Dissertation: Economics & Architecture

Acknowledgement
I would like to, first and foremost, thank my guide Mr. Rajiv Bhakat, for his constant support
and invaluable guidance throughout this process of research writing. I am deeply grateful to Dr.
Morenas, Dr. Manchanda, Prof. Sugga and Prof. Kumar for their helpful advice and regular
feedback. Without the guidance of my professors, writing this paper would have been
impossible.
I would like to thank my family and friends for their keen insight into my topic and for
constantly encouraging me. Lastly, I would like to thank the reader for perusing through my
work. I hope this document is of help to you.
Shivani Raina
4h September 2014
Cover Image | Source: GETTY (The Telegraph), modified by author

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Abstract
Trends in architecture are not arbitrary, but a reflection of the society that architecture provides
for. The sociological background of a given context is deeply affected by the relevant politics
and economics that have shaped society. This dissertation is an attempt at understanding how the
trends we see in modern Indian architecture came into beingwith a specific focus on the
changes that the economic policy reforms of 1991 brought about in the social fabric of our
country. The liberalization of the Indian economy introduced a foreign market to the Indian
environment, which then began the process of globalization and corporatization of Indian
architecture. Increased economic mobility and exposure to international ideas and lifestyle that
the new economic policy granted the common man in India, changed his aspirations and hence
changed what he now demanded from the Indian market. On the other hand, Indian soil became
ripe for harvest by Multi National Companies that then landed here, invited by cheap labor,
ample investment opportunities and a willingness of the local governments to change land use
patterns for the sake of such development (Roy 2013). Architecture, as a result, became easy to
conceptualize and construct (Mehrotra 2011). Vivid graphics on massive billboards promising
gated communities and international lifestyles (Kalyan 2011) sprouted up in newly developed
cities such as Gurgaon, tailor made for NRIs and foreign investment. The nation, as it were,
became deeply engrossed in constructing an India that wasnt quite India, or at least the promise
of it. (Kalyan 2011) The economic reforms of 1991 hence seem to have created the socio-cultural
background that birthed the current trends in architecture in modern India.
Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction________________________________________________________04
1.1 Research Proposal
1.2 Key Terms
1.3 Aims, Scope, Objectives and Limitations
1.4 Research Methodology
2. Indian Economic Policy, 1991__________________________________________09

2.1 General Background
2.2 Introduction to the Economic Reforms of 1991
2.3 Socio-Cultural Change Post 1991
2.4 Entry of the MNCs
2.5 Land Use Patterns Since 1991
3. Research Design and Methodology_____________________________________16

3.1 Interviews
3.2 Case Studies
4. Results and Findings_________________________________________________36

4.1 Change in Land Use Patterns Since 1991
4.2 Change In Real Estate Market Trends In NCR After the Introduction of MNCs
4.3 Comparison Of Existing Theories On Indian Architectural Trends
4.4 The Effect of the Indian Global Identity on Architectural Demand
5. Conclusion_________________________________________________________44
5.1 Summary
5.2 Detailed Inference
6. Bibliography_______________________________________________________48
7. Appendix A: Survey ________________________________________________ 49
8. Plagiarism Check___________________________________________________ 53

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How did the 1991 economic reforms in India affect the trends in Indian architecture that
followed?

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Chapter 01 | Introduction
1.1 Research Proposal
This dissertation studies the correlation between changing architectural trends and changing
Indiain terms of economic policy.
The paper studies patterns previously observed, and then deduces an overall scheme of change in
architectural practice as evinced by todays world by comparing and contrasting the same. To
limit and focus the paper, the study focuses on the changes that have taken place in the authors
place of residencethe National Capital Region of India. This paper deals with the economic
and cultural scenario that the 1991 economic policy createdand its impact on architecture.
Major cultural movements are not defined instantaneously, but identified over timeas put
forward by Robert Adam in The Globalisation of Modern Architecture:
It is a common observation that the broad patterns of historic change are only
clearly observed by looking back. The effects and outcome of even the most
dramatic historic events often do not manifest themselves for some time. Our
perception of current change is hampered by the fact that, while all aspects of
society are linked, all historical events and ideological shifts do not occur in an
identical time frame (Adam 2012, p. 17).
Hence, studying the present day architectural movement we find ourselves in, requires an
understanding of the historical basis of the forces that created the current socio-economic and
cultural scenariothat is, an understanding of the creation of current trends. The paper briefly
studies the factors that led to the Balance of Payments crisis of 1991 (Kalyan 2011), and the
economic background of the policies that were adopted starting 1985.
The focus, however, of the paper is understanding the trends that were birthed after the
liberalization, globalization and privatization of the Indian economy. A key area of study will be

