Social Aspects of Architecture

Revathi Kamath, Principal Architect- Kamath Design Studio striding both the traditional and modern worlds of architecture is a pioneer of mud architecture in India, and is also credited with building the tallest stainless steel structure in India   Bringing Social Transformations Revathi Kamath doesn't believe in transposing her thoughts on her clients, but would like architecture to come from the people it is meant for, so that they can adapt to the design and build a structure true to their own ethos. In 1981 when Revathi started her practice, there was no conversations around the social aspects of architecture. There were not many people who were even thinking on those lines or any real efforts made to educate architects on their social responsibility. The social aspects of architecture as espoused by Kamath and her husband, Vasant, way back in the Eighties were way ahead of their time. Now, her whole effort is to make mud a viable material and make people accept and adopt it.   Novel Initiative Through her "Evolving Home" concept, she designed a space for the community where the people, mostly coming from marginalised sections of the society, could work and live in the same space. Along with her husband  Vasant Kamath, she went on to successfully employ this design concept in building homes for the community of traditional performing artists and craftsperson’s called the Bhule Bisre Kalakar Sahkari Samiti in Shadipur, New Delhi, and then again with the weavers at Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh. Her sensitive efforts in promoting Mud architecture and vernacular building traditions have set a benchmark in sustainable and socially responsible architecture. She is consistently working towards crafting simple, easily available materials and embodying them with human wisdom and skills.  The thread that ties all her projects is the incorporation of the craft skills into the building’s architectural expression. “In the context of toddy’s architecture, the digital has begun to aid us in doing more with less, combining technology, ecology, craft and industry to embody eco-literacy. I hope to see technology and design as part of a single eco-sensitive architecture.” Revathi Kamath   Read More in Realty+ 15th Anniversary Issue