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IMPRESSIONS & EXPRESSIONS IN ARCHITECTURE
A significant aspect of architecture is the built environment. However, these spatial organizations and orientations become meaningless without the intangible narratives crafted by the designer. These narratives imbibe value into precise line drawings, which, while plausibly explicatory of our designs, are not absolute in their purpose. This opens up the arena for designers like us to employ different tools of expression.
Dialogue 01: “Architecture and Poetry”
The dialogue explored the intersection of architecture and poetry, illustrating how architecture serves as a language through which the speaker contemplates on his journey through life and pens his anecdotes as a form of poetry.
Mustansir Dalvi
Ar. Mustansir Dalvi, recently retired, was the longest serving Professor of Architecture in the University of Mumbai. He is a poet, translator and editor. He has three books of poems — Brouhahas of Cocks (Poetrywala, 2013), Cosmopolitician (Poetrywala, 2018) and WALK (Yavanika Press, 2020/Poetrywala2021). He is widely anthologised, and his poems have been translated into French, Croatian, Gujarati, Marathi and Hindi.
Synopsis
Dalvi presented poems inspired by architectural structures, including works on Antoni Gaudí's creations and the concept of Shiva (external Shiva). He discussed how architectural forms and philosophies can evoke poetic expressions and how the built environment can inspire and shape poetic narratives.
The talk concluded, with interactive discussions on where we can all start writing being students of architecture. A takeaway that stuck with us, as he put it, is, “You don't have to be a poet to write poetry.”
Dialogue 02: “Architectural Writing and Curation”
The dialogue consisted of the speaker sharing her experiences and insights into architectural writing and curation to back it up with examples of her own projects. She divided the talk into four parts, explaining namely, curation, theatre, research and writing.
Devanshi Shah
Ar. Devanshi Shah is an editor, researcher, curator, writer and designer. She has a master’s degree in history and Critical Thinking from the Architectural Association, London and a Certificate in Curatorial Studies from Venice, Italy. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at Instituto Marangoni and was the Assistant Editor at STIR. She is currently slated to begin her PhD in Architecture at the Architectural Association, London.
Synopsis
Devanshi Shah divided her talk into four parts: curation, theatre, research, and writing. In curation, she discussed projects like Speakers Corner and Story of Space Goa, where she explored the concept of "how do you build without building" creating a platform for collective discussions, and Venice Architecture Biennale, where she emphasized how vocabulary shapes spaces and narratives, thereby answering the question of “Can vocabulary help in building a space”. In theatre, she spoke about her role as art director for projects like Floating Market and Word Hospital, highlighting how unconventional use of space created immersive storytelling experiences with the use of world building. She then touched on research methodologies and concluded with writing, explaining its role across art, architecture, and design.
In conclusion, Devanshi Shah provided valuable insights into Architectural Writing and Curation. As she humorously suggested, her talk prompted us to reflect on our career paths beyond the five years of education. One key takeaway from the discussion was the idea that a degree in Architecture doesn’t solely define us as architects. Exploring allied fields or viewing the world through an architectural lens could be worth considering as well.
A theme conclusion
Various forms of physical/tactile material entities encompass the world around us constantly providing a stimulus for influence and impact. Our perceived thoughts both in an immediate and prolonged sense are essential in discovering and shaping an understanding of this visual-textural relationship.
We often explore this internal monologue towards the world through profound works and mediums each converting our impressions into evolving and changing dynamic expressions.
Written By: Aditya Shanbhag (5B) & Jasmine Sebastian (3B)
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