Architects
Looking Westward for Design Talent?
Over the last decade, India has undergone change like no other period in its 60+ years of Independence. Besides the lifestyle changes, the transformation of the physical realm is going ahead at a shocking pace. Metros as becoming megalopolii and small mofussil towns are now competing for the title of regional hubs. Infrastructure has not [...]
Architectural Licensing in India: Time to upgrade ?
Architects are licensed professionals. They pass out from accredited schools and colleges and after due paperwork are licensed to practise by the Council of Architecture, India. This is a government agency set up by an Act of Parliament. In that respect, the new move by the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority raises a few issues. Architects, [...]
Kanvinde: Function With Feeling
Achyut Kanvinde passed away in 2002. He was in his time one of the giants of Indian architecture. As the principal architect of CISR he designed a vast body of institutional work over the decades. Kanvinde studies under Walter Gropius at Harvard in the Functionalist style of design. Himanshu Burte writes an interesting overview of [...]
Developers to Benefit from Foreign University Influx
One thing that differs vastly between Indian and American educational institutions is the infrastructure. Most American universities are huge campuses with dozens of academic, sports, facilities and housing buildings. In India however, this is usually not the case barring a few institutions. Hence the news that foreign educational institutions are coming to India, means that [...]
Mario Botta in India
Swiss architect Mario Botta needs no introduction. His work around the world speaks volumes of the master architect. And his projects in India for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are a continuation of his excellence in the field. Mario Botta: Swiss architect who designed TCS offices By Ishani Duttagupta & Neha Dewan, ET Bureau For well-known [...]
The Enigma of Hafeez Contractor
Amongst all professionals, no one gets his peers as riled up as does Architect Hafeez Contractor. And the reasons are many. Be it is “chutzpah” early in his career to go where no architect wanted to go in terms of fees. Be it his complete mastery and hence exploitation of the archaic Building Bye-Laws. And [...]
Kings of Xeroxia
It is no secret that a lot of contemporary architecture in India is a recycled pastiche of western historical styles. Many feel that its a result of the Western colonization of India that ended only 60+ years ago. And brought about the strong undercurrent of Western influences. Shruti Ravindran at Outlook India writes a very [...]
Balkrishna Doshi Rues Lack of Ideas
Poverty of ideas and a lack of social commitment in many of India’s contemporary architects could leave us with no skyline we can call our own two decades from now, fears visionary architect-planner Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi. “What will happen to our cities after 20 years? We have no public realm, no urban development, no museums, [...]
Bureaucracy and other spanners in India’s works
By DAVID LASCELLES / Business Day THE world has become so accustomed to labelling India as one of the world’s great engines of growth — alongside China — that it comes as a bit of a shock to discover that the reality is a little less dazzling. Concrete and chaos are the best words to [...]
Council of Architecture India under investigation
Termites In The Woodwork The government has accused top officers at the COA, India’s apex architectural body, of criminal misconduct. BRIJESH PANDEY tracks the issues as the CBI investigates IN A move that could change the face of the study and practice of architecture in India, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) has recommended [...]
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