The Open Ideas National Competition 2025 – Season V on Improving Livability of Small Houses organised by Habitat Forum (INHAF) in partnership with Sustainability Initiatives (SI), seeks proposals for improving the liveability of small low-cost housing.
Open Ideas National Competition 2024 by Habitat Forum (INHAF) and Sustainability Initiatives
This article delves into how Shilpa Architects and Ela Green Consultants in Chennai are pioneering sustainable architecture. By implementing integrated design approaches, using LEED ratings, and adopting an Indo-centric sustainability model, their work showcases a blueprint for eco-friendly building practices.
Luxury hospitality and sustainability are often seen as opposing concepts. But Suryagarh and Narendra Bhawan oppose this dichotomy. Deepika Srivastava explores this dynamic in a conversation with Ayush and Geetanjali Kasliwal, and Manvendra Singh Shekhawat.
The Open Ideas National Competition 2024 – Season IV on Improving Livability of Small Houses organised by Habitat Forum (INHAF) in partnership with Sustainability Initiatives (SI), seeks proposals for improving the liveability of small low-cost housing.
Future Trajectories | Dialogues is a series dedicated to the people behind Promising Young Architectural Practices identified in Future Trajectories and Future Trajectories 2.0. In this interview, Lonavala-based Studio ANHAD reminisces its ethos, approach and journey.
Book review by Ar. Himanshu Burte Ann Thorpe’s ‘The Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability: Charting the Conceptual Landscape Through Economy, Ecology and Culture’ attempts a difficult
Vivek Rawal argues that architecture—as a profession—is structurally aligned with political and economic power rather than social justice. He critiques how architectural education and practice prioritise developers and real estate over communities, turning housing into a market commodity. Even movements like sustainability and participation, he says, often become tools for elite consumption rather than genuine empowerment. True moral reform, according to Rawal, would mean architects relinquishing control and enabling community-led design and housing decisions.
In his presentation at the CEPT Alumni Meet, in January 2026, Kirtee Shah offers “something to think about” for the architects and planners regarding the future of architecture profession. He urges architects to relearn and refocus on service, sustainability, and inclusivity while addressing urban chaos, poor housing, rural neglect, and climate challenges.
Winners announced for Open Ideas National Competition 2025, for improving the liveability of small low-cost housing.
H. Masud Taj elucidates how, as a young architecture student, he dropped out of his institution to travel and learn from monuments, discovering in Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia a turtle column that catalyzed an inquiry, hearing Hassan Fathy’s explication of the turtle in Cairo, ultimately crystallizing in Taj’s poetic meditation on dwelling.
Harshad Bhatia examines contrasting architectural desires—urban nostalgia for vernacular forms versus rural aspiration toward concrete modernity. He critiques sustainability rhetoric and Smart City initiatives as quantitative exercises divorced from qualitative human needs, advocating instead for indigenous wisdom and stakeholder engagement.
Ravindra Punde, architect and academician, calls for a fundamental reimagining of architecture education in India, arguing it must shift from colonial pedagogies to address climate change, social inequality, and ethical responsibility through ecology-centred, community-engaged, and culturally diverse learning.
Jinan K.B., author of ‘Awakening Beauty’ is seeking sponsors to fund printing and launch this movement for a book where he argues that beauty is a biological, non-computational intelligence—the core of human cognition. Through the book, Jinan invites you to reclaim this lived wisdom.
Intekhab Alam, in his article about SKICC, or Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre, Srinagar, designed by Joseph Stein, explores how the structure harmonises the Kashmiri landscape and modern heritage, symbolising resilience, cultural exchange, and the urgent need for sensitive restoration.
Stories that provoke enquiry into built environment
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