Arcause is a platform for acknowledging, enlisting and actualising Social Responsibilities of Architects, Designers, Engineers and others associated with the Construction field (ACED Fraternity). Arcause (Our Cause) is positioned to be flexibly interpreted as addressing the cause of the ACED fraternity and also the fraternity supporting a cause. Arcause aims at nurturing sensitivities and actualizing the role of initiatives from ACED professionals and students in contributing to societal well-being.
Design and Architecture are largely unknown as professions in India. Also, there isn’t enough awareness on the importance of a responsible designed environment. Architects and Designers are vital to the cause of designing a responsible interface. Hence, it becomes essential for architects, designers and organisations that foster the community, to go out to the larger community in order to reinforce this awareness. It is in this same context that the community needs to be a lot more visible in the realm of social and community good, and through their actions showcasing the importance of their technical expertise. While this would serve the cause of the ACED fraternity, it would more importantly also serve the agenda of harnessing collaborative efforts for larger social impact, through education, awareness, interventions, solutions, public participation in the projects and many other activities. Hence Arcause!
Walk
And you shall see
Walk
And you shall hear
Walk
And you shall smell
Walk
And you shall feel
Walk
And you shall do
Architect Gita Balakrishnan is on a mission. She has covered over 2500 kilometres so far on foot, treading one city after the other, in the hope of sensitising people about the power of good design. Through her initiative Walk for Arcause, she emphasises architecture’s social responsibility and the need for architects to break down the catacombs of architectural jargon and the imposingly high walls of their practices to connect with the community at large. Kolkata-based Balakrishnan is the founder and curator of Ethos, an organisation fostering extensive discourse to raise awareness around the built environment, and a network connecting architects, designers, engineers, and students. Brimming with a childlike zeal, undeterred by strenuous routes, and ever eager to strike up a conversation with anyone she meets, Balakrishnan is quite a (gentle) force in herself. For someone who believes that construction workers should be included in design conversations, that history should be considered from the prism of living monuments, and design must move away from being a luxury to a right, these walks, she says, are only a means to a bigger cause.
