At a “huge cauldron of sharing ideas” at the first day of the second edition of the Chennai Architecture Foundation Portfolio 19, students of CARE School Design Department headed by R. Maniyarasan focussed on water issues and design solutions. The three-day annual exhibition of architecture students kicked off at the IIT-M Research Park, Taramani, on Friday
“The architecture and design of structures have a huge role in resolving water issues. We focus on sites in delta areas. Every college has their own way of doing it,” Mr. Maniyarasan said. Vinod Vijayakumar, director of Chennai Academy of Architecture and Design, said the sharing of ideas among students who have put up their work has motivated them to resolve issues that are relevant today.
Architecture student Sarayu Priya said the workshop has offered a platform for sharing and learning about the importance of “architectural writing,” pointing to participants at the workshop on writing by DOMUS editor Kaiwan Mehta. Architect Pramod Balakrishnan, who spoke at the event, said the methodology of each institution to represent themselves has changed rapidly in the past one year.
“The young have not been given an opportunity to express themselves. There is a tendency amongst all of us to show everything. When you show everything , you see nothing,” Mr. Balakrishnan said. “Thirteen colleges have come and we give them certain designated spaces to put up their work. This gives them a platform to meet, talk and share ideas, without anybody overseeing them. The moment we make it non-judgemental, there is no battle. There is only sharing,” he added.”
Influx of architects
Pointing to the condition of all the 85 schools of architecture in the State, Mr. Balakrishnan, said, “Most of the schools take about 80 students per year. There is a large influx of architects coming out to practice. Most of the schools are isolated in terms of how they work and they don’t share information with other schools of architecture. It is a very competitive attitude. That means you are already not sharing. You want to be different from others. You want to belittle the other.”
“We also found that many students didn’t know what their peers were doing. Further, they didn’t have a place to find out what architecture is all about. So most of the schools had their own marketing technique. We at CAF realised that we needed to create a platform where we wanted teachers and students to come together for sharing,” he added.
“We are trying to open minds. After we finish the program, maybe four weeks from now, we will have the ‘open offices week’. The offices exhibit what they do,” Mr. Balakrishnan added.
