Escape Into Architecture

8/17/2019 Escape Into Architecture

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Escape Into ArchitectureGAUTAM BHATIA 3 Features

If imagined spaces cannot be built on land, let them

inhabit a place in the s!"

At the lobb! of the #ahanuma $alace in Bhopal%no& a hotel%is a formal portrait ofBhopal's begums" Full! clothed in burqas, the! are seated in tiers, as in an! formal group

photograph" The photo caption belo& re(eals the names, )*eated from left to right+ Begum

ahanara, Begum -oor, Begum./ and so on"

For a long &hile I stood bac and pondered the riddle of the photograph" 0as this a form of ro!al

social record, e(en though no identifiable bod! part &as (isible1 2r &as it some sort of satire1

The photograph's essential criteria to re(eal &ere st!mied b! the Islamic draper!'s criteria to

conceal" It &as lie someone assessing car designs b! comparing chassis numbers" I didn't

no& &hether to laugh or cr!" $erhaps the photographer had e(en ased the begums to smile

behind their (eils"

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$ublic Baths+ A string of tubs in a desert the iron! of Indian architectural #u4taposition


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Architecture, too, has learnt to distance itself from the obser(er" To li(e behind the (eil" 5ie the

in(isible begums, for so long, m! o&n understanding of buildings &as similarl! limited to the

fa6ade" 5imited, in fact, to that first sighting of deception behind &hich la! a more pugnacious

realit!"

0hen it comes to houses, or for that matter an! form of building, people become grand in theirambitions" Bu!ing a fridge or pair of shoes does not impart (isibilit! or identit! to the user,

architecture does" $eople s&ear and s&eep across the spectrum of possibilities and become lie

spoilt, demanding children" A staircase remembered from a European trip, a bathroom recalled

from a apanese hotel, an outdoor acu77i from Indonesia" I &ant it, I must ha(e it8 the cesspool

of architecture clouds the e!es and maes the impossible possible"


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9abinet Apartments+ *o precious, the! are enclosed and protected inside a cabinet


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I once ne& someone &ho treated architecture lie a great heroic ad(enture, much lie a

gruelling and ha7ardous climb up Mount E(erest" :esign &ould begin casuall!" But as ideas

poured in, he &ould become recless and bold"

)I'd lie a heated lap pool outside the bedroom,/ he'd propose"

His instruction &ould cause a minor bli77ard at base camp" I'd &arn, )But !our bedroom is on the

third floor"/

)*o;/

After a &hile, he'd (enture again up another untested slope, ):o !ou thin &e could ha(e a dri(e<

in dra&ing room/1

This from the man &ho has to ha(e the latest BM0 shipped directl! from German!"

)But &h!1/ I'd as foolishl!" ):o !ou &ant to par the car behind the sofa1/

-o response" He &ould ha(e alread! mo(ed on to thoughts of helipads and roof


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Tree House+ A log hut inside a log, redra&ing the &orld in mechanical simplicit!

I often remember the 2ldenburg line, onl! as a continual reminder of the necessit! of stupid in

architecture" 9le(er had been the desired apprehension in buildings that had long pretended to

be more than &hat the! &ere" But &ithout the bitters&eet e4perience of ris and pleasure,

architecture fell lamel! into a professional trap" The monochromatic practice of building &ith a

straight face and follo&ing the stifling rules of cultural obligation, social status, and the ph!sics of

gra(it!, left e(er! ne& design a mere moc drill in industrial assembl!, tinged &ith the architect's

personal aesthetic armour!, a defeated deflated spirit"

Architecture, to me, had become the most scathing indictment of failure, m! failure" *o I began to

mo(e a&a! from the proper and the #ust, and all the singular entanglements of professional life" I

ne& if I thought too long about all the things precious to me, there &as al&a!s the fear that little

b! little, the! &ould in(ade m! mind and mae it infertile" Architecture's memor! is the hardest to

ignore8 it is reinforced da! and night, in the mind, in the neighbourhood, in the cit!"


