LISTENING TO THE EARTH BEFORE DRAWING THE FIRST LINE

“Our Earth reminds us, sometimes gently and sometimes with force, that we are not separate from her. We are part of the Earth, and the Earth is part of us. When we care for her, we are ultimately caring for ourselves.”

Listening to the earth begins with acknowledging that every site carries a story long before an architect arrives. The most meaningful architecture does not impose itself on the landscape. Instead, it grows from a deep understanding of the land, its people and its rhythms. For architect Gita Balakrishnan, that lesson did not come from designing a landmark building. It came from stepping into a humble mud house in a remote village. In 2022, Balakrishnan embarked on an extraordinary 1,700-kilometre journey on foot from Kolkata to Delhi. Over 70 days, her initiative, Walk for Arcause, sought to highlight how thoughtful design and architecture quietly shape the quality of everyday life, often in ways that go unnoticed. Recalling one of the most unforgettable moments from her journey, she says, “On my 1700km walk from Kolkata to Delhi, as I was passing through Bharra, a small village in Madhya Pradesh, I was stopped by two brothers, Jagjiwan and Vidyapath who excitedly walked me through their home. While it was a simple mud house, like the few houses left in each village today, it was their labour of love and built together by the family, with the community pitching in. Every element in the house was handcrafted - mud walls, clay tiled roof, white mud plaster, wooden twigs over rafters for the mezzanine roof, to name a few features. As I ended my two-hour stop at this unremarkable home, Jagjiwan’s words stopped me in my tracks and have echoed within me almost every day since. He said, ‘Mitti se bana hai, Mitti me jaayega.’ (It is made of mud and will dissolve in the mud one day.)” In those few words lay a philosophy that modern architecture often struggles to embrace. The house was not designed to conquer nature, but to belong to it. It accepted its place in the natural cycle, where creation and decay exist in quiet harmony. Contemporary architecture, she believes, has much to learn from that humility.

Architects and urban practitioners wield immense power- the power to change lifestyles, to shape habits, and they need to use this power judiciously.

The Power of Design Leadership

Architects are often trained to solve problems and shape environments. Yet traditional building practices offer a different lesson. They begin not by imposing solutions, but by observing. They listen to the land, understand the people and respond to the patterns of everyday life. These traditions remind us that buildings can coexist with nature instead of resisting it. Reflecting on the deeper lessons from her walk, Gita Balakrishnan says, “Today we speak of reversible architecture, designing for destruction, circular construction and more. For these to become the norm and an integral part of the way we build, the values that we define as sustainability need to emerge from the way we are, the way we live, work and play.” For her, the act of designing starts long before the first sketch is drawn. “Architects need to internalise that the process of building a structure begins well before it is even conceptualised,” she says. “Every choice made, as well as every option excluded, towards the execution of one project has a far-reaching impact.” Every decision, and equally every omission, leaves behind an environmental, social and cultural imprint. As many legendary architects have observed over the decades, good architecture is defined not only by what is built, but also by what is consciously left out. Balakrishnan believes architects and urban practitioners hold an extraordinary responsibility. “Architects and urban practitioners wield immense power—the power to change lifestyles, to shape habits— and they need to use this power judiciously. Every line drawn, every brick laid has implications not only for the building it defines but its surroundings, the community around it, the labourers who are building it, the factories from where the materials would be arriving, the trends, the market, the environment, besides just the client one is designing for.”

The New Urban Vanguard

As cities grapple with climate change, rapid urbanisation, ageing infrastructure and changing social expectations, the architect’s role has expanded well beyond designing buildings. Today, architects are increasingly shaping how communities live, interact and grow. For Gita Balakrishnan, architecture has always been inseparable from people. Beyond her design practice, she has worked with NGOs to coordinate shelter homes for the urban poor, engaged closely with construction workers and encouraged students to see architecture as a profession that can create meaningful social change. These experiences have reinforced her belief that every design decision carries responsibility. She sees architecture as both a privilege and a powerful tool. Every line drawn can influence the way people live, every material selected can affect the environment, and every project has the potential to shape local economies and communities. Quoting Danish architect Jan Gehl’s observation that people gather when given good public spaces, Balakrishnan argues that architecture must extend beyond property boundaries. A building influences not only those inside it but also everyone who experiences it from the outside. Its long-term success depends as much on public ownership and care as on thoughtful design.

The success of a design is a two-way street. When people understand and feel what a space does for them, they become custodians as well as the beneficiaries.