THE GREEN ARCHITECT

What drew young Benny Kuriakose into the world of design?

- AVRIL NOEL D'SOUZA

My primary interest was in photography and film and my dream was to become a cinematographer but my father in a typically Indian way was reluctant to let me pursue it without an engineering degree first. One day by complete accident, I met Laurie Baker at one of his sites during my final year of civil engineering degree in 1984. We just started talking and discussing various topics that interested both of us and at the end of a long conversation, I asked him whether I could work with him. He agreed to have me on board and together with him I learned my basic lessons in architecture. I was the 4th person to work with him and he was already 67 years old. He was not very popular in the field at that time and many conventional engineers and architects said that his buildings will not last more than 10 years and the exposed brickwork architecture he created is not suitable for the heavy rainfall in Kerala. Baker always questioned the status quo and the mainstream architecture that was prevalent at that time.

Your prolific journey began with basic lessons in architecture under the tutelage of Laurie Baker...in retrospect how integral were these days to your growth as a green architect?

I was very sensitive to environmental and social issues even before I joined Laurie Baker. As a student, I was very actively involved with the NGO Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) which involved itself in the popularisation of science and even spent more time volunteering for the organisation than my studies. KSSP was at the forefront of saving Silent Valley national park from a dam and reservoir. One of the main debates we were involved in the 1970s was whether we wanted to save the lion-tailed monkeys of Silent Valley rainforest or to solve the energy crisis.