The Rebelle blog

I received a phone call from an old college friend yesterday. She was a year junior to me in college. Although, we hadn't been in touch, with her call we spoke with an ease only fast friends can. We updated each other on our current ventures. She has been doing a lot of architectural projects in Nashik and no one could be more happier than me for her work. This is the same girl who with her grit and determination proved everyone wrong in college after an unfortunate loss of a school year. She went on to complete her Architecture Internship under the great Laurie Baker's tutelage firm COSTFORD in Trivandrum. Any sensitive architecture student in India knows the importance of low cost building methods and techniques. Aditi, my friend gathered valuable experiences and utilised them at Pune where she was involved with environmental planning and designing. Her architectural maturity is evident from the fact that she encourages Eco-sensitive architecture practices everywhere around...

THE trees along this city street Save for the traffic and the trains, Would make a sound as thin and sweet As trees in country lanes. And people standing in their shade Out of a shower, undoubtedly Would hear such music as is made Upon a country tree. Oh, little leaves that are so dumb Against the shrieking city air, I watch you when the wind has come,-- I know what sound is there. - Edna St. Vincent Millay Some of my most favourite illustrations that accompany certain poems happen to feature trees in them. Cassia Fistula also known as Amaltaas in India, Copper Pod, Laburnum with its golden shower is also described in a lot of novels written by C.S.Lewis, Oscar Wilde, even J.R.R.Tolkien. In urban spaces, increasingly as there is a shortage of space for housing, on-site trees are often cut by builders and property developers to build a concrete community. We don't even feel the lack ...

The Merriam-Webster’s have an insightful definition of the word sustainable .   : able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed : involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources : able to last or continue for a long time When humans first started their civilized journey, t his revolution consisted in the development of the domestication of plants and animals and the development of new sedentary lifestyles which allowed economies of scale and productive surpluses . According to Terri Peters, the terms sustainable design and ecological architecture are firmly a part of the contemporary culture of architecture and building. Conservation today aims to preserve the resources available now after the enormous usage and abusage in the past few decades. Environmental concerns and crisis is now being reflected through the design solutions seen in developing economies. Where glass facades are still seen in aplenty, exposed...