Indian Architect & Builder - August 2014

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Architecture strives for permanence. Nature reminds us of its futility.

Since the advent of agrarian society, man has attempted to tame nature and build a stable existence. From the majesty of the soaring Gothic cathedrals to the ambition of the modernists, every step has taken us further from the transient and seasonal dwellings of our early existence. Rigid and defiant, we have sought to wage war on nature. Disasters, both natural and man-made, have tested our resolve and ingenuity.
This issue of Indian Architect and Builder focuses on the efforts of the architectural community to rebuild after a catastrophe. Pritzker award winner, Shigeru Ban, inverts the illusion of architectural permanence by building with materials as ephemeral as paper and cardboard. Instead of viewing the destruction of a village as an opportune tabula rasa, architect Brinda Somaya, seeks to infuse reconstruction with the memories of the past. Controversial architect Michael Reynolds enables a participatory process towards rebuilding a more sustainable approach to dwelling.
Instead of viewing disasters and trauma as an intrusive force meant to be brought under control, architects are now using them as enforced opportunities to recalibrate. Out of the debris and debacle will emerge a new architecture.