Into the Dark Area of ideas

In 1996, Indian Architect builder commissioned articles on the importance of sketching in architecture. Having trained under Anant Raje, I took the opportunity to interview him as his sketches were legendary. Below is the text of the interview interspersed with the pages of the magazine as published in Jan - Feb 1996.



Could you explain how sketching aids the design process in architecture?

Sketching basically is an exploration in searching for form and spaces, without any accuracy of dimensions or material choice. The thick or the thin lines with smudges, suggest the density of mass with minute pores for desired intensity of light. The whole idea of sketching should remain extremely nebulous.

Due to the advent of computers very few architects ,tend to sketch. Do you believe technology can replace the good old charcoal stick or the pencil?

Frankly, anything is possible through computer-aided graphics for design. But, without an idea or feel for what one is looking for, the computer may turn out what seems to be acceptable in the very first attempt. The diagrams may be so perfect that a trap could be laid and the rejection may take a long time, in the absence of direct involvement of a certain feeling which is necessary to probe into the dark areas of ideas.

In connection with the above question, do you personally believe that sketching can improve the quality of drawing?

Not necessarily. Sketching without formulation for a statement of problem, however diffuse it may seem, may lead to irrecoverable situations. The progressive development of a sketch, without control on the overall scale of the project, would make it difficult to assess the nature of spaces and their desired relationships to the overall character.

How is sketching important to you in your Architecture?

There is a certain freedom from mundane aspects of the programme of requirements. Those spaces which were not thought of earlier suddenly surface, indicating the new beginning, to reorganise or compose parts of building plans with interior and exterior spaces. The hardline drawings, which then follow, give something which was not thought of before.

Your sketches are known for their correct proportions - to the extent that they can be scaled and drawn - can you tell us how you achieved this?

The eye has to be disciplined and trained for minute observations, in the visual context of a given place or position in space. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the hand to record the impressions of what is being observed in the mind's eye and coordinate the same impression through the hand on paper. The impressions could be of such urgency that instant choice of medium, to record, is of the foremost necessity for the architect. In the absence of this, the essence of what is being recorded would be lost, making room for what is described as a meaningless record, pages after pages, incredible in quantum but devoid of character. Proportions in sketches - are not necessarily essential. To change proportions is one's own prerogative, to heighten the impact of communications. To lend correct proportions in sketches may be generated from being continuously self-critical, until the hand draws what the eye sees.

In your sketches how do you achieve a sense of light.which becomes crucial to characterise the space as an enclosure?

The light has to be sensed. Its intensity lies in the first dense mass drawn with charcoal or graphite or any other medium. It is trapped. It needs to be released.

Sketches often lead to the final choice of materials. Is this true for your design?

It is difficult to sketch without some sort of an idea about the material. The material has a direct relationship with light. The material and its form, has a character which can only be enhanced in the presence of light.

Do you have any favourite subjects that you like to sketch?

Mostly parts of buildings, with or without some sha-:!ows. The stronger the shadow, the stronger the building form. The joints of branches of trees, small plants, rock formations and hoofs of animals.

What effect did Kahn's sketches have on you? Could you tell us about the aspects of his sketching that have influenced you? During my apprenticeship with you I have often heard you mention Giovanni Batista Piranesi and Antonio Sant 'Ella. Can we discuss how their sketches also influenced you?

Drawing with charcoal came from observing Kahn's drawings and their development at various stages, till the sketch became communicable through its substance and its graphic qualities. Both the Piranesi's and Sant 'Elias drawings were inspiring in their densities and tonal values. Their drawings were directed towards spatial compositions. This was most important to learn.

Architects like Mies, Corbusier, Kahn and Mendelssohn have designed buildings which have become landmarks in the history of Modem Architecture. Corbusier was also a pioneer of an art movement. Would you say that their ability to sketch contributed to their architecture?

The architects who are mentioned were artists. Artists have to have a medium through which abstract ideas can become commmunicable. The sketch leaves an imprint of the message on the artist. This is an inspiring moment, without which the later development becomes characterless.

Sketching is acknowledged as an important tool of design in the field of Fashion Design. Set Designing for films, product design and so on. Satyajit Ray and Sergei Eisenstein were known for their ability to sketch.

Ravivari Market, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad

Come Sunday mornings and most areas in the city wear a deserted look, but the eastern bank of the Sabarmati erupts with activity. The weekly market or the 'Ravivari' as it is locally known is conducted below the oldest bridge of Ahmedabad. This market is an interesting example of spontaneous shopping activity conducted in the city.

This market basically caters to the labour class and the millworkers. This could be the reason why the market is held only on Sundays.

The sunday market does not have any permanent structures or shops. The hawkers usually display their wares on charpoys or on the ground. One comes across a wide range of things being sold here. Used clothes, brassware, cycle spares, tools, wooden shelves and other similar items, books and magazines, cheap cassettes, household items and even caged birds! All this lends a very intriguing ambience to the market. Artists, found sketching and buying odds and ends for their sculptures are another unique feature. The vibrant nature of the market is a delight for a photography enthusiast. People from all walks of life find something of value in this market.

