In India’s long and sustained architectural history and journey in the 21st century, we see a modern take on architectural construction. Traditional Indian architectural values today, are waging a losing war amidst the frenzied planning of smart cities.
Like many of my peers, my architectural journey began in awe of Louis Kahn’ IIM Ahmedabad and Corbusier’s Chandigarh city. But my chaste eyes only caught the clean lines, clean geometry. Those were the foundations of modern architecture, and being modern was the fad!
In the early years of my practice as an architect, my design process evolved to comprehend the context better. While my years in London allowed for exploration, my time at Morphogenesis opened the world of practicality to me. As I was evolving, I started exploring the world of sustainability. Sustainability that is not about the green rating systems and sustainability certifications, but sustainability with respect to context, especially in the traditional Indian manner of building. This made me aware of the gaping hole that is present between context and designing in India’s architecture.
When I finally took the decision of setting up my own practice, I decided to stay true to my roots, and build it on the foundation of tradition.
As designers, we feel that traditional craft has been lost in India. Indian artisans are recognized across the world, yet contemporary Indian design does not recognize and appreciate the Indian craft. With intent to convention and modernity, mold design studio was conceived.
I choose to honor the time-tested building techniques to create structures that respect the context, adapting them to our advantage. Exploring the traditional with contemporary techniques to create prototypes that will help achieve sustainability as a core inherent value. As time goes by, my approach design intends to be more sensitive and within this milieu, I have, had this an urge to do something to try and fill this void and exchange ideas.
All comments and ideas would be welcome!