The Building Element Manual is a set of data generated by Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC) through the process of "Analysis and Interpretation” of the elements (Interior Architecture elements and Furniture elements) of traditional and vernacular buildings of India. The manual is created for each of the Interior Architecture elements like wall, floor, ceiling, roof, door, window, column, bracket, stair, balcony and jharokha, parapets and railings, arches, entablature, etc. and Furniture elements like wall unit, bed, table, storage, chair, sofa, bench, stool, partition, swing, etc. These elements which are the key components of the heritage built environment are embedded with empirical knowledge of various crafts (Space Making Craft and Space Narrative Craft) and craft practices. They are created by master craftspeople/builders in specific time expressing the culture not only through its aesthetics but also through its form, dimensions, usage, articulation and process of making. The manual is developed through extensive discussions among the researchers of DICRC, Faculty members of CEPT University and experts from the field of Built Environment and Craft sector.
The Building Elements Manual is an outcome of two major activities of DICRC, which are mapping and documentation of traditional and vernacular building. The first activity – mapping, deals with identifying and recording various buildings across different regions of India. Of all the recorded buildings, a selected few are taken up for detailed documentation to generate a Traditional Building Portfolio (TBP). The TBP comprises of detailed two dimensional (plan, section and elevation), three dimensional and exploded drawings of the architecture, interior architecture and furniture elements present in the selected house. TBP acts as a foundation for the manual to grow further in depth with a detailed set of analysis. Keeping in mind the Interior Architecture and Furniture Elements, researchers at DICRC developed Analysis Parameters: a framework through which different types and sub-types of elements and its components will be dissected and interpreted. These parameters are evolved through various discussion and trial-error methods of engagement and experimentation with each element.
Following are the Analysis Parameters:
1. Introduction
2. Component composition
3. Decoding structures
4. Material mapping
5. Technique mapping
6. Proportioning system
7. Function
8. Form articulation
9. Patterns and principle orders
10. Quantitative analysis
11. Contextualization
12. Ordering of connection
13. Features and highlights
The Building Elements Manual uses a method of Analysis which is one of the key processes of any creative discipline including Design and Architecture. The word ‘analysis’ comes from the Greek word ‘analusis’ which means ‘to break apart’ or ‘to unloose’. Analysis is a process of detailed examination by separating components or unloosing the constituents of the elements for its interpretation. The purpose of the analysis here is to understand the constituents and its working so that the embedded craft knowledge may be assimilated and acquired; it is not only meant for academic pursuit but also to develop a framework of ease for the imagination to work with. The manual also allows establishing the association and relationship of Craft (Space Making Craft and Space Narrative Craft) to Interior Architecture.
The outcome is intended to reach students, craftspeople, educators, design professionals, conservationist, and all those related to the field of Art, Craft, Design and Architecture to impact the way of thinking of an individual and society as a whole.