Interview with Architect Amrita Ballal, New Delhi

How you started SpaceMatters and how the journey has been? SpaceMatters started with and is sustained by the spirit of collaboration, friendship and a shared passion for positively impacting the built environment. It has been 10 years on practise, which started with us winning the national competition for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Memorial, arguably one of the most complex projects in the country dealing with a space of pain and shame, environmental contamination and urban revitalisations. It taught us that as architects we are at best catalysts - with effort and grace achieving some alchemy with the conditions presented to us. What was the vision you started with when you set up SpaceMatters? We strongly believe that design is not a frill or indulgence but strongly impacts people and society - from your most private domain to the most public spaces. We feel as a society we are yet to wake up to our own potential in the design domain. For us SpaceMatters is a means - through our projects, research, and advocacy - to inform, impact and transform how design is perceived and practised. Which would you say has been a hallmark project undertaken by the SpaceMatters team? We would name two - One is Bhopal - where we overtime have engaged with the issues beyond what is understood as the conventional scope of an architect. We have worked with stakeholders, conducted workshops, conducted research. This process has defined the kind of practise we are - aware both of the possibilities and limitations of architecture. The other is the Temple of Stone and Light, which was culmination of many years of research and learning how to work with traditional crafts, material and artisans over many projects. We felt me managed to best achieve design innovation and expression using both - the technology available to us as well as traditional skills and knowledge systems. Source: ZingyHomes