From the freckled hills to the steel and glass canyons;From the stony fields, to hanging steel from the sky;From digging in our pockets for reasons, and to say goodbye;
When did we stop making buildings that inspired sighs? Why is it that every modern building you see is eerily similar to a hundred, a thousand others that surround it? When I first read The Fountainhead I was impressed by its architectural argument in favour of minimalism as opposed to baroque, Gothic revelry. But these days, I can’t help but miss buildings with character. The kind you find in South Bombay, you know. The kind that tourists line up outside, the kind photographers get shutter-happy with. Buildings that seem to be works of art, rather than science. Not just the mansions, mind you, but even the little chawls and tenements, with their arched doorways and latticed windows. Balconies, for crying out loud. Where the hell did they disappear?
I appreciate that space is a luxury in Bombay and I’m sure designing and creating beautiful architecture is an expensive affair. But if the end product is a landscape filled with buildings that seem to have no visible trace of personality, each a product of the one-size-fits-all school of thought, then I guess we’re in for a sad, ugly time.
I know! Whatever happened to red brick houses!
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on the topic of beautiful buildings … that is one of the reasons I am in love with the city of San Francisco .. a 7milex7mile span of pure genius .. the constructions all so beutiful and all so different …you are struck with awe evry single time.
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we dont have the time to think abt such things coz we r too busy imitating the west.we’d rather build giant glass skyscrapers which reflect maximum natural light and totally rely on ACs fr temperature control.indian architecture… whts tht ??
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Colonialism stopped whatever progress Indian architecture could have made. (Btw, are the most famous buildings in South Bombay based on Indian architecture?) That is why the only Indian architecture-inspired buildings that can be built won’t go much beyond say 6-10 floors. And THAT is a sacrilege in today’s day and age, right? Building 6-10 floors when you can build 32-50? Wow… why would anyone do that??? Would anyone, anyone, build a Taj Mahal today for their wife? Or wouldn’t they rather gift her a Residence Antilla?
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There’s a bigger question here. I don’t know what though.
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