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Kolkata-based architect Gita Balakrishnan has embarked upon a 1,700-km walk from Kolkata to New Delhi on Sunday to spread awareness on how good design can play a substantial role in changing lives. Doing 30-35km per day, she plans to reach Delhi in two months on April 16. — The Times of India
The walk aims to shed light on the role the architecture and design industry plays in society and the issues it seeks to address. The initiative was conceptualized by the Ethos Foundation, which Balakrishnan founded in 2002 as a means to connect students and professionals in the AEC industry, in... View full entry
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has included hefty spending on infrastructure projects in its annual budget, looking to spur growth and improve its popularity just ahead of key state elections. The budget also includes a proposed 30% tax on income from cryptocurrencies. — ABC News
India also introduced a new digital rupee (after previously attempting a ban on cryptocurrencies) and plans to declare data centers and large energy storage systems as infrastructure in an effort to increase access to institutional funding. Hopes are that the investment in building projects will... View full entry
Renowned Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi has been announced as the recipient of the Royal Gold Medal 2022 by the RIBA, one of the highest architectural honors in the world. By receiving the award, Doshi joins past winners including Sir David Adjaye (2021), Grafton Architects (2020), and Sir... View full entry
MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design has announced a forthcoming new exhibition that will examine the way in which the modern architecture of former colonial enterprises helped shape the post-independence era of self-determination politics in latter South Asia. Woman carrying cement at... View full entry
OMA has announced that construction has begun on the Prestige Liberty Towers mixed-use complex in Mumbai, the firm’s first project in India. The development is situated in the historic textile mills area of Mahalaxmi in the heart of Mumbai. The complex is another contribution to the... View full entry
The RIBA Charles Jencks Award has been given to architects and firms who have made "a major contribution to both the theory and practice of architecture." This prestigious award has been presented to Débora Mesa and Antón García-Abril of Ensamble Studio (2019), Herzog & de Meuron (2015)... View full entry
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is rebuilding part of New Delhi, but the mammoth undertaking is drawing fire [...]
The massive project — which local media have estimated could cost about 200 billion rupees ($2.7 billion) — has grown more controversial as India’s coronavirus cases have exploded. On social media, some questioned the need for spending on new government structures at a time when the nation is dealing with severe fallouts from the pandemic.
— Bloomberg CityLab
As India struggles to contain a new devastating wave of Covid-19 outbreaks throughout the country, opposition is further growing to Prime Minister Modi's controversial redesign plan of the historic Central Vista in the capital Delhi which will include a new parliament building and several... View full entry
India’s supreme court has given approval for a new parliament building that critics have called an “expensive vanity project” for the prime minister, Narendra Modi. [...]
Since the project was announced, it has faced criticism from civil society groups, environmentalists and politicians about its lack of transparency and public consultation and high cost in a time of economic crisis.
— The Guardian
The $3 billion parliament plan, a pet project of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reshape the country's capital, was officially launched last December with the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone but immediately halted again by India's Supreme Court due to legal challenges over... View full entry
The board of governors (BoG) for Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad has decided to withdraw an expression of interest (EOI) that was put out by the management last month inviting architects and designers to propose plans for demolishing dormitories in the campus built by American architect Louis Kahn and replacing them with new structures. — The Times of India
The school reversed its decision to demolish and replace 14 of the 18 dormitories built by Louis Kahn between 1962 until his death in 1974 following international outrage over the proposal. A change.org petition to save Kahn’s aging IIM Ahmedabad structures has already attracted more than... View full entry
Despite widespread opposition, the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has begun a £2bn overhaul of Delhi's grand complex of government buildings in a bid to sever the nation from its colonial past.
At a ceremony held last week, Modi laid the foundation stone for a new building to replace Parliament House, designed by English architects Edward Lutyens and Herbert Baker, which upon its completion in 1927 became the seat of power for British-ruled India.
— The Art Newspaper
The ambitious plan by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to overhaul the sprawling complex of historic, colonial-era government buildings in Delhi is off to a rocky start: despite ceremonially laying the foundation stone for a new parliament building on December 10, further spending on the... View full entry
Here again were bare untiled floors and the constant presence of wind and earth. There was a stillness, a permanent air of afternoon and an interior that was magically cooler and airier than the exterior it felt so much at peace with. The site sloped downward, so the house had been set on many levels. — T Magazine
A profile of Bijoy Jain and the work of Studio Mumbai, wherein we learn Bijoy is a fan of Masanobu Fukuoka and the idea of subtraction. View full entry
The government has decided to move towards achieving 100-percent electrification of railways, as part of efforts to curb carbon footprints, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.
The railways minister also said he has a mission that in next 10 years, Indian Railways will be running on renewable energy.
— The Economic Times
Announcing the plan, India's Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, "We will be the world's first large railway...nearly [75,000 miles] of track, which will be 100-percent electrified. Imagine how much carbon we will reduce from the entire atmosphere." We are aiming to make Indian Railways world's... View full entry
Kala Academy, Goa’s cultural centre, which was designed by the renowned architect Charles Correa in the late 1970s, is threatened with demolition by the State Government in the near future. It is an exceedingly important building, not just among Correa’s international repertoire, but also in the State of Goa. — change.org
A petition has been started to save Goa, India's Kala Academy. It has served as a true cultural hub for its local community, being "the only government-run arts institution in the country with separate faculties for both Western and Indian classical music, and also offers courses in theatre and... View full entry
In India's sixth-largest city, lines for water snake around city blocks, restaurants are turning away customers and a man was killed in a brawl over water. Chennai, with a population of almost 10 million, is nearly out of water.
In much of India, municipal water, drawn from reservoirs or groundwater, typically runs for only a couple of hours each day. That's the norm year-round. The affluent fill tanks on their roofs; the poor fill jerrycans and buckets.
— NPR
Chennai, the Indian metropolis with a population estimated to be larger than New York City, is facing a grim water shortage, and residents hope that officials can come up with short- and long-term measures to prevent "Day Zero" — just like Cape Town famously did during its severe water crisis... View full entry
Many may remember playing with cardboard boxes as children. The material is widely common and found almost everywhere. However, it is rarely seen in a contemporary design setting. Now imagine having coffee in a fully functioning cafe built almost entirely out of cardboard. Thanks to Mumbai-based... View full entry
