Book Review: The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand in her book, The Fountainhead Has extreme characters created; Controversy too remains to these days In depiction of architecture in many ways! No doubt, the book is a novel, a fiction With much friction and contradiction; Writing is an art; for the crowd, better it is When characters...

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Recession Rains

“If you have no bread, eat cake,” Get baked or frozen when life’s at stake; Recession is apparently here by any definition Combined with inflation, speculation and inhibition! With construction sector being a component Of ‘loan-freeze’ from banks at the moment, Are we okay with our priorities?...

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Quackery in Architecture

Pretends to have skills and qualification, Belongs to other profession With no license to practice, no registration Is simply a quack by definition! In architecture, quacks are a few site engineers, Supervisors, surveyors, other profiteers And those who look only for extra bucks Just like a gory leech that sucks! Do quacks have love for the profession? No, not at all! But claims of professional...

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Visions Rendered

Searched for a layman but couldn’t find one; And so, my presentations were mostly in 2-Ds done! A layman knows no drawing, I was long ago told But lo! All have the belonging to the profession’s fold! Sketch plans and a few words are my deeds To explain all of the visual and spatial needs; I take the client on virtual tour From outdoors to the inside as spaces fill and pour; A few times, my...

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My path to architecture and more...

Amidst childhood's wonders I wandered free Unaware of architecture's majesty! Owner-built houses were rustic and serene, With mud and timber, dreams were little seen! Simple dwellings where hopes would reside, Floors of cow-dung were my mother’s pride! In schools of huts on hills so green, Bamboo and mud were a haven serene! A thirst for knowledge like a magic stream, In nature's embrace...

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Memories untold

In childhood’s realm I roamed carefree and wild, With sticks and mud, I built dreams undefiled; Amidst fallen leaves my imagination soared While I knew not that my future path was stored! By stream’s gentle flow, toy houses took shape Crafted with wonder with no plan, no escape; Nature’s apprenticeship, I learned from each bend Unaware of the architect I would grow to befriend! From humble...

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Architecture and poetry: what is so common?

Both architecture and poetry are forms of art Both are precious providing balm to my heart Both measure my time and life with precision Both are creative forms of expression! Both expose the human in us Both exalt life’s purpose thus! Rhyme or rhythm, metaphor or meter Path-crossing and no less than gold’s glitter Inspiring each other, both reach my eye fast Solid and void or sound and silence...

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Embracing the dawn of a new city!

I’m waiting for a grand headline news About a city poised to get its dues Of crowds overflowing, rustling and hustling And businesses prospering and forever bustling; Tracked, winged, channeled, greened and AI-fed With records to be overtaken and reset; A smart sustainable city to be proud of For...

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Sketching to begin...

I often sketch to begin a project, A scribble of thoughts to later refine or reject; At times, creating a mess to fit on a sheet of paper Providing clarity of the proposal altogether! A motion is set as the mind scans Through the process to evolve the plans With images normally farfetched For a skeleton of the proposal sketched! Forwarding a quick solution is the craft For clients wishing...

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Baakal (tree-bark) House

How to deal with exterior artwork and architecture when no two pieces are same in texture, colour, thickness and strength? Options: orient in two or more directions and/or adjust the lengths! It provides the warmth and coolest comfort inside, while, with the Nature, it blends to abide, among others, with the tide of simplicity and honesty in a spotlight that it deserves to be! Long ago, I...

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