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Gerard da Cunha is a
well known name in modern Indian architecture. He prefers working with
natural stone and his unique projects are seen all over the
country. He received the Commendation Award in Rural Architecture,
Designer of the Year Award and the Prime Minister's National Award for
Excellence in Urban Planning and Design. Da Cunha's Goa based
architectural firm Architects Autonomous specializes in eco-friendly,
site specific architecture.
There has been a subtle shift in da Cunha's raison d'etre. He has been putting something back, first with his book Houses of Goa where he took on the mantle of publisher by documenting with text and photographs, the unique architecture of Goa. After the book, he built a museum of laterite stone, unlike any museum anywhere in the world, but a structure which would be at home in New York or any other cosmopolitan cities, as it is in the rural depths of Torda in the village of Salvador do Mundo. The museum is to house artifacts and antique pieces, to preserve Goan architecture and design.
So how did Gerard da Cunha's path cross that of Takeo Kamiya? He was gifted Kamiya's book in Japanese and was so impressed with it that he contacted the author and asked if he could translate it into English and publish it. Kamiya agreed and da Cunha bought the rights from the Japanese publishers. The book was translated by Geetha Parmeshwaran in Bangalore, edited by architect Annabel Lopez, in New Delhi, printed by Pragati in Hyderabad.
Says da Cunha, "Vernacular architecture is our starting point; it is similar to the flora and fauna of the region. It springs from the ground like wild flowers, perfect in its use of material. It embodies the local lifestyle and its process of evolution is completely unconscious."
About the book he says, "It is a wonderful guide for tourists, for the common man both in India and abroad, and for the student of architecture who has access to textbooks that document only Greco-Roman, European and American architecture. "I wish I had a book like this when I was a student of architecture. It is uncanny. This was what I had wanted to do: travel the length and breadth of the country and document our architectural heritage. I never had the time to do it and then I come across this book, researched and put together by Takeo Kamiya, a Japanese architect."
