first we create our buildings then our
buildings create us I read this quote by
Winston Churchill when I was 9 years old
and I wondered in order to shape us
create us buildings need to be living
personalities can buildings have an
impact on us and change the way we feel
can we have a living relationship with
our buildings the way we have with
people buildings can be sustainable and
intrinsically smart I shared this idea
in my previous talk at TEDx hace today
let us explore the idea can a building
be a person buildings are living
entities playing active role in our
development I see them as people this
fort is a warrior heroic robust
protective this palace a king royal and
eminent the Sydney Opera a ballerina
graceful and expressive recently on a
heritage walk of Pondicherry with the
USA ambassador to India I explained to
him this Japanese style minimalist
building in the middle of colonial
French villas by saying here is a Zen
monk meditating among French aristocrats
this idea of personifying a building
humanizing architecture inspired me to
develop buildings with personalities
people can connect with today let me
share with you three examples building
as a mother building as a teacher
building as an entrepreneur
building as a mother our mother is the
most important person in our life
because she has given us this life she
has nurtured us and the most important
place in our life is our home can our
home be our mother can our home nourish
us the way our mother does this is the
idea I explored in the design of aroma
French filaments a residential community
near Auroville in South India one of the
most striking qualities of a mother is
harmony
she harmonizes the various elements of
our life to achieve our overall growth
here the design harmonizes the various
elements of nature the earth from below
the Sun from above water and wind all
work in harmony it was a barren land
just five years ago today it is a
thriving lush green community in the lap
of nature use of natural materials like
earth and timber and a design which
keeps the interiors cool and comfortable
in spite of the hot climate the
buildings are harvesting the rooftop
rainwater we are ecologically treating
the wastewater and upcycling it for
gardening and landscaping the residents
come together compost their own kitchen
waste turn it into organic manure and
grow their own food harnessing solar
power the names of the villas are based
on qualities of a mother to me my mother
represents courage this is my home villa
courage the centerpiece of the whole
design is a meditation hole built out of
the very earth on which it stands being
inside it is like being in the womb of
Mother Earth with this shaft of sunlight
as the umbilical cord connecting
to the Sun when our homes become our
mother they nourish us make us feel
secure and harmonized with ourselves
they bring out the best in us the second
example is of a building as a teacher
here is a school that I have designed in
central India schools are places of
learning they can be places of delight
of discovering the world around us as we
are growing up when I was in school I
used to be a voracious reader
I spent long hours in the library
sitting next to the window reading my
favorite teacher – Remus sensed my
hunger for knowledge one day she came
and sat next to me pointed through the
window to the sky and said knowledge is
like the sky it is infinite that day she
made me leap out of myself
break all ceilings and reach for the
skies when I started designing this
school building I remembered her and
asked myself can this school building be
my favorite teacher
I designed the main concept around a
central circular courtyard onto which
all facilities open this courtyard is
open to sky the students here don’t need
to break the ceiling because there is
none they are inspired to reach for the
skies students start learning design
concepts integrated in the building
for example they learn about angles not
by a diagram on a board but by opening a
door they learn about water conservation
by using a glass tank which is
calibrated so they see the level of the
water going down as they use it through
the day and know if they have wasted any
they learn about distances and space by
numbers feet and meters paint
on the floor this makes them conscious
while walking and they become aware of
their growing stride length they learn
about time not by a wall clock but by
observing the changing shadows of the
sundial in the courtyard when I shared
dozens of these concepts with the
students they were so enthused they
started collaborating with more ideas
this developed such a sense of ownership
among them for their upcoming school
when our school becomes our teacher it
brings forth the wonder of a child in us
the third example is of a building as an
entrepreneur we are living in exciting
times of startups and unicorns and
enterprises flourishing worldwide
entrepreneurship has redefined our
business world our work spaces here is
the geography enterprise center a
business incubator in North India for
budding entrepreneurs who want to be
nation builders who want to build India
through enterprise when I started
designing this building I asked myself
can this building do what the
entrepreneur does can it become a
catalyst in the growth of the enterprise
I mapped the inner journey of the
entrepreneur from idea to enterprise as
the outer journey through the building
