Helmut                                                                  Gallery

WHEN DID YOU COME TO AUROVILLE?
1979

BACKGROUND, OR SOME INFO OF YOUR TRAINING
10 years experience in planning and design of universities and medical schools in Germany.




SOME DESCRIPTION OF THE NATURE OF YOUR WORK
Residential houses, apartment buildings, group housing and
institutional buildings, mainly in Pondicherry and Auroville.

THROUGH YOUR WORK, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SEEK, OR EXPRESS?
To go beyond individual taste; or (to quote Louis Kahn)
"the architect's greatest worth is in the area where he can claim no
ownership - the part that doesn't belong to him is his most precious."

But perfection in building design and workmanship without perfection
in planning and decision-making will not achieve 'the city
the earth needs'.

WHICH OF YOUR WORKS BEST EXPRESSES YOUR VISION, OR PHILOSOPHY?
None so far, I hope the future gives me another chance.

PLEASE GIVE SOME OVERVIEW OF THE EVOLUTION OF YOUR WORK, MILESTONES ON THE WAY
The realisation that all really great architecture is impersonal made
me look with different eyes at the nervous addiction to innovation so
common amongst designers.

WHICH ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT IN AUROVILLE OTHER THAN YOURS DO YOU APPRECIATE MOST?
However different they are, many aspects in Auroville's architecture
are extremely interesting; impossible to pick just one project. But
nobody so far can claim to have discovered the 'architecture of the
future'.
I used to think, that Satprem's Mirramukhi expresses integrity of
thought and action very well (before somebody else took over).

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Russian translation