My Life in Design: Kamal Malik
Celebrated architect Kamal Malik speaks against "easy-to-digest cookie-cutter design solutions that have become the norm"
This series takes a look at the aesthetics, influences and practices of some of India’s biggest names in the field of architecture and design.
Architect at a Glance
Name: Kamal Malik
Firm name: Malik Architecture
Education: School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi
Architectural style: Having grown up in the hills of Shimla, nature remains the source of Malik’s inspiration. He views the design process as a complex matrix with sustainability being the ultimate objective, and the endeavour to maintain samyama or balance as a path towards meaningful design.
Photos courtesy: Malik Architecture
Architect at a Glance
Name: Kamal Malik
Firm name: Malik Architecture
Education: School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi
Architectural style: Having grown up in the hills of Shimla, nature remains the source of Malik’s inspiration. He views the design process as a complex matrix with sustainability being the ultimate objective, and the endeavour to maintain samyama or balance as a path towards meaningful design.
Photos courtesy: Malik Architecture
What are the essentials of a well-designed home?
I would not use those words – to say that something is well-designed. Even before the first line is drawn, it is important to understand the relevant local conditions completely – the site, climate, materials, local building practices and the response to the memory of the place. If you take each of these factors as a layer and put them together, a picture starts to emerge on its own. This has happened even before you step in. You are simply analysing the place, with no attempt at jumping to a physical form yet.
This becomes an issue with some clients. They want to see what the final structure will look like. But you can’t start there. We always say, we don’t know yet.
I would not use those words – to say that something is well-designed. Even before the first line is drawn, it is important to understand the relevant local conditions completely – the site, climate, materials, local building practices and the response to the memory of the place. If you take each of these factors as a layer and put them together, a picture starts to emerge on its own. This has happened even before you step in. You are simply analysing the place, with no attempt at jumping to a physical form yet.
This becomes an issue with some clients. They want to see what the final structure will look like. But you can’t start there. We always say, we don’t know yet.
Is it fair to say that there are architectural trends?
Fashion comes with the season and things change and then they are passe after that. But when you are talking about a home and architecture, you plan to live there for a lifetime. Hence, it has to go beyond fads and superficial timelines. It has to go far deeper.
Architecture is not fashion. One cannot slip it on in the morning and divest oneself of it at night. Architecture is a deeply personal subject and requires an intense analysis of people and the place – a journey into the objective and the subjective. To subvert this process – which, by reckoning, is the very core of the design process – by resorting to narrow-minded and whimsical ‘trends’, is anathema to our philosophy. Repudiating meaning and context in favour of easy-to-digest cookie-cutter solutions has become the norm rather than the exception and does not augur well for our profession.
Fashion comes with the season and things change and then they are passe after that. But when you are talking about a home and architecture, you plan to live there for a lifetime. Hence, it has to go beyond fads and superficial timelines. It has to go far deeper.
Architecture is not fashion. One cannot slip it on in the morning and divest oneself of it at night. Architecture is a deeply personal subject and requires an intense analysis of people and the place – a journey into the objective and the subjective. To subvert this process – which, by reckoning, is the very core of the design process – by resorting to narrow-minded and whimsical ‘trends’, is anathema to our philosophy. Repudiating meaning and context in favour of easy-to-digest cookie-cutter solutions has become the norm rather than the exception and does not augur well for our profession.
What were your greatest influences?
My father was in the army and thus travelled a lot. We were two brothers and I, being the older, stayed behind with my grandparents in Shimla. Thus, my childhood was spent with them and it was exemplary. This was a very important milestone for me for two reasons. First, there was a freedom in my upbringing. This freedom allowed me to spend more time outdoors. There was no confinement.
The second was inadvertent. My grandparents interfaced with many spiritually evolved people and their conversations rubbed off on me. I imbibed their vibrations and that has stayed with me and grown even deeper over the years.
My father was in the army and thus travelled a lot. We were two brothers and I, being the older, stayed behind with my grandparents in Shimla. Thus, my childhood was spent with them and it was exemplary. This was a very important milestone for me for two reasons. First, there was a freedom in my upbringing. This freedom allowed me to spend more time outdoors. There was no confinement.
