The Fountainhead

Preparing for Disaster

On Earthquake Safety Day, 14 January 2005, Bibhuti Man Singh, Chief Architect of Technical Interface, Thamel, was awarded a certificate of appreciation signed by the Prime Minister. The certificate lauds the eminent architect's contribution towards increasing awareness in society about disaster management in case an earthquake occurs. As the silvered haired, 54 year old architect says, “We cannot know exactly when an earthquake of immense magnitude will strike us, but it is certain that one is due soon. The law of averages point towards this fact.”

As he says this, one is struck by the conviction in his manner at such a stark statement. He continues, “For the last five years I have been obsessed with the subject of disaster management. Since there is not much one can do or expect from authorities in case of a huge earthquake, it is only logical that we should prepare ourselves to the best of our capacities.” He is the president of Ward Number 13 Disaster Management Committee and they conduct periodic ‘earthquake fairs’ in their locality where community members are made aware about ways and means to prevent greater loss of life in case of an earthquake.

Among other things, ward members are told about higher safety zones in their localities where they are asked to seek safety. As the architect says, “Every buildings have certain spots where the structures are relatively stronger. In case of an earthquake, people usually tend to panic and seek shelter in places like, for example, below the staircases, which in fact are quite unsafe. As an architect I consider it my duty to inform them about such things.”  And when a learned man like Bibhuti Man is so worried about an earthquake of great magnitude striking the country any time soon, it is but natural that others should take serious notice. At the same time, the architect hopes, “No doubt an earthquake might strike us any moment, but I do pray that we have another ten years time before the next big one occurs.” He believes that if given this amount of time, disaster management programs in all wards of the Capital would be in place and most people would be able to react with greater efficiency due to the increased awareness. He adds, “It is people like us whom the community look up to, who have to be leaders on this issue.”

The Man from Chaksibari

Not only does his status as a leading architect make him a natural leader, but the very fact that his address says, 147/65 Chaksibari Marg, should further reinforce the fact. Born on 6th April 1950 to Shanker Man Singh and Narayani Devi Shrestha, Bibhuti Man is the nephew of the late Ganesh Man Singh whose son, Prakash Man, currently a Minister, is Bibhuti Man's first cousin. He has two elder brothers, Trailokya and Mahendra, who are both into politics. Bibhuti Man has two sisters, Nirmala Malla, who is a medical doctor and Prafulla Rajbhandari, a freelance artist.

Taking into consideration the fact that the architect is so closely related to one of the leading political families in Nepal, it is surprising to know that Bibhuti Man himself is least interested in politics. In fact he seems positively disdainful towards politics and politicians in general. He reveals, “I have seen politics from close quarters and have therefore no illusions about the level of both politics and politicians.”

Bibhuti Man did his SLC from JP High School in 1965 and college from Amrit Science Campus. He then won a scholarship to study architecture in Lahore and passed out in 1972 with a B.Arch degree from West Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology. As he says, “I always liked to sketch and make models and I guess that is why I chose architecture.” In 1978, Bibhuti Man went to Japan to do a Post Graduate training through a JICA sponsored program under the auspices of the Housing Corporation of Japan.

Life and Love

Today, after more than thirty years in the profession, this is what the eminent architect has to say about his vocation, “I think architecture is the best profession in the world because it involves and affects every section of society. Architecture is life itself!” When asked to give three reasons for his belief, he says, “Firstly, architecture is one of the most creative among all other professions fields. Secondly, there is immense diversity and scope in this line of work. And thirdly, architecture is a profession that can be said to be a about life itself.”

A poem written by him hangs on a wall in his office in which the first stanza reads, ‘Could not find You / Looked instead / At Art and Architecture / For Eternity itself.’ Doubtless, Bibhuti Man Singh is deeply in love with his vocation. Perhaps only his love for his nine-month old grand daughter, Yeshaswi, is greater than that towards his work. “I look forward to each Saturday when my daughter, Varsha, visits me along with my grand daughter. I am sometimes amazed at how fast time passes on such Saturdays.”

Bibhuti Man and his wife, Usha, also have a son, Barun, who works as an IT programmer in Singapore. Varsha has studied interior design although she has never practiced it professionally. It does seem that Bibhuti Man is a blessed man, both professionally as well as personally. Even if so, the second stanza of the aforementioned poem does say, ‘Do Not Find You / Lost instead / In Man and Community / As Eternity itself.’ Perhaps an unfortunate emotional experience in his younger days could have made him write these words. Only he himself knows.

Flowering after Fifty

Bibhuti Man's professional life began in the Bhavan Bibhag where he worked for seven years and was in the Surkhet Valley Physical Planning Team under a person he really admires, Madhav Bhakta Mathema. “Yes, you can say that he had a great influence on my life and was in fact an inspiration to me,” admits Bibhuti Man. “He was one of the most dedicated men I have ever known, and was driven by the desire to excel in his work.  He later settled down in Japan, maybe after seeing that here, in Nepal, his efforts were not as well recognized or rewarded as they deserved to be.”

