INDIA needs a lifestyle and architecture diet. We need to hold back. We are surrounded by excess everywhere—our population is exploding, there is an overabundance of visual mélange, things are over-designed and overused, extra focus is on the excess, while the affluence is ostentatious, simultaneously there is over-consumption of our spaces. To add to this, we have a habit of obsessively hoarding possessions and are indeed crumbling under all that clutter.
As contemporary Indian architects, we could attempt to deliberate design spaces as a breather for the dwellers, a visual oasis for the city. This minimal architecture approach gives maximum power to the spatial quality of space making. It rejects decoration and promotes rationalized decision-making, making architecture long-lasting and versatile. And therefore, it is hard to do.
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