“Tribal communities have a much deeper and a live sense of nature, living organisms, climate and material”: Veteran architect Narendra Dengle on architecture as an art – Maharashtra

Photo © Himanshu Burte >>

Veteran architect Narendra Dengle [Pune] on the ongoing evolution of architecture

Architecture is the only art, which demands wanderings through space for us to appreciate it. […]

My work in rural and tribal areas was based on my learning from the context. Tribal communities have a much deeper and a live sense of nature, living organisms, climate and material. One can only be caring and help improvise what already exists so that the built environment addresses contemporary demands. We used local materials and spatial vocabulary of courtyards and spaces in our work, and adopted techniques of construction as were found necessary in a given context. […]

Source: “Poetry in architecture” by Harish Kabra, The Hindu, July 29, 2007
Address: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/poetry-in-architecture/article2275459.ece
Date Visited: 27 December 2020

There are 16 tribes in Nagaland, each with different architectural traditions. Each has responded efficiently to climatic challenges, dovetailed with cultural needs and providing a nurturing matrix for ordinary life. That each produced uniquely beautiful buildings is not a bonus but a natural outcome. […]

Like all traditional architecture, the Naga way of building has evolved over centuries through trial and error. Out of necessity, it engages with the local environment directly. Local forest and earth provide a large part of building materials. And houses are shaped to offer resistance to the cold and rain. The lightweight architecture that results fits well in the earthquake-prone north-eastern region (the sixth most seismically active zone in the world, it is categorized in India as Zone V, the same as Bhuj, Gujarat). The bamboo and thatch can be framed and braced well to resist earthquakes and reduce damage. […]

Source: “Naturally Naga” by Dr. Himanshu Burte, Livemint 1 Feb 2009
URL: https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/qw1XDX8Q6eDTKNNQPnsRIM/Naturally-Naga.html
Date Visited: 27 December 2020

 Baha Parab: Flower Festival of the Santals
Learn more about this and other murals in West Bengal >>

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See also

Adivasi Academy & Museum of Adivasi Voice at Tejgadh

“A great deal of things could be learnt from their culture”: Nehru and his assurance that tribes may “develop on the lines of their own genius”

Architecture

Atree.org | Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology & the Environment (posts)

Bamboo

Biodiversity | Hyderabad biodiversity pledge | Nilgiri Biosphere

Crafts and visual arts

Dress and ornaments

eBook | Background guide for education

Eco tourism

Ecology and environment

Forest Rights Act

Homes and utensils

Museum collections – India

Nature and wildlife

Particularly vulnerable tribal group

Romila Thapar

Shola Trust

Tagore and rural culture