Indian architect and writer engaged in the intersection between spaces, ecologies and communities.
Cities are complex ecologies of intersecting natural systems and urban infrastructure. Environmental degradation has brought attention to the asymbiotic relationship between man-made and natural systems. A new economy is emerging where interdependence and environmental stewardship are valued. Designing for a circular economy requires consideration of human habitats not as towns or cities, but as bioregions.
Professionals in the AEC industry are well aware of the issues that grapple the built environment. That the construction industry is the largest consumer of materials and is responsible for 40% of all carbon emissions is a commonplace fact. Construction work is also a large waste generator and could greatly benefit from circular design principles. Almost three-quarters of all construction projects tend to be over budget, and nearly half of the spending on buildings goes into the overheads. In a fast-paced world with multi-faceted challenges, technology, and digitization seek to deliver significant solutions.
Contemporary Indian design culture can aptly be described with one word - fusion. A close look at the trends in fashion, cinema, music, and art soon reveals the country’s aspirations as a globalized nation. Reveling in a new era, India’s art and design appear as a combination of influences from traditional life and the Western world. A “neo-Indian” image informs multiple forms of cultural expression, including architecture and interior design. As Indians and Indian architecture carve the country's place in the world, a new design trend flourishes - one that is driven by modern lifestyles, international influences, a colonial past, and a desire to stay connected to its roots.
Rising over global cities, the modern skyscraper has long been a symbol of economic growth and environmental decline. For years, they have been reviled by environmentalists for being uncontrolled energy consumers. Malaysian architect Kenneth Yeang acknowledged the skyscraper as a necessity in modern cities and adopted a pragmatic approach to greening the otherwise unsustainable building typology. Yeang’s bioclimatic skyscrapers blend the economics of space with sustainability and improved living standards.
Residential architecture in India is a direct reflection of the ethnic practices and lifestyles led by its diverse citizens. The earliest houses were developed as units of larger community-centric settlements. The architecture of Indian residences is deeply enmeshed with cultural values - usually centering on the ideas of family and community relationships. A single home often shelters a large joint family and meets the needs of various age groups under one roof. Multigenerational living demands a unique spatial syntax to foster connections.
Yasmeen Lari’s Pakistani Chulah - an outdoor stove used by women in South Asia- is a powerful intervention that highlights the architect's commitment to feminist and environmental activism. The project synchronically tackles issues of deforestation, pollution, and health hazards faced by women in rural areas. Her design is systemic, locally specific, and conscious of the needs of society’s most vulnerable - women and nature. Her vast body of humanitarian work elaborated on in Yasmeen Lari: Architecture for the Future, opens up a dialogue for viewing architecture through an eco-feminist lens.
Dramatic societal transformations- such as pandemics and technological advancements - call for dramatic shifts in lifestyles. Architects keep up by exploring and proposing new models of housing, each iteration catering to society’s latest needs. The co-living model is one such example that has become a roaring success over the past few decades. Redefining the way people live, co-living seeks to provide a form of cost-effective social housing. Although widely targeted at younger generations, the co-living industry is evolving to cater to various niche groups.
“How to give your home: Dark Academia vibes” reads the title of a popular YouTube video targeted at homeowners fascinated by the aesthetics relating to liberal education and the arts. A subculture born in the age of social media, Dark Academia is one of many internet aesthetics that have gained prevalence in the last decade. Image-based platforms like Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok have amplified internet aesthetics, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media allows users to support and create their own trends that rapidly amass a following. Today, the creation of aesthetic trends lies in the hands of the general public and will dictate the way interior design trends develop.
The Law of Polarity holds good in relation to human society and cultures as well - everything has an opposite. Countercultures have erupted as condemnations of “the ways of the world”. A countercultural movement expresses the ethos and aspirations of a population during a specific time. As new lifestyles are explored, supporting architecture evolves to satiate the utopian ideals of new societies. Architecture is a product of the culture it is designed for.
The significance of daylight in volumes of space exceeds its function of illumination. Light is a creative tool manipulated by architects to infuse a space with a metaphysical spirit, influencing the emotional states of its occupants. Having a phenomenological effect on the human psyche, light and shadow have been played with to invoke a sense of divinity and spirituality into the character of religious buildings. The interplay between architecture and light is a powerful one, shaping a deeper experience of spirituality.