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the effect of globalization on architecture. The lifestyle created as a result of these economic
changes, and the corresponding changes in consumption patterns (with respect to architecture)
will be closely scrutinized, from the point of view of both the subjects and the creators of this
consumerist attitude. This paper hence delves into the realm of the corporatization of architecture
seen in India post 1991.
The document so produced hopes to be of importance in not only trend analysis for the future,
but also in shedding light on the nitty-gritties of what dictates how the built city looks (beyond
the power of the architect). This dissertation is an attempt at understanding the professional
world architects work in today, and how economic policy and professionals outside the field of
design and architecture dictate it.
To create change, one must understand change and with this dissertation the author hopes to
understand the depth of architectural revolution and the key players involved in the same.
1.2 Key Terms
Trend: A trend in this context has been identified as a general direction of change: a way of
behaving, proceeding, etc. that is developing and becoming more common: something that is
currently popular or fashionable. (Merriam-Webster).
Movement: A cultural movement is a change in the way a number of different disciplines

approach their work. This embodies all art forms, the sciences, and philosophies. (Merriam-
Webster)
The focus of this dissertation is on architectural trends that by definition last over a smaller
period of time and are applicable to a smaller cross-section of fields of study, as compared to
cultural movements. The terms may not be used interchangeably in the context of this research
paper.
Economic Reforms 91: From the works of Kalyan (2011), Lang (2002), Friedman (2005),
Nangia (2006) etc., this paper identifies one key event in Indian history that made an impact on

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Indian cultural identity and the corresponding architectural movementsnamely, the Indian
economic reforms introduced 1991 onwards. This paper discusses trends in Indian architecture
within the context of this event.
The policies under consideration are the ones that were put into effect by Dr. Manmohan Singh
(under PV Narasimha Raos government) starting 1991 (not the reforms initiated 1985 onwards).
1.3 Aims, Scope, Objectives and Limitations
Aims:
To identify the relationship between the economic reforms introduced in 1991 and the
changes in typology of construction and the changes in architectural demand that followed in the
National Capital Region.
To identify the effect the phenomenon of consumerism (piracy of information) has had
on the consumption of architecture in New Delhi (in terms of new services provided and the
typology of major construction)
Objectives:
Study the economic reforms introduced by P.V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh in
1991 and the Land Acquisition Act (1991). Focus on why the reforms were formulated and
executed in this fashion.
Study the effect the entry of the MNCs had on the Indian built environment in terms of
the demands they made and the response they were met with. Study the role developers such as
Delhi Land and Finance, Ansals etc. played in this exchange and analyze the urban development
of Gurgaon by private parties. Study change in land use patterns through various master plans of
Gurgaon.
Study the effect the piracy (/easy availability and proliferation) of information has had on
the public perception of architecture and the lifestyle of the masses, and hence analyze the effect
this pirate culture (Sundaram 2010, Mehrotra 2011) has had on creating popular demand.

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Scope:
The area of study of the paper has been limited to studying the economic reforms
introduced in 1991 in India. Further, the focus of the paper is on the NCR region (chiefly Delhi
and Gurgaon), since it is most accessible to the author.
Limitations:
Given the time period available to conduct this research, the patterns the author arrives at
are only conjectural without the vantage point that the passing of time offers.
Given the nature of the topic of study, insight from professionals involved in the various
fields studied is fundamental for understanding the inner working of architectural firms, and
developers involved. Hence a select number of professionals from these fields have been
interviewed. The limited number might have an impact on the generalizations (if any) made by
the author in the paper.
Since the NCR region is the area the author is most familiar with in India, and has easy
access toother metropolitan cities will not be studied in much detail and hence the pattern
arrived at are specific to the NCR region and may not necessarily be valid for other Indian cities.
Within the NCR region, the focus of this study is on New Delhi and Gurgaon, since the author
has been the resident of both these places.
1.4 Research Methodology
The research conducted is of an exploratory nature, i.e. this study is rooted in examining existing
theories related to trends in architecture post 1991 in NCR (National Capital Region). Once a
definitive understanding of the pre-existing theories on the same was reached, the author
identified a criterion for the analysis of modern day trends in architecture and then proceeded to
apply this criterion to the conclusions drawn on the trends evinced since 1991 in NCR.
The research methodology thus adopted has two major components, namely: (i) an in depth
understanding of associated literature and (ii) personal contact with people either involved in the
production of architecture or the consumption of the same.

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In pursuit of the former an extensive survey on literature pertaining to the following was
conducted:
(a.) Economic policy in India since 1991: how and why these economic reforms were formulated
and criticism for the same.
(b.) The relationship between globalization, consumerism and architecture.
(c.) An overview of popular stylistic trends in Indian architecture since 1991 in the NCR region.
(d.) Government documents detailing land use pattern (masterplans for Gurgaon), and literature
analyzing the same.
(e.) The nature of corporations and how they operate.
The latter half of this research was partly achieved by interviewing professionals/theoreticians
well versed in the study of current architectural trend analysis and in the socio-cultural impact of
the economic reforms introduced in India post 1991. The author conducted a major perception-
based study (survey)administering questionnaires on a carefully identified group of people
(professionals above the age of 25). This was done in order to understand consumption patterns
in the real world beyond just postulated theories, and hence served as a primary case study for
this topic. The following people were interviewed for this research:
(i) Economists (to better understand the economic reforms introduced in India post 1991)
(Professor Tanaji Chakraborty)
(ii) Urban Planners, architects and sociologists (to understand change in land use pattern in NCR
since 1991, and the impact of globalization on consumption patterns in architecture) (Prof.
Suptendu Biswas, Ar. Rajiv Bhakat, and Ar. Anuj Mehta )
(iii) Real-Estate firm (to get a closer look at how land is acquired and projects built). An
employee from CBRE (CB Richard Ellis) was interviewed for this purpose (Mr. Rajesh Sharma).
This two fold approach to critically understanding the topic, has led to the formulation of an
overall pattern developed to specifically address changing trends in Indian architecture.

