TRUSTING ARCHITECTURAL TRADITIONS
Anil Chotmarada
Architecture is a powerful social art form which manifests the aspirations and the inspirations of the people at a given time and place. This art form also helps shape the behavioral patterns of its users bringing about a change in the cultural and social attitudes of the people who come under its influence. While there is no doubt that relevant architecture would, of necessity, engrain within its very being the traditional values of the people for whom it is being created, there is also the fact that built environment, especially urban, changes life styles and social interaction patterns.
Intuitive architectural creations based on the unselfconscious designs as seen in rural environment or the informal urban growth is strongly based on the laid down and strongly rooted traditional mores. The role of tradition is apparent in both the spatial organization and the mode of building. In such a situation architectural interference in the continuity of a tradition is minimum. This has its advantages but is not readily acceptable because of the changed technological inputs, which call for a change in the living style and through this the whole behavioral pattern of the society at large. Another reason why such intuitive architecture cannot be easily accepted is urbanization. An urban situation warrants multiplicity of units and everything on a mass scale in which a rigidly controlled environment is a natural outcome. A strange paradox is thus created – while there is the strong need for traditional continuity, changing social patterns and needs call for a so-called ‘new’ architecture. This state of confusion is not applicable to only our times, but is apparent in all the pages of history books albeit in a different form at different times.
Architectural traditions are borne from the need, custom and technological level of a group of people. It’s genesis lies in not only in the fulfillment of a basic need but also in the satisfaction of an aesthetic urge. The initial creation may be on the behest of a patron for the master craftsman or the builder to initiate a form or a spatial organization. It is the acceptance of such a creation and its development, which ultimately leads to its becoming a tradition. The process may entail numerous modifications which may polish the spatial organization or the built form to bring it to a level of maturity. While the process is on, it will be close to impossible to realize that a tradition is in the making. It is only in retrospect that a critic or an analyst can conjecture the process and stages of development which ultimately resulted in the generation of a tradition. An architectural tradition, of necessity, matures after a long gestation period because of not only the limited experimental possibilities but also because of the economic and social implications, for in no way can architecture be isolated from these influences. The making of an architectural tradition, thus, is by and large a process which has numerous influences of both the creative and mundane nature. It would be a proud privilege of any generation to even have tradition. Case in example is of the pride with which the Asian or an Oriental talks about his past as compared to the lack of such pride in an American.
Traditions, as we have seen, are creation of a bygone era a thing of the past. Changing times, changing social needs and development of technology, in a way, makes the past redundant. But, it is also true that the only lessons which man learns, if he wishes to grow, come from the past. The situation is ironical and paradoxical. The values, the modes, the norms of the past should or should not be continued is the point in question, and if they are to be continued then the extent to which continuity can be extended has to be decided.
Change is inevitable. The custodians of spaces useable by man are however obliged to be very careful in the suggestion of change in the development of environmental inputs of habitable spaces. The joint family of the yesteryears may have given way to the nuclear family of today, the living pattern of yesterday may be considered outdated by today’s teenagers, but nobody can deny the fact that the courtyard in a house or a verandah before the entry is a useful Indian architectural element, the elements given to us in our traditional Indian and Colonial architecture. Certainly, the television and the video have bought a need for change in the living room or bedroom and it is our obligation to cater to this need. The beautiful chajjas, the intricate trelliswork, the superb ornamentation, are certainly uncalled for in today’s public buildings because neither the material nor the function and aesthetic demands of today expect such an answer. The paradox remains. The answer to the original question still stays a perplexing illusion. To reach a positive conclusion it is necessary to appreciate that there is an answer available which is possible only when such examples from the past are kept alive. Therein lies the need for us to maintain what we have of the past. It is our solemn obligation to retain and not let decay the beautiful examples of architecture from our past, for they shall without doubt let us know our roots to appreciate our present and for managing our future. It is, however, very fascinating that to be able to analyse the present, for the future, the past is absolutely necessary. This would be true for tomorrow too. For effective understanding of ourselves and our systems not only would we have to build a retainable present but also maintain the past. We owe this to our future generation.
Change can not be avoided and the past ought to be respected. The logical answer to this situation seems to be ‘conserving’ our past, picking up traditional architectural elements borne out of unchanging inputs like climate and traditional materials and build today’s environment for today and tomorrow. The buildings, monuments and spatial organizations rich with the lifeblood of our ancestors need to be conserved. We cannot turn the clock but we can certainly, with our modern technology, retain what is left of the past and we can certainly try to bring the forgotten spaces of the past into our mainstream life so that the past and present can coexist in joyful harmony. As the places of importance keep on changing with time, prominent places of the past tend to get neglected, as these are no longer economically or otherwise viable as habitable platforms. Such places may have lost on their bid for survival as spaces for the living but their very being is steeped in the pulsating spirit of the past and it is upto us to reorient these places to suit today’s economics and functional mode to once again throb with life and action. Builders, over time, learn the best way of combating the elements through intuition, experimentation and hurt. A particular region develops its own architectonic language to provide effective shelter. It would be a professional crime if we were to delegate such effective models into the pages of history and monumental ruins.
Coastal areas with spaces organized so that the breeze always whispers through and shapes which shake off the rain; plains with their deep verandahs and high ceiling central rooms; the thick walls and small openings in the desert are lessons from the past which have formed architectural traditions and must be maintained.
Modern needs, however, call for a new configuration of spaces and it would be rather naive to seek answers for these from the past. While contemporization of the dilapidated and lost manmade environments for paying due regard to our past is our solemn obligation an environment for a contemporary function would have to have, of necessity, a “new” look.
Anil Chotmarada is Professor and Head of Department of Architecture in the C R State College of Engineering, Murthal, 131039. This is the only State Government School of Architecture in the State of Haryana. He is interested in conservation and would like other architects of Haryana interested in this area of architecture to get together for meaningful deliberations and work. He may be contacted at the above mentioned address.
Anil Chotmarada is a Faculty & Director in Gateway College of Architecture & Design, Sonipat-131001, India.