When streets lay empty, sidewalks untouched, and shutters hung heavy, the city seems lost of life. When businesses close, offices go remote and economic activity declines, the mechanisms that operate a city are idle. Vacant space and land are often perceived as “failed”, reflecting urban decline and economic blight. Emptiness, however, holds hope for possibilities and change. When urban voids are at the brink of transformation, what happens in the meanwhile?
Walking through the streets of Mumbai, India, is an experience unmatched anywhere else. The energy of India’s largest and most populous city is palpable through the people, their activities, and most importantly, the built environment. The city’s dynamic culture is evidently expressed through the structures that dot its landscape.
Mumbai is an eclectic mix of buildings large and small, old and new, and traditional and modern. The city of contrasts boasts an architectural legacy that goes back over 2000 years. Located in the state of Maharashtra along the west coast of India, Mumbai hosts a variety of architectural styles such as Victorian, Gothic, Art Deco, Indo-Saracenic, Modern and Post-modern. The city is characterized by its old charm and liveliness, a diverse stage for people to pursue their dreams.
A heavily cited fact within the architecture industry is that the built environment accounts for 40% of global carbon emissions. The concerning statistic puts immense responsibility on construction professionals. The idea of sustainability in architecture urgently emerged as a way of bandaging environmental damage. A wide range of sustainability practices aims no higher than making buildings “less bad”, serving as inadequate measures for current and future architecture. The problem with sustainable architecture is that it stops with ‘sustaining’.
In order to maintain the current state of the environment, the architecture community has been working towards greener means of production. Conventionally, a green building employs active or passive features as a tool for reduction and conservation. Most sustainable designs view buildings as a vessel of their own rather than integrated parts of their ecosystem. With the planet’s current needs, this approach is not enough. It is not enough to sustain the natural environment, but also restore its processes.
Archaeological endeavors aimed at exploring the civilizations of the past have revealed a commonality across the world. A form of architecture developed independently on every continent. Evidence shows that Neolithic communities used fertile soils and alluvial clay to construct humble abodes, creating humankind’s first durable and solid building material. Earth architecture was born at a very early age in human history. The techniques soon suffered a gradual decline as lifestyles changed, cities grew, and industrialized materials flourished. Does earth architecture have a place in the 21st-century world?
When one steps into a Starbucks, they almost instantly know they are in the famed coffeehouse, and not at a McDonald's. Apart from the uniformed staff and a giant sign at the door, there are countless other factors that make a Starbucks look like a Starbucks. Textures, materials, shapes, colors, layouts, furniture, and lighting all contribute to the experience of being in a branded environment. These elements are replicated globally to create an identifiable image. As economic patterns change, brands are looking at extending their identities into spatial experiences in order to better engage with their customers in their daily lives.
“I am not an architect,” he says with a sparkle in his eyes, “I am merely a person seeking out their destiny.” To the late pioneer of Indian modernism, Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, architecture was a practice of self-discovery. The veteran’s stellar works of poetic functionality resulted from a humanist philosophy bearing the influence of modernist principles, Mahatma Gandhi, and Indian spiritual texts. Doshi believed that architecture was synonymous with life - a vehicle for constant celebration; a medium for heightened experiences. His greatest contribution to the architecture community was his powerful words of wisdom that echo the timelessness of his structures.
The threat of climate change is looming before us. Sea level rise concerns over 410 million people at risk of losing their livelihoods. Coastal cities are choked with high-rise buildings and traffic-laden roads, consuming land insufficiently. Synthesizing these problems, architects across the world have proposed a potential answer - floating cities. A future of living on water seems like a radical shift from how people live, work, and play. Vernacular precedents prove otherwise, offering inspiration for what our cities could morph into. As world leaders discuss courses of action to tackle climate change at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, ArchDaily dives into the concept of radical water-based settlements.
Architecture has the power to emotionally engage with its occupants. Tactfully crafted spatial moments extend architecture into experience design - a growing need in the experience economy. Through sensorial and intellectual stimulation, spaces can deeply connect with their occupants to result in memorable instances. The orchestration of an experience requires not only an understanding of spatial principles but also how the service of the space is designed.
