There is a term in linguistics called ‘Selectional Restriction Rules’, which alludes to the semantic coherence or valid combinations of words and expressions. Experience says anomalies in word clusters have often fascinated us. Poetry always does that. In visual terms, modern paintings often depict foregrounded features. By selecting the words architecture, politics and polls as the title of this article, I am trying to make a creative combination of words. But doing so is not enough; a narrative is needed to present the context that draws me to this praxis of creating such a cluster of words to understand more through lesser elocutions. Here, I link the contexts of a colloquium of architects and the parlance of election enthusiasm that is raging all over Nepal now. The near election is the most dominant metaphor at this stage. There are various features of this.

I decided to accept an invitation from architect Biresh Shah, whose passion to arrange discussions on the themes of architecture in the Nepal Mandala has impressed me. He sees architecture as the central element of a civilisation that has always made construction and living two related entities. I was invited to share my ideas at the conference opening. The conference’s theme is complex; it utilises action-oriented lexicons: ‘Negotiating transitions in the emerging landscapes’. A proactive agency is imagined in the title. The agency should negotiate different modes of transition where new landscapes are emerging, carrying the challenge of designing structures in the landscape.

The landscapes do not remain fixed. Construction patterns in buildings and towns with broad and narrow streets are changing the familiar landscapes. Another important challenge is preserving structures or buildings that mark the heritage of pride and aesthetics in historical spaces. It is relevant to recall here the works of a Swiss architect, Carl Pruscha, who lists ‘32 preservation districts, 34 monument zones, 29 natural preservation districts and 888 individual monuments and sites’ in Nepal Mandala in his famous tome as early as 1969, to get a picture. Though Pruscha’s picture has changed, that knowledge challenges the government, the architects and those engaged in the task of preserving and managing the ‘emerging built landscape’.

The Rana palaces evoke a different approach to the question of transitions and treatment of open spaces. The ecology was not a factor for the rulers of the land, especially in the metropolitan areas of the capital. These palatial buildings were built on pristine ecological sites. Human stories emerge from these Baroque palaces, including Singha Durbar, built by the supremo Chandra Shumsher Rana. This palace became the locus of his power. The narrative that a ‘heartbroken’ Chandra Shumsher, who, sitting on the balcony of the neo-Baroque Singha Durbar, saw his female singer Melwa Devi leave the palace, evokes the human story lurking in the grandiose architecture.

It was encouraging to see the architects of the earlier generation convening with the architects of the new generation at the colloquium on February 6. The two-day seminar organised by Kathmandu Institute brought together the senior-most architect, 91-year-old Shankar Nath Rimal, known for designing famous buildings in Kathmandu, and the new, talented architects. It was revealing to listen to the architects and concerned people, including Rimal, Madhab Bhakta Mathema, Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, Lajna Manandhar and the moderator architect Biresh Shah. The discussions covered crucial topics about the complex question of negotiation. I put my ideas about the meaning of the architectonic sites of the metropolis and mentioned the terrible assault and indiscriminate destruction of the architectural sites of the valley during the Gen Z uprising on September 8-9.

Everyone talks about politics and the elections at the moment in Nepal. It seems it is not even remotely possible to cogently link the topics together in this context. The media is full of stories about elections. A unique kind of celebration is underway in Nepal. The most dominant mood at the moment that grips the Nepali society is the semantics of birth that the Anglo-Irish poet WB Yeats calls ‘Second Coming’ in his famous poem of that title. A certain predictability, and a certain combination of the moods of apocalypse, hope and regeneration show the reality here. I presented two relevant books on the subject of the seminar. One is written and the other edited by Shiva Rijal under the titles Poetics of Newar Space and Talking Spaces, respectively. The latter includes articles by prominent architects who presented their discourses at the seminar.

It is difficult or impossible to expect discourse on architecture and the creatively productive use of space in Nepali politics. We can say that now, when politics is occupied with a combined psyche of uncertainty, rage and power ambitions. The burgeoning metropolis and the frenzy of reckless constructions are related to power, money and politics. In that sense, construction features in Nepali politics. The discourse of the March 5 elections combines these meanings in the language of confidence and scepticism.

But very little is said in the realm of architecture, landscape and open spaces. Giving shape to the built environment has always been the topic of interest to both architects and rulers. The narratives of the nonagenarian architect Rimal about his experience of designs in the reigns of King Mahendra and King Birendra and in the democratic times say many things about power and architecture in the land. It was interesting to hear the architects speak about the problems and prospects of a built environment. The meeting of the architects, urban planners and students of the subject makes up an easy cohort. More should be done to include politicians, parties and their government leaders in such discourses.

We have pinned our hopes on the outcome of the coming polls to see transformations in the areas of physical development, political stability and sustainability in the realms of arts, architecture, literature, education and cultural studies. A certain sense of rush, uncertainty and ambition to form new political alliances as well as to reorganise the old parties appears to dominate the minds of the stakeholders. But as this change has occurred as a result of the uprising of the youth, representation of their spirit should be the zeitgeist or mood of Nepali history in the modern challenging times.