LV

Between Notion and Reality

Balkrishna V. Doshi
incessant struggle against the natural constraints has helped us achieve things undreamt of
before. We now command a knowledge of space far beyond what the eyes can sec. We
command means ol travel and communication linking any two points not only on earth, but also
stellar space. But somewhere in this process of exploring external space we have stopped
exploring the space within that of our being as a microcosm within the external ruacrocosm.
Th1s state remmds me of a quotation from Bhartrihari who said: "What if you have secured the
fountainhead of all des1res? What if you have put your foot on the neck of your enemy. or bv
vour good fortune g.uhered friends around you? What, even, if you have succeeded 111 keeping
mortal bodies alive for ages? 'Tatab kun?' What then?" The question is not of deprecating the
successes and the conquests of man but to wonder about the benefits it has given to him and the
price he has had to pay for it all.
Archnccturally speaking, our physical environment is being increasingly designed on the basis
of utilitarian needs. This has, as we can witness, given rise to frustrations, doubts and insecurity.
The 'faceless', the functional, the mechanical machine or action has become our God. The
ancient notions ol the unity of idea, unity of approach and unity of faith have ceased 10 be our
premises for thoughts and act ions. The value of the true, the good and the beautiful are ignored.
In such circumstances, how can we even think of the value of the sacreJ. Further, since we do
not know the value of the sacred, we cannot even think of the inner-self which is the scat of pur
true happiness.
And without this how can we ever talk of a lasting quality of architectun.'--because an:hitec-
turc 1s neither a purely physical, a purely intellectual. nor a purely psychic phenomenon but a
cornr.n:hensive rnanifestauon of all three, capable of inAuencing the lives of individuals and
wmmunllies Not often in an architectural creation are all these aspects understood and
rans ated into a des1gn <:oncept, and the built-form conceived accordinglv and emphasis on just
onl' will cvcmuallv nc<:essitatc changes in the built-form as graduallv the awareness ot the others
is felt. \X'hcn it does happen, though, the result not onlv rises above the munJanc level but is
sanctified and revered by gencrauons of the community.
\X'hen physical needs alone arc treated in a built-form, the experience IS body onented and
the response.: 1s d1rcct. Such a built-form is characterised by emphasis on textural modulations,
\oluptuous forms and strong silhouettes. Folk art is characterised by these attributes.
On the other hand, when only rational Jcmands are smisficd in a given des1gn, the architec-
tural cxpertence is measure oriente<.! and generates responses concerning functional needs.
Architccturallv speaking, the approach is towards efficient planning. but such designs based on
mere I 1gic ofu..n tend to be sterile.
Ncwnhdess, hoth these aspects of architectural design serve the basic needs of the <:om
munity and individwtl. Together they can lead to a cohesive response hut they do not necessarily
r1se above the mundane level and fail to establish a strong sense of identity wi1h rhc community.
They do not become worthy of an emerging heritage. The present reaction to contemporary
architecture with its intcllctt and function oriented styles is a clear indication of the rcbunal of
sudi an emphasis 111 architecwral designs.
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1s so, be<:ause such architecture fails to appeal to an important need in the human beings.
This be1ng the psychic rtsponse to the architecture by the community and the individuals. For
such a response, an attempt is called for to focus on a fundamental need of man, wh1ch IS to be in
central rel:uion with himself, and to be in subtle touch with tht built-form. In such circum
stances, ar<.:hitecture becomes a peripheral expression of his physical and rauonal needs.
In mv opmion, supreme among architectural experiences are those which occur along routes
of movement and in spaces whiCh could be characterized as pause or ambiguous, plural spaces.
These spates activate the hum.m psyche anJ mduce 1t to sink towards the centre, the mythical
world ol 11hlll 's primordial being. Time and space arc internalized, and a dccplv rooted personal
identity with the built-form gets established. Several such space-psyche experiences over a
period of time generate a set of spandan (vibrations), so that the qualitative aspects of these
expericn<:cs become memorable, cherished by the communitv at large as well as by individual
members Consequently, the bwlt form wh1ch generates such experiences is sancufied by the
commun1tv, and passed on to subsequent generations as hemage. llcre rituals play a s1gnificant
role 1n ekvaung the psych1c response to a built-form. Riwals mvite considerations of the
environment of society, and of man himself and they endure longer than man, societv, or even
the environment. So when space is a place for observance of ritual, or is associated with rituals, it
becomes sacred. At this point, I think, architecture emerges; the built-form becomes timeless
and has a quality which gm:s beyond the obvious, a meaning and profoundness which go beyond
the partltular person or action.
