by Remigius de Souza
SHANKAR NIVRUTTI KANADE, my classmate, and friend for fifty years, is based in Bangalore and practices architecture and planning with his brother Navanath. He has been teaching since 1960s, first at the Ahmedabad School of Architecture (now CEPT), later in various colleges in Karnataka. He, with others, founded department of architecture in Hassan in Karnataka. He also set up a course/ curriculum for another college.
Kanade, on his own initiative, developed an indigenous construction technology, known as “Chhapadi” in Karnataka. It is highly labour intensive and uses local resources – people and materials. He worked on this system without any institutional support or finance. He designed and built several houses including his own, and mass housing for public sector. Despite his friends’ advice he never took a patent for this product. Now others are using it. I heard that someone got an award for her/his design that used the technology. But the important factor is the unskilled/ skilled workers have learnt something new and benefited. His “pro-poor” product empowers the poor to earn livelihood.
I have seen and experienced some of these houses. When I visited Lohitashwa’s house, my spontaneous response was “I am reminded of India’s rock cut architecture”. I had also visited the house when Lohitashwa had hosted art workshop there, where other arts also flourished. Several artistes – potters, painters, and sculptors – were passionately working: I feel this may be a best, and the most appropriate tribute Kanade ever received for his work.
I also visited his high-density township – “Jal Vayu Vihar”; it is not built with the same technology mentioned above. At its ‘core’ is the ‘primordial image’ of Indian towns, but it’s not a prototype. It has gates, shaded lanes, and multi level open spaces, which give relief visually and physically from high-density development. Kanades use and mould the Fifth Dimension of light of the tropical India, as building material. When returned there were friends gathered. Sanjay Mohe asked, ‘What did Remi see?’ Absentmindedly I replied, ‘Remi saw tiny honeybees busy’. There were honeybees smaller than flies. They are harmless, and like common sparrows they make their homes in the snitches. Unlike beehives, they build small vessels to store honey, supported with wax tie bars. I was reminded of Aldo van Eyck who said, “… City is a big house”.
When Kanade came to Mumbai to study architecture, from his village in Sholapur district on the border of Maharashtra - Karnataka states, for some time he, with two other friends, lived in a slum in Santacruz. They called their home, “Chandramauli”, meaning a hut where moonlight penetrates through its roof (so also rainwater). Sounds romantic while reading!
In some other country, Kanade would have received invitation form every college and association of architects. But who takes notice here? He is neither a foreigner nor foreign returned. Perhaps there is no budget provided for such luxury. What about his students and apprentices, who might have joined teaching?
Kanade never mentioned in decades that there is some research in ‘Building Technology’ going on in any college. While teaching the juniors in Ahmedabad, he gave exercises that took them to carpentry workshop. Crores of Rupees are invested in establishment, infrastructure and running the colleges, besides the youth energy and their creativity that is spent on the campuses. [I raised this issue in my article, “Letters and Number plus Things to Make”, published in the JIIA, January2000 (edited version), and in ARCHeFUNDA, September 2000, (full text) edited by Prof. Harimohan Pillai. What is the result? I heard that some highbrow management students asked the Nobel laureate Mumhammad Yunus to give them a model of “social banking” like his “Gramin Bank”. So that they could ‘copy-paste’ – ‘cut-paste’ in their dissertations and theses, to add to their credibility. They want ready answers! That’s education, youth creativity and energy!
When we say architecture in India, it is a tail end or an extension of western architecture, which is not ‘universal’ in India. Kanade, of course, is a follower of the western trend that took place in India, now for more than hundred years. I personally do not agree on many points regarding education, architecture and aesthetics, which I made public in my paper “Architecture and Biodiversity in India”. By their silence, my friends – Kanades and others, and the Indian fraternity of architects about this paper, I believe it remains controversial. The simplistic reason, I guess is the status quo attitude of educationists, which is typical of the bureaucrats. Yet, Kanade’s contribution to the building technology remains unique.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Remigius de Souza
69/243 S B Marg Mumbai 400028 India
SHANKAR NIVRUTTI KANADE, my classmate, and friend for fifty years, is based in Bangalore and practices architecture and planning with his brother Navanath. He has been teaching since 1960s, first at the Ahmedabad School of Architecture (now CEPT), later in various colleges in Karnataka. He, with others, founded department of architecture in Hassan in Karnataka. He also set up a course/ curriculum for another college.
