CIA 1

Section A

1. According to the narrator, architecture is the designed spaces that all of us inhabit.
The spaces are physical but in today’s world, they are sometimes virtual. For
example, the space between you and a person that you’re texting on the other side of
the world.
2. The potential of architecture lies everywhere, it’s in between each of us and the space
everywhere. Great architects from Santa Monica, Charles and Ray Eames captured
this notion perfectly in their 1977 film, ‘Powers of Ten’. This film is now being used
by mathematicians to teach students about scale.
3. The power of the Pantheon lies in the perfect proportions and the design of the grand
oculus through which the light streams down. The underlying magic of the monument
is the performance of two things carefully and intelligently designed- proportion and
light working together.
4. Architecture is a tool that can reverse or at least slow down the damages caused to the
environment by designing buildings that will help humanity survive longer, better and
stronger. There are many works being performed by architects, for example, the
Masdar city aspires to create new energy and not use more than that energy. For
instance, there are other architects looking to emulate high performance structures
found in nature (i.e., buildings that resemble spider webs or pine cones).
5. Architecture can establish identity and make connections between people in so many
ways. For example, an interior public plaza for a large book fair was created in
Mexico to honour the city of Los Angeles whose friendship is greatly cherished by
Mexico. This helped bring an emotional connection between the Mexicans and
Angelenos. Another example would be the construction of a cultural monument in
Koreatown to symbolise the unity and friendship between L.A and Korea that are on
opposite sides of the globe.

Section B

The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram is one monument that had a

huge impact on me. I visited this temple during my childhood days. The temple is quite
famous now and is by far the wealthiest temple in the recorded history of the world in
terms of gold and jewels and is known for the massive amount of treasure it houses in its
vaults, which is estimated to be around $1 trillion. The architecture of the temple is a
blend of the Dravidian and the indigenous Kerala style.

However, the major attraction for me would not be this treasure alone but the large
splendid architectural beauty the temple displays. One cannot ignore the divine feeling at
the main door of the temple. All your worries and tensions just evaporate as soon as you
step inside the temple and moreover, the atmosphere is calm and serene. The temple
maintains a huge lake which I am told is fed by connected channels of different smaller
lakes and is in turn connected with the main source which is the river ‘Karamana’. The
lake never dries up as it is perfectly recharged with the rain water harvest that is procured
from the abundant monsoon rains. I’ve also been told that there is an abundant growth of
an edible algae called ‘Spirulina’ which is a nutritious freshwater alga that finds
international demand in the food market.

The thing that attracted me the most was the statue of Lord Vishnu reclining on a serpent
which is in the centre of the temple. The interesting fact here is that the architecture has
been designed in such a way that you can see the statue through three doors. In the first
door, you can see the deity’s head and in the second window you can see the Lord’s naval
and in the last door, you will be able to see Lord Vishnu’s legs covered with flowers.
What makes it even more interesting is that the entire statue is made of fossilised shells
(about 12,000 shells)

To conclude, the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is a great symbol of Indian cultural

heritage and is highly recommended for people interested in mythology and old
architecture.