Mind The Gap

Among a growing number of architects seeking to bridge the gap between conscious social interactions and aesthetic training is the Madras Office for Architects and Designers (MOAD) that focuses on situation-specific solutions

- Vani Sriranganayaki Vanamamalai

Have you ever looked at a built o designed structure and wondered ‘What were they thinking?’ I remember the first time I had one of those moments. I was about six years old, trying to get to my grandfather’s library. It was placed on a floor of its own – a mezzanine of sorts; and for the lack of space, a short staircase with steps steeper than usual led to it. Scaling it involved a lot of grunts and pants, and, as a six-year-old, just mastering the act of taking continuous steps, that was my personal Everest. Over time, I have had many more of those what-were-they thinking moments – ‘Why does it have to look like mangled steel? Did it have to be phallic-shaped? Really? A fish building?!’

Arguably, architecture now is a profession largely disconnected from the people directly impacted by its works. The contemporary world is predominantly built by folks who have rarely taken the time to understand how people unlike them experience their designs. If what we seek is a sustainable form of settlement, then architects and designers have to work much harder in creating salubrious spaces for all human beings.

So, how might we go about bridging the gap? How might our shared built environments – our homes, our hospitals, our schools and our public spaces – be shaped differently if the people who actually used the spaces were part of the decision-making processes? Architect/designer Mahesh Radhakrishnan seems to have the proverbial key to the solution. He is among a growing number of architects and designers who seek to combine conscious social interactions with their aesthetic training to make design more relevant to people’s lives. His practice, the Madras Office for Architects and Designers (MOAD), provides architectural and design services for communities that can have their needs addressed through situation-specific solutions.