361° Conference - Architecture of Purpose

Nehru Center, Auditorium

Dishant Bhatia, a Final Year student of School of Architecture and Landscape Design, recently attended the Sixth Edition of the 361° Conference in Mumbai – a yearly Rendezvous on Architecture - with the title Architecture of Purpose, shares his experience and tells why it is called “the one degree of difference”. In conversation with the College Magazine Vous, he describes the episode.

V: First of all, what is 361° and how you managed to enter it?

DB: Well, I was introduced to the 361° Conference when one of my seniors, Ar. Premith Satish, became the 361 Degree Scholar last year. It is an endeavor where masters of our field interact and share their ideas with the professionals as well as students. His participation in the event opened the gates to the same for me. He shared and discussed the ideas of speakers like Ar. Richard Meir and Ar. Yatin Pandya which, eventually, motivated and inspired me to participate this year. The selection was based on academic portfolio and mine was selected among top 15 – that’s it!

                                        

V: Wow, congrats on that. So, how was it this year? What was the theme and who were the speakers?

DB: Thanks! This year’s theme was Architecture of Purpose. Scheduled for three days, it was a hectic and jam-packed session with lectures and seminars by eminent Architects, engineers and others related to the field of Architecture and Design. The quest was to find the answer to the question - “Does contemporary architecture and by extension design manage to provoke?”, and to understand the ‘architecture of purpose’. The speakers included Ar. Charles Correa, Ar. Peter Rich (South Africa), Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, Ar. Christopher Benninger, Ar. Kevin Mark Low (Malaysia) and many others who have been practicing keeping the ‘purpose of architecture’ in mind.

Also, there was an Exhibition showcasing 44 architectural projects from all over the country which could be related to the theme aptly. Moreover, the Venue – Nehru Center, Mumbai – in itself was an inspiration.

V: Ok. You mentioned Ar. Charles Correa, Ar. Benninger, etc. How was it to be around such Masters? Share some of their words and what inspired you?

DB: Ah, it was an awesome experience especially as I was there as a student, I feel. We know, Architects have their own egos, and each architect is a critic to the other but I was sitting there as a student – willing to learn – that is what actually helped me. Mentioning all the projects is not possible as there were eighteen speakers, but I would like to share those who inspired me.  

Ar. Charles Correa

Watching Correa Sir, explaining his own projects, the ideas, the concepts he applies, personal experiences during the projects and all, was an eye-opener actually. His theories based on Cosmic architecture and ideas of developing design out of ‘basic’ needs showed how important is to keep in mind the ‘people’ for whom we are designing. He showcased a short film – Vistara – which could be called as summary of Indian architecture and techniques followed by local people. There he mentioned, “The builder is the user himself”, which shows the importance of the relationship between the design and the architect. His one and a half our lecture and then, dialogue with Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, spell-bounded the audience, especially his latest venture – Champalimaud Center in Lisbon. His concepts and the play of spaces is simply been inspired by the ‘needs’ and thus have the ‘spirit’ in the space.

Ar. Kevin Low with Students

Another speaker, who was crowned by the audience as the “rockstar”, was Ar. Kevin Mark Low from Malaysia. His practice name itself was catchy and interesting – small projects. His presentation was a ‘magnet’ and his emphasis was on the content. With his unique style and designs he inspired all present there. Icing on the cake was his conversation with the students where he mentioned the importance of time and context in practice. He shared how he manages to work the way he does by extracting the things which are responsible for wastage of time, like meetings, printing, etc.

Ar. Peter Rich, is based in South Africa and has been working as an Activist as he mentioned that an Architect needs to deal with the local ‘people’ and thus one has to break down the barriers. Others were Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya with his remarkable research and work in the regions like Bhuj in Gujarat. Ar. Ambrish Arora, with his practice based in Delhi, showcased some modern-contemporary works with unconventional thinking. His tag line was ‘context is decisive’. On the same lines was Bangaluru based architect, Ar. Sandeep Khosla. There were many many more.  

Prof. Chhaya during Lecture

V: Great. Must be inspiring, actually! Based on your learning and having such an experience, being the part of the senior-most batch, how would you bring all that down in few sentences and what would be your advice to the batches to come?

DB: Well, this was my second such seminar and both had the same orientation – ‘sense of architecture’. Whatever you design, be it an urban project or a small toilet, you have to stick to the context. You need to find the solutions and for that you need to know the questions first. Find out the reasons, questions, problems, requirements and basis to each and every line you draw or sketch. That is how I work, now! Try it and you will see the difference.

Second, make sketches! It is the ‘most important’ tool for an architect. The more you sketch, the more you’ll get into the details. I have been a passionate photographer myself but I have learned that until you ‘sketch’ architecture you can never ‘capture’ and learn from it.

And last, prepare good portfolios and attend such seminars!