‘Experimental architecture requires an audience.’ The potency of this statement could easily be lost in the history and theory plugged into the intention behind The School of Environment and Architecture’s inaugural pavilion program. It brings to the surface an interesting question: can an architect cultivate an audience for the work he wants to create? While taking a theoretical stance on the process behind building—not individual structures but rather the process of building itself—the series hopes to present work that is not bound by market economics.

‘SEA Pavilion’ looks to invite architects to build an experimental structure on the school’s grounds every year. Its inaugural structure is designed and executed by Samir Raut from studio eight twenty-three. The studio has gained “notoriety” for its collaborative nature and larger than life interiors. You may recognise their interiors from The Bar Stock Exchange in Colaba or the SOCIAL series at Todi Mill and Versova in Mumbai and Koramangala, Bangalore.

The programme brief is immediate in addressing the seeming ‘uselessness’ of a pavilion in a utilitarian sense, yet the form is an ideal crucible for experimentation. The entire exhibition starts with a series of questions beautifully outlined within the context of such an undertaking. ‘How do we theorise a labour of love? How do we speak of such experiments? In an iterative process where one learns from one’s mistakes and moves on, does the archive become the new theoretical process? How does one record? How does one reflect? How does one make? How does one love? How does one live?’

Samir Raut’s interpretation, ‘Making a House’, which was on display at the SEA campus from April 8 to May 7, introduces us to the anatomy of his design practice. We are taken through several iterations of a seven hundred square foot house, explored through scaled models and several sketches. The installation also presents the process, which involves case studies of houses of similar scales, designed by architects he admires. These studies have a life of their own and come alive through beautifully crafted scaled models. As you view the progression of the study models you realise you are standing within a full-scale prototype of the final design built as a summer pavilion. The work and its contents are an ode to craftsmanship and detail.

IN CONCLUSION

In pursuit of answers and following the ode to craftsmanship, the school hosted a closing symposium titled, ‘The Pleasure of Making’. A casual round table discussion saw Samuel Barkley and Anne Geenen (Case Design), Ajay Sonar (A for Architecture), Anand Patel (Anand Patel & Associates), Samira Rathod (Samira Rathod Design Associates), Robert Verrijt and Shefali Balwani (Architecture Brio), Teja Gavankar (Studioon), and Samir Raut talk about the themes they are passionate about. The conversation looped back to the practice of taking one’s own time to lament and meander at the ideation stage as a self-critical process important to continually correct or shift the dominant dogmas of design in a growingly international setting.

Samir jokingly stated that one of the reasons he chose to study architecture is because of his impression that one need not go to office at 9AM, and second, he loves to drink coffee. Hidden in this joke is the rigour behind the creative process that is hardly ever showcased. Yet, it was a common theme between all the participating architects. The pavilion series and the symposium present an under-discussed and vital forum for the future of architectural practice in a context that is accessible and understandable, not just by architects but students as well.