Cities
Missed Chances and Government Bureaucracy: Louis Kahn and Gandhinagar
Government intervention and babudom are nothing new to India. It has thrived for generations and continues to do so even today. Soon after Independance there was a massive movement to bring the country on par with the Westernised world. New cities and towns was part of that scheme and Nehru, India’s first prime minister took [...]
My Building Tallest
The late 90’s and the first decade of the 21st century can be rightly called the glory years of the Skyscraper Race. Countries tried to outdo each other in claiming the tallest skyscraper status. Before this boom, the Sears Towers in Chicago, USA held the claim for nearly 3 decades. All that went for a [...]
The Mumbai CBD Exodus
The following news article about the impending exodus of finance powerhouses from Nariman Point, the CBD of Mumbai; is not surprising. Infact, some would wonder why it took so long. Since the 90’s we have had proclamations from politicians wanting to make Mumbai the next Shanghai, Singapore or Dubai; depending on the flavor of the [...]
McKinsey and Company on India’s Urbanization
McKinsey & Company recently came up with a comprehensive report titled “India’s Urban Awakening: Building inclusive cities, sustaining economic growth”. The executive summary of the report is below. The entire report in PDF format can be read here. India’s urban awakening: Building inclusive cities, sustaining economic growth India has a young and rapidly growing [...]
India’s Urban Awakening
Warren Karlenzig at Green Flow makes some very valid points for India cities as they grow both in number and size. Some of the comparisons with China are pretty interesting, especially the one about planned phases of growth in national cities. Making the Cities of India More Sustainable Article by Warren Karlenzig at Green Flow [...]
High-End Housing Booming Again
The world economic slump did not affect India as severely as it did other nations. And hence India is quicker on the upswing as things begin to move positive. Real estate is one marker on the state of the economy. And in the case of Mumbai it looks like the already inflated market is going [...]
Is Chandigarh a model city?
I’ve followed Himanshu Burte’s writing for a while and had the opportunity to meet and talk to him in 2009 at the Indian Architecture conference at the New School in NYC. He poses a very valid question about Chandigarh, India’s first planned city in the Modern era. As an architect I have always been enamoured [...]
India’s Vertical Quest
VERTICAL LIMITS WHAT STOPS INDIA FROM TESTING HIGHER GROUNDS? By Preeti Parashar / Indian Express As the world’s tallest building, the 828-metreBurj Khalifa, alters the skyline of Dubai, other nations look on to join the race of tallest skyscrapers! Countries across the globe have been modifying their policies for developers and engineers to innovate and [...]
Entrepreneurship in Public Infrastructure
It is no surprise that India has a booming communication infrastructure when it comes to mobile phones. The early problems of under-capacity all seem to have vanished and thousands jump on the mobile bandwagon everyday. However, the exact opposite happens with physical infrastructure, especially intra city transportation. Traffic in most cities is nightmarish and it [...]
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 [...]
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