Satyagraha of Architecture

One is sometimes fed up regarding the insistence of the Western world or the critics to decode everything and probably connect everything under one umbrella or roof or one format. The way things are going forward for Developed Nations on perspectives on urban planning or infrastructural development and its intimate relationship with Artificial Intelligence, it’s a grim road ahead if anyone is remotely trying to imitate their approach.

There is a serious danger in trying to manage all infrastructural performance through AI. This fascination for a supersized central control of all things that can be programmed and coordinated to perfection is disturbing. In short, it just ignores the complex dimension of human mind to design, improvise, adapt, change or evolve into an organic quality. A human mind needs to express all dimensions of existence and the sheer amount of diversity on our planet in terms of architecture (that responds to local culture or shared way of life, climate, technology and skills) is a living proof of that. As humans, we have different belief systems, we have values, and we remain dependent on many other things to create architecture – no matter what technology makes us believe on the contrary. The diversity is also expressed in our relationship to self, other and Nature – thus taking the form of unique/ local expressions of built habitat. Attitudes to geography, history, philosophy are different and they shape the architecture of that place.

If this is so, then many world views live simultaneously on the same planet. This is but natural. There is no need to forcefully connect all such views and try to understand all of their problems and solutions by employing one narrow, dominant lens of development. Leave them as they are and one need not be concerned about “improving” their status to a Developed Image.

Architecture at different places speaks unknown languages, expresses unknown patterns of conception or imagination and therein lies a potential to learn from such systems. Such architecture, defies the conventional image of development silently without the need to express itself on a social platform. It thus exists silently and does its job – Satyagraha. We will be enriched by discovering the world “as it is”. No need to hastily change and propose one solution for all.