The Architectural Heritage of Kashmir
The impact of newer building technologies on the traditional architecture of Kashmir has been devastating.
When I started attending Medical College in the eighties, I would take an architecturally attractive route via the now off-limits road between the Amar Singh Club and the official guest houses on the banks of the Jehlum, through the exquistely carved gates of the Emporium, past the Grindlays [now JK Bank] building and Lal Chowk to the double-lane Karan Nagar stretch with neat rows of colonial bungalows on either side. Karan Nagar today is a fast-developing market with modern glass-and-concrete monoliths replacing older buildings at a frenetic pace. Nowadays I prefer taking the circuitous route via Baba Demb and Fateh Kadal, as much for the architecture of the old city as to avoid traffic congestion near the Civil Secretariat.
Karan Nagar is a prime example of how Srinagar is fast losing its unique Central Asian flavour. Private commercial structures in Kashmir seem to be in a mad rush to ‘modernise’ our skyline with a vengeance. Compare the timeless elegance of the Amar Singh College complex with the soulless mustard-and-grey commercial complex, topped off with what looks like a giant softy cone, at the nearby corner. Without realising it, we are falling victim to an insidious form of ‘coca cola-sization’ of our vernacular architecture. One could be driving through Ludhiana or Patiala, if it were not for the occasional glimpse of a sloping roof.
While architects in the West seem to have realised the dehumanising effect of the stark, uncompromisingly rectangular geometry of buildings of steel, concrete and glass, our tragedy is that we are blindly again aping the west without realising that while it may be a neccessity for skyscrapers, we are not bound by this strict adherence to geometry. Some hope, however, stems from a quite unexpected source. The delicate brickwork and design details of some new government buildings like the newly-restored Arts Emporium and the Sangarmal Shopping Complex makes them totally blend into the city, rather than sticking out like a sore thumb, as in the case of the unredeemably ugly GPO building.
While modern building ‘technology’ may be unavoidable, the same is not true of ‘design’. Buildings may incorporate architectural details to make a statement or simply to delight the viewer. In Post-modern architecture, pillars and other elements of traditional design are used on the facade as an aesthetic, rather than a technological, necessity. What stops our highly-talented architects from evolving a ‘Kashmiri post-modern’ architectural ethos? It cannot be very difficult to incorporate traditional elements like dub, varusi, dour etc. into our building designs. Private commercial buildings may have to be given up as a lost cause given our propensity towards ‘bhed chaal’ so it is home builders who should consider using traditional embellishments for a unique, instantly-recognisable kashmiri design, rather than simple cut-and-paste jobs from western house-plan magazines. The onus is on our own architects and citizens to maintain a link to our architectural past.
In this context, the listing of the building heritage of Srinagar City carried out a few years ago by the Centre for Heritage and Environment, Kashmir (CHEK) and INTACH is an invaluable effort. Their team of researchers compiled data from over 800 properties on the basis of historical, archaeological, and architectural significance in a five-volume report. An impressive exhibition of photographs based on this mammoth project was organised at SKICC in September 2005. The official website is available at http://www.heritageofkashmir.com/ and though the website design and layout, including the presentation of photographs is not very impressive, it is well worth a visit for the wealth of information on our architectural heritage.
P.S
I am currently planning to build a new house for my family. Let us see how far I can put into practice what I preached in this column. Luckily my architect, Syed Ather Qayoom Rufai, seems to be on the same wavelength and we hope to use traditional Kashmiri architectural details on the exterior. I will post pictures as the construction progresses. Watch this space.
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