Akar Trophy for Architectural Journalism,

ATAJ-10
Do All things Urban Have To Be Ugly too?

Proposition to the NASA 2010 / 2011 theme.

REQUIEM FORTHE FORGOTTEN.

Amidst a sea of million faces, rise faceless blades of concrete scraping their way up to the sky ,
agitated highways throbbing with traffic, infinite shades of gray that explode from the earth as a
weather phenomenon. Watching buildings that look like products of extravagant imagination one
may look around, out of curiosity, hoping to find the debris of the crashed time machine that flew
him into this vision of the future. A satori takes him by surprise when he finds out he is in the
present. Little does he know that between the ceaseless quest for sky space and gluttony that is
slowly swallowing the green of the earth a peculiar thrust has developed, like that of an eddying
current, that has hopelessly elbowed to obscurity the functionality of the five human senses. He
sees the earth tirelessly sprouting storeys after storeys, he smells diesel exhaust, he tastes
modernity and success, he hears the battle cry for space through the deafening traffic, he
touches only the sheen of glass. He stands today as an evolved species with withered senses
moving with the flow of urbanization ignoring the cry of a city that groans under the pressure of
millions of people.

He stands today insensitive and ugly.

“All great cities are schizophrenic”, said Victor Hugo. The cities today suffer from a multiple
personality disorder: traditional city co-existing with a modern, cosmopolitan one. Jostling for
space is a city within a city housing a smorgasbord of villages and towns. Next to every
settlement of the rich is a sprawling slum. The dense fabric festers on the belief that the poor
need to live close to the rich and growth reduces poverty. Buried under the wreck of this current
condition-one of urban economic catastrophe, is a city, the site for the modernist enterprise, the
most visible expression of the cultural upheaval in all its destructive and creative glory. This
postmodern globalised present, with its multiplexes and mobile phone chatter, buries brutally a
city with a living, breathing character, a shimmery prism refracting the light and lives of its
inhabitants. We are now a predominantly urban species, with over 50% of humanity living in a
city. A kind that appreciates the rigid, alienated, soul-destroying labyrinth of frosted glass as
against green cities, mixed-use centers, walkable neighborhoods and a lively street life.

We plunge into an age where architecture is no longer a connective tissue that binds the
people, but disenfranchised flashy shapes that brag about the flexibility of the latest material in
the market. The fragmentation of the “form follows function” theory, where Form leaps forward
to pronounce its existence in a blow-out press coverage and Function takes a backseat. The
world sees the beginning of an era that portrays the heroic quality of the architect, not in
understanding his social responsibility to create sensitive architecture and confirming end user
satisfaction, but in glorifying the monumental aspect of his building, to define a town’s image of
sophistication and mature urbanity. By aligning itself as an aesthetic discipline -appearance not
space; of image not use; of icon over agenda; and of authority over community, the downward
spiral formed hinders the establishment of a local architectural tradition or style that will endow
their city with a visual uniqueness and the product that stands tall in front of us is the
representation of mass experimentation and a massive change, in one word, ugly.

In a world constantly in flux, the city is like a powerful ocean, restlessly attempting to dislodge
the barnacle of identity, populated by blank-faces, yearning after a utopian city of towers
contrasting with the wood-clad reality of FL Wright homes. Urban areas today defy the
traditional notions of what a city is. Our old definitions of urban, suburban, and rural fail to
capture the complexity of these vast regions with their superhighways, subdivisions, industrial
areas, office parks, and resort areas pushing far out into the countryside. Some call it sprawl
and assert that it is economically inefficient, socially inequitable, environmentally irresponsible,
and aesthetically ugly. For some it is a logical consequence of economic growth and the
democratization of society, with benefits that urban planners have failed to recognize.
But what lies in between is the truth. The large chaotic sprawl of the industrializing world such
as the “maximum cities” have infrastructures that are layered and ad-hoc which suck the
economic energy out of struggling inner urban areas, drain city services such as police and fire,
and saddle the city with ever-widening concentric circles of gray fields and blight. If people really
are walking architecture then why don’t city planners and elected officials show little
engagement with the problem? In our country, a heavy responsibility lies on the rich- much
more than the responsibility which devolves on the government. But sadly enough, the rich in
India with some distinguished exceptions, by and large remain unconcerned with these matters,
while the rich elsewhere, even while they are engaged in the business of making more money,
are also zealous protectors of traditions and heritage. They have yet to realize the good-will they
can earn by investing, now and then, in the public good, the environs, the aesthetics, the
precious architectural heritage, the fresh air.

The spirit which inhabits the gleaming edifices, overarching grid, broad arcades and rational
towers is proving to be inhuman, hostile; it belongs to an exhausting, cruel and constantly
accelerating machine whose conveyor belt drifts humanity to its end with every passing second.

Deep down, everyone desires relief and it all comes down to that one individual who has the
supreme authority to make a difference and revive the forgotten. The architect, with his renewed
approaches to urban living needs a plan that proposes the creation of an “ecotopian” mega city.
He advocates a vision of modern renewal that seeks to remedy a wrecked conscience: to
portray a fine balance between traditionalism and contemporary exotism that talk more of inner
content than glossy wrappings, function and climate related forms than superimposed
architectural gimmicks.

Will fate deliver coup de grace to the cities ebbing with architects that compete for attention both
on the skyline and in the media and will fate revive value based architecture?
If yes, we will have less architects working as foot soldiers to major development consortiums
who are only interested in offshore profit and more who create human-based design.
If yes, we will have architects treating public buildings as more than a box.
If yes, we have less to worry about.
If yes, urbanism will be less ugly.

In the near future, the historically unique epoch of growth that began with industrialization 200
years ago may come to an end. In particular, climate change, dwindling fossil sources of
energy, demographic aging, and rationalization in the service industry will lead to new forms of
urban shrinking and a marked increase in the number of shrinking cities. That urban decline can
be halted and even reversed by practical suggestions for local planners, officials, and citizens
as they work to create an environment in which both cities and suburbs thrive.

Despite the speed bumps on the road to the future city that is understandably tinged with
nostalgia and pervaded in a measure by sadness and a kind of panic over the disappearance of
some of the ethics, we could move towards a ground breaking movement of pulling the trigger
and reducing the speed of urbanization. We could move in the direction of resource
preservation that puts urban development on a sustainable path, as well as makes it more
efficient and equitable for consumer and steer towards a "Zero waste, carbon neutral, car free"
environment that makes a city beautiful in its true sense.
In its immense complexity and constant change, the city-whether dense and concentrated at its
core, looser and more sprawling in suburbia, or in the vast tracts of exurban penumbra that
extend dozens, even hundreds, of miles-is the grandest and most marvelous work of mankind. It
is up to us to save it from crisis of energy consumption, environmental degradation, aesthetic
and culture dilution, because what we leave behind now can drive social justice in the future.
The city is a battlesuit for surviving the future.

Great cultures are remembered by remnants of their cities and this is why architects are relied
on: to preserve what we are proud of, to deliver more than just a building, to deliver more than
just colossal shapes.

To deliver a colossal change.

SHRUTI RASTOGI

9 SEMESTER.

ARCHITECTURE

BMSCE.