Bijoy Jain: Studio Mumbai. It was about time for an Indian architect to step forward and break out of the standard mould of how things are done in our profession. The way we think and make architecture is still defined by the practices of the Western world (including Japan). Architects are organized in well-protected professional bodies such as guilds, chambers, or associations. Clients, especially the public hand, have to abide by certain rules to include architects into projects of a substantial size, and have to pay appropriate fees according to pre-set tables. Craftsmen are equipped with a vocational training that lifts their abilities to a level where they are equal partners in the process of making architecture. This at least is the theory. Practice of course has already deviated from this ideal, but still the building culture in the West is far more established and sophisticated than anywhere else. Only, that there at not so many buildings needed anymore.
Where they are needed, there is no such system. For example in the so-called emerging markets (to reluctantly used this purely economic description of countries like Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, India, etc.). How to practice architecture on a high-level, not only conceptually, but also practically? Bijoy Jain, the founder and head of Studio Mumbai shows a way forward. Or is it backward?
The recent publication about his works is full of images from the company’s workshop. A large compound with workspaces in the outdoors or under simple roofs. Shelves full of material sample, mock-ups, prototypes, test series for all kinds of building elements. Jain established a design-and-build practice. He hired a group of craftsmen that do what they traditionally are good at, the skill of working with a certain material, and a knowledge that is handed done over generations in the family. By integrating the craftsmen into the team from on the beginning, the projects can be lifted onto a much higher level in smartness and durability. Studio Mumbai look like a medieval “Bauhütte”. Or rather it seems that the reincarnation of the Bauhaus has come to Bombay.
“Design starts where tradition ends”, says Christopher Alexander. Objection. Design – in these contexts – starts where tradition is integrated. Not in terms of form, but as practice.