I Iindu temples arc classic examples of architecture that fulfils these An elaborate
sequcncmg of spaces starts with the open space at the entrance and culminates at the
f!.arbbawiha.the sanctum sanctorum. These are of different sizes and have varied ceiling
heights as well as degree of (ndosure, in rune with the rituals assigned to each one of them. The
nature of rituals changes from the more festive in character at the entrance to the meditative in
the garhhaJ!pha. which is dark and totally enclosed except for the doorway through the
nrit:vamandap. the dance pavilJOn, open on its other three sides
Mosr of us, irrespective of personal beliefs, arc moved when paying a visit to a temple. And I
have been trying to understand this 'moving' experience in architectural terms with the objective
that in contemporary design practices it could be applied to create built-forms of lasting value.
To my underswnding such built-forms have the following attributes: the pauses, transitional
spaces, and thresholds act as catalytic agents for the built form and the mdividual or the
communny to enter into a d1alogue at their level of comprehension, and this dialogue give:.
direction to the community at large. Built-fonns which generate such holistic experience finally
become the institutions of man.
These institutions, in turn, establish values for the well-being of the society. And it is within
the fr;Hncwork of these values that an individual's freedom of expression is encouraged. Thus
excellence becomes the goal for all the individuals in a community, since each one
of them tries to emulate the sptritual experience of being in constant contact with the centre and
the periphery. Much of our architectural heritage was achieved through this unique approach.
For example, it is said that during the execution of the rock-cut temple complex at Ellora, the
master architect would visit the site only once every few years, to set broad guidelines, and much
of the detail was le& to the individuals working there. Each architect-sculptor exercising his
creative freedom within an overall framework, across centuries, has produced an extremely rich
architectural experience. Long corridors flanked by myriad sculptured columns, varied ceiling
heights, courtyards, extremely sensitive modulation of light and rhythm have for all these years
allowed the visitors a pause to regain personal faith and identity. Such a concept of individual
freedom within a community framework is also observed in the larger urban fabric and is
expressed through tools, large and small, public anp private, right upto the hierarchical network
of open spaces and domestic courts (atriums). This network of spaces became the locations for
contact and community participation. Buildings connected with rituals such as shrmes, evolved
into temple c1t1es like Shrirangam and of the community became the active centre
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At the domcsric level, porches and balconies became the outward physi<:al expressiOn of the
family and its contact with the community. The open court within the dwelling acted as the
comn111nication cent rc for the family. The court m a house and the central open space in an
urban strunurc arc, according to ancient Indian tenets of planning, presided over by Lord
Brahma, the supreme creator of the Brahmand, the Universe. Being open to sky, these spaces
infuse in the individuals and the community the consciousness of the universe and nature. They
also bring the occupants into daily contact with the supernatural, i.e., the mythical as well as
natural-clunatic clements and a sense of humility.
The belief that the psvchic experiences in architecture arc central and that the physical and
mrellectunl experiences arc to he developed around them is what fascinates me, and my recent
work is based on this important realization. Such architecture, perhaps, must be specific to a
culture and an urge to design a built-form rooted in all its aspects to the land where it stands has
preoccupied my thinking for several years. This led me to a critical viewing of the t raditionnl
architecture of my environment where the holistic experiences mentioned above were stronglv
felt. And, for such built form experience, 1 tried to identify the spatial characteristics and the
architectural tools that made it possible, in order to recreate the experience m my own work.
Below I Jcscribc a few of the institulional projects in which I have attempted to emphasise on
the clements of routes of movement, pause and ambiguity. If nothing else it certainly is such
spatial characteristics thm set these projects apart from much contemporary design practice,
mcluding my own of a few years ago.
They arc the lndian Institute of Management, Bangalore ( 1978), Sangath, Ahmedabad ( 1979),
and the Cant!hi Ltbour Institute, Ahmedabad ( 1979). By discussing them in chronological
order, I hope that a growing maturity will be revealed.
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
Emperor Akbar established his well-known capital at Fatehpur Sikri in the 16th century.
Though it rcmamed unoccupied except for a few years, it is appreciated universally for its scales,
clarity, architectural style and most significant of all its spatial organization. Here one discovers
soluuons to the now familiar problem of how to extend or add buildings and yet relate them,
how to ensure that all the individual constituent parts of the complex evoke a sense of belonging
to the larger fabric. And it is not surprising that the tools employed at Fatchpur Sikri to
simultaneously functionally divide and unite the various buildings in a complex are the same as
those used in planning temples in South India.