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Chapter 02 | Indian Economic Policy, 1991
1.1 General Background
Buildings and urban patterns also have a fourth dimensiontime. The
expected sequential organization of the built environment is very much
culture bound and it changes over time as a culture changes. The second
aspect is that the built environment, at any moment, is a compilation of
the change made in it overtime. It is seldom static; it changes as human
needs and perceptions of the good life changeas people's aspirations
change.
(Post independence Delhi: in search of an identity n.d.)
The twentieth century saw the collapse of imperialism around the world at the end of two world
wars and a revision of the mode of governance and economic policy in India. We shifted from
being a colony to becoming a democracy in 1947, and in 1991 the Indian government dissolved
the existing trade barriers and opened up the Indian economy to foreign direct investment
(Ahluwalia 1993, Kalyan 2011).
Such major political and economic change inevitably creates ripples in the existing cultural
identity of its subjects. In this scenario, architecture emerges as a tangible medium between
abstract shift in power and policy, and the common man.
It has been stated that:

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Architects and urban designers are commissioned by commercial and
political clients who have no choice but to respond to these economic and
social conditions. Although they are significant participants in cultural and
artistic developments, architects and urban designers are first and foremost
service industries and minor players in the broad sweep of social and
political developments...It must be clear that any assessment of architecture
and urban design would be inadequate without a full account of how wider
changes in society have driven them (Adam 2012, p. 2).
Hence to truly understand the process of change in the architectural worldof what constructs
movements, it is of paramount importance that the corresponding political and economic
scenario be closely inspected. Conducting such a study with respect to what has passed is
relatively easier due to the improved cognizance the distance of time allows. However,
understanding the current scenario is trickier due to the phenomenon of cultural lag (Ogburn
1922, cited in Adam 2012). This theory suggests that there exists a time lag between the changes
in the tangible and the intangiblei.e., socio-political changes take time to express themselves in
the physical, material and hence recordable realm.
The French historian Fernand Braudel stated that the past and present mingle inextricably
together and that historical time can be divided into the following categories: longue dure (long
duration), moyenne dure (medium duration) and evnments (events). Events, even though
ephemeral in nature, leave their imprint on cultural historywhich in turn is a key component a
larger cultural movement, created at a glacial pace (Adam 2012).
Hence, even though we, as a society, witness dramatic events on a frequent basisthe larger
framework of the movement they constitute is understood only with the passage of time. As
architects, this process becomes even slower since the most fundamental unit of changethe
creation of a single building, requires at an average five years for completion from construction
to occupation (Adam 2012). Hence the binding framework, the larger picture is created and can

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be studied only after a considerable amount of time has passed.
In the case of India, within the scope of this study, the importance of the changing economic and
political scenario 20th century onwards is illustrated in the following examples:
Bombays housing type in early twentieth century clearly indicates that the
development of this type had nothing to do with the geography of Mumbai, but
actually was the function of the new economic community of Babus. Similarly
the cases of institutions in colonial and independent India inform us on the
changing role of the state and the power redistribution amongst the citizens rather
than the specific geographic locations where the institutions are built (Gupte,
Mehrotra & Shetty 2009).
Most architectural activity between 1947 and the 60s was government funded and revolved
around capital building, whereas the 90s saw a shift to the construction of malls and other
services demanded by the newly empowered middleclass. (Gupte, Mehrotra & Shetty 2009,
Sundaram 2010) Why did this shift happen and what were its consequences in terms of built
expression?
One can ascertain that changing political power equations and economic policy have changed the
aspirations of the Indian society, which have further affected popular architectural style by
changing popular typology. This paper discusses the mode of consumption of architecture
popular today in the NCR region, and seeks to establish a relationship between this change and
economic policy. (Gupte, Mehrotra & Shetty 2009; Kalyan 2011; Mareedu 2012; Nair 2012).
2.2 Introduction to the Economic Reforms of 1991
Before the year 1991, the Indian markets boasted chiefly of products that were locally
manufacturedgoods from the far West were exquisite things to be brought back home by NRI
relatives, and TV channels were few in number. (Sundaram 2010) That however, is not the case
anymore. The common Indian man has access to a plethora of TV channels available in different

