New Delhi, Feb 24 Travelling around the world, it often occurred to architect Dikshu C. Kukreja that the transformations taking place in India were unmatched in their scale and diversity. On the flip side, however, while good architecture was being produced in India, the end result presented a different picture and this needed to be corrected.
"It often crossed my mind when I would travel around the world comparing the kind of transformations that are taking place in India and particularly its cities to that in international cities, that this process really needs a sense of documentation because the scale and diversity of the transformation here is unmatched to anywhere in the world," Kukreja told in an interview.
When he looked back at his firm's design works and its association with the country's landscape through the last fifty years, he "felt it would be worthwhile to look at the panorama of Indian architecture through the lens of CPKA's works. We have tried to bring the story of these developments and the pioneering manifestation with the changing dynamics on the built environment to the fore through this compendium," Kukreja said of "Five Decades of India's Built Environment" (Roli Books) co-authored by his wife, Arunima Kukreja.
"Over the years," he said, "it was felt that while there was good architecture being produced in India, the end result at handover time lent a different picture. Our firm felt that architects, unlike the West, did not have a commanding position of leading an entire design team. Buildings are not only the result of an architect's creation but also an amalgamation of many engineering disciplines that come together to form a fully functioning and livable edifice."
Therefore, C.P. Kukreja Architects (CPKA), established by his father in 1969 after it won a competition to design the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), "created a multi-disciplinary office, a first of its kind in the country, where we brought on-board professionals with a multitude of in-house expertise such as master planning, structural engineering, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP), heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC), project management, costing and estimation etc".
"The firm went on to do many other significant projects in the late 70s and early 80s when India was on a growth-path of creating townships for public sector companies such as KRIBHCO, IFFCO, GAIL, Powergrid etc. With the major thrust post economic liberalisation of the country in the 1990s, there was a surge in design and development of multi-national companies," added Kukreja, who had been studying in the US and Europe and returned to India to join the practice in the late 1990s, added.
At the turn of the century, Kukreja said, the firm "began pushing, with even greater force, the concept of integrating sustainability and technology through architecture which is an effort that is needed today more than ever. Our projects through the years have been reflections of this ideology of a futuristic aesthetic where the structures are responsive to their environment. At the same time, the designs are also curated to address the present-day issues, bringing with it a sense of responsibility".
Among the firm's major projects have been the Rumtek Monastery in New Delhi (1990), built for the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa; Gautam Buddha University in Greater Noida (2015); Vallabh Bhawan Secretariat in Bhopal (2018); and the India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai (that was shifted to 2021-22 because of the pandemic).
Kukreja's next step, along with his wife, has been the "Deciphering Designs with Dikshu" series in collaboration with a TV news channel.
"I have always felt that design is something which is more closely engaged with society than we are able to perceive. Sadly, design in modern times has been classified into silos and strangely enough, rather than coming together as one experiential journey, it gets bifurcated into different fields. Even in the built environment one distinguishes between architectural design, structural engineering, landscape design, interior design etc," he explained.
For him, design "has always been an all-encompassing and integrated experience" and having expanded the boundaries beyond just architecture, "the idea for the series was to engage with society and bring about the realization that design is an all-pervasive entity that surrounds us all around our life - from the bed we sleep on, to the cup of tea we pick up, to the streets we walk in, the transport that takes us from our workplace to restaurants and our home, is all connected with the single thread of design," he added.
"We should cherish this beautiful and creative journey that has a significant impact on our moods, well-being and life," Kukreja concluded.
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