Inspired By The Dung Beetle

Bangalore-based Mistry Architectsdesign an auditorium, in sync with the local ecosystemand culture, at the campus of AgastyaInternational Foundation, at Guddivanka, Andhra Pradesh.

- Brinda Gill

We went to the site several times and many aspects of it inspired us,’ says architect Sandeep Umapathy of the visits of the design team of Bangalore-based Mistry Architects to the campus of Agastya International Foundation, a non-profit educational trust, for designing and constructing an auditorium at the site. The campus, set in 172 acres of undulating terrain amongst the rolling hills of Guddivanka, Chittor district, in Andhra Pradesh, has been developed by the foundation with an aim to spark curiosity, nurture creativity, build confidence, transform and stimulate the thinking of economically disadvantaged children by giving them innovative science education, project-based and peer-to-peer learning.

All Sites Have Stories

The site for the auditorium project was located between two valleys that dropped down from north to south by about twenty metres. The essence of the project was to build along the lay of the land and capture the views of the surrounding hillside. ‘All sites have stories and this project was also envisioned with a clear understanding that this site also had its own story. We feel that if we designers understand the language of the land, we would be able to design sustainably, meaningfully, economically and contextually with respect to the cultural determinants of the community around and finally have a lighter footprint. So the questions in our mind were how do we capture the essence of the strong character of this beautiful site? Will our interaction make or break the landscape? What we ultimately decided to do was to build along the lay of the land’.