book review |

Review by Madhu Pandit

INSPIRING
REFERENCE FOR
BEAUTY AND SOCIAL
ASPIRATIONS

T his wonderfully exuberant book is the second of

the Auroville Architects Monograph Series. It is
a comprehensive record of the architectural legacy of
Piero and Gloria Cicionesi and the timeless imprint
it has left on Auroville. More than that, what is com-
pelling is the weaving together of the community’s
unwavering belief that built form is on extension of
an individual’s physical and spiritual world.

I visited Auroville as a student in 1979 when the

Matrimandir had just about ‘burst forth’ out of the
ground. Its skeletal space frame looked staggeringly
out of scale, and perhaps even brutal, to my inexpe-
rienced eye, especially in the context of the philoso-
phy communicated to us and the pastoral/communal
scale of the rest of what was built at that time. Since
then I have been training my eye and time and again
I have wanted to visit, but it was not meant to be. I
was curious to put together the puzzle how the sheer
muscle of that giant sphere, now softened by its gold
exterior, sat in consonance with its structural spatiality and function. Going
through this book comes close to the journey which never happened.

The reader can switch back and forth between pages which are beautifully
illustrated, and watch the ‘urban experiment’ take shape. One does not have
to endorse the philosophy of a ‘new consciousness’ to find the symbolism
of Matrimandir, a centring point of a city in a modern-day context of town
planning, curiously compelling.

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55 | 2018

Auroville Architects
Monograph Series
Piero and
Gloria Cicionesi
Author Mona Doctor Pingel
Published by Mapin Publishing
Pvt. Ltd., 2018
Size 229 x 229 mm
204 Pages
ISBN 978-93-85360-41-1
book review |
‘Piero was one of the few who knew at that time about the relationship of
proportions between the Great Pyramid and the Matrimandir...’ writes Doc-
tor Pingel. Well, that is definitely some food for thought for those of us who
seek answers for universal harmony versus spatial order. She describes the
trials and tribulations the pioneers faced when ‘they came to the barren red
plateau and had the conviction to follow a dream, who gave their youth to
make it what it is today, a green haven with opportunities for all.’ Their jour-
neys would not always have been with unflinching confidence.
The story of the Matrimandir is a significant part of this book, since it signi-
fies Piero’s role in the history of Auroville—he was given the task to execute
its physical and spiritual centre when he was just thirty-six years old. But the
main narrative belongs to the architects’ personal journeys, from their early
years in Europe, their arrival in Auroville in 1968 and the decades of evolu-
tion of their work. Their story is told through an astounding collection of
archival photographs, personal sketches, beautiful drawings, several quotes
and references to other architectural works.
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55 | 2018
 book review |

It is interesting to see this book bring together the architecture of a commune through
their work. The collection does not follow any categorization of typologies, nor does the
work look very experimental like much of Auroville does. It is best described by Poppo Pin-
gel — ‘There is something inexplicable perceived via the subtlety of the senses in the spa-
tial order of Piero and Gloria’s buildings. This something I try to circumscribe but cannot
describe... the parameters of the space are not verifiable. They are set in simply, like cups
in a cupboard: clear, precise and final, with no discussion required. They fulfil simple inner
needs of the human being, wellbeing, lightness, the sense to spend time in it, and timeless
where mind stands still.’

The book is full of inspiring references for those who seek perfection and
beauty along with deeper social aspirations.

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55 | 2018