The second was inadvertent. My grandparents interfaced with many spiritually evolved people and their conversations rubbed off on me. I imbibed their vibrations and that has stayed with me and grown even deeper over the years.
Being in the business for over 35 years, how would you describe your ideal client?
When clients approach us, they are already prepared for the ride. They know there is no easy way out. We don’t expect solutions from our clients, we simply want to understand how they live and do justice to that. So we start from there and then bear in mind the context of the site and other factors. For instance, a client can’t come to us saying they want a sloping-roofed home in a place where there is no heavy rainfall or snow. We would not design a space like that, even if the client says it was how they imagined their dream home to be. It is irrelevant.
What are the design mistakes to avoid?
We, as a rule, have no don’ts. But having said that, almost always, without exception, the most common mistake is a house being designed based on what someone else will have to say about it. Your home needs to reflect your lifestyle and preferences, irrespective of what anyone else thinks.
When clients approach us, they are already prepared for the ride. They know there is no easy way out. We don’t expect solutions from our clients, we simply want to understand how they live and do justice to that. So we start from there and then bear in mind the context of the site and other factors. For instance, a client can’t come to us saying they want a sloping-roofed home in a place where there is no heavy rainfall or snow. We would not design a space like that, even if the client says it was how they imagined their dream home to be. It is irrelevant.
What are the design mistakes to avoid?
We, as a rule, have no don’ts. But having said that, almost always, without exception, the most common mistake is a house being designed based on what someone else will have to say about it. Your home needs to reflect your lifestyle and preferences, irrespective of what anyone else thinks.
What’s the project you are most proud of?
I would say the Lupin Research Centre near Pune. It gave us the opportunity for interaction and expression in the field of medical research. Where abstract subjects like an institution and the metaphysical were added as layers to the design matrix.
I would say the Lupin Research Centre near Pune. It gave us the opportunity for interaction and expression in the field of medical research. Where abstract subjects like an institution and the metaphysical were added as layers to the design matrix.
What are you building next?
We are currently doing a book on eight homes from our practice. But we are approaching the book differently. As we live in the East, our book tackles how our ancestors looked at building. This book is not about the design of these eight homes; rather, it talks about the journey in which these homes happened. It starts to explore the role of the architect not as a doer but as a catalyst.
We are also doing two projects where I am the client. One is a Rajput fort near Ranthambore, where we are in the process of restoring and converting it into a 50-bed boutique hotel. The other is a similar project … below Shivaji’s Fort in Lonavla. It is an 80-acre property that a group of us are working on. There again, I am the client and the designer.
We are currently doing a book on eight homes from our practice. But we are approaching the book differently. As we live in the East, our book tackles how our ancestors looked at building. This book is not about the design of these eight homes; rather, it talks about the journey in which these homes happened. It starts to explore the role of the architect not as a doer but as a catalyst.
We are also doing two projects where I am the client. One is a Rajput fort near Ranthambore, where we are in the process of restoring and converting it into a 50-bed boutique hotel. The other is a similar project … below Shivaji’s Fort in Lonavla. It is an 80-acre property that a group of us are working on. There again, I am the client and the designer.
Read more:
My Life in Design: Ashiesh Shah
Iconic Architect: Renzo Piano, The Architect Who Designed The Shard
Tell us:
Do you prefer clean, straight lines or more fluid, curved forms? Share your thoughts in Comments below.
My Life in Design: Ashiesh Shah
Iconic Architect: Renzo Piano, The Architect Who Designed The Shard
Tell us:
Do you prefer clean, straight lines or more fluid, curved forms? Share your thoughts in Comments below.
I wanted to be a structural engineer. I studied engineering for a year but then found that something was missing. I had a head for science but the thought of embracing the arts and sciences simultaneously led me to the field of architecture. This connect between the head and the heart is where I finally found my true calling.
What is your design philosophy?
As a follower of the Patanjali School of Yoga, the concept of time, continuity, reflection and silence provides me with a theoretical underpinning, through which a syntax of metaphors is developed, allowing me, through my work, to comment on subjects ranging from urban decay and regeneration to the more abstract notions of homogeneity, purity, contradiction and chaos.