Atoll Origin

Atoll: Origin of Species

Wikipedia Definition: The word ‘atoll’ stems from the Dhivehi (an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Maldives) word ‘atholhu’. Its first recorded use in English was in 1625. The term was popularised by Charles Darwin, in his Origin of Species, and described an “atoll” as a subset in a special class of island surrounded by coral reef(s).

Image_9    pod4~copy
Above: Outline proposal designs prepared for Hodaafushi Golf & Island Resort, Maldives for Voyages Maldives: 2004

The evolution from a more traditionally named architecture firm called Ian Banks Associates into an architecture + art collaborative called Atoll, was made over 13 years ago in January 2005. The name was changed to launch a more hybrid form of practice, following a 4-year sabatical at Arts Council England acting as their NW Public Art & Architecture Officer. The name partly alludes to the occasional Maldivian focus of recurring work, but more importantly, in recognition of the growth of more artistic, holistic collaborative work in sustainable regeneration and place-making. Ian Banks is anyway inextricably linked to Maldives, having lived and practiced as an architect there for two spells totaling 4 years, between 1986 and 1992. He is also married to a Maldivian and is classed a Maldivian Citizen. The Maldivian dhivehi language is spoken by no more than 300,000 people world-wide, and the term atoll  is the country’s only Dhivehi word that has made it into common English usage.

lakshad1    lakshad2
Above: Sustainable Tourist Island concept model: Lakshadweep Islands, India for Jetan Travel Service: 1991

The slow growth of diverse coral communities onto extinct volcano rims helps form the structure of atolls (and hence eventually the islands, and supported life-forms upon these). The myriad of diverse organisms making up such reefs, then provide the critical building-blocks, that can be seen as a metaphor for both the continual potential and the peril associated with such fragile communities – ones that no matter how remote and microscopic, are inextricably linked to the industrialised world and its global concerns into all aspects of the term ‘sustainability’. As such, the name of Atoll was felt to be a fitting and evocative name to help symbolise the sustainable ambition for this new hybrid architecture + art collaborative.