Architects Jaigopal Rao and Latha Jaigopal and their team of ‘Inspiration’ are on a mission, to save the ecological footprints while building houses.
The objective is carried out brilliantly using effective architectural techniques and their venture titled ‘Sustainable Architecture’ has brought much glories to them, the prominent being their participation in the Venice Architecture Biennale 2014.
Mostra di Architettura di Venezia, the architecture section of the Venice Biennale, saw ‘Inspiration’ as one among the two participants from India in 2014. “In the Biennale, we presented a model on how architecture can play an important role in promoting a sustainable development,” says Rao. “We also explained how it can be implemented for people belonging to various classes of society,” he says.
For him, architecture means to create homes in such a way that the structure and character of the land are preserved and not to mention, conservation of environment.
The team ensures that structures are designed in a way maximum sunlight enters their interior. Sun is the prime source of light in the daytime. This increases the heat and turns a ventilation, permitting a good passage of air. This also means reduction of electricity, which again is produced using non-conventional sources. Windmills and solar panels are common sights in their buildings. It is taken care that the materials used for construction contains little or no toxic matter. “Use of locally available materials could effectively help in increasing the ecological footprint. Also, it would cause financial gains too. For instance, if stone is commonly available at the place where the building is being constructed, people should go for it, rather than using bricks,” says Rao.
While availability of fresh water and waste water management are two major issues in Kochi, they have a fix for these too. Rain water which falls on the terrace is collected in tanks using pipes and is saved for future use. Also, the mechanisms to treat waste water and making it fit for household use truly contributes to the environmental conservation. They also take good care to preserve the land from erosion and gives priority to save trees by cleverly designing the premises too. “Soil erosion is one problem that we face these days. We have a cure for that too. For landscaping, a grass called Vettiver is used. This works magic in holding the land and hence preventing erosion,” says Rao.
With this concept, they have taken architecture to a new dimension building a better earth for the generations to come in a way affordable in all respects.
Inspiration, with a technical team of 45 members actively participates in the field of sustainable architecture for the past 18 years. A few of their successful projects are BTH Sarovaram, International Corporate School, Yerukad, and The Pearl Beach retreat, Mararikulam.