LIJO. RENY. Architects

The essence of architectural design in the tropics lies in controlling light and ventilation through built forms created to work as filters. Natural and locally available materials with indigenously developed technologies were the mainstay of traditional architecture of all tropical regions across the globe. Within their limitations each culture had developed unique built forms, representative of the lifestyle of the people. Industrialization, global urbanism, availability of a variety of man made materials for construction, and the recent spurt in digital technology application in architectural representation threw open the doors for creative, visually appealing expressions in built form. This has resulted in pushing the essence of architectural design in the tropics into the background. Thus we see all along the edges of streets in tropical urban environment, residential built forms, good, bad and ugly, with one striking common feature… closed windows… even the most beautifully designed windows are always seen closed… may be because an air conditioner is whizzing away somewhere in the background.

In this scenario, in a small town, Thrissur, in the tropical paradise called Kerala, two young architects Lijo and Reny re-write the principles of architectural composition, keeping the essence of architectural design in the tropics intact. They have successfully re-cycled the traditional concepts of light and ventilation and cast them in a very much contemporary mold to create a built form that at once arrests the eyes of the onlooker, with an invitation to enter.

How does one design in a context of fast vanishing rich past, but rapidly multiplying kitch ridden present. Kerala is one such place, where anyone can survive as a ‘building designer’ but few dare to practice ‘architecture’ in all its purity. Here is a piece of pure architecture, snuggling into the context of a rich past, carrying around it like a halo, imageries of the past, expressed in a modern language.