Sudipto Ghosh - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Sudipto Ghosh
Architecture Live, 2023
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the realm of design opens questions regarding the... more The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the realm of design opens questions regarding the validity of the creative genius and human intelligence at the heart of environmental destruction. Whereas we do not expect much more than a recycling of existing human knowledge within present AI systems, will there be a turn-around for the way humans think thanks to AI?
SPADE, vol.4, 2011
Not all who wander are lost. JRR Tolkein Second Skin, a series of workshops conducted in 2002 wit... more Not all who wander are lost. JRR Tolkein Second Skin, a series of workshops conducted in 2002 with participants from the Architectural Association of London, UK and the Arts Academy of Gdansk, Poland, asked architects to design in a state of trance induced by hypnosis. The conductors of the workshops, Marcos Lutyens, a hypnotherapist, and Tania Lopez Winkler, an architect, felt that designers would be able to design more freely in a state of trance, unconstrained by an 'encyclopaedic knowledge' of architecture, planning norms and issues of public taste. i Designers would also be able to leave behind their "ambitions and arrogance" to tap the uncharted depths of the unconscious: a wellspring of primitive wisdom and untrammelled imagination. The workshops claimed that whereas Modernism aimed to change society through architecture, this process might change architecture through the self.
www.theleaflet.in, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic will change the way to live and work once the crisis has passed. Most impor... more The COVID-19 pandemic will change the way to live and work once the crisis has passed. Most importantly it will make us question our modes of consumption and question the market forces that drive peoples choices. But as the author points out, the choice is a class issue, for the millions’, there is no choice, living on the margins of existence. It compels us to look at the post corona world as a better world to live in.
This article first featured on https://theleaflet.in/rearranging-the-world-after-the-crisis/ on April 15, 2020
Deccan Chronicle, 2018
The past week has seen a profusion of newspaper and journal articles on Professor Balkrishna V. D... more The past week has seen a profusion of newspaper and journal articles on Professor Balkrishna V. Doshi, who recently received the Pritzker prize, openly recognised as the Nobel prize of architecture. Several of these articles have been by persons who have known him intimately and yet have chosen to present him objectively to the reader as an architect who may be credited for shaping the vocabulary of a modern Indian architecture in more ways than one. This piece tries to present a more personal sketch of the man and represents the many who have been his students as well as the many Ekalavyas who have considered him a teacher and mentor for years without ever having interacted directly with him. In the spring of 1991, I learnt that I had been admitted to the School of Architecture at the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad. It was not the kind of news that one received while sifting through the mail but the kind that one awaits with bated breath while crowding in front of a rather short list pinned upon a tack board. I had travelled from Delhi for the entrance exam and had fallen in love with the place the moment I walked down the brick path that led into the institute that had no gate or a formal entrance. This was all before I knew the man who had designed the buildings at CEPT and one of the founding members of the institute who gave direction to a new model for education that emphasised learning rather than teaching. As new students, we had our first interaction with him when he was invited to review the works of the first year students, three or four weeks into the program. We had all worked through the night and were still putting final touches to our models when Prof. Doshi, in his simple short kurta, trousers and sandals, walked into the studio. He seemed to gravitate towards one particular student from Porbandar almost immediately. This shy fellow had slept through most of the night huddled under his desk, and gingerly presented a hurriedly put-together model of what appeared to be a giant flower that emerged from the centre of the design to sway precariously over the other blocks. We watched with utter disbelief as Doshi, visibly pleased with the absurdity, asked this boy how he had come up with the idea and received the answer, "I dreamt it last night". That seemed to clinch it for Doshi, who now thoroughly convinced of the design's pure and original spring, praised it as a work that came from within and was without artifice. As we quickly came to terms that our more 'sophisticated' and 'articulated' designs had not even earned a second glance, the realisation of what had been said in those few words about 'what comes from within' would take us a considerably longer time to fathom. Later, on several other occasions, we would find Doshi, or Kaka as he is fondly known on campus, speaking to a group of students and we would huddle around to hear him. His words mesmerised us. He would talk simply in a manner that was entirely clear even to the youngest lot of students. More so, while responding to the questions of some of the very influential senior students who had picked up a smattering of jargon from the books in the library. He used simple parables and metaphors that immediately laid the most contentious and hotly debated issues to rest. I remember one such question on the topic of the 'timeless' in architecture. Some students argued that architecture needed to be timeless-free of the vagaries of fashion and style, while others would say that it was important to
