Calling them the “missionaries of Indian architecture”, Ar. Apurva Bose Dutta– in her first book as an author, Architectural Voices of India: A Blend of Contemporary and Traditional Ethos – brings together 17 celebrated architects from the Indian fraternity, conversing on their tryst with architecture, the state of the profession in India and overseas, and the evolution of the Architecture and Building industry.
Architects from different cities, different design ideologies, different specializations and different age groups form the core of this book that articulates their observations, beliefs, sentiments, perspectives and vision. From the dynamic Sanjay Puri to the sustainability experts Nimish Patel and Parul Zaveri, from the traditional Raj Rewal to the activist Karan Grover, from the compassionate Brinda Somaya to the vocal Christopher Benninger, from the spiritual Kamal Malik to the maverick Hafeez Contractor, from the legendary B.V. Doshi to the modernists duo Manit and Sonali Rastogi – it is interesting to witness how the views of one vary from the other’s, but how their goal in architecture remains the same, and how they work towards building a framework in which architecture should position itself.
Featuring a large collection of their projects’ images, important architectural drawings, and their sketches, the book includes two additional sections in each chapter – penned by the featured architects themselves – which shed light on their personal spaces as well as on a path-breaking project of theirs. The book talks about architecture being an integral part of building a nation, and has takeaways for all genres of readers, including those from the architecture and building industry, the students’ community, and the common man.
Published by UK-based Cambridge Scholars Publishing, the foreword of the book has been written by Dr. Vikramāditya Prakāsh, Professor of Architecture, University of Washington, Seattle, who bestows upon it the distinction of ‘belonging to that rare species known in academic circles as “Oral History” – a faithful recording of a conversation, meant to document the living voice of a person’ and lauds it for ‘offer[ing] an insight into something of an alternative universe, i.e. world of words and ideas’.
Architectural Voices of India will be presented and released on the 6th of September at Sir J.J. School of Architecture’s as part of the Alumni Association event and Smart Cities Seminar. It can currently be purchased from the website of the publishers, who are running an exclusive marketing campaign for the month of September (starting 9 am U.K. timings) where the book will be available at a 50% discount. Copies of the book can also be ordered by writing to Sara Books. The book will also be available on Amazon India soon.
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