los angeles, CALIFORNIA
SCI-Arc
Critic: Tom WISCOMBE
suckerPUNCH: Describe your project.
Adhavan SUNDARAMURTHY: Tamizh Futurism is the vision of a possible future/futures that are steeped in ancient history, philosophy, Literature, and tradition of “Tamizh ( or Tamil)” language and celebrates the legacy of Tamizh culture through Architecture.
- Adhavan SUNDARAMURTHY, “Tamizh Futurism - A collection of possible futures.”, Model Photo
- Adhavan SUNDARAMURTHY, “Tamizh Futurism - A collection of possible futures.”, Model Photo
- Adhavan SUNDARAMURTHY, “Tamizh Futurism - A collection of possible futures.”, Model Photo
- Adhavan SUNDARAMURTHY, “Tamizh Futurism - A collection of possible futures.”, Model Photo
It’s a whole new perspective of looking at Tamizh civilization. The thesis revisits some of the most important and significant Dravidian architecture through a speculative lens to find cues from the past. A collection of ancient cities and structures varying from temples, juggernauts, and stepwells from the 6th century to the 11th century were studied and populated across a monolithic step as a point of departure. The idea was to flatten the history by placing them on a flat ontology, creating an allegory of Dravidian architecture on wheels. It was further formally explored through the play of scale and multiplicity. The miniature model is a work in progress. The concept of “Tamizh futurism” would further be explored and the final project will be presented in the month of September.
sP: Who or What influenced this project?
AS: “Afrofuturism” played a very important role. I speak the language Tamizh ( or Tamil ). Tamizh is one of the seven classical languages of the world which dates back to 300 BC. In spite of its rich history, the language, its tradition, its culture, and its legacy are being continuously oppressed for a lot of reasons. I was exposed to Afrofuturism in one of the courses I took at SCI-Arc taught by Mimi Zeiger and I was able to see a common pattern with what’s happening to my language. That’s what inspired me to come up with the concept of “Tamizh Futurism”. I guess I can proudly say that I invented it. People have always looked into Tamizh’s history but have not explored it any further. My aim for the thesis was to not just make the history relevant to the present scenario but also to envision a Tamizh future through Architecture. I strongly believe that Tamizh is not just a language but its a culture, and philosophy that deserves to be heard. And my thesis narrates about its importance, its relevance and its place in this global society.
sP: What were you reading/listening to/watching while developing this project?
AS: I was reading ” A guide to Archigram”, ” Afrofuturism: The world of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture” by Ytasha L. Womack, and also “Megaform as Urban landscape” by Kenneth Frampton, and also ” Thoughts of Periyar”. I was listening to a podcast - “We are in the Future”: This American life and some of Slavoj Zizek’s talks.
sP: Whose work is currently on your radar?
AS: Tom Wiscombe, Herzog and Demeuron, and MVRDV.
