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Every year several hundred architects visit Auroville, in southeast India, searching for inspiration. This unique international township founded in 1968 based on the integral yoga of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother aims to be a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity.
Part of a series on the pioneering architects of Auroville, this monograph is a comprehensive documentation of the work of Poppo Pingel (b.1942), an architect of German origin, who arrived in India in the 1960’s and stayed. Highly personal in his approach, his architecture challenges the senses with its rustic quality while responding to the climate, landscape and culture of the place. His architecture lies between the plastic and the elemental, the sensorial and the rational. His background in carpentry gives him a strong base in the materiality and at the same time his aspirations and nature lead him to go beyond the purely rational processes. There is a sense of playfulness, poetry and an element of surprise. His work is an amalgam of two cultures.
The monograph provides a bio-sketch of the architect and profiles select projects. Personal perspectives from former students and associates give insight into the multiple layers that define his characteristic architecture. The book contains archival photographs, contemporary images and architectural drawings.
The foreword by B.V. Doshi highlights the importance of Poppo Pingel’s architectural work in our times.
The book contains contributions by well knwon architects: Suhasini Ayer–Guigan, Durganand Balsavar, Preeti Chopra, Dr. Brigitte Jacob, Dr. Wolfgang Schäche, Dr. Elmar Schenkel, Poonam Verma Mascarenhas, and Dr. Franz-Josef Vollmer.
About the Author
Mona Doctor–Pingel studied architecture at the School of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad and later obtained a Master’s degree on Appropriate Technology at the University of Flensburg, Germany. She has an independent practice in Auroville since 1995, where she designs and constructs buildings, interiors and landscapes, while aiming to find the right balance between Man–Nature–Economy. From 1990–92, as a fresh graduate, she worked with Poppo Pingel on two projects—the Mukuduvidu house and Udavi School—both featured in this monograph.
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