The silver haired architect is of the opinion that an architect starts to flower only after he is fifty although he does have immense admiration for the works of the Spanish architect Santiago Calatriva who presently practices in Switzerland. “He is in his late forties and is both an architect and a structural engineer. His designs, including the main structure of the last Greek Olympic Games, are indeed outstanding.” Similarly, Bibhuti Man shows great respect for Frank Lloyd Wright whose works, he says, ‘touches the heart’.

Unfortunately, the architect doesn't have any great opinions about Nepalese architects and their works while at the same time is extremely self critical of his own work and believes that “The best is yet to come.” However, he concedes that the Health Ministry building in Ram Shah Path, designed by Louis Kahn, is worthy of mention specially since, “Some of the architecture in this building is both aesthetically pleasing and at the same time, functionally effective.” The Lumbini Development Trust designed by Kenzo Tanga is another work that Bibhuti Man thinks is exceptional. About newer architects in the country, Bibhuti Man thinks that some of them are indulging in 'post modern excesses' and are designing buildings with no regard to logic nor rationale.

Bibhuti Man himself does not consider any of his numerous works to be perfect, and referring to traditional designs associated with him, like Dwarika's Hotel, says, “I didn't really do anything. All I did was fit in the ancient pieces, collected over the years, in appropriate places, so that the hotel would have all required modern facilities, while at the same time retain traditional exteriors.” He further adds, “Working with traditional designs is a humbling experience.” He is obviously referring to the fact that in the ancient days craftsmen and builders could come up with such exquisite works even without the knowledge and technology available today. Maybe that is why he says, “Architecture is an ‘umbrella’ term and one doesn't really need a formal qualification to be an architect.”

The Knowledge Gatherer

Listening to him, one gets the impression that this eminent architect is quite the learned man and when one gets to know that he is a voracious reader of speculative science fiction, philosophy and new age literature, then one will certainly not doubt it. He has been reading science fiction since he was a kid and his favourite authors include Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Paul Anderson, Ray Bradbury and Carl Sagan, all science fiction writers. Small wonder then, that the third stanza of his poem reads, 'Will not find you / Drawn instead / To Science and Technology / Through Eternity itself'. 

“And yes, I also love Woody Allen's writings. They're really funny,” he laughs. He has read ‘The Fountainhead’ by Ayn Rand, three times. “That Howard Roark, he's something else, right?” he exclaims. At the moment he is reading ‘Concepts of Space-Ancient and Modern’ by Kapila Vatsyayan. And it is only to be expected that the final stanza of Bibhuti Man's poem should read thus, ‘Cannot find you / Content instead / With Knowledge and Wisdom / Of Eternity itself.’

Designed to Impress

Bibhuti Man's first work as an architect was designing a campus for health workers in Surkhet. Since then, among his innumerable works are the Park Village Resort in Budanilkantha, the Club Himalayan in Nagarkot, the Himalayan Bank building in Birganj and some large commercial buildings in Biratnagar. One of his more recent designs was  the residential complex for Dinesh Lal Shrestha of ICTC in Bhainsepati. “It is a ten thousand square feet building, built within ten ropanies of land and involved extensive landscaping as well. Can you imagine, it was designed and constructed in just fourteen months!” One of Bibhuti Man's magnum opuses has been the award winning Himalayan Pavilion in Hanover during the Expo 2000 in Germany. “For the five months that it was held, our pavilion was always placed among the top five every month as the 'most favored pavilion'.”

No wonder then, that the renowned architect was commemorated with a plaque from the Society of Consulting Architectural and Engineering Firms (SCAEF) on January,10, 2001 for his ‘…outstanding works in the International and National arena for the promotion of Traditional Heritage.’ Bibhuti Man informs that among his current projects are several pavilion design proposals for exhibitions in European countries and "there are several speculative projects that I cannot mention as it is all confidential." However, he does reveal that he is involved in designing truly affordable housing projects, the complete designs of which he is planning to bring out in a book form in the near future. In fact, Bibhuti Man is quite enamoured with this project as he is rather critical of the housing projects at present and says, “The current designs of the housing settlements are too low in density with no communal areas. Besides, most of them have only linear planning.” He blames the architects involved for this and thinks that it is their responsibility to keep in view overall concepts while designing such settlements. “They must realize that architecture is much more than just building houses. Architecture involves and affects life itself so a much wider conceptualisation as well as its impact on society as a whole has to be kept in mind while designing.”

Back to Basics-Disaster Management

The architect’s obsession with disaster management has lead him to play a pivotal role in shaping guidelines and government policies on construction in general. Besides this, at community level, he has initiated design clinics in his ward, where once a week, free advice is given on ways and means to build or make existing houses safer. He believes that it is quite expensive to reinforce existing structures but that, “some minimal steps can be taken to retro-fit them. This will hardly cost Rs.20000 to Rs.25000 for a normal sized house - which can be done in phases costing about Rs.5000.00 - but will make houses fairly safe against earthquakes.”

Of course, at the end of it all, he does admit, “There are so many old houses in the city that in the event of a major earthquake, there is little that can be done except to prepare residents beforehand so that less lives are lost.”