Indian architecture

One facet of Indian architecture that I became particularly interested in was the masterful use of doorways and gateways to create complex relationships between the viewer’s motion and a building.

This winding movement creates key moments to condition the mind and allows time to overlap the space. The dynamic movement patterns of the viewer are highly dependent on frame of mind and time of day which allows for the space to be continually refreshed with new paths and uses. By utilizing pauses, winding circulation, and stretched time as architectural elements Indian architects create contemplative and experientially rich spaces with many changing uses.

While studying architecture at Company/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute I had the opportunity to live in India for 6 months, exploring and studying the spatial and phenomenological qualities of traditional Indian architecture.

Indian architecture is unique, in part, because of the country’s strong religious background. Over millennia these spiritual narrative have become unique spatial narratives that still craft the design of their buildings today.