Morphogenesis: Creating a Green Imprint
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The Pearl Academy of Fashion in Jaipur |
Ibn Battuta in his writings of 14th
century describes Kandahar as a large and prosperous town. The
arid terrain has also found extensive mention in Mughal emperor Babur's discourses. It is the second-largest city in Afghanistan and also one
of the most culturally significant cities of the Pashtuns. History speaks of it as being their traditional seat of power for more than 300
years. A major trading center for sheep, wool, cotton, silk, food grains, fresh
and dried fruits, and
tobacco, the city has plants for canning, drying and packing fruits. Had…
Sadly, Kandahar today is reckoned not for its history, culture or
commerce. Many empires have long fought over the city due to its strategic
location along the trade routes. And unfortunately, it became the target of
Muslim extremists as well. Ravaged by the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, the
city sparked into spotlight during the hijacking of the Indian Airlines Airbus
A300 in 1999. Kandahar became famous overnight. Or rather, infamous.
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Surat Diamond Bourse |
But there is hope yet. Courtesy a quartet of samaritans, who want
normalcy and peace to seep into the barren land bit by bit. The embers of the
catastrophic Taliban fire will take time to die down but efforts are being made
to balm the wounds. Plans of a hospital, a university and other educational
institutions have been passed. Everyone deserves a chance. The roadblocks are a
plenty but the former glory of Kandahar is slowly being restored.
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Manit and Sonali Rastogi |
As I listen to Manit Rastogi, one of the founding partners of
Morphogenesis, describe his upcoming project of designing the building for a
university in Kandahar, I vaguely reminisce about Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. In the book, Kabul is
almost a character. And the narrative maps its journey from being a lusciously
beautiful valley to one that is ransacked by terrorism to a jilted but
recuperating lover. I visualize Kandahar in the same light and I’m amazed when
Manit says, “The University is just one of the efforts by some zealous men to
normalize everything there. They have all been educated abroad and have come
back with the soaring vision to change things there. Being an architecture firm
that believes in sustainable design this is a challenge we look forward to. To answer
some ethical questions that will lead to social change. Also, to create a
building that will be for both men and women students in a country like
Afghanistan is different ball game altogether. And the green aspect has to be
retained. The temperatures are extreme. The several challenges were a big
reason why we gave in to the temptation. There is a greater kick in solving the
problem,” says Manit, his eyes literally gleaming at the excitement of a
project where the process of his functioning will engage in neck-to-neck tussle
with overcoming the problems. All through the conversation, Manit maintains a
jocund air as if it’s going to be one entertaining match…
For
Morphogenesis, proponents of green and sustainable design since 1996, the
reason for selecting a project has always been determined by the processes it
would entail to make it sustainable. The end result is the sum total of all
those processes, which are brainstormed on by Manit, his wife, Sonali (another
of the founding partners), and their talented team in their office in Delhi, an
instance of a green space that the firm builds everywhere. Every process varies
contextually and because the team is particular about the location, there is no
emphasis on a signature look. “The process of coming forward with a green,
sustainable design is our leitmotif. Not the visual style. However, there is a
strong predilection for creating something cutting edge. When a design fits in
with the topography it looks pretty,” says Manit, who specialized in
sustainable environmental design from the Architectural Association (AA) School
of Architecture in London.
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The multiple award-winning Pearl Academy of Fashion in Jaipur |
After
commencing his architecture studies at the School of Planning and Architecture,
Delhi, Manit graduated with distinction from AA, under Simos Yannas, and
subsequently, the AA Diploma with Honours, under John Frazer. The influence of
all three programs have formulated and influenced his thinking to date, to
create a sustainable architecture through the framework of an evolutionary
practice inspired by nature, with an emphasis on passive design. Known as an
architect who consistently pushes the boundaries of sustainable design, Manit’s
commitment to sustainable environments goes beyond the realm of architecture
practice. As the founder member of The GRIHA Council, India’s own Green rating
system, Manit works with urban policymakers to spearhead initiatives with an
emphasis on environmental sensibility and social welfare.
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The Namami Gange project |
One
such project is Namani Gange, an NDA driven conservation initiative to rehabilitate
and beautify the several ghats in the Indo-Gangetic belt of India. Says Sonali,
who has been directly associated with the project, “We called the project, ‘River
in Need’. It is not just about de-polluting the river. We studied
that the interaction between land and water in this belt formed the basis of
existence of man and the Ganges, directly and indirectly influenced their
lives. Over time, if the ghats are not significantly taken care of that link
will break. We never did anything radically different. We just enhanced the
modes and the means to use the river and the ghats through architectural
resurrection and by developing a more sustainable method of doing so. Contextuality
was maintained by blending history with the present. For the project, we
collaborated with several regional NGOs who thankfully had already started work
to minimalise the horrific practices on the ghats that affect the environment
adversely.”
