7 deadly sins of India Design and Architecture

In a hard-hitting article on Indian design and architecture, Meilssa Bell raises some very valid points.

Indian design has always been one of excess but these days, it seems to take its cues from a French brothel, rather than a maharaja’s palace. Mirrors, jewels, sequins and crystals bedeck every possible surface. India has never been known for a minimalist approach to aesthetics, nor need it be. But the glitz, added to a lot of furniture, just seems to be unsubstantial ornamentation that masks inexpensive hardware and sacrifices functionality, rather than a thought-out design element. India, like most of the design world, wants to move away from the Dutch- and Japanese-influenced minimalism that has dominated the scene for so many years. But designers here seem to be going berserk with the new-found freedom to embellish. Bling is back, but not in a good way. [via Urban Architecture India]

I havent been to Gurgaon in recent times, but from all the imagery I have seen, it could give a run to Las Vegas for all the wrong reasons.

Already malls in India are facing a slowdown in sales and customers. The crossroads mall next to my house in Tardeo was Mumbai’s  first mall in the western conventional sense. There would be lines just to get in. And now its fallen on hard times and is shut down.

Even the fancy Atria Mall has more people in the food court than in the shops. Same is the case with the dime a dozen malls in the suburbs.

I think we architects need to start figuring out a good re-use typology for old malls. Thats where the work will be in the coming years 🙂

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