Design Kerala Summit 2018: Designers for balance between development and sustainability
KOCHI: Striking a proper balance between development and sustainability is crucial in post-flood rebuilding of Kerala to avoid future shocks, emphasised leading architects and designers in their keynote presentations on the second day of the #Design Kerala Summit 2018 here.
Noting this approach called for taking a critical look at the prevailing practices and helping evolve a new set of designs and construction parameters, they said recognising the codes of nature and its own defence mechanism is important in this process. A paradigm shift in building practices demands “unlearning and relearning” by architects and designers to ensure future constructions go in tune with the ecosystem, they said.
Kicking off the discussion, Journal of Architecture, Arts and Ideas editor Durganand Balsavar said: “We need to build, but we need to look into what we build and find the balance between development and sustainability.” Darlie Koshy, director general and CEO IAM, ATDC, and former director NID, said it is necessary to know the land before building on it.
Kiba Designs founder Abhimanyu Nohwar said a designer is a catalyst, channel and facilitator of change and one who helps build the solution by incorporating the ideas and experiences of many others including those who live in sync with the ground reality on where we presume to rebuild. HundredHands founder Bijoy Ramachandran said disaster-affected communities have rich knowledge of the ecosystem they live in which can be harnessed when building solutions.
He showcased projects in tsunami-affected Tharangambadi and Chinnangudi in Tamil Nadu, which used local techniques and engineers at low costs in rebuilding. The two-day summit was organised by the Kerala Government to leverage path-breaking design solutions in rebuilding flood-ravaged Kerala.
The summit formed the key segment of India’s largest design festival, ‘Kochi Design Week’, at Bolgatty Convention Centre.