splendors of south east asia!

hey folks...did i mention that i won the geoffrey bawa travel award for the year 2006? well, i did...below you can read the essay i wrote for the competition..the competition was open to the architecture students of the faculty of architecture moratuwa university, Sri Lanka institute of architects and interior design students of the academy of design colombo..i'm a student of the academy of design and this is the first time the academy students were eligible to take part...lucky me ha? and by the way..we had to write an essay saying why this travel award is important to me and what do i hope to get from it, and the like...this essay only took me to the best five candidates..the rest was done at the interview..and i was chosen! i toured in india for whole five weeks..and it was awsome! shall write about it some other time!!! so enjoy!...the title is 'splendors of south east asia'

The world we call the earth is a place full of wonders and magic, created by human hands. and the story of the world and man goes a long way back to as many years as ancient civilizations can take us. speaking of civilizations, one could think of many that tells us marvelous stories. it is a well known fact that the 'inca maya' civilization of south america holds the pride of having the best town planning and architectural skills.
Yet, isn't it a bit odd that none of their work has any sign of the 'wheel' which is known as the dawn of advanced technology? this proves the fact that someone else should get the credit for the technology they had. this brings me to a very interesting and curious point of my discussion.
during the period when the incas reined the maya civilization, king 'veerachana' ruled the 'hela asura' kingdom in the south eastern coast of sri lanka. this king belonged to the 'raakshasa' tribe who were worriors. this whole tribe were worshipers of the sun god and called them selves the sons of the sun, whereas the incas worshiped king veerachana and used the sun as their holy symbol. but why did they worship the raakshasa king? now the jigsaw starts falling in to place.

A foriegn research group came for research in the south eastern costal belt of sri lanka recently but returned due to unexplained reasons. people believe that this is because of the legend of the lost city of king ravana. during the rein of king ravana, sri lanka was the most powerful kingdom and followed by the ancient kings and their creations prove this. in line with king veerachana's and king ravana's kingdoms, are the kingdoms of the mauryan king, asoka of india(the tower of asoka), the kingdom of anuradhapura, and in myanmar is the shwedagon pagoda. this gives an incline to as what had been happening. the whole of south asia had been a very powerful unit. and to answer my question as to why the incas worshiped the raakshasa king, it is because that they got their technology from king veerachana of the hela asura.
now to make a point, the strength of a civilization is measured mostly by the technology they possesed. this brings me to the topic of architecture and soforth to design. once, having been the most powerful unit of the world, south east asia holds a rich culture and a tradition of its own. this culture and tradition has had a great influence in the fields of architecture and design. the best examples are, the taj mahal of agra, the sanchi stupa in madhya pradesh india, the forbidden city of cina, the shwedagon pagoda in myanmar, and also caves at ellora nad ajantha in maharashtra india, the kornak sun temple, forts and palaces all across india should b specially mentioned for their breathtaking architecture and creativity.

although they had a similarity in being south asian, they stood apart from the rest of the world because of the cultural and the traditional influences they had from their own country. as such, the taj mahal or the 'crown palace' is considered as the most beautiful piece of architecture in the world. the mausoleum also has the mosque, gardens, gateways and fountains, and so, a seperate dtory of its own. it is said that talents of the muslim and the western world came together to build this masterpiece and so a combination of the two worlds. in contrast to the gleaming white marble of the mausoleum, there's a pair of red sandstone buildings flanking the tomb to the west and the east, built to complete the symmetry. this masterpiece includes the three majo elements of islamic art; the saying from the quran, geometrical forms, and a variety of plant forms and flowers, often repeted as borders. the calygraphy has its own style too. the size gradualy increases as they go up the side of the structure, so that from the ground all leters appear in perfect uiformity. the moghul emperor has used extrvagant materials for the building, such as, makrana marble, red sandstone, jasper, carnelian, turquouise, malachite, jade, crystal, pearls, diamonds, emaralds and sapphires. the makrana marble that is used on the walls has the ability of taking on subtle variations of tint and tone. this comes in very beautifully at dawn and dusk when the sky changes its moods and colors every second, and specially because the sky stands as the background for the mausoleum, it gives a tremendouse effect. also the composition of forms and lines are in perfect symmetry. as for the main dome, below it lies the tomb of the emperor's beloved 'mumtaz' and the dome gives and effect of soaring the tomb to the heavens.

as a student who's studying interior and spatial design, i think it is very imporant for me to study about these and expand my knowledge and talent. this masterpiece itself is a great example os the use of space, mterials and nature in bringing out the best of one's work. more than the structural behaviour of the building, i think the detailed elements are more important for my studies. keep aside the architectural value of the building, the legend that leads one to the taj mahal itself is enough to someone to go visit the mausoleum. it's not just the tomb of some emperor's wife, it is the symbol of love and it is a once in a life time chance if someone gets to see it. it is also said that if someone turns around to take a second look at it, he will deffinitely return.

not only the taj mahal, india is famous for its cultural values. another great example is the sanchi stupa done by king asoka. it has the structural elements of the buddhist temple and specially the four pandols that salute the four directions are tremendous.

in the east side of asia is the empir of china. this land also holds a rich history and one of the great wonders of the world. the great wall of china. it was built mainly to protect the chinese empire from mongolian invaders. this huge wall streches over 1500miles and extends from kansu in the west to the yellow sea in the east. although china is famouse for the great wall, not only this but the ancient architecture has a long history of its own. chinese architecture has a few different catogories. those are, inperial architecture, which includes palaces, and imperial mausoleums; buddhist archiecture, which includes temples; taoist architecture which includes various structures according to different functions, catogarized as palace for oblation and sacrifice, altar for praying and offering, cubby for religious service, residence for taoist abbes and garden for visitors. chinese temple and garden architecture too played a vital role.

among the mausoleums, is the most famous 'forbidden city' which belonges to the Qing dynasty. one thing that makes it so great lies with the layout. symmetry and the logical placing of all these buildings are located everywhere. there are many structures which make this city stand out as a place of many treasures and great art. there are avenues of lions, mythical animals, camels, elephants, horses, officials and guardians carved from single blocks of marble atnding guard. they are placed right along the 'spirit way'. chinese architecture atands out apart from the others because os its use of materials and materials in collaboration with their tradition. this is shown very clearly in the roofs. 'although it may not seem like, roofs are an important part of chinese architecture. roofs did not only protect residences from the elements, they also had a deeper meaning. for example, temple roofs were crved because the buddhists believed that it helped ward off evil spirits which were believed to be straight lines. the temple's roof is also made of glazed ceramic tiles and has a over hanging cave distinguished by a graceful upward slope. the curve of each roof can be no more than a sweep and the most intricate designs on the roof are almost always pointing south east. however, there are some down sides to having all these decorations on the roof. the tremendous weight could eventually bring down the entire complex. that is why the chinese have added an additional collonade to support the weight under the outer edges, reducing the bracket system to mere decorations.' Source: Chinese Architecture.

as i have stated above,each country has its uniqeness while being truly asian. as a design student, i'm capable of examining all these intricate details and i'm eager to study more about these also because of my passion for the subject of history. i think history has a major role to play in the fields of design and architecture as it is the foundation of the future of the country. even if someone wants to break away from the tradition, that person will have to know what the tradition is. and, i being a first year student of spatial design, i think i'll be very fortunate if i get to visit these places and widen my knowledge. and also, once being the great power of the world, why not witness the wonders and powers of our ancestors?

Be asian, live asian!