Architecture that made me thrive...

True experience of architecture is when all the five sense are engaged. I have believed that statement since I started studying to be an architect. My personal experiences within and around spaces increased awareness of how I "felt" in a particular space. I was drawn towards natural materials - stone, bamboo, mud... A few years into the bachelor study, it was unclear why I battled discomfort and unease while designing various types of dwellings or commercial buildings. On the other hand, I enjoyed experimenting with design assignments that allowed more freedom - museums, schools and even landscape design. I tried steering away as often as I could from materials I perceived were the debris I'd leave for the future. I understood the "need" in the face of rapid urbanization but working entirely with concrete or glass repulsed me.

Cut to my first job - a blessing in disguise - after architecture school, handling Marketing and Outreach for Art Village Karjat. I jumped in without much experience just because it felt right. Here I was confronted with architecture again. This time, in a form I loved. A collaboration space for artists and communities from all walks of life, built completely of mud and thatch. And was I supposed to market - which was all mostly word of mouth - for this place? Hell, YESS! For the next one year, when I was at the Village, trust me, it was hard for me to 'work'. I'll tell you why...

For the first time, a structure spoke to me. I touched the mud walls, some parts dry in the sunlight, some still wet from the last time it rained and a magnificent green moss blanket growing on the outer facades that interacted with the rain. These walls were literally ALIVE, I could see it! The earthy smell of wet mud... (Ahh... You know that feeling!) and the thatch on the roof immediately relaxed me, calming the constant chatter of my thoughts. Is this what bliss feels like? The energy of the Art Village (the structure) resonated a pleasantness, one that is much harder to explain in words. How could I work when all I wanted to do was take it all in, make the euphoria last a little longer?

Hence, architecture making the senses thrive is true architecture to me!