A Great White Hope
Architecture of Aid Economy in India and Bangladesh
By Yashodhan Mangukia
Monsoon 2022 | CEPT University
Abstract
The essay looks at works of architecture in the region of India and Bangladesh that are funded and designed by NGOs and architects from Global North. It looks at the works in India and Bangladesh from architects like Louis Kahn and Le Corbusier from 1950s-60s to present day works of Diana Kellogg Architects and Anna Heringer. The essay also showcases different intentions with which architects of Global North practiced in the region of Global South. It tries to question the need and impact of architecture aid from Global North in today’s time and what they portray to the rest of the world. The essay does not try to enforce a certain boundary in architecture but rather dwells on the aid of kind.
Keywords: aid economy, Global South, Global North, architecture for humanity
There are many ways in which differences between regions in the world are conveyed. One of the most common is the idea of the Global South. It is not necessarily only based on geographical location, but it is used generally for nations of Africa, Latin and Central America and most of the Asian countries (Dados and Connell). Thus, instead of third world countries, they are called regions of the Global South. The term ‘South’ is usually connoted as something which is not positive due to many reasons starting from Marxist Antonio Gramsci idea of Southern Italy and Northern Italy based on colonization status or just the geographical differences between colonizers and colonized (Arya). It is thus used to differentiate advanced and primitive regions on the world map. Dados and Connell in their journal titled ‘The Global South’ says “The use of the phrase Global South marks a shift from a focus on development or cultural difference towards an emphasis on geopolitical power relations.” Global North thus tries to portray as a savior of Global South due to the power differences. This is something which was explicitly seen in the case of Cargo Cults1 (Morton).
The South of the Developed
In the article by Salama and Grierson, they argue that due to the developing state of Global South nations, they offer real opportunities for the field of architecture, place making, urban planning and development. Developing regions offers constant growth and different challenges due to the status of their economy and having limited resources. The Global South then becomes a playground for “advanced” societies to demonstrate their ability on the “primitive”. In simple terms, the South of the developed regions possess those opportunities which attracts the North of developing regions to their lands and show their creative expertise especially in the architectural realm ( Salama and Grierson). Architects from the Global North have designed many buildings in the regions of South-East Asia. Specifically emphasizing the case in India and Bangladesh which gained independence in 1947. The timeline of this essay does not include the works of architects like Herbert Baker and Edwin Lutyens who played a crucial role in the architecture of colonial India which can also be categorized as the works of architects of Global North in Global South.
Post-independence architects like Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn were invited to design the city of Chandigarh and buildings like IIMA, India and Bangladesh National Assembly (Fig. 1), East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) respectively in the 1950s-60s. This created architecture of a very different type, one that became a reference for future generations of architects from these regions. Regardless of the original intentions, it became architecture for reference. Then one also sees architecture for marketing where private real estate developers hire architects from the North for their reputation or even the government hires architects like SOM and ZHA for designing airports (Mumbai Airport and Navi Mumbai Airport) for their expertise. The Council of Architecture (COA) as per law of 1972 does not allow foreign architectural practice to design buildings in India without prior approval from Government of India. But simultaneously, it is seen that the collaborations like Foster + Partners, London and Architect Hafeez Contractor, Mumbai with their proposal of Amraivati master plan or Maki and Associates, Japan with Opolis, Mumbai designed Bihar Museum which solves the problem of COA regulation which mandates a local architect on record.
Sir Norman Foster in Bombay?
There is one more way in which architects of Global North have engaged in designing buildings in the Global South which is through architecture for humanity. Norman Foster from Foster + Partners, London proposed Dharavi development project in Mumbai in the year 2008. On the website of Fosters + Partners, they mentioned that “current density of Dharavi was 10 times higher than the most densely populated area of London”. They were proposing wider roads, better sewage, better protection against flooding and thus by doing all this they will open Dharavi which they felt was not open to rest of the city. Sir Norman Foster clears out congested spaces and buildings vertical with hi-tech architecture (Fig. 3). There is a particular way in which the informal settlements have grown over a period. Dharavi being the outskirts of Mumbai during the birth becomes the heart of city in current times and thus has nuanced connections to rest of the city which the proposed masterplan does not acknowledges.
In another part of the country in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, Diana Kellogg Architects, New York proposed an oval shaped girl’s school with a courtyard in the year 2021. On the website of Diana Kellogg Architects, it was mentioned that this “School will address the need to educate girls and empower women from the neighboring villages in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan”. They also mentioned the oval shape (Fig. 4) which is inspired by the local fort and it being a universal symbol for women. The overall form, which is oval shaped building, is alien to the context but the materials used are local stones. The type of the building is also inspired from the local context, which is courtyard type building, but one can question the proportion of courtyard given the climate of Rajasthan (Fig. 5 and 6). In Bangladesh, a German architect Anna Herringer built a school in 2005 in remote village of Rudrapur, Dinajpur District. It was her final year thesis project which she realized with the help of locals and the building was awarded the Aga Khan Award in the year 2007. It is built using bamboo and mud constructed by the people residing in that village as shown in Figure 7. “The final result (...) is a building that creates beautiful, meaningful and humane collective spaces for learning, so enriching the lives of the children it serves" (Jury of The Aga Khan Award for Architecture 10th Circle, 2007).
