“YOU NEED TO HAVE GUTS TO STAND UP AND FAIL”
A force to reckon with in the field of architecture, Bangalore-based Krishna Rao Jaisim’s unique designs stand out for being well ahead of their time
Though he says pursuing it was an accident, architecture has always been in his blood. His grandfather was the chief architect to the Maharaja of Mysore until the 1940s. “Instead of architecture, I loved mechanics. I could tear a motorcycle apart and put it together,” says 74-year-old Krishna Rao Jaisim. In fact, his father used the lure of a Triumph Tiger Cub motorcycle to get him to study at the Madras School of Architecture. Professor Jaisim’s (as he is popularly known) early years in the field were inspired by architectural legends such as Mies van der Rohe, Buckminster Fuller and Geoffrey Bawa. Then in the sixties, Ayn Rand’s book, The Fountainhead became a source of inspiration and he started Jaisim Fountainhead in 1970. Since then he has created and recreated innumerable homes, institutions and commercial enterprises. From the Mydeen Tobacco offices and the Taj Fisherman’s Cove near Mahabalipuram to holiday homes in Yercaud and turnkey projects in Muscat, Oman, over a span of five decades his designs have pionered eco-friendly architecture and advocated cost-effective and energy- efficient approaches. The former Chairman of the Indian Institute of Architects, Karnataka, has won several awards and believes, “the client must come to my doors first, the rest follows”.
CREATING POETRY OF SPACE
“My first significant project on my own was my own home Ego (1969-70), inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s minimalism and Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead romanticism. Built on the sea shores of Kalakshetra beach in Chennai with my own hands, this place has become a must visit site as it followed no known norms,” says Jaisim. This also paved the way for what many refer as his signature style that is inspired by the elements and the senses and is in tune with the environment. He built Anthem, his home in Bangalore in
1980. “From its single, vertical stone foundation, to the four-sloped catenary roof, to the wind catchers and sundial and double-skin breathing windows, it became the cynosure for students of architecture across the country,” he says.
PLAYING FAVOURITES
The architect’s favourite projects include the Tirupati University Auditorium in 1969 when he was still with LM Chitale & Son (before he started his own practice). “It was inspired by Oscar Nimiyer and looks great even today as it defies the norm,” adds Professor Jaisim. Another project called the Bube (1972) is a small industries pavilion in Delhi that won the President’s Nomination Award and is close to his heart. “It was based on the hetra tedra principle of geodesic domes,” he says. Equally special is Five, a hyperbolic reverse shell stadium in Cochin built in 1968 which has the largest spans in single columns. “The neighbourhood layout housing projects for HUDCO were also extremely challenging, and of course the homes, houses and institutes I did for the dedicated clients (difficult to name separately) they were and are my life,” he says. His time with Ideal Homes Co-Op Housing Society as past president and present director also stands out for him.
THE PROBLEM WITH INDIAN DESIGN
“There is not enough in depth study. People lack the guts to stand up and fail. Clients with influence and money have no comprehension of aesthetics and the human sense of the built environment. Also, as long as imitation and flattery works there will be voids and Indian architecture will be limited,” he says. For this maverick, architecture is beyond just form and function, something one can clearly see in his projects and buildings that remain relevant no matter when they were built or designed.
AT www.jaisimfountainhead.in