in Book: Sataire: Contextual Contradictions
Image by Gautam Bhatia , Arup Giri and Nilanjan Das
Excerpt:
It is an undestatement to say that celebrity DJ Rashmi Kakkar's new
designer home is a celebration of minimalist modernity. For it is much
more than that. It is a statement of contextual clarity, and traditional
purity. Rashmi herself clad in an all glass see through nightie greeted
us at the glazed entrance looking radiant against the Kerala palm placed
with a nonchalant ease against a backdrop of carelessly strewn children
from her first marriage. The compositional clarity of the entrance
itself was striking. What was inside and what was outside, was
delineated with deliberate cold conviction. And yet, in many ways the
entrance also reflected the duality of this side and that side in a
manner that was both structural and confrontational. Structural because
of the heavy almost wooden door placed deliberately between the two
contrasting spatial realms. Confrontational because of the ease with
which Rashmi stood as a distillation of the human condition - a fleshy
construct, exposed, vulnerable and against the profusion of plant life,
almost irredeemably provocative. Symbolically, out of context, the
imitation Mahogany sofa formed a gravitational focus to the Bloplast
chairs arranged off-centre to suggest the fragility of urban life. Given
to underdeveloped sociological instinct, it could easily have led to
programmatic misunderstanding and hence spatial and visual
embarassement. But the interior designer was rightfully exercising his
or her prerogative to determine the positive constraints of the Genus
Loci. In so doing, the floor had been cleverly placed directly on the
ground. Yet, it was clever without being smart, arrogant without a hint
of self-righteousness. Further in, the juxtapositions got more violent.
A period center table, part Bolivian, part Chinese, was turned at an
angle to suggest an attitude of psychological disorientation and create
a playful schaema that crossed conventional ornamentation bounds and
just lay there mocking 'Try me, you bastard, just try me.' Fooled into
believing that we were only pawns in this game of simulated
multifunctionality, we headed unknowingly into the lyrical cadences of
the dining area, where the ordinary needs of a construction science had
met their match in a metaphysical balance of such complexity that it was
hard to separate the delicate nuances from the standard subtleties. For
there, in the midst of the room, topped by a table cloth generously
stained by dal was a metaphor so utterly contemporary and volumetric,
that it was hard not to be fooled into corruptive design paradox.
Directly behind, was an old fridge, shaking vigorously in the summer
heat, and through its actions making it abundantly clear that the deeper
structure of the interior professes fundamental linkages to contemporary
contradictions inherent in the ambiguity between barbaric functionality
and emotive traditionalism, both of which were very close to Rashmi
Kakar's heart. She removed her glass dress for fear of compositional
disparity and we proceeded into the bedroom.
- By Our Glib Reporter
© The Author. Reproduced by the permision of The Author
cont'd....
http://www.architexturez.net/+/subject-listing/000064.shtml
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in Book: Sataire: Architect wanted
Image by Gautam Bhatia , Arup Giri and Nilanjan Das
Excerpt:
Architect wanted with cool exterior, and studied manner required by
established company. Part teacher, part practitioner, part writer,
candidate may be a kind of new age Leonardo dabbling in disciplines for
which he has neither training nor skill. When there is no work in the
office candidate should be willing to write a manifesto or two; when
there is nothing to write he should be able to deliver a lecture on some
obscure but promising new theory of design like the Proto Renaissance
and its influence on Secular Architecture. Architect's credentials
however must be impeccable - a diploma from a five-year programme from a
recognized school, a specialist degree in some sort of related
architectural field like urban design, city planning, backed by a
specialist course in Third World Development Patterns from Princeton,
Sorbonne or Harvard. Low-key, cool, gently urbane with just the right
doses of reticence and cynicism, architect's expression should be a
little aloof, the face always displaying a palpable concern at any
discussion of rural poverty. Soft spoken, prone to mumbling when dealing
with statistics, but able to debate freely in private forums of other
architects, mixing historical references from obscure periods with
contemporary design dictums, candidate should be able to discuss Akbar
and Edwin Lutyens, the Bohra Houses of Gujarat and the ruins of Machu
Piccu with equal passion. Must excel in the display of his grasp of
Indian mythology, folklore and traditional texts, even though the feet
may be firmly anchored in the latest trend from Amrica. On the whole a
tough, insightful, deeply philosophical, but pragmatic individual, with
a keen eye for tweed jackets and mufflers. Apply Box Box 999
cont'd....
http://www.architexturez.net/+/subject-listing/000066.shtml