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languages; services such as gated communities with modern amenities are common and the desi
as well as imported products sit side by side in most grocery stores (Roy 2012).
What changed and why?
By the year 1991, India was knee-deep in a Balance of Payments (BOP) crisis, and needed to be
bailed out by the International Monetary Fund. Dr. Manmohan Singh and Narasimha Raos
government then began introducing economic reforms to cope with the situation at hand (many
of which were stipulated by the IMF in exchange for the loans given to India)these reforms are
collectively recognized as the liberalization of the Indian economy. (Agarwal & Whalley 2013)
Kalyan (2011) states that:
The government of India began liberalizing its financial sector after 1991, in
recognition of the important role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the
accelerated economic growth of the country. Throughout the 1990s the central
government eased licensing restrictions on investment and exposed previously
protected or state-owned industries to global competition and the temporalities of
capitalist accumulation.
Change in economic policy inevitably affects other aspects of society. Markets are very rarely
left to their own devices because they operate within a political framework where the
distribution of wealth is inherently political (Sibal 2010).
The economic reforms introduced operated within a framework that followed a gradualist
approach despite the pressing BOP crisis of 1991, due to the relatively healthy economic growth
(5.5%) observed in the 1980s. (Ahluwalia 1993).
In the 1980s increase in investment was almost entirely in the public sector, whereas between
1981-1990, 1991-2000 and 2001-2010, sector growth rates were significant only for services at
10% level. The devaluation of the rupee during the period of introduction of economic reforms

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increased the export of services, which was responsible for the overall sector growth. (Agarwal
& Whalley 2013)
The process of liberalization changed the governments role from being a provider to a facilitator
which further led to development that was centripetal and not centrifugal anymore. This created
a condition that was ripe for the privatisation of major social infrastructuresomething not seen
before. The privatisation of the economy brought in corporates, chiefly non-native, to the Indian
landscape. (Sundaram 2012)
2.2 Socio-Cultural Change Since 1991
This economic process of liberalisation and allowing the privatisation of social infrastructure,
created a big middle class at the cost of a big underclass not looked at and pushed off their land
by big developmental projects (Roy 2012).
The opening up of the Indian economy increased the purchasing power of the common Indian
man, and hence was created the new, credit-card fuelled middle class population. The influx of
finance capital into the Indian markets resulted in the wide availability of fictitious capital in the
form of credit. Over the last several years, millions of upwardly mobile Indians (have)
embraced debt-fuelled consumerism (Chopra, cited in Kalyan 2011).
The opening up of the Indian economy, made available in the Indian markets a wide variety of
products and services from all around the world. Such accessibility to global ideas and products
had never been known before, especially not to such a large percentage of the Indian population.
Globalisation and the resultant consumerist attitude, have reshaped the Indian identity and since
architecture is an expression of this identity (Gupte, Mehrotra & Shetty 2009; Adam 2012;
Mareedu 2012; Nair 2012), the urban landscape has changed dramatically in the past two
decades.
The evolution of technology and its introduction to the Indian context changed the media,
created new markets to respond to new demands (Palika Bazar, Nehru Place, Lajpat Rai market
etc.) and instigated a culture of piracy in India. This circulation of degraded copies of ideas and

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commodities in abundance in New Delhi shaped the temporal as well as tactile aspects of the city
(Sundaram 2010).
Bhatia (as cited in Sundaram 2010) stated the following about the city of New Delhi:
The signs of the city in which I now live are no longer related to the vastness of
imagination. They belong instead to dimension. The city of tenements
overwhelms, swallowing the past in an uncontrollable spasm, stretching its
bounds into unreclaimed countryside. Wheat fiels sprout low cost apartments;
garbage appears on yet unfinished roads; electricity and phone lines are tapped in
unofficial connections. Hotel facades rise up in finely proportioned compositions
of tiles and terracotta; in parks behind themvillage life continues; early
morning defecators line up behind bushes, smoke from suburban factories settles
on the gladioli blossoms carefully tended on the citys roundabouts. Raw sewage
snakes its way into parkland. (Bhatia 1996, cited in Sundaram 2010)
2.3 Globalisation: Identity and Infrastructure
The introduction of foreign players to the Indian markets and the subsequent induction of foreign
culture resulted in a new generation of Indians who were well travelled, exposed to the lifestyle
abroad and raised in a culture that had imbibed values from the western world. (Kalyan 2011,
Sundaram 2010). The Indian identity no longer meant what it did before 1991, it had evolved and
expanded beyond tangible India. Given the situation, architects needed to respond to changing
identity, and in the case of India: the plurality of this changing identity.
Khosla (1983) wrote the following three years before the introduction of the Indian economic
reforms, but his words still rang true years later:

