Building design and construction is a constantly evolving art. Quality advancement in any industry persistently tries to take learning from the past through a meticulous research work. In the art of building design and construction, accomplishments achieved by our ancestral master builders leave an enormous treasure for today’s engineers and architects. These treasure offers a massive amount of learning, leading to a great evolution in this field. During my recent visit to Spain, I was amazed to see some of the finest masterpieces of structural and architectural art. Every structure is a huge achievement in itself and set a very high benchmark for future engineers and engineers. It is hard to believe that these masterpieces were built without the use of any computational aid and digital fabrication tools.
The first masterpiece which I came across is the Royal Alcazar of Seville. It is considered as one of the finest examples of Mudéjar architecture. Enclosed within the Moorish fortress, exists the enchanting gardens and the palace. The palace consists of some extraordinary carpentered wooden ceilings and stone elements ornamented with beautiful carvings and tile work. Everything inside the fortress blends with each other so smoothly that it takes you to an entirely new fairyland.

Next to the Royal Alcazar stands The Saint Mary Cathedral of Seville, which is also a UNESCO Heritage site along with The Alcazar. It is till now the largest built cathedral in the entire world. This cathedral has exceptional gothic work in the central nave, which is the longest in entire Spain. It is hard to believe that the realization of such exquisite structure took place in the 16th century. All the building elements of the Cathedral are beautifully camouflaged together using gothic arches and vaults. No appreciation is enough for the structural and construction sense of its builders and designers.

After Seville, the next city I visited was Granada, where I was embraced with the majestic Alhambra. This fantastic fort is a treat to eyes with the snowcapped Sierra Nevada range in the background. It is a fusion of Islamic and Renaissance architecture, because of the influence of different dynasties. Again, this palace has some very graceful wooden and sandstone ceilings. I would say the acutely detailed wood and stone carvings in the building elements present some of the best workmanship examples ever.

Subsequent city to follow is Cordoba, in the center of which lies the famous Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. Apart from demonstrating great architecture, it also symbolizes integrity between two religions, as a mosque and a cathedral lies in the same building. The entire Mezquita-Cathedral is supported by double arches, with lower shoe-horse arch and upper semi-circular arch. The gothic ribbed ceiling and the altering red and white voussoirs of the arches makes the entire building extremely ornamental and eye-catching. The part consisting of the mosque has extremely sophisticated stonework which includes very finely detailed engraving of Islamic script.

The Final masterpiece which I came across is The Sagrada Famillia in Barcelona, completion of whose construction would set a huge benchmark in the history of architecture and engineering. The construction of Sagrada Famillia is going on for more than 100 years now and it is commissioned to get completed in 2022. Because of such long project duration, the project represents various styles of construction and design, which includes the use of classic hanging chain models for form-finding to modern day computational form finding tools, 3-D printing, and robotic fabrication. Irrespective of the construction methods and design approach, I feel proud to see that the unfinished dream of a visionary Antoni Gaudi is being accomplished by present-day builders, who still believe in Gaudi’s ideology and principals. The structure is a huge inspiration to any architect or engineer who believes that curves are the best form of expressing forces in any building.

One of the common things in all of the above-mentioned structures is that they all incorporate shells and arches as their fundamental building element. And in present day I feel that we are forgetting these efficient design elements and there is a dire need to revive them back into our design principles. I find the present-day structures very crude because it uses effective building materials like steel and concrete in a very dumb manner, which highly lacks the sense of material, form, and forces. I feel that in past few decades the art of building design and construction has vanished as the structures are void of the emotional touch of the creator towards its creation. Sadly, this has transformed an art into a money minting industry. Moreover, exquisite stonework and carpentry which is seen in the above structures no longer exist nowadays and it is replaced by mechanization in a very sleazy way. In my point of view if effectively utilized new computational design and fabrication methods open a new realm for bringing back the art in architecture in a very promising manner. Projects accomplished by firms like Zaha Hadid architects and Schlaich Bergermann & Partners set a huge example of how new emerging technologies can be exploited to design well-articulated beautiful structures. The research and works of master builders like Frei Otto, Felix Candela, and Heinz Isler play a pivotal role in incorporating shell structures in modern day buildings. Despite of their great contribution in this field, majority of the structures today still lack an aesthetical sense and ugly frame structures dominate. The present-day research conducted at research groups like Block Research Group, Zurich, Gramazio and Kohler, Zurich, Institute for Computational Design, Stuttgart sets a huge inspiration for young architects and engineers on how to use the new age technology in an intelligent way.
All the structures discussed above are purely based on keen sense and knowledge of geometry, building material, and construction technique. Digital computation and fabrication is a boon to present-day designers and engineers to give our living spaces a new dimension. And under the influence of these new emergent technologies, I believe that this forgotten art would thrive and would be brought back to architecture.

