Friday, November 20, 2009

शहर र सर्पहरु

जंगली दुलो छोडेर सर्पहरु
आजकल शहर पसेका छन्।
चौडा चिल्ला सडकमा घिस्रेर
अमन र शान्ति डसेका छन्।।
सलबलाई रहेका सर्पहरु देखेर
बच्चाहरु स्कुल जान डराउछन्।
जागिरमा गएका सोझा बाउहरु
आजकल सिम्साझै हराउछन्।।
सर्पदंशको क्रम जति बढे पनि
धुर्त न्याउरिमुसाहरु निरिह देखिन्छन्।
बिच्छिहरुको काइते चलमलाई पनि
किन हो किन सुस्तनै देखिन्छन्।।
छाडा सर्पहरुको मैमत्त दाँईले
शहर आकुल ब्याकुल छ।
मानौ युद्धमा पति गुमाएकी
बिधुवा जस्तो शोकाकुल छ।।
सर्प बिच्छी र न्याउरिमुसाहरुको
ब्रम्हजालमा जेलिएर-
यिनीहरुकै आडम्बरी अतिरंजनाको
पेलाइमा पेलिएर-
शहरले आत्मा र बैभव अनि
रौनक र रहरहरु गुमाएको छ।।
निराशा र छुब्धतामा आज
झन्डै आफ्नो परिचय गुमाएको छ।।

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Editorial for SONA Souvenir-2008

Architecture as a profession has been making headway in Nepal slowly. The prominence of this headway in the city, especially in Kathamandu Valley, can be conspicuously felt in the form of growing architectural practice, architectural education and increasing demand for better life style. The growing financial sector, corporate culture, multicultural heterogeneity of the towns are offering multitude of possibilities for everyone. In such a situation, architecture as a profession also has found a niche for itself. With so many actors at work for managing emerging dynamic social processes, ironically, the city is growing ugly, unlivable and unimaginable. A case in point is the organized housing activities in the valley, which more often than not, is heralded both by public and private sector, as significant effort towards planned development for the better quality of life in the city. But in contrary, the organized housing largely failed to cater to demand of all income groups to promote homogeneous social living and cultural continuity, failed to create definite urban form, continue architectural legacy and respect fragile environment of the city. It seems that the idea of doing housing is to produce and to consume without any consciousness and sensitivities so that the creators have to identify themselves with neither its successes nor its failures. The dominant motive is to get as much as possible for as little as possible. Such motive is conspicuously prominent in defiance of byelaws, ignorance on public safety measures and unregulated pricing. It is not an easy job to pin-point what went wrong and whom we are to blame for this apathy. Perhaps, city authority can be blamed for its stunted leadership, short-sighted legislation, stifled creativity and piecemeal planning.

The defiant motives of making money at the social, environmental and safety costs have also created an impact on architectural practice. Bluntly put, getting projects has become the changed form of competitive practice and the end result is easy submission to developers profit making objectives. If profit making becomes the basic motive, we are bound to sacrifice values that are important to us; to the community and to the whole of city's environment. It is obvious that submission to mainstream practice without realizing our role in making difference, does promote competitive architectural practice to some degree, but all too often this direction of change is distorted by the profit into the most profitable but least essential directions.

The issue raised in preceding paragraph may not reflect the essence of this souvenir in obvious term but it points towards the need for value based architectural practice; the values architects are proud of while thinking design. This issue of SONA souvenir is thus a snapshot of views of prominent architects, architectural works by practicing architects and students just to remind and refresh how important role architectural community has to contribute to the society. It is a collection of architectural pride of different architects and aspiring students. It perhaps will bring back fresh memories of how we were taught the values of architecture in architectural schools.

Lastly, Society of Nepali Architects (SONA) as an institution can play a lead role in promoting value based architecture that can positively contribute to the society. It can be a collective voice of architects to raise issues and debate on architectural practice. It can be a linking platform for professionals, builders and investors. It is perhaps the time SONA takes its initiative towards creating a rightful niche through a more legally empowered organization, which can defend, develop and create architecture as a distinct field of profession. Helping government realize the need for autonomous "Council of Architecture", at policy level, will have far-reaching positive consequences in terms of promoting value based architecture. It is realized that without the empowerment of decision making which is heard, accepted and executed, the enormous challenge of developing architectural practice as an institution look rather bleak.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008

Sanjaya Uprety
Editor