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The ancient culture of the Indian sub-continent con- fuses the Indian's choice
today because there are people living in India who are still in the stone age and
also others who are making silicon semiconductor devices. Indians live
simultaneously with their beggars, their own satellites, and Indian cosmonauts. It
is as if these five thousand years were all around them. Then, India is a secular
state with tribal beliefs mixed with Hindu, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist and Sikh
faiths. So there is no single state religion, no dominant religious community, and
so the rulers cannot use the weapon of fundamentalism or religion to arrest the
crisis of faith.
Friedman (2005) captures the changing Indian identity in the following excerpt:
Columbus accidentally ran into America but thought head had discovered part of
India. I actually found India and thought many of the people I met there were
Americans. Some had actually taken American names, and others were doing
great imitations of American accents at call centres and American business
techniques at software labs. Columbus reported to his king and queen that the
world was round, and he went down in history as the man who first made this
discovery. I returned home and shared my discovery only with my wife, and only
in a whisper, Honey, I confided, I think the world is flat.
This flattening of the worldand hence India, was not only reflected in changing identity but
also in changing infrastructure, services and the related architecture. Not only did we see the
installation of gated neighborhoods, IT parks and tall glass towerswe also saw the creation of
satellite towns such as Gurgaon to respond to the aspirations of the new, global Indian. (Kalyan
2011)

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Chapter 03 | Research Design and Methodology
(Please refer to Chapter 1.4 Research Methodology to understand the structure of the research)
Trend analysis in this dissertation has been done from the point of view of architects whose
practice was changed due to the 1991 policy reforms, and from a perception point of view of the
common man. Since a major focus of the study is on the perception of architecture, surveys and
interviews were conducted to interact with a select number of people to better understand the
common viewpoint held by both professionals and non-professionals alike when it comes to
architecture in the NCR region post 1991. Due to this, the author interview architects, planners
and those involved with the study of real estate in the NCR region.
3.1 Interviews
1. Professor Tanaji Chakraborty (interview conducted and transcribed over the

telephone), economist and faculty in the School of Planning and Architecture (New Delhi).
Interviewed on 19th August 2014.
Notes:
Professor Chakraborty, faculty in School of Planning and Architecture and head of India
Property Research, is known for having mapped the real estate patterns in Connaught Place, New
Delhi in India and thus I interviewed him to better understand what happened to architecture in
India (especially New Delhi) post 1991.
(The following conversation has been paraphrased for the purpose of this dissertation)
Q. What do you have to say about the response of New Delhi, in terms of real estate firms and
their practice, to the economic reforms of 1991?
A. The response was unexpected and unanticipated. The Delhi built climate was not ready for
foreign capital. Unlike Hyderabad, whose response to the entry of multinational companies was
planned, Delhis built morphology reacted sporadically.
Q. Post the economic reforms in New Delhi, what/who has been the driving force directing most

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of the architectural activity in the capital?

A. It is definitely the MNCs (multi national companies) who came into the Indian scenario,
clearly dictated what kind of buildings they wanted and brought in the capital for their
international requirements to be met. India was ripe for foreign investmentthe coming in of
these companies was a reaction to the economic reforms introduced, and the construction that
followed was a response to the demands of these new players in the Indian economy.
Q. When we talk of modern architectural practices in New Delhi, the examples we give are of
the rampant construction prevalent in places like Gurgaon and Noida. It is the NCRthe
National Capital Region, we talk about and not strictly Delhi. What is it that drove these MNCs
to the periphery of New Delhi?
A. It is pretty simpleall major cities in India underwent urbanization before 1991. A city is
made up of old buildingsbuildings that take up space. It is primarily an issue of lack of space
to buildland is an expensive resource. A problem that was solved in Gurgaon due to an
abundance of land and easy procurement facilitated by organizations like the CBRE etc.
Q. What makes these new buildings coming up different from the ones already dotting our
landscape?
A. The DLF corporate park in Gurgaon, with an area of about 1.3 million square feet, is a great
example for understanding the international aestheticmore so the Indian developers response
to it. These buildings are built as a response to foreign capital. Initially, when this kind of
construction was still neonate, steel and glass were liberally used. This practice was altered after
a couple of year practice.
Q. Why is that?
A. What one needs to keep in mind is that it is all about the moneyabout cost figures. Since
these buildings were designed to climatically respond to the Indian context, the rampant use of
glass and steel made the buildings inefficient in terms of energy consumption (which in turn cost
a lot). So, over time (as one can observe in Gurgaon) buildings used more concrete than glass
and steel. The golf course road is a great example that evinces the timeline of MNC construction
in Gurgaon.

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2. Mr. Rajesh Sharma, CBRE
Reason for selection of subject: CBRE is an international firm that acquires space for foreign
investment in India. They have studied patterns in land acquisition and distribution since 1991 in
India and are well versed with MNCs since they directly deal with them.
Interview:
Q. Is CBRE involved in land or space acquisition?
A. Yes
Q2. Can you/CBRE give the average cost/sq. ft. for residential space, office and commercial
space in Gurgaon and Central Delhi?
A. The Central Business District (CBD) of Connaught Place has over the years experienced
a slight decline in absorption activity, which when coupled with the lack of any new addition of
investment-grade office space has led to a marginal contraction in vacancy levels. sq. ft. to about
8,000 sq. ft. in older developments, and upto 20,000 sq. ft. in recent office completions.
Absorption activity observed is dominated by corporate firms leasing space in prominent
developments such as the Imperial Building (Kasturba Gandhi Marg), Red Fort Parsvnath Tower
(BVS Marg, Connaught Place) and Birla Tower (Barakhamba Road). Gurgaon, on the other
hand, has continued to be the central node of office space leasing activity in the region, with
absorption levels rising in the third quarter. In established locations such as MG Road and
Golf Course Road, transaction sizes ranged from 2,000 sq. ft. to 20,000 sq. ft. Secondary market
activity continued to drive demand for office space at DLF Cybercity, with several large sized
SEZ transactions (above 100,000 sq. ft.) reported in the office complex. Prominent sectors
driving demand are the BFSI, e-commerce, IT, manufacturing and telecommunications, among
others. The micro-market also witness supply addition in the commercial segment during the
review period. Prominent transactions included UK Webhelp leasing around 20,000 sq. ft. at
DLF Infinity Towers, DLF Cybercity, and Honda leasing around 30,000 sq. ft. at Spaze i-Tech
Park, Sohna Road. Rental values continued to remain stable across both commercial and IT/SEZ
segments during the review period.

