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)