Impressions: Delilah Rodrigues
Your Inspiration…
I was into art, but never wanted to learn art in an institution as I wanted to explore it in a manner that was quite personal to me. My interest in making off-beat structures as a part of school projects prompted me to take up architecture as it satisfied all quarters. On the other hand, Reny was fascinated by interesting designs (not just buildings) and her dad, being a structural engineer, motivated her. But since she was looking for a creative field, she opted for architecture.
Your Design Philosophy…
We have always considered ourselves to be ‘architects by profession’ and ‘artists by passion’. Hence, we try to strike a balance in the way we practice both. This has helped us see most of our projects beyond just being mere buildings. During the initial stages of our practice, we constantly reminded ourselves that ‘taking inspiration from the past was fine but replicating images from the past for the sake of nostalgia couldarrest growth’. This prompted us to explore and experiment with new languages for the region.
Your take on India inspired designs…
Most of the so called India inspired designs still linger in the realms of kitsch. It is rather a difficult task to generalise and represent India. The length and breadth of India has several strong identities and any design that roots itself into one of them rejects the other.