Avant-garde architect’s creations in ‘Clothcrate’ will be part of an exhibition on climate change in London
Avant-garde architect’s creations in ‘Clothcrate’ will be part of an exhibition on climate change in London
Broad curves defy gravity; play brickworks peek-a-boo; Spiral stairs float in the air and curved walls flap like sails, while sunlight streams in, creating art on the floors and walls.
Sustainability matches Kerala-based architect Venu Daniel’s style in buildings made of clay, bamboo, scrap, tyres, casuarina trees and local materials.
In May, Vinoo’s creations in ‘clothcrete’ (a term coined by him to describe the fabric used for sculpture) were displayed at the Barbican Center in London as part of a global exhibition on climate change titled Our Time on Earth.
In a Zoom interview, Venu explains that this topic is relevant to the world we live in today, especially in Kerala. They believe that the floods that devastated the state in 2018 and 2019, and to a lesser extent, in 2021, are a clear sign of climate change and global warming. Weavers of Chendamangalam were among the thousands affected by the floods. Veenu says: “About 300 weavers lost their means of earning a living and lost 45 lakhs, their stock of yarn and their loom. I have chosen those damaged clothes for this exhibition on climate change.”
‘Our Time on Earth’, a global exhibition on climate change by architect Vinoo Daniel at ‘ClothCreat’. photo credit: special arrangement
With the help of a slide show, Vinoo explains the process of making clothcrete. Damaged fabrics obtained from weavers were dipped in lime and mud and draped in the form of chairs, stools and screens. “We arrange the curtains artistically to have an aesthetic effect and are covered with glass fiber and plastered with clay and lime,” explains Vinoo.
The dried pieces are polished with coconut husks, and the material acquires a luster similar to that seen in “the curtains of Leonardo Vinci’s Pieta or Bernini’s masterpieces”, Vinu claims.
He tried to do experimental work at the now-closed Tees Me Cafe in Kottayam. The background and seating area of the cafe were made of clothcrete. It was wrapped and folded to create a dramatic backdrop that resembled a curtain swaying in the wind.
Architect Venu Daniel’s works in ‘ClothCreat’, to be displayed from Mai to August 2022 at the Barbican Centre, London. photo credit: special arrangement
“With the same technique, damaged fabric was used to carve my creations. This is to remind people of the devastation caused by climate change on people’s lives,” says Venu.
His architectural firm, Wallmakers, founded in 2007, is working with Save the Looms to provide a solution to the floods that devastated the lives of weavers.
He hopes to use the damaged thread to create workspaces for weavers, and locates looms on the first floor of the structure. “The walls of the building would be made of threads tied with steel cables that would eventually support the traditional Kerala-style sloping roofs,” Venu elaborated.
Veenu has created “a vast space in which to present stories of change, which Explores action by looking at grassroots organizations and change makers around the world to find out what is happening at the grassroots level.
The pavilion will also feature 10 screens that “showcase a series of video stories from grassroots workers, transforming the way we interact with the environment to combat change and prevent polluting the Earth.” hold those responsible for it”. After London, the exhibition Our Time on Earth will travel around the world for three to five years.
Architect Venu Daniel’s works in ‘Clothcrete’, which will be on display at London’s Barbican Central. All the work on the exhibition was done by a team of architects and masons at Shoolagiri near Hosur in Tamil Nadu. photo credit: special arrangement
All the exhibition work was done at Shoolagiri near Hosur in Tamil Nadu, about two hours from Bangalore. “We are building a community space for Baiju CK and there is a team of architects and masons. In addition, two to three architects from Bangalore join our work. They believe in my philosophy of sustainable architecture,” says this disciple of the famed Laurie Baker.
Baker, a Gandhian, insisted that buildings should be constructed “with materials available within a five-mile radius.” “Now, what is easily available everywhere is garbage and junk. That’s why I insist on recycling that in my buildings in an aesthetic and functional way,” says Vinu
Architect Venu Daniel | photo credit: special arrangement
Working with a group of like-minded young architects, Vinoo says he hopes to mentor them in his philosophy of using local materials to build structures that do not harm the ecology. “Camouflage architecture, in which buildings do not distort or destroy the landscape of a place, is the way forward to protect ecology. Architecture must follow the ecology of the land; on a hill, the building is symbiotic with the landscape and ecosystem.” Must be in alignment. I am following that principle for all my work in Hosur,” he says.
A bridge in Karjat, Maharashtra, designed by architect Vinu Daniel. photo credit: special arrangement
Even without a permanent address or a roof over his head, Venu, who calls himself a “stray architect”, is changing and challenging the building blocks and aesthetics of architecture. Their calling card is their signature style of building which they use to build homes, museums, community spaces, cafes and places of worship.
“Now, I am done with tyres. Since retreading has become a habit, more than three lakh tires are thrown away every day. They make ideal building blocks,” explains Venu.
Venu is recycling tires to build a museum dedicated to the late SP Balasubramaniam (SPB) in Chennai.
“Give me the junk, I can keep building,” he says.
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