cave man
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Sign In / Register Make This My Home Page | Feedback IndianExpress search Sat, 11 Jun 2011 News India | World | Business | Cities | Sport | Showbiz | Lifestyle | IE Blogs | Technology | Videos | Photos | Archives Cha nne ls Ast rology | Cricket | Tender s | Classifie d | Reader Blogs | Rea der Comments | Hot el You are here: IE » Story Epaper Stocks Today's Paper Weather Horoscope Share | Larger | Smaller Aadal Arasi Posted: Dec 08, 2002 at 0000 hrs IST Discussion Blogs Shri - By Chandrashekhar Saran Vaish Baba wah wah, baba ... - By kulmohan Mk's threat to upa - By mani chandru iyer Is it self-pity or i... - By Giri Girishankar Karunanidh i's new dr... - By Kalpathy Venkataraman Quitting the ministr... - By C.Swaminathan Dangerous if media l... - By trhtambivelu Video therapy Bombs for cancer Be good Job violence The Cave Man “The Husain-Doshi Gufa.’’ There are no doubts in architect Balkrishna Doshi’s mind about the one creation of his that continues to mesmerise him as much as it did when it was conceptualised. ‘‘It’s been a decade since the idea came into being, born of a 35-year-old friendship with Husain,’’ says Doshi. ‘‘Husain was always curious about architecture. Once, long ago, he questioned me about the ideal construction for a place like Ahmedabad, where it is summer for the major part of the year. I told him that underground construction was the answer. This planted the germ of the idea in some corner of my mind and I remembered it years later when we hit upon the idea of building a space for cultural activities, where Husain could also display his paintings. ’’ Architect Balkrishna Doshi at Husain-Doshi Gufa, Ahmedabad But dreaming up the idea proved to be easier than convincing the contractors. ‘‘They couldn’t understand the amalgamation of the depths of the earth, its surface and the space above,’’ remembers Doshi. ‘‘So we had to rope in tribals to work on the ferro-cement structure.’’ Even when the gufa (cave) was coming up, Doshi could see the confusion among his students, to whom he had preached the concepts of foundation, straight walls, high ceilings and polished floors. ‘‘Some thought it was a swimming pool when work was going on below the surface level, when it reached the plinth level, they thought it was a bunker,’’ laughs Doshi. ‘‘Even as it neared completion, very few could understand it, though they appreciated the essence of its architecture. That’s what makes this creation of mine special, that in spite of flouting all rules of architecture, this is a piece of architecture to reckon with.’’ After the basic construction had been completed, Husain came to the Gufa armed with his palette and brushes and announced that he felt like painting. ‘‘That’s when he did the free flowing lines inside the Gufa. With Rajesh Sagara, Husain painted the walls, ceilings, even the air-conditioners. Then I decided to relate it with the primordial tortoise and the cobra, so Husain took up his brush once again and painted a headless black cobra on the tortoise- like structures of the Gufa. Then we had specially baked black saucers that were later broken to complete the china mosaic on the structure,’’ says the architect. Express Specials www.DentzzDental.com Ads b Goole Tech Architecture Jobs View Open Tech Architecture Jobs in India & Submit Your CV Now. www.accenture.com Page 1 of 2 The Cave Man 6/11/2011 http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/14357/
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Aadal ArasiPosted: Dec 08, 2002 at 0000 hrs IST
Discussion Blogs
Shri - By Chandrashekhar Saran Vaish
Baba wah wah, baba ... - By kulmohan
Mk's threat to upa - By mani chandru iyer
Is it self-pity or i... - By Giri Girishankar
Karunanidhi's new dr... - By KalpathyVenkataraman
Quitting the ministr... - By C.Swaminathan
Dangerous if media l... - By trhtambivelu
Video therapy Bombs forcancer
Be good Job violence
The Cave Man
“The Husain-Doshi Gufa.’’ There are no doubts in architectBalkrishna Doshi’s mind about the one creation of his thatcontinues to mesmerise him as much as it did when it wasconceptualised.
‘‘It’s been a decade since the idea came into being, born of a35-year-old friendship with Husain,’’ says Doshi. ‘‘Husain was always curious about architecture. Once, long ago, hequestioned me about the ideal construction for a place like
Ahmedabad, where it is summer for the major part of the year. I told him that underground construction was theanswer. This planted the germ of the idea in some corner of my mind and I remembered it years later when we hit uponthe idea of building a space for cultural activities, whereHusain could also display his paintings.’’
Architect Balkrishna Doshi at Husain-Doshi Gufa, Ahmedabad But dreaming up the idea proved to be easierthan convincing the contractors. ‘‘They couldn’t understandthe amalgamation of the depths of the earth, its surface andthe space above,’’ remembers Doshi. ‘‘So we had to rope intribals to work on the ferro-cement structure.’’
Even when the gufa (cave) was coming up, Doshi could seethe confusion among his students, to whom he hadpreached the concepts of foundation, straight walls, highceilings and polished floors. ‘‘Some thought it was aswimming pool when work was going on below the surfacelevel, when it reached the plinth level, they thought it was a
bunker,’’ laughs Doshi. ‘‘Even as it neared completion, very few could understand it, though they appreciated the essence of its architecture. That’s what makes this creation of mine special, that in spite of flouting all rules of architecture, this is a piece of architecture to reckon with.’’
After the basic construction had been completed, Husain came to the Gufa armed with his palette and brushes andannounced that he felt like painting. ‘‘That’s when he did the free flowing lines inside the Gufa. With RajeshSagara, Husain painted the walls, ceilings, even the air-conditioners. Then I decided to relate it with the primordialtortoise and the cobra, so Husain took up his brush once again and painted a headless black cobra on the tortoise-like structures of the Gufa. Then we had specially baked black saucers that were later broken to complete the china
mosaic on the structure,’’ says the architect.
Express Specials www.DentzzDental.com Ads b Goo le
Tech Architecture Jobs
View Open Tech Architecture Jobs in India & Submit Your CV Now.www.accenture.com
Page 1 of 2The Cave Man
6/11/2011http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/14357/
8/6/2019 cave man
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cave-man 2/2
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