Auroville, a town that belongs to the earth

MDP: Auroville attracts all kinds of people from different walks of life and cultures. To come and live in Auroville is generally, in my opinion, not a ratiocinative decision, but more of a calling that longs for a different kind of society and evolution of the human being. The opportunities to develop oneself come as per one’s inner potential. The longer one lives in Auroville, the more challenging it is, and therefore that much more fulfilling the outward and inward life becomes.

If we think about those who come today after 50 years of Auroville’s existence, the situation is very different from those who came in the pioneering years (1968-1985), when the barren land and the non-existent skilled labour asked for experimentation and frugality in the use of materials. Today, the architect/planner is presented with different opportunities or challenges. The stage has been set, and it is up to individuals to find their different ever-evolving role as per their inner aspirations. We are each contributing to a musical theatre piece together, sometimes in dissonance, and sometimes in resonance.

TD: Auroville is a mecca for the architectural community in India. I stay in Pondicherry, which is a twin city of Auroville, located 2 kms away from it. Auroville has a very clearly defined geographical boundary as the outline of the township. Though my office is situated just outside the boundary, and I am not an Aurovilian (having not taken the citizenship of Auroville), however, the spirit of Auroville's architecture permeates through all my buildings.

In order to enlarge its presence in the national dialogue, publications and workshops focusing on the unique contribution of the experimental architectural forms and techniques in Auroville would be helpful.

DD: Sri Aurobindo said, “The whole world yearns after freedom, yet each creature is in love with his chains: this is the first paradox and inextricable knot of our culture." This resumes the entire attitude that a man/architect is facing not only in Auroville, but in the world as well. I do not think that there is more freedom in Auroville than anywhere else in the world, as according to Sri Aurobindo, “freedom is what you are; it is what you become.” To limit it to a context, even being in Auroville will be misleading. There is surely a vibration of openness in Auroville, which is rather unique by the fact that in its isolation, it allows this ‘freedom’ of manifestation with fewer constraints than the normal world. And there is this nature in Auroville, which provides all you need to create. Due to this isolation, it is very peaceful; so I miss the forest and silence. However, the real work is for one/architect to reach this state of freedom, not only in Auroville, but in the world we live in as well.

DB:  Auroville has come a very long way from the simplistic, vernacular-driven, wood-thatch-stilted huts to the seemingly over-the-top urban housing typology. From no public infrastructure to largely funded public buildings and spaces, it has unknowingly created a huge field of impact in all realms. In the field of architecture, urban design and planning, the influence on the urban sector has been vast.

Sustainable building practices such as stabilised rammed earth wall construction, terracotta roofing, vaults, domes, arches, filler slab roofing systems, coloured oxide IPS plasters, etc are all practiced here and are spreading out across the country in urban settings. For the world to adopt/ accept the work that has been done here, it needs to be as lucid as Auroville to create the dialogue between various disciplines, age-groups, faculties, as has happened in Auroville. It is not that there is absolute acceptance of such practices within Auroville either. Often, the seemingly sustainable practices are cross-examined, put to test, not supported or even discarded easily here. For the sustenance of such efforts elsewhere, the context needs to prepare itself to receive, implement and support ideas and efforts that may be from Auroville, or may come out of their urban context itself.