In recent years, India has emerged as a focal point for architects and urban designers from around the world. From the rich legacy of masters and emerging firms to smart city initiates being established across the peninsula, the acts of decolonization in architecture design to the evolution of a modernized vernacular, India has been demonstrating the power of supporting good architecture and urban design. This year, ArchDaily launched ArchDaily Building for Billions, a column that discusses the effects of population rise, urbanization, and economic growth on India’s built environment. Building for Billions was fueled by the recognition of changes and innovative projects washing over the country.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of the 21st century, cities have emerged as models of innovation in terms of sustainable development goals. Cities creatively address pressing urban challenges, including density, transportation, housing, and resilience. They hold the potential to pioneer a comprehensive climate agenda, serving as laboratories for sustainable initiatives, cross-sectoral innovations and community-oriented strategies. Cities act as catalysts for revolutions, implementing impactful solutions that can be applied worldwide.
Ho Chi Minh City Innovation District / Sasaki. Image Courtesy of Sasaki
As technology and infrastructure rapidly evolve, a new buzzword finds itself in conversations across industries - innovation. The word is more relevant in light of future-facing challenges such as climate change, inequality, and economic crises. As a result of a surging interest in these concepts, innovation hubs have emerged across the world, aiming to foster creative and collaborative economies to spark quick change. What are innovation districts and how do they influence the built environment?
The average person spends approximately 90,000 hours, equivalent to one-third of a lifetime, at work. The workplace can be a second home to adults, and spending multiple hours has fueled a longstanding desire for change within the workplace. Over the decades, various factors, including pandemics, economic crises, and changing generational preferences, have impacted the nature of work and the places people work in. The recent phenomena of the Great Resignation and the widespread adoption of remote and hybrid work arrangements have accelerated the transformation of workplaces. In response, organizations are increasingly prioritizing the overall employee experience, recognizing the need to create environments that accommodate evolving work structures while fostering satisfaction, engagement, and well-being among their workforce.
Like most countries, India faces a perpetual housing crisis. As the world’s most populous nation, with an urban population expected to grow from 410 million in 2014 to 814 million by 2050, this becomes a pressing concern. The Indian built landscape brings further complexities in the form of a pervasive market-driven approach and the need for socially relevant housing. Looking into the future, how will India address the needs of its growing population to house the next million urbanites?
Moving away from top-down approaches, contemporary practices embrace more inclusive and participatory models and design processes. Participatory planning, a notion that prioritizes involving the entire community in the decision-making process, has earned widespread recognition and popularity globally. Cities across the world have interpreted participatory planning to fit their unique needs, using technology and government resources to expedite and enhance the process.
The terms resiliency and sustainability, although similar in meaning, refer to different design approaches in the context of architecture and cities. Sustainability involves the preservation of natural resources to uphold ecological equilibrium, while resiliency entails the ability to rebound, adapt, and persist in moments of adversity. These concepts greatly influence and complement each other, especially in cases of designing disaster-resilient buildings. Conventional design processes relating to resilient infrastructure have been based on principles of structural robustness and integrity as a measure against anticipated natural disasters. However, sustainable resiliency points at the opportunity of reinforcing buildings by embedding them in biological and ecological systems.
How do we create buildings that use energy efficiently? Traditionally, efforts to green the built environment have centered on the physical infrastructure, often overlooking the relationships between people and space. The emergence of the technological era has ushered in "Smart Buildings." that employ machine learning and automation. These innovative structures are designed to operate with impressive energy efficiency, however, they are largely disconnected from their occupants. What if buildings could be made smarter and more sustainable by engaging with their occupants?
With large populations come formidable challenges, particularly in the realm of health and hygiene. In the last century, upholding sanitary conditions in urban areas has remained a persistent challenge, particularly in a nation that houses over 1.5 billion people. India grapples with a myriad of issues- inadequate infrastructure for sanitation, lack of public toilets, and poor waste management practices. In densely populated cities, the struggle intensifies as sanitation and cleanliness management falters. India's rapid urbanization has outpaced the development of sanitation infrastructure and cleanliness issues have deeply entrenched in the nation's built environment.
The architecture and construction industry has undergone a transformation with the integration of various digital tools, now indispensable to the design process. The welcoming of technologies has effectively streamlined operations, enhanced efficiency, and elevated design quality. This digital shift, however, has resulted in a digital divide that goes beyond accessibility to tools and software. It also encompasses the crucial aspect of integrating traditional and indigenous communities into the urban development landscape. Can advancing technology support the growth of vernacular architecture? Can indigenous building practices find a place in the vision for a digitalized future?
