ASIA DESIGNER COMMUNICATION PLATFORM

【 Conceived to articulate the agency of architecture during transitory, political and socio-economic movements, the publication details emerging trends in South Asian practices. 】

Architectures of Transition, Emergent Practices in South Asia is a publication curated and edited by Indian architects Rahul Mehrotra, Devashree Shah and urban designer Pranav Thole. The book emanates from the Emergent Practices in South Asia lecture series conducted virtually between 2022 and 2023 under the banner of the 'State of Architecture in South Asia project'.

The State of Architecture in South Asia project aims to collectively ask, across South Asia, the question: Does architecture matter in a state of transition? In the region, numerous transitions, and uncertainties, encompassing climate change, political transformations and socio-economic shifts, manifest in a heightened form within the daily existence of its populace. We believe this collective question will not only resonate across the different countries in the region, but these gathered reflections will be mutually productive given the incredible common ground we historically and culturally share. What does the practice of architecture in this condition in the region mean for the next generation? For the making of the architect and architectural education? What are the new forms of patronage for architecture emerging across South Asia? What is the agency of architecture in grappling with transitions? What are the Architectures of Transition?

While some questions are broad, common, and defy political boundaries, there are physical implications and manifestations of architecture that are extremely local. These and many such questions are what the State of Architecture in South Asia project hopes to begin exploring while focusing specifically on architecture in the public realm and on the question of the public agency of architecture. The project has six major components: A lecture series, publications, a conference, a travelling exhibition, podcasts and a digital archive to capture the ongoing research. The project is cognizant of the fact that some discussions about architecture and the different modes of engagement in practice are most productive within a generation while others are more productive across generations of practitioners.

【 A look at ‘Architectures of Transition, Emergent Practices in South Asia’ 】
The publication captures the current pulse of the region by exploring the pluralism of modes of practice. It’s an attempt to understand better the issues that current and emerging practitioners are engaging with and are grappling with on the ground. The publication highlights modes of engagement as well as transgressions and synergies between disparate cultures, ways of representation and knowledge accumulation and production. It helps gain insights into diverse forms of patronage, methodologies, emergent technology and construction technique explorations while shedding light on how the more humane and social aspects of Architecture, characterised by participatory frameworks, are being approached by practitioners today.

Here is an extract from the essay

- Curatorial Framework -
Based on the focus of looking at the architectures of transitions—or what the role of architecture might be in facilitating transitions—this component of The State of Architecture in South Asia project highlights mapping young practices in South Asia to cull the pulse on the ground through a new generation of architects. Perhaps biased by the assumption at the onset of this project—that the role of the architect in the public realm is incredibly absent in the region—this research is an exploration of how as a profession, we can reclaim this role. This implicitly became a criterion for the curation of this cohort of practices in the region.

Why focus on the public realm? It is a critical inquiry, considering the diminished presence of architects in public spaces and projects. By spotlighting this, the project seeks to initiate a broader dialogue about the architect’s role in shaping public realms. The emphasis on young architects is intentional; their fresh perspectives and emerging methodologies often offer innovative solutions to age-old challenges. Their endeavours mirror the state of architecture in South Asia today and its evolving dynamics, embodying its aspirations, challenges, and hopes.

Included in the project—and, by extension, in this publication—are 41 practices approximately under the age of 40 years, and hence broadly about a decade in the field. Through this sampling, a multiplicity of modes of engagement with practice emerge which are now operating across domains and associated fields. These are often hybrid formulations that involve differing forms of patronage and the subsequent employment of varying protocols. They could range from advocacy and the creation of the tools for advocacy through research to more conventional commissions with a clear patron, and the deployment of the business-as-usual protocol for the practice. These protocols involve instruction through drawing and, often, a detachment from the process of making. However, through the practices that were studied, there emerges an adoption of non-traditional organisational structures foregrounding different stakeholders, including the makers of the building and, in the process, formulating new relationships and building capacity through new methods of communication for more effective outreach among vulnerable communities. In short, there is a greater empathy towards the society they are serving.

The question then is: What does it take to set up a practice and how do younger practitioners secure public projects, or, for that matter, engage with the public realm? Thus, the curatorial approach for this catalogue has been focused on identifying young architects in South Asia who have made a concerted effort to either find patronage in the public realm or construct patronage to influence the public realm and, at the very least, have been mindful of the public realm.

We were not only interested in practices actively engaged in the public realm but also ones that have a deep aspiration to situate design in the public realm and ones that consciously undertook rigorous exploratory processes to do so. Most practices explored through this catalogue as part of The State of Architecture in South Asia project have been deeply empathetic in their response to varying contexts, communities, and material resources. These are architects who situated their practice by employing new modes of engagement, whether it was with the makers of the building or their relationships with the patrons and users. Additionally, the approach of the practice to materials and making is most often achieved by means of frugality, sensitivity, or appropriateness. This self-imposed sense of economy and the sensible deployment of resources were notable traits among the younger generation of curated practices. The stage of development among the different practices was uneven. While some have built more than others, in cases wherein practices had large portfolios, we distilled and curated one or two projects which were not only emblematic of the practice but also of the larger issue that we, as a project, wanted to focus on. Lastly, we were interested in practices that highlighted new forms of architectural agency and attempted to expand and redefine architecture’s role in society.

End of extract

Cataloging 41 emergent architectural practices from South Asia, the curated list includes those that display a rigorous engagement with architecture, landscape and infrastructure in the public realm. In addition to the catalogue, the book further ruminates on practice beyond the built with reflections from recognised practitioners in the region, presented along with a framing essay to contextualise these emergent forms of practice.

- Exploring the curatorial framework -
A graphic taxonomy of plans and types most prevalent as commissions emblematic of the public agency of architecture among younger practitioners is presented toward the end of the publication. Infographics culled from a comprehensive survey that examined the models of practice for the represented firms are also featured in this publication. Offering valuable insights into current trends and emerging patterns of architectural practice in the region, these provide a clearer idea of the range of projects undertaken, organisational structures and forms of patronage for each.

This book provides a platform for emerging practices to articulate their position as well as expand their network of peers to collectively push the intellectual boundaries of the field. The hope is that the ecology of practitioners and network of peers created through this sharing of ideas might lead to cross-pollination of concepts and methodologies in addition to critique and reflection among the next generation of practitioners in the region.

The above presents an excerpt from ‘Architectures of Transition, Emergent Practices in South Asia’ curated and edited by Rahul Mehrotra, Devashree Shah and Pranav Thole and was released on February 12, 2024. This project was supported by the Laxmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute(LMSAI), Architecture Foundation(AF), Harvard Graduate School of Design(GSD), and the South Asia Student Group at Harvard GSD.

References:
1. The State of Architecture in South Asia
2. Book launch at the Harvard Graduate School of Design on March 27

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▪ Source: STIRworld｜https://www.stirworld.com/think-books-and-movies-understanding-architectures-of-transition-emergent-practices-in-south-asia

▪ Words: Editorial team of STIRworld

▪ Photography Credit: © Altrim Publishers,

Understanding 'Architectures of Transition, Emergent Practices in South Asia'