There is a popular saying that walls have ears. If that is true, perhaps they also have a soul. That is why every old house feels as though it is…
Architecture does not fail only due to poor design; sometimes, even with the best design possible, architecture fails its users because it assumes everyone in a city experiences it the…
From the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt to the Kailasa Temple in Ellora, history has long borne testimony to the wonders of mankind’s potential, to the heights (both literal and…
There’s a very common perception that slum inhabitants who have been shifted to high-rise buildings under policies and yojanas rent out their pucca houses and move back to the slum.…
On a weekday morning in Dharavi, one of South Asia’s largest informal settlements, a narrow lane barely three metres wide carries the weight of an entire economy. Handcart vendors, schoolchildren,…
Even if not directly, many people are aware of Le Corbusier’s works and their influence on society. If you have heard of–or better yet, walked through–the city of Chandigarh, then…
The decline of the courtyard is often attributed to the rise of modern technologies, but was it the technology itself that rendered the courtyard obsolete or the broader conditions that…
Walk into an old courtyard house just after the rain. The walls breathe quietly, the floors remain cool beneath bare feet, and the air carries the earthy fragrance of lime…
Pritzker Award, the highest award an architect can receive. It is awarded to “starchitects” whose architecture screams for attention and grants a place in stardom. These glamorous buildings are often…
Urbanism has made city life faster through metros and expressways without necessarily making it easier. In fast-growing cities, residents often face fatigue, social isolation, and environmental detachment as planners prioritize…
The trillium flower is nature’s quiet masterpiece—three petals, three sepals, three leaves, all are balanced in perfect symmetry. It does not scream for attention; it waits, sometimes decades, teaching patience…
City planning and urban spaces have always been a crucial part of the toolkit used by the carriers of politics. Planners are greatly influenced by the laws and regulations laid…