No country for nuclear energy

Counted among the world’s most prolific architects, Japan-based Tadao Ando at the age of 71, says he decided to undertake the journey to India at the behest of good friend Parmeshwar Godrej .

Parmeshwar who’s making Tadao a part of her Godrej properties company says she first met the man who revolutionised the design world with his avant garde designs just two months ago. Tadao, whose works include the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in the US and the Armani World headquarters in Milan, says that post Japan’s March 2011 tsunami and earthquake, it’s the nuclear issues facing Japan that bother him the most:

On what lines is Japan rebuilding itself especially in the areas of Fukushima and Tohoku?
Huge efforts are on to rebuild Japan. One of the counter-measures against the recurrence of the tsunami disaster involves solving the nuclear issue. The fact is that, not just in Japan but in every country across the globe, there is no clear way to deal with the nuclear conundrum.

In what sense?
A country like Japan practically runs on nuclear technology. If we reduce nuclear usage then, to say the least, there will be less jobs for the Japanese. Which is why skilled Japanese nuclear technicians are now migrating to Iran and the Middle East where the pay is good. It’s the Americans’ nightmare come true but then nothing can be done about it.

Where does architecture figure in all this?
Our primary responsibility is to ensure that there are enough homes for everyone and that these are homes people want to live in. If a competition for resources arises, which seems a likely scenario, there will be wars. And all it takes is one madman and one push of the nuclear button for the annihilation of our civilisation .

You’re a Zen Buddhist and a ‘spiritual’ architect. What does Buddhism say about this?
Buddhism says that there should absolutely be no war, that people interacting with each other is a way to resolve issues. In that sense it’s about working within the dimension of life and how we can continue living in the best manner possible.