Architectural Poetry Competition, 4th Cycle floated by Architectural Journalism & Criticism Organisation announces the Winning Entries.
Theme described for the Competition was;
‘Design Interpretations’
A fundamental portion of architecture constitutes design interpretation: the art of conveyance of the basic ideology and theme behind the development of a design form, rather eloquently. So too in poetry, the spine of a theme branches out into its many abstractions, extrapolations embellished with nuance in eloquence. Even though poetry is a string of one breath, one exhalation, it embodies subconscious designing.
The 'Citation Award' goes to Dr. Jatinder Kaur, SPA Delhi
“Architecture is…”
Notations pouring out from soft graphite
As musical mosaics of rhythmic forms in flight
Bathed in numerous hues of reverence and pride
Dressed in hegemonic textures of awe skillfully in stride
Reaching to the sky or closer to the ground
Make the winds to flow and dance all around
Harmonious spaces offering unconditional solace
Orchestrating patterns of shadows and shades
How dancing dots, swaying lines combine into volumes
Setting a stage to engage, embrace and commune
Reflections of voids, paint the still waters
Making them alive with matrices of splatters
Magnificent or humble, its power is the same
Modulating moods with tangible and intangible gain
Its power is unseen but expression is so real
With aura of fantasy, illusive and surreal
Windows opening into vastness, paths exploring perceptions
Have seemingly been lost in speeding contentions
Striving harsh climates and sheltering unconditionally
Buildings too need to breathe, in and out spatially
Revisit past to uncover the precious tacit treat
How to share resources in humility, but not compete
The moves so subtle, with climate, form and function
Still the presence so glorious and full of magnificence
Always redefining and creating new horizon
How magical is its transcendence into our cognition
How has it kept us all wondering, and in glistening glee
Asking us to understand, its not just Architecture, it is “WE”
'Special Mention Award I’ goes to Vaishnavi Prasad Limaye, CEPT Ahmedabad
“Hollow-Cast”
Right along the street, I saw a place to hide within,
Nobody knew what was coming.
Two thousand seven hundred and eleven slabs,
Stelae they called them in Berlin.
Organized in a row, fifty-four going North to south
And eighty-seven heading East to West.
Holding names of three million Jewish Holocaust victims who were choked to death. (Pause)
I walked into the memorial seeking peace but like they say
Places tell you what they were meant to make you see. (Pause)
Death was hauled like the concrete in the blocks,
Marched to cruelty,
Between the paths not to see the sky but to get burnt by the gas until the ashes fly. (Pause)
Thirty steps descending into the memorial I could feel the hostility because I could hardly see the outside world.
Left or right nothing was bright,
Couldn’t see who was coming next towards my sight. (Pause)
I was lost in the memorial and could see neither my people nor the strangers.
Was this how it was supposed to be?
Because I could feel the separation, the loss.
How could I let it just be?
I was trapped with no option other than to move forward and just be.
The undulating surfaces grew taller and had consumed me. (Pause)
It’s funny how one is constantly hoping as he walks ahead in the possibility of a brighter life,
Even when I had lost contact with the outside eye.
Resemblance to a cemetery, mortal fear
It was like the design barricading me from the street noise and the sights of the city
But nothing came to mind except fear. (Pause)
Chilly weather, I could see the hill because I felt like I was in a valley burning still. (Pause)
I looked back and felt like I was caged,
Everything is powerless when you lose faith. (Pause)
I walked towards the street with a heart filled with hope but never would have known for them it was survival and cope. (Pause)
As I ascend, the slabs get smaller, It's the feeling of accomplishment and end to sorrow.
I could finally hear people and also see them follow,
The design made me a bit hollow in the memory of an anguishing sorrow.
Phoenix had risen in the name of concrete and in the hearts that were pierced hollow.
'Special Mention Award II’ goes to Dharani Kande, RVCA Bangalore
“APOPHENIA”
Written for Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Cities and people exchange tales
they keep a part of each other
defining a little of each other
defining a little of each other
these colours, they pinch them into one another.
Objects and forms a part of this space
a cloud of space floating
floating, swaying, wandering and suspending
an illusion, they all seem to be blending.
As the stories or cities unveil
edges blur with time and space
they’re bolder and switch colours
they might just be in the same phase.
Memories fog when you’re in deeper
like a hazy dream
and the world spilled as stories
seem like an afternoon daydream.
