Interview with Architect Shirish Beri, Kolhapur

What made you choose architecture as a profession? Architecture helps me to connect physically and tangibly to people, nature, emotions etc simultaneously. Just as language is the medium for my poetry, space is the medium for my architecture and I have a great fascination for exploring this medium of space. I have been toying with the idea of making a hour long What is that one important learning you get from students of today’s generation? I always learn through the process of answering their questions. Some of the issues raised are worthwhile and while articulating my answers, I get a better sense of clarity myself. Even in terms of technical questions, I have to be prepared or I have to prepare myself to answer them. Besides this, one stays young and abreast with new concepts and ideas. Do you find anything challenging in life? If so, please tell us about it. Every person, every happening, everything is a challenge in life…. especially today when all these are commodified for material gains. I see three major challenges and sicknesses of today’s times. We seem to be suffering from.. .. N.D.D. – Nature deficit disorder -where we are cocooning ourselves in an artificial, secure, sanitized man made world that is alienated from nature. .. Poverty of time- where we are rushing around without appreciating what is near us. .. A fatty degeneration of our conscience (in Nani Palakhiwala’s words) where our single minded pursuit of money is impoverishing our mind, shriveling our imagination and desiccating our heart. Thus, I try to and have actually managed to stay away from all these modern ailments. To do so, I have opted to stay out of the rat race and one upmanship; I have been very choosy about jobs so that my involvement in the works in hand is not diluted. Somehow, money was never an incentive. Source:Zingy Homes