The response is achieved by adopting a system of major corridors for mqvcmcnt along which
activity areas arc disposed. And within the network of corridors, the spaces between the activity
areas become courts for extended activities under Brahman. These courts regenerate the
primordial sense of continuity, growth, and tenuous linkages of the living and their habitat
environment.
At Fatehpur Sikri the presence of the buildings is felt very strongly in spite of their being
relatively small a factor of special interest to me. This is made possible by the modest relation of
the buildmg to the ground, sky, and the backdrop of the linking corridor, very much like the
umbilical cord and rhe extended family. One is separate and yet connected, even though
tenuously.
Designing for the Institute's extensive academic programme with its changing and extensive
academic programme stretching and changing over the years demanded such an approach
Bangalore's climate is very comfortable and the city full of lush green lawns and trees. Therefore,
in this project the 'building' includes the external spaces and the links between the buildings in
the Bangalore climate permit academic exchange beyond the classrooms. Functional and
physical attributes of the design are related to the local traditions of pavilion-like spaces,
courtyards, and ample provision for plantation.

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Because these local clements by themselves do not necessarily touch everyone the design also
included long and unusually high (three-storeyed) corridors with innumerable vistas or focal
points for generating a dialogue with one's self. These sometimes seem open, sometimes with
only pergolas and sometimes partly covered with skylight. To further heighten the spatial
experience, the width of the corridors was modulated in many places to allow casual sitting,
interactions or moving forward to one's destination, or more towards. Access to classrooms and
administrative offices was provided through these links as well as to generate constant activity.
Owing to the varying rhythm of solids and voids, i.e., wall and opening, coupled with direct or
indirect natural light, these links change in character during the different times of the day as well
as seasons and offer the students and the faculty occasions to feel the presence of nature even
while they are inside. By creating such an environment the activities pursued within the building
become enriched because they become one with the larger, total world. Architecturally, the links
appear and disappear, and this gives a sense of being and not being wherein the actual becomes
notional. In the morning and evening, the sun's golden rays arc reflected in the glazed windows,
and the long corridors with the main central court surrounded by classroom walls g1ve a feelmg
of being in a place not unknown to one's inner being.
'Sangath', Ahmedabad
This complex was intended to encourage activities in the areas of fine and technological arts
related to architecture, planning, and crafts. Spaces were needed for long and short term
workshops and seminars, and to accommodate a professional architectural firm and an office for
thL Vastu-Shilpa Foundation.
In the initial stages of planning a flow pattern of activities and their volumetric space
requirements were determined. This generated the spatial as well as the structural dimenstons of
the complex. To control interior heat conditions in the hot, dry climate of Ahmedabad various
energy dficicnt designs primarily based on passive response were evaluated. The sum total of
these rational needs was then swdied volumetrically, and the building-site relationship was
established. However, at a sensuous level it was felt essential that form, light, and space should
be integrated. And so a design combining functional, climatic and technological considerations
was evolved and a model prepared. Somehow, though, the resulting model did not express the
vitality of the activities planned for the complex; it seemed capable ol allowing only the
measurable functions.
ln order to create a built-form to match the dynamic concept of 'Sangath' (in the vernacular it
stands for moving tOgether to a goal), it appeared that equally dynamic articulating methods had
to be discovered, tO give another d1mension to the traditional spaces and to continuouslv
generate experiences of the unexpected and the ambiguous. One way of doing this was ro
incorporate into the built form a series of contrasts such as spaces pushing below ground and
above ground, or high spaces which arc flooded with light and low spaces which are
dimly lit.
Such articulated spaces with particular structural systems abo make the built form specific m
some regards. For example. the entire building has three different, closely interlinked structural
systems. One comprises load-bearing brick walls carrying the vaulted roof; the second with a
retaining wall and brick column structure of irregular shape supports a Hat root; the third
emplovs load-bearing walls combined with post and beam structure to carrv heavier loads. Each
system has been optimally used to create the variety of spaces described earlier.
Likewise, three means of allowmg light into the tnterior were devtsed: one through normal
windows punctured in the wall, another through a skylight, the third through direct penetration
from the flat roof through the glass brick.
All thes<. aniculatmg still remained architectural and onlv marginally further from
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the physical; they fell short of touching the psyche. To create the desired holistic experience, the
next step was to build the surprises in a certain rhythm, i.e., sequence. The long double
structures and unexpected, unassigned spaces heighten and accentuate the experience of
surprise, the unexpected. If a building stretches, is cut into many parts, is seen as
direct confrontation with it is replaced by a sense of gradual transformation that diverts the
minJ.
