As an architect, what is your idea of a home?
A home should be a second skin to its owner. It shouldn’t merely be ‘housing’ or just a living space. It should reflect his/her personality, values, lifestyle and aspirations. He/she should feel at home in the home and should provide space for his/her dreams and memories.
In my home at Auroville, I have a space for sitting idle and doing nothing. The design should fit into the neighbourhood and should not be an eyesore to others. The house should also gel with the socio-economic and cultural milieu of the area. Where possible, the locally available building materials should be used.
What is the process of evolving the design of a house? Suppose I come to you with a ₹10-lakh budget and a 10-cent plot, how will you go about designing my home?
First, I will go with you to the location to study the topography, the neighbourhood, the wind, sunshine, rainfall and the people around. Second, I will consult the building regulations of the area. Third, I will find out the easily available and cost-effective building materials in the area.
And, the most important part—over a period of time, I will hold a series of discussions with you to understand your personality and your and your family’s needs and expectations. The design will emerge gradually from this process of back-and-forth discussions. My design for another person with the same budget and plot could be totally different.
Have you seen some of the architectural monstrosities that have been built recently in Kerala in the name of contemporary design?
No. I have seen some old, traditional houses, though. But why should people use Italian marble or Cuddapah stone here when you have alternative, locally available materials? This is out of ignorance or mere imitation. Some people say that they love the colour yellow and hence they used expensive yellow stones. But if you love yellow, a yellow-dominant colour scheme can be created cheaply without the expensive yellow floor tiles.
What is your take on Vastu?
Vastu is mostly superstition. Vastu may have emerged as a set of guidelines to builders in the past in terms of location, topography, climatic factors, light, ventilation and building regulations. But technology and modern design have addressed most of these concerns.
Most Vastu practitioners don’t know anything about architecture.
They reduce this discipline into a bunch of silly, irrational rules and superstitions. Unfortunately, even highly educated people, out of superstitious beliefs, go for the fad. They give up their rationality.
If a Vastu man says that a particular beam in the house will bring a curse and lead to the divorce of the husband and wife, they will suspend their rational thinking and do what is ordered by the Vastu man.