made each milestone in the entrepreneurs
journey into a building the first stage
is where the entrepreneur is clarifying
the idea for her enterprise by meeting
other fellow entrepreneurs and mentors
this milestone became the multi-purpose
hall the next one is where she steam
building working together this milestone
became the co-working spaces the offices
the conference room library prototyping
labs the next milestone is where she’s
assumed
the leadership role in her enterprise
guiding from the front
this became the director’s office the
entrepreneur anchors the vision of the
enterprise for her whole team here the
site has this beautiful 200 year old
large banyan tree this tree holds a
special place in our hearts because it
is the national tree of India a living
symbol of India
I made this tree the epicenter of the
design so when the entrepreneur crosses
the various milestones of her journey
which have been personified as buildings
she finally emerges ready to take on the
challenge of building India through
enterprise and when she does that she
comes face to face with her aim india
the banyan tree I believe that our work
spaces where we spend more than half of
our waking day can embody our journeys
anchor of a Wiggins become a catalyst in
our creative growth so how does
personifying architecture benefit us
this happened on my first building site
a few years ago we were to build a
Community Development Center located in
some of the most impoverished villages
which were considered alcoholic in South
India we decided to make the very act of
building this Center a means of
development for the surrounding villages
by training the local unskilled
villagers by building the center for
them and with them on the first day I
remember I was surrounded by 40 local
it was then that I understood the
challenge that had that I had taken up
for myself I had to attune them to the
purpose of the center so I shared with
them a little story which my father had
told me when I was growing up there is a
busy building site and a curious
passerby wants to know what is going on
he steps in and asks some of the workers
what is it that you’re doing one of the
worker says I’m earning my daily wage
the second one says I’m a bricklayer
I’m laying bricks the third one proudly
points out to the building rising from
the ground behind him and says I am
building a temple to my lord
I shared this story with the villagers
and said here too we are going to build
a temple to our Lord but not the Lord
that we shall install in the form of a
deity but that inner perfection that
resides within each one of us a few
months later I found these villagers
gathered in a circle in a quiet
meditation on the building site after a
few minutes one of them picked up a book
which I had gifted him the previous
month on his birthday he opened it at a
random page and started reading a
passage in which the author has
described the difference between need
and greed these was so-called alcoholic
illiterate wife-beating men and here
they were discussing the most difficult
comparison around the world need versus
greed I stood back thinking how is he
going to explain this difference which
perhaps nobody can explain to any
audience in the world how is he going to
explain it to these workers after
reading the passage he sealed the
explanation one line by saying new
is curry and rice greed is chicken and
mutton a few months later the wives of
these construction workers these men
they started coming to me saying please
do not allow my husband to leave your
building site because ever since ever
since he has joined here he has stopped
drinking stopped beating and started
contributing money to our children’s
education construction as we all know is
a male-dominated industry around the
world yet there is something remarkable
that the feminine in us in each one of
us can achieve the balance between the
yin and the yang between operating from
the head and flowing from the heart when
I ask these workers what is it that has
brought about this profound change in
you that your wives are telling me this
they said when you told us that we are
going to build this temple as the body
of our God we decided to become worthy
of it we decided to make our best come
forth buildings have the power to
transform our environments and as
Winston Churchill said shape us shape
our communities the way the design of
our chair determines our physical
posture the design of our environments
determines our emotional state buildings
impact us emotionally and a collective
emotional impact becomes a social impact
we spend more than 80 percent of our
lives inside buildings
why can’t buildings be life enriching
the next time you enter a building
ask yourself what role would I like this
building to play for me if this building
were a person who would it be
can
our home be our mother and nourish us
can our school be our teacher and bring
forth the wonder of a child in us can
our workspace be an entrepreneur and
bring out the creative best in us I
believe they can the purpose of
architecture is to unfold the human
genius in us the way every mother knows
that her children will outlive her we
know that our buildings will outlive us
they form our ecological and social
ecosystems our shared legacy we love our
people not because of who they are but
because of who we are when we are with
them similarly we love our buildings
because of who we become when we are in them