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Q3. Whats the comparison between cost of space/land between Gurgaon and Central Delhi?
A. Please refer to CBREs Industrial Market Overview.
Land Rental Value

Node Industrial Location Price INR/S USD/S
INR/Sqm USD/Sqm
Area F/ F/
A Udyog NH8 (Delhi-Gurgaon border) 60,000-1,50,000 1000- Mont Mont
22-45 0.37-0.75
B Vihar
Pace City NH8 (close to Delhi-Gurgaon 20,000-40,000 2500
333-666 h
15-25 h
0.25-0.42
C Narsinghpu NH8 border)
(16 Kms from Delhi-Gurgaon 30,000-50,000 500-833 20-25 0.33-0.42
D r
IMT border)
NH8 (30 Kms from Delhi-Gurgaon 16,000-30,000 266-500 10-24 0.17-0.4
E Manesar
Sohna border)
Located on SH-13, well connected to 8,000-10,000 133-166 10-15 0.17-0.25
F Dharuhera NH8 N 10,000-15,000 166-250 15-22 0.25-0.37
G Bhiwadi H
Alwar-Bhiwadi Rd 6,000-10,000 100-167 10-20 0.17-0.33
8
H Bawal NH8 (close to the Haryana-Rajasthan 6,000-10,000 100-167 15-20 0.25-0.33
I Neemrana border) Located in Rajasthan along NH8 5000-8000 83-133 10-15 0.17-0.25
1 USD = 60 INR
Land Price Rental Value

Nod Industrial Location INR/SF
INR/Sqm USD/Sq
e Area m /
Peeragarhi, Month
West Delhi (on either side of
A Kirti Nagar, 100,000- 1667- 35-50
the
Mayapuri & 250,000 4167
Ring
Naraina Rd)
Wazirpur
B North Delhi (along the Ring Rd) 100,000 1667- 30-45
Industrial
200,000 3333
A
Patparganj
r
C East Delhi (close to NH24) 100,000- 1666- 35-50
Industrial
e 200,000 3333
A
a
Sahibabad
r
D East 30,000- 500-833 20-40
Industrial
e Delhi 50,000
A
a
E Okhla Industrial
r South Delhi (Along Mathura Rd) 100,000- 1666- 30-90
Area e 250,000 4166
Mohan a Co-
F South Delhi (Along Mathura Rd) 150,000- 2500- 55-90
operative
250,000 4166
Industrial
Area
1 USD = 60 INR

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(Source: CBRE Delhi NCR Industrial Overview 2014)
Q4. Whats the average age of the building that the clients require/want for commercial or
residential space?
A. Average age of a building is 30 to 40 years. Clients typically prefer either new or well
maintained Grade A buildings. Grade A buildings typically have flexible floorplates, pressurized
staircases etc.
Q5. Do corporates rent space or do they purchase it mostly? What is the average floor plate that a
corporation requires for rent or purchase?
A. Typically corporate occupiers lease office space but increasingly corporates have started
evaluating purchase of office space.
Q6. Is there an estimate for what percentage of your clientele are MNCs?
A. The ratio of MNCs to local clientele is 80:20.
Q7. What are the steps or difficulties in space/land acquisition?
A. The problems one faces are typically issues related to ownershipeither it is unclear who the
owner is exactly, or there are multiple parties who own the space or land in question.
Q8. Has CBRE ever been given a style preference from a client?
A. Yes. Class A buildings are most sought after.
Q9. Have you ever done client profiling? Whats the user profile in Gurgaon?
A. If I understand the question correctly my response is that Gurgaon has a mix clientele from
BFSI, Audit, Consulting, healthcare, automotive to FMCG sectors.
Q11. Has CBRE ever had architectural requirements for real estate?
A. Yes but this varies from project to project.

3. Ar. Rajiv Bhakat and Ar. Anuj Mehta, Architects
Criterion For Selection: Both the above architects are principal architects of their own firms
based in the NCR and have expertise in the real estate trends prevalent in this region. While the
ideology of older architects is well documented due to the passage of time, such literature cannot
be found with respect to younger architects with newer practices. These interviews cater to
understanding the ideology of the major practicing firms in NCR.

