Edition Axel Menges GmbH Esslinger Straße 24 D-70736 Stuttgart-Fellbach tel. +49-711-574759 fax +49-711-5747 84 [email protected] www.AxelMenges.de Distributors Brockhaus Commission Kreidlerstraße 9 D-70806 Kornwestheim Germany tel. +49-7154-1327-33 fax +49-7154-1327-13 [email protected] Gazelle Book Services White Cross Mills Hightown Lancaster LA1 4XS United Kingdom tel. +44-1524-68765 fax +44-1524-63232 [email protected] National Book Network 15200 NBN Way Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214 USA tel. +1-800-4626420 fax +1-800-3384550 [email protected] Spaces Inspired by Nature – Shirish Beri Edited by Yashwant Pitkar. 244 pp. with 452 illus., 260 of which in colour, 265 x 280 mm, hard-cover, English ISBN 978-3-936681-82-6 Euro 59.90, £ 49.90, US $ 79.00, $ A 89.00 Sales territories: all countries, except India Husain Lehri, the director of Super Book House, approached Yash- want Pitkar, teaching at the Sir J.J. College of Architecture in Mum- bai, to bring out a book on a contemporary Indian architect whose approach is different from the run of the mill. Pitkar had no hesitation in choosing Shirish Beri who in a career spanning almost forty years has built works ranging from private residences to educational com- plexes and large public projects across India. As it turned out, this book is the result of an extensive collaboration between Lehri, Piktar and Beri – Pitkar describes the process of making the book as one of slow and deep unfolding. What is most interesting about this book is its structure. Inter- spersed with the projects are Beri’s written and sketched expres- sions. Each set of two projects is bookended by his illustrated es- says and poetry. The essays are more like collections of rambling thoughts, posers and anecdotes – seeking connections between nature, art, architecture, and life. There is a seamless rhythm set up in the book that constantly keeps the reader acquainted with the ar- chitect’s outer manifestations in form of his buildings and his inner thought processes, integral to that creation. The opening essay, »Working with nature ... towards sustainability« sets a tone towards not just architecture but life in general. Beri asks whether man’s re- lationship with nature could become a universal archetype for a sus- tainable future. He advocates an approach towards architecture that grows out from the place and its spirit rather than imposed techno- cratic solutions. The book features about a dozen projects in greater detail, well illustrated with clear drawings, evocative sketches and excellent photographs – accompanied by the architect’s own analysis of the design process and governing concerns in each project. The open- ing section of the book contains a note by B. V. Doshi and a fore- word by Christopher Charles Benninger who was Beri’s mentor when he was a student at the CEPT in Ahmedabad. The Hirwai Farmhouse in Nathawade for himself, one of his earliest projects, is perhaps the best example of his avowed philosophy: spaces in- spired by nature. The Sanjeevan Primary School and the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species at Hyderabad display Beri’s playful and unconventional approach towards space organisa- tion which is at once in harmony with the site’s topography and nat- ural features. Projects such as the Dharwad Engineering College or the Computational Mathematics Laboratory in Pune display a nu- anced sense of structure, construction and meticulousness towards detail. In the closing section of the book there is an exhaustive list of projects with thumbnails giving a good idea of the full range of the architect’s work. Accompanying the book is a CD titled »The Unfold- ing White: Shirish Beri’s search for wholeness«.