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>ac?uet 9lub+ A tennis club in the shape of a rac?uet, dra&ing that &hich &ill ne(er be built


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I ha(e caught m!self on occasion &ith a deliberatel! destructi(e and per(erse urge to&ards m!

o&n &or" I &ant to mae pri(ac! public and tae public actions into the innermost sanctum+ a

ban (ault made in glass, e4posing mone! and gold to the street, a man urinating in public

no&ing full &ell that he can't be seen outside, a &oman bathing &ithout a &all surrounding her

but in complete pri(ac!" Then blur the definitions of inside and out+ mae a road that runs insidea building, a building that sits on top of a road" E(en re(erse the con(entions of mo(ement and

repose+ build a home as a bridge bet&een the t&o bans of a ri(er, mae a li(ing room in a

mo(ing ele(ator" 2r confuse the relationship &ith the Up and :o&n+ a basement &ith a glass

floor (ie&ing the mud ground beneath, a s! e4perienced in a basement, an attic &ithout a roof"

Ho& about furniture hung on &alls or attached to the ceiling, paintings on the floor, a mall &ith no

glass, a hotel &ithout corridors, a booshop that is also a diner, a restaurant in a mo(ing bus"

The dual nature of such buildings is a m!opic, almost obsessi(e claim"

In m! neighbourhood, I see a &oman bu!ing fresh flo&ers for her puja room e(er! da!" The

florist displa! is against the local maret's public urinal" *trangel!, the urinal's stench and

pro4imit! don't seem to diminish the sanctit! of the fresh flo&ers and their intended place in a

religious setting" 9hoosing to be blind to all that !ou don't &ant to see maes life tolerable"


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09 @illa+ A (illa as a &ater closet, maing pri(ate spaces public

Ho&e(er hard I'(e tried, I am unable to culti(ate that blindness" E(er! time I mo(e out of the

house, onto the street, it is &ith fear and trepidation" *omething of &hat &e build, the &a! it

relates to its surroundings, the &a! it e(entuall! falls apart, grates on (isual memor!" If there is a

professed spatial, humanist or artistic spirit to architecture, it is impossible to see it in the dail!

encounters &ith the cit!" Flagging in spirit, unsightl!, blemished and depressing, the clutter of

shops and houses and offices and malls are lie &ounds on the sin of the earth, spreading lie

parasites, smudging s!lines, and slo&l! sucing out the (isual pleasures of ordinar! life" The

cit! is a &asted place, and the architecture that rises &ithin it onl! contributes a dail! dose of

hostilit! and conflict in an alread! chaotic en(ironment" E(en &hen buildings are made &ith

grandiose intentions, collecti(el! the! become a #umble, inseparable from each other%lie

garlands of marigolds piled on a dead bod!"


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Escalator+ 9onfusing the relationship &ith the Up and :o&n, the dual nature of architecture


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0hen that happens, there is little to do but retreat" I &ant to mo(e a&a! from the clutter and

chaos, to the ?uiet promise of the dra&ing board" 0ith pencil in hand, there is a desperate &ish

to brea free, to build in imaginar! space, unconnected to the ground b! gra(it!, to mae an

earth !et uninhabited, &here architecture is an idealised presence" I need to dra& that &hich I

&ill ne(er build" A house in an apple, an office floating in the clouds, a hotel made of suitcases, acar &ash as a tub" Apartment houses so precious, the! are enclosed and protected inside a

cabinet" For a &hile such dra&ings help me escape into childhood and I begin to redra& the

&orld in mechanical simplicit!+ a tennis club in the shape of a rac?uet, a (illa as a 09, public

baths as a string of tubs, a log hut inside a log"


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9ar 0ash+ Three cars in a tub, maing public spaces pri(ate

But not for long" *ometimes, architecture's most persistent refrain does not #ust demand arebellion against con(ention, but a complete ph!sical re(ersal of con(ention itself" The absence


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E4ca(ation+ A complete re(ersal of con(ention itself

Escape Into Architecture

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