A scientific inquiry of vernacular space invariably encounters obstacles of its own making. An ... more A scientific inquiry of vernacular space invariably encounters obstacles of its own making. An analysis based on breaking down and isolating each property misses the totality of lived space. This paper compares two cities in India built in two different time periods in the Rajasthan region in western India. The more recent city, Jaipur, built by Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727, is marked by an intention to rationalise traditional space in order to reproduce it. Through an understanding of the differences between Jaipur and its predecessor Jodhpur, the paper attempts to unravel the essence of traditional urbanity in western India. The paper posits that this is a space that refutes the instruments of a Cartesian inquiry or an analysis intent on ‘breaking down’ components of the whole. It proposes another method that belongs equally to the etymology of the word ‘analysis’: a loosening of the cords that tie the parts together, to understand the lived totality of the city.
Academia does concern itself with ideas around architecture. So without looking at research or hi... more Academia does concern itself with ideas around architecture. So without looking at research or higher education at this moment, let's look at what's happening in the country, which is exciting and which should affect us as citizens first and architects later.
There has been a recent interest in theories that undermine the undertakings of the Enlightenment... more There has been a recent interest in theories that undermine the undertakings of the Enlightenment and Modernism toward presenting a world made up of clear definitions and distinctions. This trend has thrown light upon those cultures and periods of history previously dismissed as irrational, decadent, or retrogressive. Further, owing to Post-Structuralist interests in language, scholars have increasingly turned towards realist novels and literature from the period being studied to unearth peculiar social environments that have remained concealed in the purely formal analyses of historical accounts. Recourse to
Derrida speaks of communication as a word and a concept that communicates. With such an inquiry h... more Derrida speaks of communication as a word and a concept that communicates. With such an inquiry he questions the entire conception of language as a structure for the transmission of 'unified' meaning having determinate content (semantic/conceptual content), identifiable meaning (semantic operation), and describable value (linguistic exchange).
The temenos wall that sets off the Greek temple from the polis and the surrounding landscape also... more The temenos wall that sets off the Greek temple from the polis and the surrounding landscape also seems to set apart classical architecture, and the rest of the architectural tradition to follow, from a certain kind of “divine activity” that the making of the temple represented for the ancient Greeks. The temple appears to have lent itself to an analysis as a formal system where forms are removed from the substratum of culture and tradition to be systematically classified. This has lead to an architectural tradition that perceives built forms as compositions from a visual, morphological, or stylistic point of view. As early as the first-century BC, Vitruvius identified the logic associated with such a system as logos opticos. Works, thereafter, have been admired for their “balance” and “symmetry”, “focus” and “finality”, and “proportionality” and “hierarchy”.
Does the Greek temple represent, and if so, what does it represent? This initial inquiry present... more Does the Greek temple represent, and if so, what does it represent? This initial inquiry presents us the possibility of a certain understanding of the temple within the cultural context of Greek thinking.
Drafts by Sudipto Ghosh
An essay on spoken languages and native vs. non-native speakers. The essay posits that language i... more An essay on spoken languages and native vs. non-native speakers. The essay posits that language is not a derivative of thought, rather as Derrida suggests, precedes thought and founds it.
Book Reviews by Sudipto Ghosh
architecturelive.in, 2021
Those wondering why the design of contemporary Indian cities is such an arduous and joyless affai... more Those wondering why the design of contemporary Indian cities is such an arduous and joyless affair will find Ranjit Sabikhi's book of immense interest. Many may even find themselves jolted to action within their spheres of influence despite the book's unflappable tone. Most importantly, this book is an invitation to liberate oneself from the valorised image of western or imperial city planning towards a more nuanced, indigenous, and flexible approach to our cities.