Pro Bono Architecture
One might ask, who was funding this project? Dipshikha - an NGO from Bangladesh which had a large funding from Germany largely funded the project. In the case of Diana Kellogg’s school in Jaisalmer, CITTA2 - a USA based NGO hired Diana Kellogg Architects for the design of GYAAN Centre which included Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl’s School. Apart from Diana Kellogg Architects who were hired pro bono to work on the projects, Anna Heringer3 and Norman Fosters’ personal interest led to providing creative solutions in the Global South and they themselves come from developed regions whether it is London, Germany or even USA. These architects were born and trained in architecture in Global North while whether to kickstart their career, getting reputation or just being a savior by providing solution led these people to Global South. Anna Heringer received the Aga Khan award in 10th cycle for the METI School in Bangladesh, Diana Kellogg won numerous awards for Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl’s School in Jaisalmer while Norman Fosters’ vision for Dharavi was appreciated and recognized at various forums. Apart from these projects, CITTA also developed Limi Valley School in Nepal (Fig. 8) again designed by Diana Kellogg Architects. While Anna Heringer designed DESI Training Centre in Bangladesh funded by Dipshikha (the same NGO which funded METI School and funds primarily coming from Germany).
Civilizing the Savage
Karahan says that projects where the aid receiver is not involved in the decision-making process are most likely to fail. We can see in some of the above-mentioned projects where only the aid provider is taking all the key decisions and is heading the cooperation role. Dr. Karahan in her book titled “The International Aid Architecture” lists down points which are framework for knowing the effectiveness of the aid (23-35).
● Decision-maker: Who designs the assistance?
● Purpose: What is the goal?
● Type: What kind of cooperation is on the table?
● Address: Who benefits from it?
● Term: Does it serve short-term or long-term purposes?
● Speed: Does it fall victim to bureaucracy?
● Accountability: Who is responsible for delivering results?
● Transparency: Is fund management clear and reliable?
The world has already seen the hegemony of the West throughout colonial times and after that as well. When Rudyard Kipling says “Take up White Man’s burden…” he directly enforces the idea of the Global North being the savior of brown people. Thus, when one sees projects like METI School or Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl’s School, one questions whether Anna Heringer goes to Bangladesh-world’s largest river delta and teach their people how to make buildings out of bamboo and mud or in case of Diana Kellogg where she tries to teach people of Rajasthan, how to build in desert using stone. Such a proposal in above mentioned context makes it irrelevant and further continues the idea of North being the only savior with adequate intelligence which Global South does not have. It is not to say that Global South does not require any kind of help in any form or to restrict the profession of architecture to certain boundaries. But it’s the opposite idea where aid becomes specific, in appropriate manner and relevant to the context and thus does not set negative precedence. Thus, architecture produced with such efforts becomes the enhancer of place.
Bibliography
Salama, Ashraf and David Grierson. "An Expedition into Architecture." Open House Internation Vol. 41 (2016): 4-5. Document.
Arya, Meghal. "Perspectives on the Architecture of the Global South." Ahmedabad: CEPT University, 2022. Lecture.
Dados, Nour and Raewyn Connell. "The Global South." Sage Journals (2012). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1536504212436479.
Karahan, Hatice. "The International Aid Architecture." Macmillan, Palgrave. The Quest for a New International Aid Architecture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2020. 23-35. Document.
Morton, Ella. "Holy Materialism: The Cargo Cults of Tanna." Slate (2014). http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/01/22/the_cargo_cults_of_tanna_worship_an_american_wwii_soldier_and_prince_philip.html.
Raaj, Neelam. "Foreign hands building India." 15 June 2008. The TImes of India. Article. 12 October 2022.
List of Figures
Figure 1. Section of National Assembly building of Bangladesh by Louis Kahn............................ 4
Figure 2. Axonometric drawing of Bihar Museum which shows the influence of Maki in orientations and shape of spaces arranged............................................................................................... 5
Figure 3. Render image showing the proposed master plan for Dharavi. .................................... 6
Figure 4. Axonometric of the school designed by Diana Kellogg Architects. ................................ 7
Figure 5. Top view of the school (left) and village (right) near the school. ................................... 8
Figure 6. Schematic section showing the proportion of courtyard with respect to spaces of the girl's school (left) and nearby village houses (right). ......................................................................... 8
Figure 7. School in Bangladesh by German architect. .............................................................. 9
Figure 8. Rendering of Limi Valley School in Nepal. ............................................................... 10