buildings create us I read this quote by
Winston Churchill when I was 9 years old
and I wondered in order to shape us
create us buildings need to be living
personalities can buildings have an
impact on us and change the way we feel
can we have a living relationship with
our buildings the way we have with
people buildings can be sustainable and
intrinsically smart I shared this idea
in my previous talk at TEDx hace today
let us explore the idea can a building
be a person buildings are living
entities playing active role in our
development I see them as people this
fort is a warrior heroic robust
protective this palace a king royal and
eminent the Sydney Opera a ballerina
graceful and expressive recently on a
heritage walk of Pondicherry with the
USA ambassador to India I explained to
him this Japanese style minimalist
building in the middle of colonial
French villas by saying here is a Zen
monk meditating among French aristocrats
this idea of personifying a building
humanizing architecture inspired me to
develop buildings with personalities
people can connect with today let me
share with you three examples building
as a mother building as a teacher
building as an entrepreneur
building as a mother our mother is the
most important person in our life
because she has given us this life she
has nurtured us and the most important
place in our life is our home can our
home be our mother can our home nourish
us the way our mother does this is the
idea I explored in the design of aroma
French filaments a residential community
near Auroville in South India one of the
most striking qualities of a mother is
harmony
she harmonizes the various elements of
our life to achieve our overall growth
here the design harmonizes the various
elements of nature the earth from below
the Sun from above water and wind all
work in harmony it was a barren land
just five years ago today it is a
thriving lush green community in the lap
of nature use of natural materials like
earth and timber and a design which
keeps the interiors cool and comfortable
in spite of the hot climate the
buildings are harvesting the rooftop
rainwater we are ecologically treating
the wastewater and upcycling it for
gardening and landscaping the residents
come together compost their own kitchen
waste turn it into organic manure and
grow their own food harnessing solar
power the names of the villas are based
on qualities of a mother to me my mother
represents courage this is my home villa
courage the centerpiece of the whole
design is a meditation hole built out of
the very earth on which it stands being
inside it is like being in the womb of
Mother Earth with this shaft of sunlight
as the umbilical cord connecting
to the Sun when our homes become our
mother they nourish us make us feel
secure and harmonized with ourselves
they bring out the best in us the second
example is of a building as a teacher
here is a school that I have designed in
central India schools are places of
learning they can be places of delight
of discovering the world around us as we
are growing up when I was in school I
used to be a voracious reader
I spent long hours in the library
sitting next to the window reading my
favorite teacher – Remus sensed my
hunger for knowledge one day she came
and sat next to me pointed through the
window to the sky and said knowledge is
like the sky it is infinite that day she
made me leap out of myself
break all ceilings and reach for the
skies when I started designing this
school building I remembered her and
asked myself can this school building be
my favorite teacher
I designed the main concept around a
central circular courtyard onto which
all facilities open this courtyard is
open to sky the students here don’t need
to break the ceiling because there is
none they are inspired to reach for the
skies students start learning design
concepts integrated in the building
for example they learn about angles not
by a diagram on a board but by opening a
door they learn about water conservation
by using a glass tank which is
calibrated so they see the level of the
water going down as they use it through
the day and know if they have wasted any
they learn about distances and space by
numbers feet and meters paint
on the floor this makes them conscious
while walking and they become aware of
their growing stride length they learn
about time not by a wall clock but by
observing the changing shadows of the
sundial in the courtyard when I shared
dozens of these concepts with the
students they were so enthused they
started collaborating with more ideas
this developed such a sense of ownership
among them for their upcoming school
when our school becomes our teacher it
brings forth the wonder of a child in us
the third example is of a building as an
entrepreneur we are living in exciting
times of startups and unicorns and
enterprises flourishing worldwide
entrepreneurship has redefined our
business world our work spaces here is
the geography enterprise center a
business incubator in North India for
budding entrepreneurs who want to be
nation builders who want to build India
through enterprise when I started
designing this building I asked myself
can this building do what the
entrepreneur does can it become a
catalyst in the growth of the enterprise
I mapped the inner journey of the
entrepreneur from idea to enterprise as
the outer journey through the building
made each milestone in the entrepreneurs
