16. Dharitri: le jardin de la Terre Mère
The garden of Mother Earth
In the Hindu religion, Dharitri is one of the names of the goddess Parvati, the supreme feminine principle. It signifies Mother Earth. It is the power that gives birth to all forms of life and nourishes it. Agriculture is an ancient preoccupation of Indian culture. Each year, the monsoon is an opportunity to celebrate the generosity of nature and express gratitude for it. Alongside cultivated fields, most Indian households have gardens where it is traditional to plant trees, vegetables and flowers, and to raise livestock, chickens and even fish for the needs of the family. These gardens make the family self-sufficient and each creates its own unique biodiversity. Visitors enter the garden through a densely-planted bed of scented plants. The perfumes welcome them in while the thickness of the planting arouses curiosity. Is there a journey beyond it? The path soon opens out onto a wide panorama of terraces. They recall paddy fields, with a selection of plants connected to this distinctive form of agriculture. A shallow pool reflects the sky and the landscape. In the ancient hymns of the Rig-Veda, Mother Earth and Father Sky are complimentary. They form a dual entity. The perfumed garden gives way to a garden of fruit and medicinal and aromatic herbs. A bench invites you to meditate on the delicate balance between nature and spirituality.
DESIGNERS
A nature lover and traveler by interest, Deepthi C B pursues her career as a practicing Landscape Architect based in Bangalore, India. Having great interest in teaching, she is also a visiting faculty at Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore for the M.Arch program in Landscape Architecture. She completed her M.Arch from CEPT University, Ahmedabad and received a Gold Medal for her B.Arch course from National Institute of Technology, Calicut. Having worked for over 3 years in Oikos-India and Brief Garden: The garden of Bevis Bawa- Sri Lanka, Deepthi started practicing as a freelancer in Landscape. Her ideas draw inspiration from nature and its elements as well as aims to create unconventional designs by celebrating the context and using locally available materials. Having an avid interest towards writing, many of her articles have been published in Landscape magazines and journals. Her entry also won the Runners up prize for ‘How to prevent flooding’ competition conducted by Landscape Institute, London. Having great interest in plant ecology, she conducts regular nature walks in her city thereby educating the public about the rich plant diversity the city holds and its role in creating the unique urban ecology.
Founder and partner of Design cartel, an upcoming architectural practice in Bangalore India. After graduating from National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode, and working for 3 years in various leading firms in the city of Bangalore and another year of freelancing, Design cartel was set up along with Kaushik Kumar & Joshy Thomas. What brings the studio heads of Design Cartel together is a shared academic and research-based experience in architecture. However, the origin stories are quite diverse. Within this company are professional musicians, a photographer, a DIY enthusiast and avid travelers. Knowledge and experience from these other creative fields trickle into the smallest design nuances. Chandrakanth GM heads the Deep Design studio of Design Cartel, exploring the intersections between art and architecture, applies design thinking to domains in and beyond architecture. His main interests are design research, phenomenology, behavior science in built environments and his graduate dissertations in Semiotics & a study on the evolution of building facades as knowledge & information repositories. Apart from this he is an amateur photographer & hobby chef.
A recent graduate of BMS School of Architecture, Bangalore. Pannag Shet has a knack for art and creativity in various mediums. Enthusiastic about digital and graffiti art. Despite being a young architect, he has worked on a variety of projects ranging from Institutions, sports complexes to interiors of residences: Highlight being the remodeling of interiors of IIM-B which was designed by India’s Pritzker winner B V Doshi. After having worked for 1 year in 2 firms in Bangalore, he has joined Design Cartel and is keen on contributing a lot to the growth of the firm in all aspects. Has a lot of interest in 3D modelling and dabbles in various softwares to produce great 3D renders. Pannag is skilled in physical model making and has made few professional models of buildings for clients. Apart from this he is interested in music and is also an amateur tabla player.
