thesis: monsoon in kerala: an enquiry into the architectural responses

Introduction
Rain is a part of the hydrological cycle in which moisture from the Earth's surface evaporates, turns into clouds, then condenses into bubbles and again in due course returns to the Earth in the form of droplets of water to repeat the whole cycle.1 But it has lot more to it when it reaches the ground and people starts interacting with it in many ways. Rain, not just have physical uses. It refreshes all five senses- you see the rain, smell the fresh shower, (The source of this effect is petrichor, oil produced by plants, then absorbed by rocks and soil and later released into the air during a rainfall)1, listen to the downpour and thunders, touch the drops, and taste the water. Rainfall is the source of the water in rivers, backwaters, wells and tanks. Here I consider the water that is already present on the ground and is already an integral part of the soil as well as the water that is actually in the process of falling down from the sky as rain.
In India, the State of Kerala is considered as the “Gateway of summer monsoon” since it is the first state to receive the south west monsoon and the last to receive the retreating monsoon. As a popular advertisement says, “The only thing that covers Kerala better than us is the monsoon”, rain has a strong influence all over Kerala and its people.
Urban designer Jacek Krenz1 wonders how rain can be celebrated and rainwater be incorporated into architecture as
- a cleansing element,
- a climate control and ecological balance element,
- a visually refreshing element,
- a spiritual element, and
- a nourishing element of refreshment.
But here in Kerala, without intentionally incorporating it, is a part of architecture and they do celebrate the rain in their own ways. How and why such an architecture evolved, which controls, conserves and enjoys rain? What went behind in the making of spaces, elements and techniques which respond to the downpour in specific ways? Was that the sole reason for such developments or there was something more?
With the changes in society, globalization and urbanization, culture changed and so as architecture. With changes in environment, rainfall distribution has varied, quantity has reduced and measures have been adopted to collect and conserve the falling rain. Water repellant paints are used to keep the surfaces neat. Open to sky spaces are made to let the rain be viewed. But other than these direct responses, strong connections between the contemporary architecture and rain are missing.