Art, Architecture and Design Professionals On TFOD

We live in the age of realisation, a renaissance of sorts in which we, as a people, have alarmingly stumbled upon our own follies of unmindful consumption, wasteful economic practices, linear development models and ecological callousness. We are now being desperately driven towards reparational steps which, we hope, will not be too little or too late in saving the legacy of a resourceful planetary home for future generations. The situation is playing out at a microcosmic scale in Mumbai, presently, as the city grapples with the destructive effects of disposed used plastics and the administration’s (quasi) remedial move to ban certain single use plastic-ware is met with horrified resistance from the plastic industry.

‘A house with a garden’ is an age-old construct – something that features very fundamentally in a range of set-ups from kindergarteners’ drawings and LEGO builds to sophisticated home designs and millionaire’s mansions. There seems nothing left to think about, really, as to how the garden would be laid out vis-à-vis the house – in front of it or at the back, going around it or as a courtyard/ atrium within it, or as a green roof these days, if you may? Well, these two houses in Japan and Singapore challenge that very conventional notion by rephrasing the relationship between garden and house, for whatever reasons, to present residential experiences that are close to ethereal.

With every effort being made to introduce greens into the urban concrete-scape after having exploitatively consumed much of the land which used to be green to begin with, this realm of urban greening activity is turning out to be the current laboratory of the most interesting experimentation. The compulsion to ‘live’ in cities that are critically gasping has citizens turning for green solutions to spatial designers who, in turn, are looking to plant greens on every conceivable surface, be it wall, roof or floor.

Proposed to be situated near the 100 year old Patna Museum and along the Bailey Road in Patna, the site for The Bihar Museum offered 13.3 acres of land along with low scale buildings and a prominence of trees around it. Observing the context around, the designers decided to create a “campus-like” museum instead of a conventional structure. 

The evolution of architecture from the Medieval era to the Modern times has seen varied design styles and construction techniques. The differences in detailing of elements led to differences in the visual appeal of the structures.While the Gothic era cathedrals were extravagant, grand and awe-inspiring visual treats for the eye, the Modern era churches are relatively simpler, linear and have stunning spatial orientations. Check out some examples of awesome churches - some Medieval, some Modern - and enjoy the differences seen in the design sensibilities. Indeed, a reflection of social behaviour - with changing mindsets and changing norms!