Architectures of Transition | When designs inspire social connections Premium

Travelling exhibition Architectures of Transition highlights recent shifts in urban design and the spirit of collaboration between communities and architects

The Madan Puraskar Library

What can an earthquake in Nepal tell us about the architecture of resilience and transience? When the Gorkha quake struck Kathmandu in 2015, community acceptance for bamboo and stone buildings grew as these resolutely withstood the fierce calamity. Today, projects like the Kopila Valley School in Karnali, crafted with rammed earth walls and bamboo trusses that double up as a children’s jungle gym, are challenging ‘perceptions of permanence’. The Madan Puraskar Library is another example of great design with arboreal materials. It is the first large-scale public library in bamboo and earth, housing the largest archive of Nepali literature. With its large ceiling — an intricate spider web-like arch — it is now a tourist destination.

Kopila Valley School in Karnali; firm: Abari | Photo Credit: Chemi Dorje Lama

Over the last decade, South Asia has been the epicentre of incredible urban and climatic transformations. “Rapid urbanisation, shifting demographics, and explosive population growth are reshaping the social and cultural landscape,” says architect Rahul Mehrotra, who co-curated Architectures of Transition, a travelling exhibition that debuted recently in Chennai. This transition has set the stage for young architects to mobilise new directions of ecological and social collaborations — reviving vernacular design, seeking alternatives like bamboo, wood, and mud, and refining local technologies to contemporary needs.

Urban flux | Photo Credit: Rahul Mehrotra

The Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre in Bangladesh, for instance, reflects a rare spirit of environmental stewardship. It inspires imaginations with hybrid and multi-functional spaces (using the skills of Rohingya artisans, such as bamboo weaving techniques and nipa palm leaf pallets for roofing), adapting to the ever-changing aspirations of refugee communities. “Architects play a crucial role in facilitating these transitions and responding to diverse challenges,” adds Mehrotra.

Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre

Embracing the transient

Architectures of Transition invited 41 young architecture practices from across South Asia — Bhutan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan — united by similar urban challenges.

Curated by architects Mehrotra, Devashree Shah, and Pranav Thole, it documents a diverse taxonomy of ‘transient projects’: from community housing (Gujarat), and the hybridity of a mosque that doubles as a community space (Afghanistan), to hospitals (Bhutan), bamboo schools, and a hostel that feels like a large family home (Ahmedabad). Through collaborations with the community, architects are now building a sense of trust and empathy, with a deeper understanding of the needs that shape design and construction.

Viveda Wellness Retreat; firm: A for Architecture | Photo Credit: Hemant Patil

Gyaltsuen Jetsen Pema Hospital; firm: Artsho Designs | Photo Credit: Sonam Letho

New forms of practice

Urban masterplans often prioritise large infrastructure projects and fail to address inequities. This diminishing role of the architect in designing public realms is being bridged by patronage from NGOs — often addressing localised issues of underserved communities.

“Many architectural practices are gravitating towards non-traditional organisational structures,” says New York-based Thole, an architect and urban designer. “They are positioning the makers, collaborators, and a range of specialists as invaluable partners, giving them much more agency in the design process. Such collaborative frameworks allow for richer, contextually rooted designs.” Bamboo Playscape in Bangladesh, for instance, has been constructed in collaboration with school children, artisans, and architects: each contributing to design ideas (for a diverse range of activities such as theatre, music and sports), thus creating a deeper sense of belonging.

Hamdu Mia Mosque; firm: Studio Dhaka Ltd. | Photo Credit: Asif Salman

The School for the Blind in Gujarat underscores the potential of architecture to empower communities: based on their functions, the classrooms have varied forms, volumes, and textures to guide the students. The Nigu Pukhu project in Nepal uses traditional construction techniques such as reinstating layers of mud and water harvesting, to restore ponds as a vital source of water, and a focal point for cultural events. “It is notable that with changing modes of communication, there’s been a surge in community outreach initiatives where architects act as facilitators,” states Devashree Shah, an Inclusive Design Fellow with the Institute for Human Centred Design.

School for the Blind

Lessons from the Kumbh Mela

The exhibition is part of a larger initiative, with five other components: a lectures series, publications, a conference, podcasts, and a digital archive. In Chennai, Mehrotra’s talk, titled ‘Research as Practice: Architecture and the City in Books’, contextualised the role of research and advocacy. In conveying the potential of ephemeral constructions, he drew inspiration from the Kumbh Mela, an occasion that constructs transient tent-cities along the banks of a seasonal river. These temporary cities offer pragmatic, utilitarian insights for architects seeking to navigate the complexities of urban life. Another project is the revitalisation of the Chihilsitoon Gardens (Afghanistan), which led to the restoration of its heritage precincts using rammed earth. Mehrotra alludes to these emergent practices as providing new design alternatives, to mitigate the diminishing presence of architects in the public realm.

Tent-cities of the Kumbh Mela

Across South Asia, such sensitive interventions are pushing the boundaries of design to address unfulfilled urban needs. In Mumbai, Pause Restrooms in a striking red capture the gaze and invite people to unwind, eat, and refuel. In Sri Lanka, The Paint Shop creatively uses found and recycled materials, and modular scaffoldings, which enable it to grow or shift to another location easily.

Pause Restroom; firm: RC Architects | Photo Credit: Hemant Patil

Talaricheruvu Rural School; firm: Collective Project | Photo Credit: Benjamin Hosking, Vivek Eadara

The travelling exhibition, which will head to Bengaluru next, hopes to foster such collaborations between communities, NGOs, and architects — to generate new synergies in transient times, of unforeseen change.

The writer is the founding-principal of Artes Roots Collaborative.