Sunday, July 29, 2007
A Tall Green Building in India?
One of my major cribs about the urban development in India has been the utter lack of thought given to architecture, design etc. Everything that I see going up are either cookie-cutter homes in ugly sprawls (like in Hyderabad and Bangalore) or uglier skyscrapers in Bombay and elsewhere. It almost seems like decent architecture in India stopped with the pre-independence art deco movement (Marine Drive being an excellent example). This is really a huge difference between Indian cities and the upcoming Chinese cities. The Chinese have clearly decided to invest heavily in path-breaking buildings and design and are contracting some of the world's best architects to help them along the way. That explains why Pudong has one of the most impressive skylines in the world.
So, I was surprised to come across this building on Indic View. It's called India Towers and is coming up on Marine Drive in Bombay.
Not only is it interesting architecture, but when completed, it will be, at 300 mts, the tallest green building in the world. Of course, I was wondering immediately how they got around FSI regulations and the like, but I am guessing some of the green practices (water recycling, in particular) may actually help? As Indic View points out, this building is clearly aimed at the super-rich, but at least it's a start and they're thinking down the right line. Here's hoping for more thought in urban planning, architecture etc even as India grows at break-neck speed.
So, I was surprised to come across this building on Indic View. It's called India Towers and is coming up on Marine Drive in Bombay.
Not only is it interesting architecture, but when completed, it will be, at 300 mts, the tallest green building in the world. Of course, I was wondering immediately how they got around FSI regulations and the like, but I am guessing some of the green practices (water recycling, in particular) may actually help? As Indic View points out, this building is clearly aimed at the super-rich, but at least it's a start and they're thinking down the right line. Here's hoping for more thought in urban planning, architecture etc even as India grows at break-neck speed.
