“Interaction between Spaces and Users; architecture and its surroundings are important aspects which make architecture appropriate for its Place, Time and People”

Urban space, shaped by the dwelling patterns of a culture, records the evolution of its identity and acquires a specific heritage value. This evolution into a heritage emphasizes not just the walls and floors of the monument, but the environmental quality of the space. Such an experience of an urban space resembles a composition where beauty is expressed not when individual spaces dominate, but when the elements come together as a whole.

The arrangement of architectural features makes up the order of a place. The order of a place expresses the essence of the society. Consciously or unconsciously, every user tends to shed his shade to the place; it might be a psychological way of convincing a person to conduct himself or simply to enhance the “super-structure”. The order evolves like a living entity, accumulating experiences of members of the group. It acquires layers of different values of communities as well. Hence an abrupt change to the order is impossible. Order is not just a non-renewable entity but a growing one which cannot be identified as a unit.  Every city’s soul lies in this basic order and so the capacity to reinterpret and change meanings and ideologies is constrained by the already existing order. As a designer it is our responsibility to retain the underlying depths of culture while promoting change.

An order is where these spaces are arranged with stories to be passed on to the commuter. No stories are completed in this journey as it is ever evolving. Spaces are usually perceived only as places, these undifferentiated places are transformed into spaces when stories and tales may be attached to such spaces, making them resonate with history and experience. Thus, these culturally and socially constructed elements are then transformed into material and permanent markers of history, experiences and values. The very existence of such physical places validates woven histories and myths and provides an anchor of stability and credibility to the process of evolution.

These stable histories have a strong similarity between each other and they form the identity of the place. Life is simply a journey through spaces. And through this journey of thousands, the spaces are molded out in an order such that they bring out a dynamic identity for its members. Space is only a reflection and a determinant of identity; inhabitants both form and react to the spaces they inhabit. As communities and institutions arise, it is this identity which brings the members of the society closer together. When the order of a place is a physical entity the identity remains in a psycho-physical nature. It brings in a feeling of oneness into the lives of the people. But it has been this identity that has been the propelling factor for most architects.

        
“Human settlements contain people and societies in a physical environment consisting of natural and man-made elements”, wrote Doxiadis. With recent urbanisation trends people have been shifting to new found lands and the cultural boundaries have been blurred beyond recognition. Today we are losing the rich cultural legacy of a place to the rising global culture. The question lies in how we can tackle it. Transition or change is imperative with time; however the spaces need to evolve in a rational manner without harshly disturbing the existing lineage.

‘Aakriti aims to revoke this loosing identity. It is this rich culture, through the identity of Kerala that we aim to revive. The quest to unfold and evolve with the help of three spheres of indicators: Identity, Order and Space.