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Ar. Rajiv Bhakat is one of the principal architects of Studio CODE and is involved in multi-
disciplinary work.
Ar. Anuj Mehta is the principal architect of Anuj Mehta and Associates, and is involved in
housing projects all over India.
Ar. Anuj Mehta:

Q1. What do you think has been the impact, if any, of the changes that followed 1991 economic
reforms (privatization of the Indian economy) on the practice of architecture in India in terms of
the ?
A. First of all with liberalization the construction and technology available changes which
affected the buildings we made. The kind of designs that were happening changes: because the
demand from the client end changed. Liberalization created socio cultural change which led to
the construction of high rise condominiums. The multi storied gated communities started coming
which changed housing, and housing is 90% of all architectural activity in our cities. This
changed architectural practice, from designing small scale houses to large scale housing projects.
We werent doing this before 1991the scale blew completely out of proportion. With
liberalization came a massive number of migrants and nuclear families. We werent designing
individual houses for individual families, but universal flat for the working class. Standardized
housing came into play.
Q2. How, in your opinion, has the introduction of the MNCs changed architecture in the NCR
region?
A. Look at what DLF didit created large commercial spaces in Gurgaon which was available
at cheaper prices than central Delhi. All the MNCs hence moved there, because they were being
given large floor plates at really cheap prices. Now, these MNCs demanded a young crowd to
work for themthink call centres. So the traditional workforce wasnt required. This new
generation of professionals created a new demand for new housing near their offices (studio
apartments, high rise residences etc.). Most importantly, the people changed. Women were
working in greater numbers. Families comprised of working couples and children that were
looked after by maids. The gated community hence came into being. Housing now become
income-based. If you were an HIG you moved to a penthouse, etc. You socially interacted only
with your own income groups. The house doesnt exist in a physical context only, it exists in a

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socio-cultural context. The coming in of the MNCs changed the Indian culture drastically.
People had more money, more purchasing power, a disposable income. More people now bought
houses because these MNCs/private banks gave out loans.
Q3. Rahul Mehrotra believes that the introduction what he calls an impatient global capital has
resulted in the proliferation of architecture that can be quickly conceptualized and constructed
and hence a prescriptive global architectural typology has become prevalent in India. He
compares these new buildings to spaceships, and rues the lack of response to the Indian context.
Do you agree?
A. I agree. These glass buildings dont belong to the Indian climate. They belong to western
countries. It doesnt make sense. In the Indian context, we install these buildings that trap heat
and then we spend lakhs of rupees on setting up DG sets to get rid of this heat. We created a
problem and then solved it. However, this was the image that the MNCs had of how offices
should lookhow buildings should look. The design was hence imported. These buildings were
simply copy-pasted to the Indian context without the necessary alterations.
Q4. There seem to be four trends architecture emerging in India, (i) global architecture (ii)
regionalist architecture focusing on local architecture (iii) architecture voicing concerns of
minority communities (NGOs) and (iv) counter-modernist architecture (Mehrotra 2011). Do you
agree? What position do you and your firm take?
A. My architecture is contextual architecture. I work in a variety of spaces, places and terrains. I

look at the physical and socio-cultural context. I would call myself a typical modernistperhaps,
a critical regionalist.
Q5. The loss of context that is seen in new architecture has been rued by many (Mehrotra,
Khosla etc.), whereas Koolhaas at the Venetian Biennale 2014 stated that In 1914, it made sense
to talk about a Chinese architecture, a Swiss architecture, an Indian architecture. One

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hundred years later, under the influence of wars, diverse political regimes, different states of
development, national and international architectural movements, individual
talentstechnological developments, architectures that were once specific and local have
become interchangeable and global. National identity has seemingly been sacrificed to
modernity. Do you agree? What constitutes Indian identity (in terms of architecture) today?
A. I agree. I dont think weve lost our identity at all. We design houses as per the family we are
designing for. Sure, the lifestyles are becoming increasing globalthere are no boundaries
across the world. We watch the same shows, drink the same stuff etc. I dont think theres a loss
at all, as long as the architecture doesnt negatively affect people.
Q6. Koolhaas also talks about a new expression of this national identity expressed in current
architecture, beyond references to the past. Are we losing identity or have we discovered a new
one?
A. The British enforced a design type on Indian families, but in this casefamilies have a
particular lifestyle, an identity and we respond to it. Modern Indian houses still have puja rooms
and family lounges, which perhaps houses elsewhere dont. So, yeswe have cultivated a new
identity, and theres nothing bad about it.
Q7. What do you think of Hafeez Contractors work?

A. Well, Hafeez Contractor isif you compare architecture to films, the lowest common
denominator, i.e. commercial films. Hes like the Shahrukh Khan of Indian cinema. Hes only
interested in creating icons. His housing plans dont work. His architectures elevational
architecture. All his housing buildings are stacked on top of each other, the design of the jaali on
the toilet shafts changes and he then puts a cap (dome) of sorts on top of the buildinglike in
Hindi we say, woh topi pehnata hai.

