Tony Joseph is the Principal Architect at Stapati. Stapati, established in 1989, has steadily grown into a multi-disciplinary practice emphasizing values of integrity, sustainability and innovation. Stapati’s architecture emerges from a sensitive understanding of the context; one where the evolution of design is firmly rooted in the region’s traditional narratives, while interpreting the elements in a modern context. There is an underlying acuity in the design approach, which responds to the site uniquely, rendering it relevant and timeless. Tony is also the Founder Chairman of Avani Institute of Design, a Center of Excellence in Architecture and Design education located in Calicut, promoting a holistic approach to design education to develop well-rounded professionals equipped with the sensitivity, empathy, social and technical skill sets to address the ever evolving concerns of our environment.
Tony Joseph spoke about the species of woods he has worked with and his thought process while using them. He apologised for not having ventured into using Canadian wood yet, he however has been a fan of upcycling. He says, “In many of my projects, like resorts, wood is used. We use a lot of recycled wood. When talking about recycling, one of the beauty of wood is that you can totally and completely recycle it, upcycle it and reuse it in various ways. All the old houses in Kerala were wooden houses and majorly Anjali wood (local name) as used. It is a type of wild jack wood and as it ages it becomes really beautiful, nhardens and has quite a few wonderful qualities. It is being reused even after 100/150 years and it has the strength to survive another 100 years. naturally, nowadays a lot of imported wood has been coming in. One such is Pincoda, coming from Myanmar, which is gaining popularity thanks to its cost effectiveness. Another species of wood is Teak, which is again quite famous in Kerala.“
Tony showed a project that he had done 25 years back. All the wood used and seen was recycled wood except for the rafters. These were taken from old houses being demolished. Another project in Goa used Pincoda wood. It is like a plantation oak. Tony has used Arecanut trees. These are generally thrown but Tony has used it to make open gallery seating. It was then reused in the elevation of another project. Once an old traditional house was broken down, Tony used the reclaimed wood in another new construction. Effectively every bit of the wood was reused. That’s the beauty of wood, its carbon footprints are less than that of steel and it can be reused, completely. A project in collaboration with Studio D+R, in Los Angeles, Tony was actually looking at Glulam wood being used for a G+5 structure. Iit is interesting using wood instead of steel for a G+5 structure.
A message for everyone, Tony says, “Nothing more, its being sincere to yourself and to the world you are living in. we have to be careful in the way we are using our resources. Whatever we do, we can talk a lot, but at the end of the day its being sincere to the environment.”
Canadian Wood and Architect and Interiors India organised a special webinar on WoodInnovations – Celebrating Architecture and Design on October 5th. You can read about it here or watch the panel discussion here.
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