Ar. Rishi Dev Rishi Dev Architects

A culture is a way of life, which is technically defined by many tangible and intangible traits. Intangibles are non-material items like values, beliefs, norms, language and ideas, that are creations of human interactions. Human interactions are no longer limited to local context but have become globalized. The tangible components of any culture include materials and items such as architecture, arts, food, apparel et al.

So, just as cultures grow and can never stop evolving by the process of acculturation and forming sub cultures, would it be right to fixate on 'Indian-ness' that has never remained the same? In fact, our culture is constantly changing. We never realize how quickly we change as we fear for ourselves in terms of architectural vocabulary or anything that we once admired. With rising global culture, it is foolhardy to stick to what was once Indian. It is not anymore. Yet culture never disappears, it merely adapts, to survive. But our ambidextrous approach to be at times xenocentric or ethnocentric takes us towards cultural relativism. So, our approach towards architectural and planning practices cannot continue to focus on saving the past.

Indian is neither the glorious past nor the brilliant present - the role of culture and planning in development and growth of human settlements has been mutually exclusive

Counter cultures have already evolved and demand our attention on what was the DNA and ethos of Indian culture, which were always focused on ecology and nature, and derived from cosmic principles. Be it religion, arts, language, architecture or any other realm of life, the Indian way of life was more liberal and evolving than we have branded it to be. In secular architecture, the focus and origin were first principles of existence. Be it Vaastu Shastra, Shilpa Shastra or any other, the future was what we innovated all the time. And even today, neither is old India our future, nor are the present eclectic practices, our future.

The current building materials and technology do not justify the current context and sustainability. Neither is holding on to the oriental mindset right nor is holding on to the half-baked, borrowed technologies and materials right. Innovation is needed for the mess that we have created globally. Instead of 'producing', we need to 'consume and reuse' what we have produced in abundance.

So, new materials would emerge out of wastes for the next two decades. The true Indian is sustainable - holistically. Even in architecture, if this Indianness is adapted at the core conception, it would lead to automatic innovations in all aspects like climate control, ventilation, carbon footprints, landscaping, etc. An Indian architect needs to search his/her roots and forget what the age-old and the so-called contemporary have to say.