Allied Design- Human Ecology and Architecture
Semester 5
Batch- Vertical Studio
Projects instead of Buildings
Process instead of Products
People instead of Professors
Choose between the right and more right. Ethics in a practice can be the same, principles with some tweaks make it different. Malak Singh Gill’s practice was inspired by Sir Laurie Baker. Malak trained under Bakerji in Kerala and used the techniques with his own learnings to practice vernacular architecture in Maharashtra. Local material and local labor are generally used in his projects. Each of the projects are very specific to the client. The need to generalize and the need to personalize should be balanced. The core values in each culture remain the same. It is on the designer, how to retain them with the techniques used in building construction. How do we define technology and what are its destructive and constructive effects? How do we increase the constructive effects and use technology as a medium to optimize the process?
The references of his works given in the course showed the variation bought about with respect to the place, the labour, the client requirements and climate. Some of the examples were- Avatar House, Swapnakoodu, Tathastu, Verandah by the Sea, L'Attitude by the Lake.
Avatar House in Malad, Mumbai by Malak Singh Gill-
Case studies got us exposure to more similar practices. For example, the Sharanam Cultural Centre in Auroville by Trupti Doshi.
Plans and sections of Sharanam Cultural Centre-
We studied the details of materials, construction techniques, management and teamwork with the construction of a 3 metre arch and a mud wall supporting it. With buying the materials, quantification and costing was also something we did for the first time in the practice. The study of materials with the right techniques was very well done in this hands-on activity.
