In the 1990s, the glass-and-steel tower transformed the skyline. But how have our cities fared in the age of soaring ambition?
Farmlands were appropriated, green landscapes turned grey and blue, with towering steel-and-glass high rises. In the late Eighties, the Hiranandani Group built a township in Powai, which was until then a picnic spot, and DLF turned Gurgaon into a city. “When I first visited Gurgaon, there were fields as far as your eyes could see. At the turn of the century, when the DLF Gateway Tower was built, we put a beacon on the top. The building became a gateway to the entire township,” says Contractor.
....
The image of a city and its meaning was transformed as well. Till then, the city was built and shaped by the activity of many individuals, all of whom were involved in its daily life and politics. In the 1990s, it began to be built by a few large players, and a standardisation set in.
One couldn’t tell one millennium city from the other. “The idea of a city changed from a square yard to a square foot of FSI (floor space index). Homes and offices were now bought and built based on FSI, as opposed to ground references. For instance, when Lutyens planned Delhi, he drew the city keeping in mind other references such as Jama Masjid or Purana Quila. His designs were rooted to the land. FSI, which is a derived product, cut that cord with the ground,” says Bhalla.
The turn of the century also saw the entry of foreign architects. Indian architects were now competing with Singapore and Hong Kong. It caught the attention of the private builder. In a week, from buying a plot to putting out an ad on Sunday, the turn-around speed was incredible. What Indian architects turned down their noses at, was a great opportunity for architects in Singapore. “It was a factory-like environment, where without any detailing or sensitivity to climate and terrain, they would convert everything into a tropical paradise by Friday evening. The builder could claim it was a Singaporean design, and the Indian buyer would book his house by Monday morning. There was no longer any engagement between architect and land. For the first time, you were buying a house; it was a product off the shelf. The commodification of architecture had begun,” says Delhi-based Sanjay Prakash, of SHiFt Architects.
The texture of cities began to change. If the small cooperative housing societies of the ’70s and ’80s saw a relaxed diversity, high-rise private residences of the ’90s were witness to aggressive posturing.
....