Alluring India mesmerizes a great deal of tourist from throughout the world. The Himalayas are a prime tourist attraction, especially for adventure seekers and nature lovers. Nowadays, plenty of trekking expeditions are organized in Himalayas and ample of youth participate in it, which on the contrary, is accidentally creating a huge impact on the life of the local tribes residing there. During a recent visit to Himachal Pradesh, me and my friend Vyshak had a brief conversation with few elderly locals of villages around Kasol. It acquainted us with the fact that they are unhappy with the newly increased tourist attraction. On the other hand, the younger generation, are immensely satisfied and have embraced this change, mainly due to the amount of income that is getting generated. Bit by bit all the teenagers of these villages are getting indulged into tourism related business like starting a cafe, a guest house or a general store, instead of pursuing farming. Almost, all the food that they consumed used to be cultivated in and around the region. But now because of this drastic shift in occupational choices, and also due to increase in tourists, the consumption of packaged food items has significantly increased. Transportation of these packaged food items is another major problem as there are no roads connecting these villages. The only way to reach up is by hiking over the narrow trails through the mountains.

Apart from all these issues, the one problem that concerns me the most is the huge amount of plastic waste getting generated because of tourism. Just imagine how would you feel when hiking amidst exceptionally beautiful woods, comprising of pine and deodar tress and then suddenly you come across a huge dump of plastic waste. Almost each and every water stream which went pass us was polluted with heaps of plastic waste. It was extremely regretting for us to see these sights.

I recall that after finishing our hike from Barsaini to Kheerganga we encountered a huge amount of temporary settlement established for overnight camping near Kheerganga hot water springs. It was very shocking to see the entire plain at Kheerganga which is even less than 2km2 densely packed up with tents and cottages. This sudden change in their lifestyle, exposed them to products packaged in plastic. Prior this they were reliant on the natural resources to make and consume biodegradable sustainable products. But now because of plastic, this ecological cycle is disrupted and due to no proper waste management system, the landscape is degenerated with plastic waste.

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect”. – Aldo Leopold

Isn’t it the duty of the tourist to keep these places clean and maintain the serenity of the place? We frequently met hikers on our way who did not hesitate for even a second before throwing plastic wrappers in a bush on the hiking trail. It does not take much time to tuck in the wrappers in your backpack and throw them when you find a dustbin. We were delighted to see couple of posters addressing about a clean-up trek (intended to pick up all the garbage on the way) organized from Barsaini to Kheerganaga. Unfortunately, we were late by a day and were unable to join the event.

Its highly fortunate to be part of a nation which possess beautiful natural wonders like The Himalayas and one should take pride in protecting and maintaining them. The scenic villages of The Himalayas have so much wisdom to offer. Travelers visiting this place should grasp this opportunity of understanding the culture and lifestyle of the locals instead of just enjoying the mystic smoke with them. Tourism is a rapidly growing industry, mainly because of the internet which has made travelling so easy nowadays. A nation should always try to mint on its tourism but not by keeping its natural resources at stake.

These heritage and culture rich villages established in the stunning valleys of Himalayas are continuously dilapidating and losing their essence. They are indeed striving for their cultural existence, and I think that a bit of effort from our side to maintain the beauty of these village can really make a huge difference.