Architect Speaks- Disaster Management and the Role of Architects

This is the interview given to Architects Speaks 24 ,where Dr. Benny Kuriakose explains the sensitive approach of design that directs a disaster management project and the role of architects in including clients in the design process.He discusses the expanding importance of preventative actions while reviewing the present catastrophe management procedures.

He has been incorporating vernacular architecture into his designs. The use of locally sourced materials, keeping in mind the climate and the state of the socio-economic relations of the time. Benny began his career in 1984 , got a degree in civil engineering and, studying under Laurie Baker, he learned the fundamentals of design. After being granted a Charles Wallace India Trust scholarship at the University of York for an MA in conservation studies, he earned his Ph.D. at the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai. The Muziris Heritage Project, the Institute of Palliative Medicine in Calicut, the design of the tsunami-affected villages of Chinnangudi and Tarangmbadi in Nagapattinam District, the Springdale Heritage Resort in Vandiperiyar, and the Anantya Resort in Kanyakumari Resort are a few of his notable architectural projects.

In this presentation, he explains in detail the disaster management process and the role architects have in the design process. He added that architects need to take on a new role beyond their role of designing buildings and that the process is equally important as the product. A sense of community feeling, a sense of place and the integration of the new and the old settlements are important for the success of any reconstruction project.