Everything is not what it seems like
you trust your senses only now
the stories that stay leaves
as you speak.
A satire on perception
volatility of these visions
and the sight of invisible cities
a conflict in itself
as you move in this series.
Pareidolia and the clouds
you see what you know
these cities tell stories you already know
like a forest of colourful willows.
We all experience new stories
the architecture of cities tell collective stories
of you, me and our lives
like a legacy a monument carries.
This is where architecture hold beauty
finds home in a unique identity
it grows up every day with you and me
holds so many anecdotes
but still plays like a single entity.
Certificate of Appreciation_1: Ar. Fatema Kabir, Pune
“Society : : Architecture”
Christianity’s turmoil within the Roman rule; Hagia Sophia was conceived, burned, and re-conceived,
Illusive pendentives controlled the floating domes; Control was interpreted.
Between the people and yet no public, Italian Popolo mirrored the city scape.
Piazza and Palazzo identified with the Public, idea of Public was interpreted.
Mechanization of employment lost the identity of individual.
In Philip Web’s Red Brick House, John Ruskin’s Lamps were interpreted.
Scourge of breath, gasping for sun’s ray; Tuberculosis was born.
Le Corb’s Modernism opened the building; Sunlit balcony became the interpretation.
(Campbell, 2005)
Fascist regime, fascist Architecture, in fascist Italy
Terragni’s Danteum lit Dante’s Divine Comedy; Modernism wrapped in Classics became the interpretation.
(Kanekar, 2005)
In the wake of Allies over Axis, Nomads were reborn as futurists,
Ideation of Archigram Cities and realization of Nakagin Capsule; Plug-in or out became the interpretation.
In the Megalopolis of Psychiatric conditions, Freud-Space was finally acknowledged,
Emilio Ambasz’s Casa De Retiro came as a seeker, Human experience was interpreted.
(Maccannell, 2005)
Where was it supposed to be, Architectural space was lost in place.
In Correa’s cubic massing and void, Context was interpreted.
In today’s democratic regime, and an attitude of wholeness
Delhi’s Central Vista sprang to life, Control is once again interpreted.
Certificate of Appreciation_2: Maria Nicolaou, Cyprus
“Inspiration”
Standing in front of a naked paper and draw whatever comes to mind,
The pencil would travel its path throughout the field and enlighten the blind.
How could anyone be against art, while it rhymes through the lines?
How could we not let the breath be taken, and thrive through the designs?
Life may not be easy, neither shall architecture.
But when the breath is then complete,
The cycle would then be replete.
After gathering a quantity, that’s when it’s born,
Thus, a form is taken, the ornament should be adorned.
There a storyline resides, where the proposal relies upon.
Finally, comes the essence of seeing your creation alive.
Certificate of Appreciation_3: Yashika Murali
“The Design Puzzle”
It was in the beginning of spring
When flowers joyously bloomed
It was the time when people rejoiced
But I… I was stuck in front of people
People who are known
People who are unknown
Here I am… staring at the spread of papers
With huge collection of drawings and pictures
Before thinking, before I could comprehend
I was deluged with questions
So, now what am I meant to do?
I calmed down
Took a deep breath
Took a look at the puzzle in front of me
And attempted to resolve it
There were lot more pieces than I expected
So I journeyed through original strategy
Fixing all the ends
I began putting the end knobs into words
Maybe I raced through them
Isn't it, though, what is understood that matters?
As I recounted the history of the structure,
the words whirled around in my head
As I explained how it all started
The thought
The purpose of different strokes
The presence of all the trees, roads and buildings
The beautiful spaces that I created
As I explained how it went
I understood
This was the moment
The moment I had been looking forward to
for the whole winter
This was my moment
The moment of a designer
To gyrate the peculiarities
To twirl the elucidation
This was an Architect’s moment
The moment of solving the puzzle
Jury Panel for the Competition comprised of
Rochelle Potkar, Fiction Writer & Poet, Mumbai.
Pappal Suneja, PhD Scholar, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany.
Madhu Raghavendra, Poet, Curator & Social Activist, Mumbai.
Sanan Verma, Architect, Planner & Poet, SPA Delhi.
Sneha Singh, Architect & PhD Scholar, Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany.
Riddhi Shah, Architect, Researcher & Educator, Rajkot, India.
Head Image © Saurav Bavalekar