Sonali
declares that architecture was a way of life for her from a very young age (growing
up under the tutelage of her architect father, Ashok Srivastav). After her
stint at the School of Planning and Architecture, at AA, she studied Housing
and Urbanism under Jorge Fiori and holds a second graduate diploma in Graduate
Design (DRL) under Jeff Kipnis. The literature of ‘History and Theory’ of
architecture is of profound interest to Sonali. She has also co-authored Morphogenesis’
first monograph Morphogenesis: The Indian
Perspective, The Global Context, Working across a diverse canvas ranging
from architecture to urban design, landscape and interior design, Sonali is
passionately interested in the materiality and craft in architecture, and is
deeply invested in the detail of building.
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The Delhi Art Gallery building in Mumbai |
Manit, who studied in all kind of
schools, city as well as village ones, while growing up in West Africa, where
his father was an engineer, gravitated towards green and sustainable design after
extensively reading up on the evolution of it and the lack of it in India.
While history documents the Indus Valley Civilization, Harappa and Mohenjodaro
and Mughal Architecture as one of the biggest practitioners of buildings homes
and monuments as per climatic requirements, somewhere Indian architects forgot
to follow the most obvious principles in the 90s when globalization happened.
“In the 70s, a new design idiom was born, one that shunned the concept of
creating shelters (the basic premise of a home) pertaining to the climate of a
place and something that enhanced comfort. The west negated the evolution of
architecture because they thought that they had devised ways to control the
climate through abundance of cheap oil and energy. That was a flawed idea.
Unless you use natural resources judiciously, the environment is bound to scupper
up. In the apeing of the west that’s exactly what happened. Indians radically
forgot 5,000 years of history to be in tandem with the west. The fact that we
did have a headstart in green design was merrily forgotten.”
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The British School in Delhi |
The architect also figured that Indians
had not created a brand for themselves in the field of architecture. The world
recognized Mexican design, Chinese design and European design but Indians were
lagging behind. When there was mention of Indian architecture that was
ecologically relevant, one would visualize mud-thatched roofs and such ethnic
designs. While the Indian vocabulary had extended itself to fashion and art, in
architecture and design it was conspicuous by its absence. There was a need to
uplift the game-plan with cutting-edge design. This lay the founding stone of
Morphogenesis, an award-winning design firm based in Delhi but which is
functional pan India, South Africa, middle-East, Asia among other places.
“We set up shop in mid 90s to study the
vernacular not to imitate the graphic but understand the process, and the
physics behind green design. The key turning point was the Pearl Academy of
Fashion building in Jaipur, that till date remains close to our heart because
it proved what we were trying to say all the while… the idea of a fascinating
building that consumes least natural resources and looks spectacular without
compromising on comfort. It stood for what we stand for… Architecture in a
global context, through an Indian perspective,” says Sonali, adding, “Pearl set
the path for the next decade of our work. While every project was different in
look and feel, we followed the same problem solving method of green design.”
The Surat Diamond Bourse was the next
big project that challenged the design acumen of the team. “In our country
there is no dearth of natural light. Our work has always made use of that even
while eradicating the heat and the glare. The Diamond Bourse was even more fun
because here we had to think of the number of people who would work there in a
day and keep in mind the security issues,” explains Manit.
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The British School in Delhi |
Besides the first Indian practice to win
World Architecture Festival Award and the Singapore Institute of Architects
Getz Award, Morphogenesis is also the recipient of 60 national and
international awards. “Awards feel good and they are reassuring. But most
importantly, they are a good critique of the work you do. If you don’t win, you
can evaluate where you are going wrong. If you do, it’s an encouraging pat. Through
our work we are trying to spread the awareness about the basic principles of
green design. I wouldn’t say we discovered a solution to the problem. The
solution already existed. We just researched and re-found it and incorporated
it into our blueprints. These principles should have been our export to the
world...” rues the duo, adding, “We diversify a lot, ensuring we deal with
all climactic zones and scales. That is how our knowledge engine has developed.
Where the climate is good, the project is a breeze. The excitement comes with
the difficulties. Scale is irrelevant. We study the history of a place and
build something that will fit in the place in the modern context without being jarring.”
The amicable architect de-stresses with
thinking about design and reading non-fiction. On his bedside table now, you
would find the William H Worger and Nancy Clark’s The Rise and Fall of Apartheid and Jo Roberts’ Contested Land, Contested Memory.
Sonali on the other hand finds
intellectual stimulation in absorbing the history, art and architecture of
places she visits. “I was floored by the City of Bath. The redevelopment strategy
of Barcelona is commendable. In Berlin, while there are some old architectural
masterpieces, the contemporary work has fitted in so beautifully amidst
history. We are always observing and learning,” she rounds off before preparing
to pore over a blueprint with Manit or brainstorm over a project that would
perhaps bring in all the awards yet again without endangering the natural
resources on the planet.
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India Glycols Headquarters |
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