Civilizations have come and gone, yet this land of ours continues a culture by its expressed built environment. Just travel, West to East, North to South, and observe with an open mind and absorb the variety and diversity of the built environment and the people who inhabit these spaces. Languages subtly change, means of communication vary, the dress and living styles have various disciplines, yet in this diversity unity prevails.
Today, technology like AI has come into great use. Initially, one thought that these would change our culture of living, but the reverse is the truth. Bullock carts and elephants still roam in our urban spaces, as they do in the villages.
Temples or Koils as we call them in Tamil, have lived for centuries and influenced life all over the world, especially in the sphere of architecture. The walk around spaces, the tower of entrance, and the respect to the Gods that occupy the central space of darkness with light shining from the top measuring time and year day after day. The priests walk around but never stand before the deity, who is washed with fresh milk to cool the stone sculpture, which is made of rare stones that have a magnetic power and the potential to heat up.
In my early years I used to live with my grandparents during holidays. My mother, who was the daughter of the Chief Architect of the Mysore Maharaja, wanted one of her sons to take up architecture as a profession. That is how I walked into this fascinating sphere. Those days there were 5 SOA s. Today, over 500 ring this subcontinent. What is architecture, other than creating spaces in context of time and culture, as these subtly change due to technology or art; this transformation has to be absorbed.
Change is the nature of humankind. This change in life and style is expressed best by the built environment, which is influenced by the senses and all life around it. Nature, birds, animals, as well as the green oasis and the desserts touched by the five elements influence the creative world of architecture. Life lives, the built environment expresses, change and transformation are in continuum.