Center for Computing and Data Sciences, Boston University / KPMB Architects + Suffolk. Image Courtesy of KPMB Architects
Decarbonization of the building sector is no longer a choice but a necessity. As nations strive to curb their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, it is increasingly clear that current building standards do not go far enough to drive tangible change. Achieving climate goals requires economies to advocate measures that drive carbon neutrality while managing associated costs effectively. How would net-zero performance strategies impact building costs?
For the Indian subcontinent, the mid-1900s marked a transformative period, brimming with turmoil and hope. Leaving a century of British rule, India and the newly formed countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh held onto an optimistic vision of a transformed society. The newfound independence invited the international Modernist movement to envision a fresh identity for the nations. Spearheading the movement in Bangladesh was the architect Muzharul Islam whose work continues to influence contemporary Bangladeshi architecture.
The announcement of the establishment of a new university campus is one of celebration, marking economic opportunities and urban growth. The United States is home to over 700 college towns that have witnessed prosperity through the inauguration of educational institutions like the University of Colorado’s Boulder, and Chapel Hill, home to the University of North Carolina. With this development, gentrification has unfortunately become a contentious issue in college towns across the country. While the transformation of these towns brings economic expansion and cultural vibrancy, it often comes at the cost of displacing long-time residents, erasing historic character, and altering the essence of these towns. American college towns offer a unique perspective on how cities can strike a balance between progress and preservation.
The Farmhouse / Studio Precht. Image Courtesy of Precht
Wood, an age-old building material, has left its mark on the history of architecture. Structures like townhouses and ancient cathedrals have seen usage and innovation with wood as a primary material. As technology evolves and urban landscapes grow skyward, wood has emerged as a strong contender to steel and concrete in the area of skyscraper design. Recent advances in engineering, materials science, and construction techniques have welcomed a new era of experimentation, enabling the construction of timber skyscrapers across the world. Timber skyscrapers signify a departure from traditional construction methods, seamlessly blending aesthetics, functionality, and ecological consciousness. Wood as a material, with its inherent strength and impressive fire resistance, presents hope to an industry in pursuit of a more sustainable future.
India hosts a multitude of museums, art galleries, public libraries, theaters, and heritage centers. Nevertheless, many of these structures remain abandoned and fossilized like the artifacts they intend to present and protect. The development of cultural infrastructure in India has historically been a government endeavor, often resulting in a state of stagnation. The past two decades have seen a noticeable shift in the country’s cultural landscape. Increased interest from private institutions has paved the way for plenty of cultural projects to be initiated, usually in partnership with city authorities. These contemporary projects aim to celebrate the richness of India’s historical and contemporary culture, becoming prize destinations for the rising middle class.
Amidst the current wave of architectural globalization, the art of crafting designs attuned to specific contexts is fading. This concern is especially significant in countries in crisis, such as Ukraine, where the built environment's history is being eroded by war. In these conditions, the contribution of local architects with an innate grasp of the country's cultural nuances becomes imperative. Leading the charge in the rebuilding of Ukraine is prototype, a pioneering practice that challenges architectural conventions to push the country towards a promising future.
Recognizing their forward-looking vision, ArchDaily has featured prototype as part of the 2023 New Practices, a global annual survey. prototype's outlook on the future of architecture aligns with responsible design that addresses the environmental impact of construction and marries contextual and specific considerations for each project. Their recent accomplishments include the bookstore Readellion, and Ukrainian-Danish Youth House, epitomizing prototype's recurring design principles of mobility, adaptability, dynamic levels, and change of scenarios.
From the grid plans of ancient Greek cities to the Renaissance's idealized urban layouts, the history of urban planning is a reflection of evolving power structures and societal priorities. Across the world, many African and Asian cities simultaneously existed without clear visual manifestation. the organizational structure being deeply embedded in cultural needs and social relations. Urban development is marked by a dichotomy - the contrast between top-down planning strategies led by influential entities and governing bodies, and the bottom-up initiatives driven by local communities. This interplay shapes cities, influencing aspects from infrastructure and public spaces to housing models and urban character. Delving into the differences between these strategies is essential to crafting a harmonious urban landscape that caters to the needs of its residents.
In the world of retail, competition is fierce. Brands find themselves in pursuit of distinguishing their presence and developing intimate connections with their customers. Amidst the array of products they offer, thoughtful brands recognize the value of curating immersive retail environments that empathize with the core of consumers' sentiments and desires. In retail design, color stands as a powerful instrument that affords brands the means to articulate their values, evoke emotions, and carve memorable shopping experiences into the minds of their patrons. Color transforms retail centers into more than spaces for transactions - it positions strategic interior design as a marketing tool to attract and retain customers.
