A puja pandal in Calcutta

Experiments in architecture do not necessarily mean use of expensive materials and extraordinary techniques of construction. Many times, we fail to see the possibilities in materials used in our everyday life.

The hutments by slum dwellers often show a keen understanding of strength of materials — be it plastic, bamboo thatch or mud — and their innovative use by combining simple construction methods.

Many architects in the world today are experimenting with different materials with remarkable results.

One of the best examples of low-cost experiment is the ETHER/I project by architects Mark Goulthorpe, Yee Pin Tan and Zainie Zainoul in Geneva. Constructed in 1995, the building was conceived to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UN.

The building was designed as part of a series of projects where the surface and the object are ambiguous in their status.

It was derived from an image of two dancers captured in a video as if they have left behind a frozen image of their movements. The construction was done with a large number of aluminium tubes joined over a length of 20 metres.

When I look at puja pandals being constructed, I can see how workers bring out the best from bamboo and rope, two very elementary construction materials available in Bengal. Bamboo is known for its tensile strength. But we are yet to explore the full potential of bamboo as an alternative building material.

People constructing the bamboo structures for puja pandals understand the strength and weakness of the material. They can easily be trained to use bamboo as the basic construction material for experimental low-cost housing in our state.

Housing for tsunami victims could have been constructed with bamboo and bamboo thatch. But one has to experiment with the material and build prototypes before taking up large-scale projects.

The second experimental building is called the Jetty House. It is a prototype model for living between land and water. The building has been designed by Peter Anthony Zellner in Milang, Australia. Completed in 1995, the house is an example of human adaptation of natural transition of land surface.

It has been designed as a combination of a conventional building, a pier and a floating jetty. The entrance portico is on the land with the living room and public areas designed as a jetty.

The kitchen and bedrooms are like floating metal containers on the water.

The structure floating on water does not have any foundation and, therefore, does not disturb the ecosystem near the edge of the water.

The third example is an artist’s studio by architect Michele Saee of Italy. Completed in 1998, the building breaks out of the conventional box and stands like a contemporary sculpture.

David Lindberg, the artist who owns this unconventional residence and studio, involves the visitors visually and physically with the outer form within which the artist works. As if it prepares the onlooker for an experience of unconventionality not only in the sculpture but also of the immediate surroundings.

(The author is an architect and urban designer)