Ando in Mumbai

Hurriedly people were called, and there were far too many people who missed the function. Still, the auditorium was full and there were quite a few people who didnot get a place to sit. Tadao Ando was in India, more specifically in Mumbai, Vikhroli - Godrej Compound. This was not the first time he was here. As Ando stated, he came to India for 8 consecutive years after 1976 to study modern architects' work in India - works of Le Corbusier, Louis I Kahn, etc. In his present visit, he was taken for a helicopter ride over the left over mangroves of the city by the Godrejs.

The anchor Parmesh Shahani informed that Tadao Ando was the only architect to have won four of the most coveted titles in architecture: The Pritzker, the Premium Imperiale, Gold Medal AIA and France. Ando spoke in Japanese, which was translated to us in English by a hurried translator. It was amusing to find that even the proper nouns that Ando took in Japanese, sounded Japanese! And I also wondered how the translator could pronounce the Japanese proper nouns in such good English! Ando presented some of his projects - two slides each. He didnot speak anything about his way of working. That is more evident in his monographs, authored by others! His monograph was on sale for Rs. 2500/- only. It sold like hot cakes. Apparently, Ando would personally sign them at the end for 20 minutes - but only the monograph, no signatures on diaries!

As I entered the lobby, I saw a bunch of Japanese delegates: all looked Andos. Ando too looked like one of them as he stood on the stage - short, meek, but sharp and crisp. After all, he's a boxer; not an architect. Well that's what he confirmed - he never went to an architecture school. The interesting aspect, or view point that he brought to the presentation was that although Japan got multiple chances to re-organize itself, it never laid any focus on building green spaces. Japan depends heavily on other countries for natural resources. Showing the picture of a Japanese city, he claimed that Japan doesnot have enough green spaces, those which have almost become landmarks in other cities like New York (Central Park) or Mumbai (Sanjay Gandhi National Park). The other interesting thing he said was that buildings bring people together.

He appeared to be a frantic builder. It seems he loved to build, propose buildings. This was very evident from his subsequent proposals after he built his first project at the Mount Rokko - which too was a part of his 'building desire'. As he went on to explain the Rokko development, he said that he took up the immediate next project on Rokko hesitatingly; and the next three to placate his urge to construct on the mountain. Thus, one could call the mountain and Mount Ando instead of Mount Rokko. None of the monographs mention this aspect of his building spree. A ritualistic aspect of all big architects is to have been selected to contribute for the Olympic / Commonwealth games in their countries. Ando is selected too. He would build the stadium for the Olympics 2020 in Japan.

One can see the 4 projects Ando built on Mount Rokko in the above image

Ando kept on iterating his concern or interest for the mangroves abruptly throughout his presentation. His idea was to make it an icon of the city. Needless to say, he imagined only through what he saw. The National Park or the Mithi was never a part of his public address. The helicopter would only help him to see from the top, the place where it is allowed to hover! Anyway, I think there is a formula for a successful presentation in a foreign city. I would try to spell it out here:

1. Absorb the feel of the city you visit. Summarize the experiences of the place quickly. These experiences have to be projected as the positive aspects of the place for the people.
2. Tell the people that they are lucky to be in the kind of place they are in. Tell them that you have visited 'n' number of places in their country and thus you know about their place. This way they like you.
3. Tell the people about the negative aspects of the place you live in. This way, you strengthen point no. 2
4. Green (understood as sustainable) is the  mantra today. Tried and tested. No one would reject greenery around them. If there is nothing you can talk about, say that you are proponent of nature and trees.
5. Don't allow for questions or answers sessions. If there is one, and it goes in unexpected direction, make reference to point 1 and dissolve the conversation.

Ando did all of the above. Business.
In the end, he urged Godrejs to give him an opportunity to work with them. We heard that he would do a project for them in India!

India remains the hot spot for most architects around the world today. Some time ago, I attended a lecture on "Urban Futures" hosted by Studio X (a Columbia University initiative) inviting SOM, HOK and Perkins and Eastman to present their work. It was a disastrous event. And needless to say, Mark Wigley - the dean of Columbia (?) used the 5 points above to establish his business hold in the city / country.

Foreign architects do not understand much about the dynamics of our country and cities. They use most of us as their hands - as donkeys. We work for them because they are able to pay us a little more than what we would have otherwise earned. However, what we can definitely learn from them is professionalism. We fall in for them since they are able to give an image to our aspirations (physically). They are able to give a physical dimension to our desires. They have the technology and expertise to do so.