I am happy to see many younger architects embarking on their career trying to understand and then reinterpreting these forms to respond to the needs of contemporary India. Sadly, the numbers of such architects and buildings pale to insignificance with those trying to appear modern and aping the West.
Global architecture is here to stay.
The skylines of Banaras or Trivandrum could be easily mistaken for those of Malaysia or Abu Dhabi. Irrelevant models of building with materials such as glass and steel now dominate the skyline, whereas these kinds of buildings bring in much needed light and heat in countries where a good sunny day is a cause to celebrate.
I remember studying in London in the 70’s and a week when my mother called in to see how I was doing, I would always ask if the sun had come out in Bombay that day to which I was always admonished to wasting hard earned money on a trunk call! After not seeing the sun for six months in London, the first day we saw it, saw all of us in a park bunking our college only to find our professors doing the same! Technology in the practice of architecture on the drawing boards is still very limited. We are old fashioned at KGA, where drawing, even if it is on the laptop, is still the preferred option.
Uttarayan Art Center in JaspurIt is easy to forget tradition and ape the more industrial nations.
The need of any hour is change, but in India, change is slow, and I believe changing at a rate which is yet to get admiring. It is easy to forget tradition and opt for change and ape the more industrial nations but what we stand to lose is far greater. Today, there is still a connect with the outside and the community within – we don’t want to produce an architecture where we shut our doors, become insular, arrogant and live in a world of make believe.
I am sure that new technologies and building systems will slowly overtake tradition, and as I look out of my top floor office in Baroda I see high-rise buildings dominate the skyline while I overlook low-rise traditional buildings immediately below.
And I hope that those who are trying to build our future cities retain the qualities that have made India so special even in the landscape of today.
