THE SWAP ANALYSIS

We’ve always captured what the writer has to say about a certain project, or what an architect or designer has to express about his/her own project. For this cover feature, however, we took a backseat, we refrained from asking questions, we let the creators engage in a dialogue with each other and their creations. We became mere spectators to their conversations, understanding the nuances, the observations which otherwise would have never been made. For the first in this series, we approached architects Puran Kumar of Studio PKA and Rajiv Parekh of reD Architects in Mumbai. The projects featured are telling of their creators – the much written about ‘The Mango House’ by Puran Kumar of Studio PKA, and an exclusive sneak preview of ‘The Library House’ by Rajiv Parekh of reD Architects. We bring you the unedited version of their engaging discourse…

- SEEMA SREEDHARAN

The Mango House

By Puran Kumar, Studio PKA

A Constructive Critique by Rajiv Parekh

The Library House

By Rajiv Parekh, reD Architects

A Constructive Critique by Puran Kumar

The Dialogue

THE MANGO HOUSE — IN RESPONSE TO THE CONTEXT

RAJIV PAREKH: Engaging with the Mango House was an amazing experience. But before I elucidate on that, I would like to know your thought when you were designing The Mango House. And when you finished the design process and started living in it, what was your impression? How much of your original intent followed through? In retrospect do you ever think you would have approached it differently?

PURAN KUMAR: The Mango House is a blend of a few of things—it’s a dream. It’s an aspiration that has taken a physical form. But while you are manifesting a dream into reality, you realise that architecture as a weapon is so potent that you can actually convert a figment of your imagination, into a reality that you can live.

As far as The Mango House is concerned, it’s set in a vernacular context. It couldn’t have been like a city house. It’s got a very earthy feel to it, it’s got its rustic charm. I didn’t want anything that is more than a village house. Having said that there are space requirements, which is why the volume comes into play.