The Transformers

Chennai-based architect Krithika Subrahmanian walks us through her studio space and shows us why a keen sense of balance is the key in design and architecture

- Vani Sriranganayaki

The Pritzker Architecture Prize often referred to as the Nobel Prize in Architecture, is one of the world’s premier architectural prizes. Every year it is awarded ‘to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of qualities, talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture’. This year, that honor was bestowed on Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Born in 1931 in the city of ÅŒita, one of Isozaki’s earliest interactions with the built environment was at ground zero in the aftermath of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In a video that made the rounds around the Internet post the Pritzker announcement, he spoke about how he became interested in the way a city can rise up from nothing; how now, we have the capacity to reinterpret the meaning of architecture and by extension understand the many new possibilities in front of us; and how important it is to experiment without propriety. ‘As long as it is interesting, just hit it big and never mind a mistake,’ he said. That reminded me of the meeting I had with architect Krithika Subrahmanian a few days before the announcement. She seemed to somehow contextualize Isozaki’s words for the Indian sense of design. She said that ‘balance was the most important thing’. ‘Land is a valuable commodity, and so are construction materials. You can make iconic or flamboyant buildings. And you should. But it still should serve a purpose.’ Her words had me wondering if she had somehow cracked the code. If she, like Isozaki and all those legendary architects, knew the secret that would one day redefine the profession as we now know it.