Where
is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
What the ancient science
of Vastusutra can teach us today
Punya
Mishra
Everything
has been thought of before, the trick is to think of it
again under appropriate circumstances - Goethe
First we shape our buildings and then our buildings shape
us - Churchill
In 1990,
Mitchell Kapor, better known as the designer of Lotus 1-2-3,
adjunct professor in the Media Laboratory at MIT, cofounder
of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, delivered an address
titled "A software design manifesto." It was a call to arms
for the establishment of the field of software design. Drawing
an analogy with the profession of architecture, Kapor argued
that design straddled two worlds, the world of technology
and the world of human concerns and purposes. He said:
Design
disciplines are concerned with making artifacts for human
use. Architects work in the medium of buildings, graphic
designers work in paper and other print media, industrial
designers on mass-produced manufactured goods, and software
designers on software. The software designer should be the
person with the overall responsibility for the conception
and realization of the program.
Kapor
went further than pointing out these analogies. For instance
he argued that Vitruvius's ideas of well-designed buildings
as exhibiting firmness, commodity and delight, could be fruitfully
be applied to software as well. He further argues that the
training and education of the next generation of software
designs could, and should, be based on instruction modes followed
by design disciplines such as architecture. Thus, he would
argue for a firm grounding in technology with opportunities
to learn through practice in studio like environment.
One of the fundamental issues related to software design are
the variety of disciplines that contribute to software design.
The Association for Software Design (ASD) defines software
design as follows:
Software
design sits at the crossroads of all the computer disciplines:
hardware and software engineering, programming, human factors
research, ergonomics. It is the study of the intersection
of human, machine, and the various interfaces - physical,
sensory, psychological - that connect them. (quoted in Winograd
et. al., 1996, p. xv)
Ideas
on the design of software come from people who study thought,
language, entertainment, and communication as well as people
who study hardware, algorithms, and data structures (Mountford,
1990). According to Nadin (1988), knowledge of psychology,
sociology, communication theory, graphic design, cognitive
science, theater, and linguistics among others should be considered
for effective software design. Software design, to say the
least, is an interdisciplinary concern.
However, missing from all of this is the character of the
designer. Design by its very nature is a human enterprise
and like all human activities it is tied closely with values,
with moral and ethical implications. These values are intrinsically
and essentially human, they going beyond the present and connect
us to the past. And in the spirit of citing the ancients (as
Kapor does with Vitruvius) we look to the past as well, to
help us understand the present (and the future).
Samarangana Sutradhara is an encyclopedic work on medieval
Indian architecture written by King Bhoja of Dhar (c. 1000-1055
A.D.) of the Prarmara dynasty. Bhoja was a great patron of
learning and himself a distinguished architect, poet, aesthetician
and author. Like most ancient Sanskrit texts the Samarangana
Sutradhara is written in verse. We reproduce below verses
from Chapter 44 of this work, which describes characteristics
and qualities of a "sthapati" (architect). It is interesting
how the text does not consider knowledge of theoretical science
and proficiency in practical aspects sufficient for the architect.
In addition he must be endowed with intellect, character and
integrity, without which his actions will not bear fruit.
If one ignores the occasional references to palmistry and
other esoteric domains of knowledge as being essential components
of the designer’s "toolbox" the translations seem very
contemporary and modern—and maybe even ahead of our
enlightened times. We would like to draw special attention
to verses vii and viii which argue that the architect who
does not have an adequate knowledge of the discipline and
yet insists on practicing his craft should be put to death!
Though it does seem a bit of a drastic step, it does underscore
the importance placed to the profession of design and to "accountability."
Characteristics of a Sthapati (architect, designer)
The
science of architecture/engineering is being explained by
us now, as it has come down in the tradition. By knowing
it, the qualifications and disqualifications of an architect-engineer
are understood. (i)
The person (architect) should be well-versed in the science
incorporating the import of objects to be defined and their
definitions. He should know the theory and the practice;
he should have the insight and the skill accompanied with
procedure. (ii)
As wise one should know that palmistry, mathematics, astronomy,
vedic lore, anatomy, artisanship and mechanics are the component
parts of the science of civil engineering. He should locate
the characteristics according to shastric injunctions. (iii,
iv)
One should accomplish the knowledge of a site based on the
analogy of the established shastric conventions. The architect
understands all the facets of the site by grasping the veins,
nerves and the vital parts and joints of the person in the
form of a site (Vastu) after proper ascertainment. (v, vi)
He, who begins to work as an architect without knowing the
science (theory) of architecture, must be put to death by
the King as one who ruins the kingdom. Otherwise proud with
false knowledge, and without taking any pains to understand
the theory, he would move on the surface of the earth as
"untimely death" of the people. (vii, viii)
One who is however well versed in theory alone, but is not
trained in practice, will faint at the time of action like
a coward on the battlefield. Similarly, one who is expert
only his workmanship, but does not know the theoretical
aspects, will like a blind man be misled by anyone. (ix,
x)
That person is said to be an expert in workmanship who knows
the location for sketching the ground plan, draftmanship,
the horizontal and vertical measurements, the details of
ground work of the plot, the fourteen kinds of sketch lines
(luma-lekha), the cutting of the logs and stones etc., and
seven kinds of circular sections; well finished joinings
of the joints and proper demarcation of upper, lower and
outer lines. (xi, xii)
The architect who is capable of theory as well as practice
would however be ineffective without intellect line an elephant
of exhausted ichor; and his actions will not bear fruit.
(xiii)
The architect who is ready-witted would not get perplexed
at the time of work, if he is endowed with intellect. A
wise one would sail through the ocean of architectural undertaking
even though it would be incomprehensible beyond perception,
full of mysterious objects and vast in expanse, by boarding
the boat of wisdom (prajna-pota). (xiv, xv)
However one who is knowldegable, endowed with speech and
loyal to ones duties and is still not prefereble, even though
equpped with all these, if he is lacking in character. Such
a one is liable to detraction of mind due to anger, hatred,
avarice, infatuation or passion; since his bad character
persists. (xvi, xvii)
The person possessing character and integrity is worshipped
in the world, is honored by the virtuous, is readily welcomed
and is eligible for all professional work. An architect
should always endeover to imbibe character in himself. Consequently,
his undertakings succeed and produce auspicious results.
(xviii, xix)
An architect-engineer should know eight-fold workmanship,
the draftmanship and sketches of various kinds, and variety
of carpentery, stone-masonary and gold-smithy. The engineer
equipped with these merits invokes respect. One who knows
the fourfold engineering with its eight constituents and
who is pure in his mind gets status in the assembly of engineers
and is endowed with long-life. (xx, xi, xii)
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