Architecture Live, 2023
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the realm of design opens questions regarding the... more The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the realm of design opens questions regarding the validity of the creative genius and human intelligence at the heart of environmental destruction. Whereas we do not expect much more than a recycling of existing human knowledge within present AI systems, will there be a turn-around for the way humans think thanks to AI?
SPADE, vol.4, 2011
Not all who wander are lost. JRR Tolkein Second Skin, a series of workshops conducted in 2002 wit... more Not all who wander are lost. JRR Tolkein Second Skin, a series of workshops conducted in 2002 with participants from the Architectural Association of London, UK and the Arts Academy of Gdansk, Poland, asked architects to design in a state of trance induced by hypnosis. The conductors of the workshops, Marcos Lutyens, a hypnotherapist, and Tania Lopez Winkler, an architect, felt that designers would be able to design more freely in a state of trance, unconstrained by an 'encyclopaedic knowledge' of architecture, planning norms and issues of public taste. i Designers would also be able to leave behind their "ambitions and arrogance" to tap the uncharted depths of the unconscious: a wellspring of primitive wisdom and untrammelled imagination. The workshops claimed that whereas Modernism aimed to change society through architecture, this process might change architecture through the self.
www.theleaflet.in, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic will change the way to live and work once the crisis has passed. Most impor... more The COVID-19 pandemic will change the way to live and work once the crisis has passed. Most importantly it will make us question our modes of consumption and question the market forces that drive peoples choices. But as the author points out, the choice is a class issue, for the millions’, there is no choice, living on the margins of existence. It compels us to look at the post corona world as a better world to live in.
This article first featured on https://theleaflet.in/rearranging-the-world-after-the-crisis/ on April 15, 2020
Deccan Chronicle, 2018
The past week has seen a profusion of newspaper and journal articles on Professor Balkrishna V. D... more The past week has seen a profusion of newspaper and journal articles on Professor Balkrishna V. Doshi, who recently received the Pritzker prize, openly recognised as the Nobel prize of architecture. Several of these articles have been by persons who have known him intimately and yet have chosen to present him objectively to the reader as an architect who may be credited for shaping the vocabulary of a modern Indian architecture in more ways than one. This piece tries to present a more personal sketch of the man and represents the many who have been his students as well as the many Ekalavyas who have considered him a teacher and mentor for years without ever having interacted directly with him. In the spring of 1991, I learnt that I had been admitted to the School of Architecture at the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad. It was not the kind of news that one received while sifting through the mail but the kind that one awaits with bated breath while crowding in front of a rather short list pinned upon a tack board. I had travelled from Delhi for the entrance exam and had fallen in love with the place the moment I walked down the brick path that led into the institute that had no gate or a formal entrance. This was all before I knew the man who had designed the buildings at CEPT and one of the founding members of the institute who gave direction to a new model for education that emphasised learning rather than teaching. As new students, we had our first interaction with him when he was invited to review the works of the first year students, three or four weeks into the program. We had all worked through the night and were still putting final touches to our models when Prof. Doshi, in his simple short kurta, trousers and sandals, walked into the studio. He seemed to gravitate towards one particular student from Porbandar almost immediately. This shy fellow had slept through most of the night huddled under his desk, and gingerly presented a hurriedly put-together model of what appeared to be a giant flower that emerged from the centre of the design to sway precariously over the other blocks. We watched with utter disbelief as Doshi, visibly pleased with the absurdity, asked this boy how he had come up with the idea and received the answer, "I dreamt it last night". That seemed to clinch it for Doshi, who now thoroughly convinced of the design's pure and original spring, praised it as a work that came from within and was without artifice. As we quickly came to terms that our more 'sophisticated' and 'articulated' designs had not even earned a second glance, the realisation of what had been said in those few words about 'what comes from within' would take us a considerably longer time to fathom. Later, on several other occasions, we would find Doshi, or Kaka as he is fondly known on campus, speaking to a group of students and we would huddle around to hear him. His words mesmerised us. He would talk simply in a manner that was entirely clear even to the youngest lot of students. More so, while responding to the questions of some of the very influential senior students who had picked up a smattering of jargon from the books in the library. He used simple parables and metaphors that immediately laid the most contentious and hotly debated issues to rest. I remember one such question on the topic of the 'timeless' in architecture. Some students argued that architecture needed to be timeless-free of the vagaries of fashion and style, while others would say that it was important to
