Unfortunately, the land of vertical gardens, flowering tropical plants and beetle nut trees — our green veins — turn into heated glass and mirrored reflections glazed over vertical architecture in our built environment. We forget the invisible layers that hold and embrace us from beneath the ground, it hurts, and it will hurt our children’s children even more.
Good urbanism starts with good education and good design breathes pure air in every good urbanscape. I believe change begins with education, and I do not think it is too late to change the course of our planet’s history.
History can be read through the memories of vertical skin, flesh and the ribs of architecture. Today’s architecture and art is tomorrow’s reader of time and evidence — a set of multilayered anecdotes, stories and facts. I would like to see the world through God’s own eyes and vision. Nothing in this world originates without a reason and everything was designed by unknown spirits and thoughtfully created by cosmic design.
Good urban spaces need clean and good roads, gardens for children and space for all species to coexist, tracks for walking, running and cycling, good cafes within the garden spaces, absolutely clean public toilets, bus stands, public libraries, public theatres, auditoriums and lively cultural and performance spaces, traditional crafts, art and design museums, public sculptures and interactive liberal community spaces, residencies and hotels. We must ban incessant horns, loud speakers and polluting celebrations such as fires and fire crackers. I believe great educational institutions make for a good urban atmosphere and climate. Great cities are designed, curated and created organically yet by intervention. Art and cultural spaces can create awareness of new and equitable ways of living.
In our time, even if it is perhaps a little too late, we should make a passionate decision that we care about water, earth, air, the sun and moon. Whatever we build, buy, collect, plant — needs to be seen through a designer’s eye. Your eyebrows, beard, lipstick, bags, lungi, sari, schools, hand writing, bridge, toilets, books, home, pencil, table, car, carpets, roads and even your nails — everything is designed but are we looking at everything with aesthetic diligence?
It remains important to learn about tastes. We have everything but nothing is valuable without awareness and respect about art and culture. Soft power humbly creates a clean climate for better living and it brings peace to nature and the planet’s inhabitants.
We are mere guests on planet earth, our role is to preserve and prosper for the benefit of future custodians. Let future generations be proud of us, as we are of our ancestors.
(The author is a leading artist, co-founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and curator of the inaugural Yinchuan Biennale)