Finally. w bring the individual into focus, it was decided to underplay the overall scales of the
built -form. This has been achieved through a practice that is rather unusual in the contemporary
context, but has been widely used in traditional temple architecture, relating to the treatment of
the plinth. The articulation of the interior spaces as described earlier led to sinking certain areas
and elevating others. By articulating the plinth in several ways one notices while approaching
that the building has mitigated the external massing of the building. The approach walkway
graduall y becomes steps for gathering and through a series of platforms culminates at the terrace
where the upper level entrance is situated. Tying the low base and the high roof vaults evokes in
an Indian mind a sense of seeing the proportions of the deity's face with the crown and the tall
shikbara of a temple with its low base. The sunken floor level at the lower entrance summons the
expenence of entering the ancient caves. The roundly articulated edges of the vaults and other
surfaces accessible from the low terraces generate firm relationship with the ground like that
found in a Buddhist stupa.
Th<: ambiguous, opc.:n-ended character of the built form starts to reveal itself right at the
emrancc, wh1ch makes one wonder about where to move and how to reach the sanctum. In
ach1ev1ng a destination, there arc many ways to go. You can find your own space, in your own
time. through your own movement. And the space has to be something beyond just <1 strucLUre;
1t has to be like a book, to reach different people and give them the kind of information they
need at certain pomts of time anJ space. Sangath has two entrances. one at +6' and the other at
- levels. Both I inallv reach the same place but through different paths.
Many learned or otherwise. architects and lavmen. have felt an unusual experience at
Sangath, anJ since one touched at some centre of his being, I feel that l have activated the
psvchic aspect of the relationship between architecture and the community.
Gandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad
Over rhc years, I have obscrveJ that architecture in a hot, dry climate has evolved a dual
svstem of strucrunng: there is one main system to support the acrivity areas and another to
support an envelope which protects rhc inside from the harsh weather conditions. This duality,
of hmlolllg within a building with a central cour1, is like the bodv and the soul. Here the home
represents tht hody and the central open court its soul, symbolizing Brahman. More often th1s
docs achieve a lormal geometric character while the external edge of the building responds to
the configuration of the site. The other characteristic [have observed and incorporateJ into the
de::.1gn of the Institute is the way sacred buildings relate to the ground and articulation of the
plinth. For txample, when a plinth is raised the building no longer seems ordinary but
Important. Acc<:sl> with rcVl'rence is also made possible by breaking surfaces to avoid solidaritv.
The silhouette thus achieved establishes a strong relation with the earth anJ the sky.
Then thcrt is the v1llage square, which usually has a large tree under which a platform is
1;11sed. Lssenttally it ts a court surrounded by buildings and has a character which gives the place
'' of belonging. The scale and modulation of such groups of buildings around a court
somehow efface all the sottal disparities, and generate a cohesive communitv.
ThLst three vaned aspects of an accessible anJ yet respectful place, within a small scale urban
Sltting responding to the local climate, constitute the m<1in theme of the Gandhi Labour
ln::.titute
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This state owned institute, which conducts research, trammg, seminars and workshop in
labour management and welfare, is relativclv small but has the potential to grow. The lunctional
demands arc similar to those of any such institute: a library, classrooms, scmmar rooms,
administration. trainees' accommodations, canteen, etc.
In order to generate a design comprehending the functional, symbolic, and notional kvds, l
have n:ferred to and adopu:d the models of a temple at Vadtal, an inner court of <1 large Haveli
I rom J aisalnwr nnd a typtcal village.: s4twre. To accentuate the meaning of these images, I
employed a of thresholds and lmkagcs of varied scales. For example, the front plaza with a
long and wide flight of <lpproach steps allows sufficienl time for the vtsitor to absorb the
cxpcrknce of this otherwise imposing building. The long linkages with its high exhibition space
and narrow movement areas between the internal and external courtyards connect all the
I unnional an:as of this small complex, through visual or actual contaus. The: cc.ntralitv of the
1nner court, with its linkage to thl' outer court, the amphitheatre, dining arl'a and thl' terraces of
tht dormitoru.:s, conveys multipll' relationships ot being in a village square as an llldividual or as
a member of the communitv, the small pool located in the central court capturl'S tor the observl'r
tht sun, the moon, and the skv rdlccred in it.
The counter balancing of different struclllral systems, along with constantly changing floor
configurations and the skewing of the dormitory block from the right -angil' geomctrv of the
Institute\ butldmg. arc natural rdkxc:, much likl' our constant tnhaling and exhaling. It is
through all these clemenrs that an attl'mpt is m.tde to rdate an individual's centre to the phystcal
and intclll'ctual world.
Anhitnturc is not a temporary affair [f we can make space which can exalt nsdl, It wtlltakl'
root. have mc.aning, and last a long while.