A. G. Krishna Menon
Tekton
Volume 3, Issue 1, March 2016
pp. 24 – 30
A. G. Krishna Menon is a teacher, researcher, writer, architect, urban planner and conservation consultant practicing in Delhi for over 40 years. He was the founder head of the TVB School of Habitat Studies in Delhi. Currently, he is the Convener of INTACH’s Delhi Chapter, actively engaged in urban conservation. In 2004, he drafted the INTACH Charter for the Conservation of Unprotected Architectural Heritage and Sites in India.
He has been associated with the formulation of The Delhi Master Plan–2021, The National Capital Region Master Plan–2021, and drafting of Local Area Plans for several municipal wards of the city. He continues to serve on several statutory Committees set up by the Government to manage the city of Delhi.
ABSTRACT
The nature of the ‘architectural capital’ in post-independence India and its social contribution remains largely unexplored. Focus on visible characteristics of architectural object comes at a cost of ignoring the deep structure of the profession that is responsible for its production. The state of architecture is linked to the state of profession in a social context. There is a need to identify patterns/ threads of profession. How do we perceive our professional mandate, whether it has a wider social role beyond the project at hand, nature of professional knowledge and its impact on ‘culture of building’ – these questions need articulation. The state of the profession in India is not attering. When one looks around, one sees ample evidence of the degraded quality of the habitat. Here the problem is very basic: the inability or unwillingness of the profession to recognize its intimate link with society, culture and politics and develop strategies to mitigate it. This paper proposes a four-fold strategy for consideration while discussing the state of profession.
KEY WORDS:
Architectural Capital, State of Architecture, State of Profession, Culture of Building