journey into a building the first stage
is where the entrepreneur is clarifying
the idea for her enterprise by meeting
other fellow entrepreneurs and mentors
this milestone became the multi-purpose
hall the next one is where she steam
building working together this milestone
became the co-working spaces the offices
the conference room library prototyping
labs the next milestone is where she’s
assumed
the leadership role in her enterprise
guiding from the front
this became the director’s office the
entrepreneur anchors the vision of the
enterprise for her whole team here the
site has this beautiful 200 year old
large banyan tree this tree holds a
special place in our hearts because it
is the national tree of India a living
symbol of India
I made this tree the epicenter of the
design so when the entrepreneur crosses
the various milestones of her journey
which have been personified as buildings
she finally emerges ready to take on the
challenge of building India through
enterprise and when she does that she
comes face to face with her aim india
the banyan tree I believe that our work
spaces where we spend more than half of
our waking day can embody our journeys
anchor of a Wiggins become a catalyst in
our creative growth so how does
personifying architecture benefit us
this happened on my first building site
a few years ago we were to build a
Community Development Center located in
some of the most impoverished villages
which were considered alcoholic in South
India we decided to make the very act of
building this Center a means of
development for the surrounding villages
by training the local unskilled
villagers by building the center for
them and with them on the first day I
remember I was surrounded by 40 local
it was then that I understood the
challenge that had that I had taken up
for myself I had to attune them to the
purpose of the center so I shared with
them a little story which my father had
told me when I was growing up there is a
busy building site and a curious
passerby wants to know what is going on
he steps in and asks some of the workers
what is it that you’re doing one of the
worker says I’m earning my daily wage
the second one says I’m a bricklayer
I’m laying bricks the third one proudly
points out to the building rising from
the ground behind him and says I am
building a temple to my lord
I shared this story with the villagers
and said here too we are going to build
a temple to our Lord but not the Lord
that we shall install in the form of a
deity but that inner perfection that
resides within each one of us a few
months later I found these villagers
gathered in a circle in a quiet
meditation on the building site after a
few minutes one of them picked up a book
which I had gifted him the previous
month on his birthday he opened it at a
random page and started reading a
passage in which the author has
described the difference between need
and greed these was so-called alcoholic
illiterate wife-beating men and here
they were discussing the most difficult
comparison around the world need versus
greed I stood back thinking how is he
going to explain this difference which
perhaps nobody can explain to any
audience in the world how is he going to
explain it to these workers after
reading the passage he sealed the
explanation one line by saying new
is curry and rice greed is chicken and
mutton a few months later the wives of
these construction workers these men
they started coming to me saying please
do not allow my husband to leave your
building site because ever since ever
since he has joined here he has stopped
drinking stopped beating and started
contributing money to our children’s
education construction as we all know is
a male-dominated industry around the
world yet there is something remarkable
that the feminine in us in each one of
us can achieve the balance between the
yin and the yang between operating from
the head and flowing from the heart when
I ask these workers what is it that has
brought about this profound change in
you that your wives are telling me this
they said when you told us that we are
going to build this temple as the body
of our God we decided to become worthy
of it we decided to make our best come
forth buildings have the power to
transform our environments and as
Winston Churchill said shape us shape
our communities the way the design of
our chair determines our physical
posture the design of our environments
determines our emotional state buildings
impact us emotionally and a collective
emotional impact becomes a social impact
we spend more than 80 percent of our
lives inside buildings
why can’t buildings be life enriching
the next time you enter a building
ask yourself what role would I like this
building to play for me if this building
were a person who would it be
can
our home be our mother and nourish us
can our school be our teacher and bring
forth the wonder of a child in us can
our workspace be an entrepreneur and
bring out the creative best in us I
believe they can the purpose of
architecture is to unfold the human
genius in us the way every mother knows
that her children will outlive her we
know that our buildings will outlive us
they form our ecological and social
ecosystems our shared legacy we love our
people not because of who they are but
because of who we are when we are with
them similarly we love our buildings
because of who we become when we are in them
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