wright, M.V Rohe, Tadao Ando, Moshe Safdie are some of the very few designers among a dozen who capture the curiosity and attention of those who happen to lay their eyes on the structure and their meanings.
Placemaking Perspective
Before diving deep into the architectural world, I did not seek to identify what makes our place of residence home, the mental imagery that is created, and what binds us to some places. The rusted signboard on the sidewalk, the newly placed bench across the street, the line of trees that were equally spaced except one, are some of the things that make up your mental imagery leading to a place you recognize. These could be encrypted through urban design and place-making, and plays a big part in making people identify themselves to their surroundings.
The inner feeling to critique a space, or an urge to want changes to what’s right in front, that according to your architectural brain could maybe reform how spaces interact with the built form, and even how people could be entertained to be more social or rather find their comfort zone. The belief that architecture can affect lives in simple ways, that built or unbuilt can cause a ripple effect on the psychologies of the users. Another thought that got implanted through architectural learning was that, no matter how big the impact of built surroundings is, the ability of nature to weave its magic onto the designed space is something that should never be taken for granted. To protect it is to protect ourselves, to safeguard our futures.
