Pseudo Modern Architecture- Aping the west

'The following is inspired by the speeches given by Mr. Tapan Mozumdar, Project director, ITC  and Architect and urban designer Kavitha Selvaraj,Director, CRN Architects, Bangalore at World of Facades annual conference at ITC Gardenia Bengaluru.'

To many people it might feel boring to be in a place for long. Recently, people have been asking me about continuing my job. Career wise I think one should experience being in a place for long, unless it becomes meaningless. Because when things start getting exciting for you, like you get your own business card, some perks, people start recognizing you ,you know you belong there.

Every firsts become your favourite and you reminisce it for the rest of your life. This was my first invitation to a conference. I have been to conferences in 5 stars before on behalf of my bosses, but this one was special. It had 'To Ar. Antara Basu  ' written on it. Experiences become  even more memorable when you get answers to questions you have been seeking  for too long now. An inevitable question which arises every time most of us see a building is why so much glass? India is a Tropical country and we know glass absorb heat. So how does providing so much glass and exposed facades give any solution to our enormous energy consumption? Undoubtedly, buildings in India are just becoming more and more global.

Brilliantly explained by Mr. Tapan Mozumdar he started on a very relaxing note taking our mind off the technical discussions and presentations going on. He  showed us two images of girls on the streets, something like this-

He asked us if we can guess which country these pictures belong to. Looking at the attire we guessed very promptly totally unaware of where it was heading to. The next slide he showed us was something like this-

Again without a doubt we could guess what is indian and what is not. The last image is what was the conclusion

Nobody could guess where the building belonged to, unless they have witnessed themselves. The first image was a building in Bangalore. Now the question is if clothes and food depend so much on the climate of a country shouldn't the same apply to  buildings? He then gave examples of two projects of ITC group in Bangalore and Guntur and how location, climate, culture had affected its architecture.

A FACADE is a foreign loan word from the French façade, which means "frontage" or "face". So, in terms of a building, is a facade only as much important as a mere face of a building or is it an envelope which is responsible for what it covers/envelopes or protects? Particularly in India, where does  the problem lie? Why are we aping the west?Remarkably answered by Architect and urban designer Kavitha Selvaraj- She says 'until and unless we Indians are comfortable with our origin or root, things might not change. The day we realise the strength in our local materials and building style India will have its own architectural style.'

True enough.
We architects proud of having only our say in a building's design are mostly driven by the clients. That is the Ugly Truth. The client gets a picture of a building in California and wants his building to look something like that. This is the mindset -A building or a design should be global in order  to be known and become State of the art. Slowly all buildings have started looking the same ,sometimes even clones. It's all glass, massive energy consuming high rises, although with a great face, it is hollow on the inside. But, growing global aren't we compromising too much? We had our own style. Where did it all got lost? India was known for its architecture and distinguishing style. It was known for its talented builders. So much that it still is part of the seven wonders of the world. Then how do we still don't have a single architect who is globally recognized or a Pritzker  winner? 

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Till then, till the time we become comfortable of our roots, till we appreciate the resources we have,  who we are and where we belong to, all we need is a little inspiration. Inspiration to take a small step towards a better country and living surrounding. As architects, build sustainable and green, providing better living standards to the people.`