The Monsoon Architecture Festival (MAF) will be held on April 21-22 at Bolgatty Palace, Kochi. The MAF is a celebration of architecture, art, craft and culture in the monsoon regions of the world. It is being organised by the Indian Institute of Architects (IIA), Cochin Centre. The festival brings together architects and non-architects, who have done exemplary work in these areas.
“The festival is the culmination of the Living Monsoon, a two-year programme of the Cochin centre,” said VN Ramachandran, chairman of the centre.
The centre has been conducting a Living Monsoon Design talk series for the past two years, bringing the best architects, who have done path-breaking climatically responsive architecture in the monsoon regions.
There will be keynote sessions on how the architects have responded to the unique climate of the monsoons. “There will also be an incredible amount of thoughts, ideas and resources,” said Ramachandran. “This is the first time in the world that an international seminar is being organised on such a theme.”
MAF will feature top international architects, writers, artists and intellectuals. They include Architects Tay Kheng Soon (Singapore), Dr. Ken Yeang (Malaysia), Rahul Mehrotra (India), Kashef Chowdhury (Bangladesh), apart from artists like David Schafer (Thailand), architectural photographer Iwan Baan (Netherlands) and Academician and writer Philip Goad (Australia) .
“Along with technical sessions and presentations, the Grand Finale will also host a curated exhibition on Living Monsoon, installations, workshops, cultural events and a grand food fest showcasing the local cuisine,” said S Gopakumar, Senior Architect.
An exclusive publication will be unveiled on the occasion featuring selected excerpts supported by images of the works of the architects who have presented at the Living Monsoon programme.
This book is a non-profit venture of the IIA Cochin Center with the objective of taking away the best from the Living Monsoon series as a source of reference for the architectural fraternity including academia and research, said Gopakumar.
At the conclusion, the Monsoon Architecture Awards will be presented. “The aim is to bring recognition to the best projects of the Monsoon regions,” said Ramachandran.
Projects are invited from architects world-wide, who have done exemplary works in these regions, using designs which are sensitive to climate, environment and society.