Kanade, on his own initiative, developed an indigenous construction technology, known as “Chhapadi” in Karnataka. It is highly labour intensive and uses local resources – people and materials. He worked on this system without any institutional support or finance. He designed and built several houses including his own, and mass housing for public sector. Despite his friends’ advice he never took a patent for this product. Now others are using it. I heard that someone got an award for her/his design that used the technology. But the important factor is the unskilled/ skilled workers have learnt something new and benefited. His “pro-poor” product empowers the poor to earn livelihood.
I have seen and experienced some of these houses. When I visited Lohitashwa’s house, my spontaneous response was “I am reminded of India’s rock cut architecture”. I had also visited the house when Lohitashwa had hosted art workshop there, where other arts also flourished. Several artistes – potters, painters, and sculptors – were passionately working: I feel this may be a best, and the most appropriate tribute Kanade ever received for his work.
I also visited his high-density township – “Jal Vayu Vihar”; it is not built with the same technology mentioned above. At its ‘core’ is the ‘primordial image’ of Indian towns, but it’s not a prototype. It has gates, shaded lanes, and multi level open spaces, which give relief visually and physically from high-density development. Kanades use and mould the Fifth Dimension of light of the tropical India, as building material. When returned there were friends gathered. Sanjay Mohe asked, ‘What did Remi see?’ Absentmindedly I replied, ‘Remi saw tiny honeybees busy’. There were honeybees smaller than flies. They are harmless, and like common sparrows they make their homes in the snitches. Unlike beehives, they build small vessels to store honey, supported with wax tie bars. I was reminded of Aldo van Eyck who said, “… City is a big house”.
When Kanade came to Mumbai to study architecture, from his village in Sholapur district on the border of Maharashtra - Karnataka states, for some time he, with two other friends, lived in a slum in Santacruz. They called their home, “Chandramauli”, meaning a hut where moonlight penetrates through its roof (so also rainwater). Sounds romantic while reading!
In some other country, Kanade would have received invitation form every college and association of architects. But who takes notice here? He is neither a foreigner nor foreign returned. Perhaps there is no budget provided for such luxury. What about his students and apprentices, who might have joined teaching?
Kanade never mentioned in decades that there is some research in ‘Building Technology’ going on in any college. While teaching the juniors in Ahmedabad, he gave exercises that took them to carpentry workshop. Crores of Rupees are invested in establishment, infrastructure and running the colleges, besides the youth energy and their creativity that is spent on the campuses. [I raised this issue in my article, “Letters and Number plus Things to Make”, published in the JIIA, January2000 (edited version), and in ARCHeFUNDA, September 2000, (full text) edited by Prof. Harimohan Pillai. What is the result? I heard that some highbrow management students asked the Nobel laureate Mumhammad Yunus to give them a model of “social banking” like his “Gramin Bank”. So that they could ‘copy-paste’ – ‘cut-paste’ in their dissertations and theses, to add to their credibility. They want ready answers! That’s education, youth creativity and energy!
When we say architecture in India, it is a tail end or an extension of western architecture, which is not ‘universal’ in India. Kanade, of course, is a follower of the western trend that took place in India, now for more than hundred years. I personally do not agree on many points regarding education, architecture and aesthetics, which I made public in my paper “Architecture and Biodiversity in India”. By their silence, my friends – Kanades and others, and the Indian fraternity of architects about this paper, I believe it remains controversial. The simplistic reason, I guess is the status quo attitude of educationists, which is typical of the bureaucrats. Yet, Kanade’s contribution to the building technology remains unique.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Remigius de Souza
69/243 S B Marg Mumbai 400028 India
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1 comments:
Hi Remi!
We know how Indians value recognition from the foriegners, particularly the white people. We have not come out of our slave mentality even after sixty years of Independance!!!
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