Within this milieu of screaming hawkers and bargaining customers, one cannot but wander how such a market is organized week after week with such clockwork precision. This informal market has been known to exist for over five decades. There appears to be a union where money is collected every week from each hawker towards rent. I saw a man collecting money from all the hawkers and systematically evicting the defaulters from the market. Indeed, the so-called unorganised sector comes up sometimes with effective and efficient solutions to problems which planners and municipal corporations have struggled to resolve!

Shopping has remained one of the most interesting, of all human activities. Wherever and whenever this activity becomes a mode of expressing people's emotions, it strikes a chord in one's heart. Every class of people in a city find their own outlets for expressing joy. The Sunday market or the Ravivari is just that - an expression of the people.

This article was published in the Indian Architect and Builder in 1994

Manek Chowk, Ahmedabad City

From blue chip shares to bhel puri and from books to bullion, Manek Chowk is the answer to any shopping that an Ahmedabadi does! Shopping in Manek Chowk can be quite a thrill and should be on the agenda of any tourist to Ahmedabad.

Locates on the axis connecting the royal buildings of medieval Ahmedabad - The queen's tomb, The King's tomb and the Jumma Masjid, Manek Chowk is the most dynamic shopping areas of Ahmedabad. Surviving through ages, it still maintains its importance in present day commercial activities of Ahmedabad. The virility and tenacity of the traders of Manek Chowk may have earned the name "Manchester of India" for Ahmedabad. Legend has it that a saint by the name of Maneknath had his ashram hereabouts and the agora may have been named after him. A temple by his name still exists at the southern edge of Manek Chowk.

The commercial activity in Manek Chowk is as old as the city of Ahmedabad. Its central location and easy accessibility are the main reasons for the commercial activity to flourish. This activity grew so intense that the royal buildings were gradually encroached.Totally blocking of the view to the royal buildings, the encroachments provided space for the growth of commercial activity more intensely. Because of this one gets a feeling of moving in a department store with medieval tombs peeking through the gaps as if reminding their presence amidst the fervent pleas of the hawkers. Being spread over a large area, a market for jewelry merges into the foodstuff market into books and so on.

The northern edge of the chowk opens onto the busy Gandhi road. The shops here are of a mixed nature selling a variety of items ranging from junk jewelry to hosiery products. The southern edge is mainly taken up by the gold and silver merchants. These shops are a part of the family heirlooms and are systematically passed from father to son. Hardly exceeding six by six feet at times, the location and the family name of the jeweler attract customers from far and wide. I met an owner of one such shop who said," I have been sitting at this shop since I was five years old." Being an octogenarian, I asked him since when was the shop in the family. he said," For at least a one hundred and fifty  years. My grandfather migrated from Kutch in the early nineteenth century and bought this shop soon thereafter." I was truly amazed when he told me that the value of the shop had gone up by  a thousand times after that. Asked if he ever thought of selling the shop for a bigger showroom elsewhere, he said," the customers do not come here because they like the architecture but they trust me totally." I had nothing further to ask. My questions regarding the marketplace were answered. I realised a market was made by the traders and customers- people who trusted each other and not by the massive departmental stores where the contact between people was reduced. This probably explains the spontaneity so much found in most of the Indian marketplaces.

The small pocket of space between the two edges is taken up by hawkers who sell steel utensils and cheap music cassettes from their laris. The inevitable chaiwallah does brisk business and so does the few panipuriwallahs and sandwichwallahs who satisfy the Ahmedabad's taste of something hot and spicy. The most fascinating character of this chowk is the changeover that happens as the night approaches. With almost clockwork precision the lariwallahs execute the changeover as if the shift were changing in a factory. The new shift now busies itself by serving the customers with tasty paubhaji, kulfi and the like. This batch continues its roaring business amidst blaring music till the wee hours of the morning. What was a busy commercial street during the daytime now acquires a festive character. Quite similar to the Ahmedabadi who slogs during the daytime and relaxes with his family as the evening approaches. The chowk apparently never sleeps. This then constitutes the main centre of Manek Chowk. The Stock Exchange accounts for the dense traffic and a multitude of haphazardly parked vehicles. Movement on foot and by vehicles is reduced to a snail's pace.

Some of the associated commercial activities are the Dhalgarwad- the cloth market, the fruit and vegetable markets, the spices market, the seconds book market. Perhaps one of the only markets selling exclusive ethnic cloth material of Gujarat is situated in the tomb of the queen popularly known as " Rani No Hajiro". The Dhalgarwad market sells dress material and ready made clothes. The market gives a feeling of a single tent where displayed dresses and eager shopkeepers vie for the attentions of the shoppers.



Old Stock market, Manek chowk



This market is so crowded that I had to stand up on the stool to take the photographs! The market for secondhand books is located under a " Fernandes Bridge" and has been the mainstay for poor and middle class Ahmedabadis. The market provides textbooks for school and college going students as well as books for competitive exams. All books bought from here can be returned at the end of the year for a small rent. Trust the economical Ahmedabadi to come up with a solution for books too!    

Though shopping in Manek Chowk can be delightful experience for the occasional shopper, it can be a nightmare for the everyday visitor. Endless and undisciplined traffic, lack of parking space make the chowk choke for breath. The problems are many and solutions hard to come by. The long awaited transfer of the stock exchange to the Ashram road may partially solve the problem. Manek Chowk badly needs a break after a long and arduous tenure as the prime commercial area of a commercial city like Ahmedabad.