5. INTERVIEW OF MRIDUL ARCHITECTS

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12. CITIES OF THE FUTURE

INTERVIEW OF MRIDUL ARCHITECTS

Interviewed by: Interviewed By: Parth Soman and Medhavi Bhiwandkar Interviewed By: Parth Soman and Medhavi Bhiwandkar.

Following is an excerpted interview with Ar. Mridul, who hails from Rajasthan, who talks about designing in Rajasthan, sustainability and construction practices in Rajasthan.

Interviewer: What are the parameters one should consider while designing a structure in Rajasthan?

Ar. Mridul: First and foremost is the climate. As I had discussed earlier in the seminar, India has 5-6 climatic zones. Similarly, within Rajasthan we have hot and humid, hot and arid, to an extent in some places cold and moderate temperature. That is the first thing we have to keep in mind that the building should be climatically responsive because of energy crunch in India which limits energy consumption. So, the buildings have to be foremost designed in a way that that they can tackle the extremities of climate. Places here should have a micro-climatic environment of their own.

Interviewer: Making its way in transitional architecture, because we have been looking around, the old architecture of Rajasthan is very rich, nuanced and expressive. So, is contemporary architecture making inroads in Rajasthan?

Ar. Mridul: Yes! That is part of it because if you look from the country’s point of view, they are looking towards the west. That’s what they consider modern. In small places like Jodhpur, they look forward to cities like Mumbai and Delhi, that has a different style of architecture. I don’t really understand what is Modern Architecture. Whatever is done today is considered modern whichever way you do it. So, what does modern mean? Yes, contemporary architecture is making its way; unfortunately, we already have highrise buildings but when you do high-rise buildings, there are a lot of climatic considerations that get divorced with your design, because the space traditionally and climatically may have not meant to be for that typology.

Intervierer: You talked about Birkha Bawri and we wanted to know if there are any other architectural mechanisms, construction techniques or materials that can be brought again?

Ar. Mridul: Fortunately for Jodhpur, stones still remains the non-detrimental means of construction, because that is the local material of construction and we don’t use bricks extensively here as we have to import them from other cities. Influx of new materials remains, but materials for buildings by large remains stone.

Interviewer: In Rajasthan, major cities like Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jaipur follow a specific colour palette. So, in your opinion does it limits its potential or enhances it?

Ar. Mridul: I think it’s more talked about than actually followed. They call Jodhpur the blue-city, but it was originally confined to a particular pocket where they used blue colour. There are mainly 2 or 3 reasons, one of them that they wanted to keep one caste apart from other.; Brahmins painted their homes blue to set them apart from other communities. The use of Indigo Neel was also used to keep some kind of mosquitoes away. Nowadays, today’s houses are not extensively done in blue, but rather by Jodhpur stones. So, I don’t see blue city spreading anywhere. Similarly, if you go to Jaipur, it was painted pink because of the nature of its stones. Same is the case with Udaipur, which was white initially. Interviewer: But when we visited Jaisalmer, it was entirely golden?

Ar. Mridul: The city is the only exception in Rajasthan where they have placed policy frame control; they have material control that they have been sensitive towards the place. Authorities have made it clear that in Jaisalmer, use of Jaisalmer stone is imperative.

Interviewer: What are your views on automation of natural materials as well as recycled materials in today’s age?

Ar. Mridul: If you are using natural materials, they can be easy to recycle. I can vote personally for stone as the most sustainable material. It can be reused, recycled and reinvented, and put in another shape even after hundreds of years. So that’s a material I truly feel is the most sustainable.