A scientific inquiry of vernacular space invariably encounters obstacles of its own making. An ... more A scientific inquiry of vernacular space invariably encounters obstacles of its own making. An analysis based on breaking down and isolating each property misses the totality of lived space. This paper compares two cities in India built in two different time periods in the Rajasthan region in western India. The more recent city, Jaipur, built by Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727, is marked by an intention to rationalise traditional space in order to reproduce it. Through an understanding of the differences between Jaipur and its predecessor Jodhpur, the paper attempts to unravel the essence of traditional urbanity in western India. The paper posits that this is a space that refutes the instruments of a Cartesian inquiry or an analysis intent on ‘breaking down’ components of the whole. It proposes another method that belongs equally to the etymology of the word ‘analysis’: a loosening of the cords that tie the parts together, to understand the lived totality of the city.
Academia does concern itself with ideas around architecture. So without looking at research or hi... more Academia does concern itself with ideas around architecture. So without looking at research or higher education at this moment, let's look at what's happening in the country, which is exciting and which should affect us as citizens first and architects later.
There has been a recent interest in theories that undermine the undertakings of the Enlightenment... more There has been a recent interest in theories that undermine the undertakings of the Enlightenment and Modernism toward presenting a world made up of clear definitions and distinctions. This trend has thrown light upon those cultures and periods of history previously dismissed as irrational, decadent, or retrogressive. Further, owing to Post-Structuralist interests in language, scholars have increasingly turned towards realist novels and literature from the period being studied to unearth peculiar social environments that have remained concealed in the purely formal analyses of historical accounts. Recourse to
Derrida speaks of communication as a word and a concept that communicates. With such an inquiry h... more Derrida speaks of communication as a word and a concept that communicates. With such an inquiry he questions the entire conception of language as a structure for the transmission of 'unified' meaning having determinate content (semantic/conceptual content), identifiable meaning (semantic operation), and describable value (linguistic exchange).
The temenos wall that sets off the Greek temple from the polis and the surrounding landscape also... more The temenos wall that sets off the Greek temple from the polis and the surrounding landscape also seems to set apart classical architecture, and the rest of the architectural tradition to follow, from a certain kind of “divine activity” that the making of the temple represented for the ancient Greeks. The temple appears to have lent itself to an analysis as a formal system where forms are removed from the substratum of culture and tradition to be systematically classified. This has lead to an architectural tradition that perceives built forms as compositions from a visual, morphological, or stylistic point of view. As early as the first-century BC, Vitruvius identified the logic associated with such a system as logos opticos. Works, thereafter, have been admired for their “balance” and “symmetry”, “focus” and “finality”, and “proportionality” and “hierarchy”.
Does the Greek temple represent, and if so, what does it represent? This initial inquiry present... more Does the Greek temple represent, and if so, what does it represent? This initial inquiry presents us the possibility of a certain understanding of the temple within the cultural context of Greek thinking.
An essay on spoken languages and native vs. non-native speakers. The essay posits that language i... more An essay on spoken languages and native vs. non-native speakers. The essay posits that language is not a derivative of thought, rather as Derrida suggests, precedes thought and founds it.
architecturelive.in, 2021
Those wondering why the design of contemporary Indian cities is such an arduous and joyless affai... more Those wondering why the design of contemporary Indian cities is such an arduous and joyless affair will find Ranjit Sabikhi's book of immense interest. Many may even find themselves jolted to action within their spheres of influence despite the book's unflappable tone. Most importantly, this book is an invitation to liberate oneself from the valorised image of western or imperial city planning towards a more nuanced, indigenous, and flexible approach to our cities.