Manasaram Architects, Installation view at Palazzo Mora, 2016.

Manasara… is the name of the ancient saint who wrote the oldest treatise on Indian Architecture, Vastushastra, defining the role of an Architect.
For creating a Space for human Existence transcending Time, it is desirable that the architect designs projects to cater to all the three faculties of Man – Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual; this is possible by using the PanchTattvas, the five elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space as elements of design.
An architect is a catalyst of change in society, creating stage sets for various activities of human life to take place on this earth. As architects we challenge ourselves to achieve a balance between Responsible Creativity and Creative Responsibility in all our projects to come up with holistic solutions.
Our exhibit Symphony of the Bamboos expresses the above on three levels.
Bamboo: a Metaphor-Bamboo is a natural, humble, elastic, adaptable, versatile, efficient, and holistic material. At Manasaram, we take our profession as service to society – connected to people and nature at all times. We try to be adaptable, versatile, and look for simple, efficient solutions just like the Bamboo. Secondly, traditional buildings with bamboo are symbiotic and part of our culture. Bamboo in that way symbolizes the need of the hour for the architecture profession to become Symbiotic and Social, rather than individualistic and elite. Bamboo is a metaphor for the way human existence itself should be on this earth – Humble!
Bamboo: a sustainable Material – Recent research and development has shown bamboo to be extremely resource efficient and a versatile material for the building sector, capable of solving major issues of sustainable development, especially in developing and under developed countries. This can also resolve the problem of resource equity of natural resources. Bamboo serves the triple bottom line of Sustainable Development – Environmental security, Economic prudence, and Social justice all at the same time. It can provide cost effective, safe and aesthetical housing, livelihood, security, eliminate poverty and crime, low carbon emissions, and fast sequestering of carbon and liquid fuel and energy! That’s bamboo for us!
Bamboo: the Engineering material – Bamboo can replace many highly processed engineering materials with high energy balance in the construction sector owing to its inherent properties. The physical structure and chemical composition of Bamboo has the properties of highly efficient materials. Its high fiber strength makes it the only replacement for steel, especially in small buildings and the housing sector that forms the largest chunk of construction. It can replace wood in almost all its applications. It forms excellent composites with a variety of materials suitable for many applications.
Bamboo with mud and stone can create a new vocabulary of architecture. We are showcasing our journey after adding bamboo to our palette of materials in a wide range of buildings like housing, leisure, institutional, infrastructure etc. We developed each of the projects as participatory research based solutions in terms of materials and structure along with spatial, economical, ecological, and social requirements with CGBMT, Aditi Constructions, and Dayalbagh University, Agra, India.
Our office Bamboo Symphony is the major project presented depicting our principles, the symbiotic character and culture of Bamboo and the physical, chemical, ecological, and environmental properties of materials expressed in the architecture as form, function, and aesthetics of the building. The building connects the past to the future.
Symphony of the Bamboos celebrates the triumph of nature, unleashing the potential of natural materials, processes, and symbiosis!
Because… “It takes a whole orchestra to play a Symphony”!
Halford E Luccock