Forget just interiors, I’ve been interested increasingly in architecture, which makes my best friend go, ‘Great, as if you don’t have enough hobbies’. My childhood buddy Nazia, has even been using some of my photographs of religious spaces in the Victoria University Interior Architecture course she teaches. Anywho, a sucker for a coffee table book, a few months ago, I read the book 101 Things I Learned at Architecture School. It’s a small, nicely bound hardcover filled with lessons, (each to a page, accompanied by illustration) that author Matthew Frederick learnt while studying architecture. A fantastic, easy read, best indulged in bites rather than from front to back. The title suggests the book would appeal to architects, but there are so many teachings transferable to any other design discipline and even unrelated fields for that matter. These are some favourite snippets from the book.
6 We move through negative spaces and dwell in positive spaces.
Positive spaces are almost always preferred by people for lingering and social interaction.
Negative spaces tend to promote movement rather than dwelling in place.
18 Any design decision should be justified in at least two ways. The more justifications you can find for any element, the better.
E.g.
Stairs to promote passage from floor to floor, a space of congregation, a scuptural element.
A window that bathes a wall with light, frames a view, allows ventilation.
Row of columns that provides structural support, allows people to meet and sit.
32
The most effective, most creative problem solvers engage in a process of meta-thinking, or ‘thinking about the thinking’.
Meta-thinking means that you are aware of how you are thinking as you are doing the thinking. Meta-thinkers engage in continual internal dialogue of testing, stretching, criticising and redirecting their thought processes.
51 Beauty is due more to harmonious relationships among the elements of a composition than to the elements themselves.
It’s the dialogue of the pieces, not the pieces themselves, that creates aesthetic success.
72 Design with models.
3D models can help you understand your project in new ways. Quick material models will help you test design options. Carefully crafted, highly detailed models are more suited to document design decisions that have already been made.
100 Give it a name.
When you come up with a concept or stray idea, name it – ‘half-eaten donut’, ‘meeting of strangers’ and other such monikers will help you explain to yourself what you have created. As the process evolves, allow new names to emerge.
101 Architects are late bloomers.
An architect must be knowledgeable in history, art, sociology, physics, psychology, materiality, symbology, political process, and innumerable other fields and must create a building that meets regulatory codes, keeps out the weather, withstands earthquakes, has functioning elevators and mechanical systems, and meets the complex functional and emotional needs of its users. Learning to integrate so many concerns into a cohesive product takes a long time, with lots of trial and error along the way.
Le Mill is an expansive, expensive concept store in the middle of nowhere. But it’s beautiful and thoughtfully accessorised (I love the crows, the pencils, the candles and the lighting), has very sleek branding and is worth one visit.
Pretty embroidered linen and doilies shop on Colaba Causeway.
Gaiety Galaxy. At Rs.75 a ticket, it’s the best multiplex for a movie marathon.
Bungalow 8 is in one of the most gorgeous buildings in the city and is a beautifully curated interiors and fashion store. I love the menswear and vintage on the third floor and the deliberate holes in the wall on the furnishings floor.
