June 2014 - organic Arts+Architecture

The wellness within …

If you think about which features of daily architecture gives you a better wellbeing, then the common advises are, cross ventilation in the sense that it allows to open windows facing to different directions. Ideally one window or door opens to East so the rays of morning sun can freely flow through the room, flat or house. In a hot climate shading is definitely a must but avoid dark corners, since sunlight will keep the germs at bay. Bright colours will cheer you up if used in a harmonic colour scheme. A well organized household with easy to clean surfaces and furniture, like ventilated cupboards and cabinets. Needless to say that a proper electrical installation and non-slippery surfaces are among the many other advises.

organic Architecture India Spa Orissa Reception Some pictures for a Wellness Village in Puri, Orissa, India. Showing one of the Therapy Units, Reception and Snack Bar

Another important fact is to encourage your relation to nature and open spaces. A garden (or planters and pots) can be created or placed everywhere, be it in your front or back yard or on your balcony or terrace. See for example those lovely courtyards in traditional Goan Houses with its inner verandah allows you to circulate around an open space with decorative greenery like bushes or a tree. From my own experience, it is such a soothing time gazing at the gushing rain waters while sipping a cup of Vietnamese coffee at Sunaparanta’s courtyard café, the “Bodega” run by Chef Vandana Naik. The place is special and so is the coffee …

Simple associations which come into your mind hearing the word open space are breathe, open heart, open mind. Modern lifestyle has brought Man apart from nature but still he longs for it,- knowingly or not. Isolate him with steel, glass and concrete constructions and lots of air-conditioning and he will probably suffer from the notorious sick-building-syndromes. Parallel to this, the ugly anti-social tendencies will get a boost as his soul will shrivel faster and his mind become more selfish. But still there are options to develop spiritual exercises for inner strength on one hand and on the other bring a small piece of nature even into a tiny city apartment. Actually you will find in Japanese architecture wonderful examples for this matter. Same is with the in recent years upcoming vertical gardens done for e.g. by French designer Patrick Blanc which are an amazing addition to the horizontal roof gardens. Cleaning is Healing, so everyone can go beyond the own boundaries like the “Ugly Indian” movement and their Goan matching part the “Goan Rising”. What is it about? In a nutshell, citizens stop waiting for snail-paced bureaucrats and take cleaning and beautification of their roads and places into their own hands.

Since I’d started with wellness or wellbeing features related to architecture, with a short but important side track to inner wellness, I want to close this article with some thoughts about sauna. Looking at my hygrometer, showing 89% humidity, one may wonder do we really need a cabin full of hot and humid air in Goa? But like always if you dig deeper into it, you will be surprised by finding that sauna is practiced not only in freezing cold Finland but in Mexico (temazcal) and in the South of US (sweat lodges) since ancient times as well. The idea behind sauna is cleaning (again) the body through intensive sweating, taking a cold bath or shower afterwards to cool down and resting for some time (very important). From my own experience I never suffered from flu or cold while going thrice a week for half an hour into the sauna. So my wish is, have more saunas in Goa and swallow fewer antibiotics …

Joachim Haider

www.organic-architecture.com

Sustainability beyond the Usual

Type sustainable architecture into your keyboard and you will get lots of links about green and eco-friendly building materials and technical equipment. Prestigious readers of my previous articles in March and April issues of Wo’Goa Magazine already know my opinion about this matter. In short: Yes of course! We need a sustainable architecture in an ecological balanced environment, since even hardcore economists have to admit there is no spare planet in the trunk when this one will be exploited and polluted fatally.

But today I will take you on a different path and let’s call it “aesthetic quality” as an extension of sustainability. The indigenous style of the Goan House worked well for centuries, it was sustainable before the word was used as it is in today’s connotation. Utilization of local materials and adaption to topography and climate were common sense. Let’s have a closer look what makes the architecture of Goan Houses so unique and explore the pleasing features behind them.

We start with the balcao; the covered area facing the road or front of the Goan House. It usually has benches to sit and a place to talk (and of course watch the passersby!). It is like a part of your more concealed living room turned into an open space. What a warm gesture of welcome and interaction with your neighbourhood! Another lovely feature of the Goan House is where the balcaos merge with verandahs. The verandahs and their introvert ‘cousin’ the Courtyard is the perfect solution for a tropical climate. It works in two ways, first as an extension of the open area for the rooms beyond and also as a heat barrier with its shade-giving canopies. Same perfect adaption happens with the courtyard, a more contemplative area giving a place for the holy tulsi plant. For both balcaos and internal courtyards the wooden roof constructions rest on a row of sculptured columns, with intricate craftsmanship and the typical Goan joy for life. As it happens with all properly designed columns you can see how the column structure receives the load, bears it on the capitals, transfers it down along the shaft, and connects it to the ground through the pedestal. In a way a column is like the human body, having a head, shoulders, torso, legs and feet. If you can thus identify a column, you can feel the harmony flowing so coherently through the traditional Goan architecture. Imagine a picture of houses with huge roofs, surrounded by swaying palm trees, a salty breeze from the sea and sustainability broadens into quality of life.

Winston Churchill once coined this: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” Of course we cannot repeat the same traditional forms again and again! Instead, restore and save what is left of these endangered species called the Goan House. Take the legacy forward into modern day architecture like roof overhangs, open but sheltered areas, columns which deserve the name column. Creating that kind of harmony which leads to the well-being of man, gives sustainability for present and to future generations. An excellent introduction into the traditional Goan art and culture (and always worth a visit) is the museum “Houes of Goa” designed by Gerard da Cunha in Porvorim – Torda.

Joachim Haider

organic Arts+Architecture

The Wellness within … by Joachim Haider HeadDesigner at organic Arts+Architecture, Goa. Published in June 2014 Issue of Wo’Goa magazineJune

Sustainability beyond the Usual written for Wo’Goa magazine by Joachim Haider, head designer of organic Arts + Architecture

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