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Ar. Rajiv Bhakat

(abridged and paraphrased)
Q1. What do you think has been the impact, if any, of the changes that followed 1991 economic
reforms (privatization of the Indian economy) on the practice of architecture in India in terms of
the ?
A. The 1991 economic reforms had a great socio-cultural impact on India. You had the coming
in of western products and services, the creation of a new middle class equipped with more
dispensable income than before, change in the role of the Indian government when it came to
construction etc.
Q2. How, in your opinion, has the introduction of the MNCs changed architecture in the NCR
region?
A. The introduction of the MNCs had a multifold affect. The demands that they made were novel
in nature and local governments responded accordingly. They demanded flexible floorplates,
pressurized staircases, central air conditioning etc.demands that hadnt been made before, and
the corresponding architecture was hence different from its predecessors.
Q3. Rahul Mehrotra believes that the introduction what he calls an impatient global capital has
resulted in the proliferation of architecture that can be quickly conceptualized and constructed
and hence a prescriptive global architectural typology has become prevalent in India. He
compares these new buildings to spaceships, and rues the lack of response to the Indian context.
Do you agree?
A. I dont necessarily agree that theyre spaceships. Theyre buildings that responded to a new
design brief that didnt exist before. Sure, a lot of the buildings coming up seem to be blindly
follow a prescribed style, there are a number of those which arent. The reason these buildings
look so foreign is perhaps because of how different they are from the Indian architecture that
once existed, that responded to an identity that doesnt necessarily exist anymore.
Q4. There seem to be four trends architecture emerging in India, (i) global architecture (ii)
regionalist architecture focusing on local architecture (iii) architecture voicing concerns of

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minority communities (NGOs) and (iv) counter-modernist architecture (Mehrotra 2011). Do you
agree? What position do you and your firm take?
A. I think that classifying architecture into just these four categories is incorrect and overly
simplistic. There exist far too many types. The ideology of our firm, if it had to be categorized,
involves responding to the present instead of holding on to the past. Progressive, not regressive.
Q5. The loss of context that is seen in new architecture has been rued by many (Mehrotra,
Khosla etc.), whereas Koolhaas at the Venetian Biennale 2014 stated that In 1914, it made sense
to talk about a Chinese architecture, a Swiss architecture, an Indian architecture. One
hundred years later, under the influence of wars, diverse political regimes, different states of
development, national and international architectural movements, individual
talentstechnological developments, architectures that were once specific and local have
become interchangeable and global. National identity has seemingly been sacrificed to
modernity. Do you agree? What constitutes Indian identity (in terms of architecture) today?
A. I agree. There exists no nationalized architecture, not to the same extent anymore because our
identities have evolved. The identity of Indian architecture today is difficult to encapsulate in a
couple of sentences. It is diverse and it is changing.
Q6. Koolhaas also talks about a new expression of this national identity expressed in current
architecture, beyond references to the past. Are we losing identity or have we discovered a new
one?
A. The Indian identity has not been lost, it has simply changed. Change is inevitable and needs to
be embraced.
Q7. One of the architects whos said to respond to these global/market forces is Ar. Hafeez
Contractor (Mehrotra 2011). What do you think of his work?
A. Ar. Hafeez Contractor is good at what he doesi.e., like you said, respond to market forces.
Unfortunately, thats all he seems to respond to. He seems to ignore all other factors such as the
socio-cultural context, climate, etc.
3.2 Case Studies

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(a.) Survey
(Sample attached in Appendix A)
Aim: A survey was conducted on a sample size of 30 professionals between the ages of 25 and
70 in the months of August and September. The aim of the questionnaire was to understand what
the general perception of Indian Architecture, Modern Building and Modern India was
amongst those who have the power to purchase property right now and hence make the market.
The results of my survey shed light on what the layman believes buildings (and hence what he
purchases) should look like and do look like in reality. This further exposed the levels of
exposure to pirate information (proliferated over large volumes over large distances without
check) (Sundaram 2010) prevalent in our society.
Structure:
The following questions were asked, and the user was asked to answer with the first 5 responses
that came to his/her mind:
1. Name: -_______________________________________
2. Date of Birth:- ________________________________
3. Profession:-____________________________________
(a.) If architect,
(i) Do you have your own practice? (Yes/No)
(ii) How long have you been practising as an architect? _________
(b.) If not, is any member of your immediate family an architect? (Yes/No)
4. Do you(a.) Own your own house/apartment in New Delhi
(b.) Stay in a rented house/apartment
5. Area of Residence: _____________________________
6. List 5 words that you associate with the following terms:
(i) A Modern Building

(ii) Modern India
(iii) Indian architecture

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Results
PROFESSION
ARCHITECTS NON ARCHITECTS
Around 50% of the people

interviewed were architects.
85% of the architects owned
14
15 their own practice.
MODERN INDIA
60
NUMBER OF WORDS
40
20
0
Reference to Infrastructure Non-Infrastructure Concepts
TYPE OF WORD REFERENCE
Source: Author
70% of the people surveyed did
not associate infrastructure related ideas in their perception of a modern India.
MODERN BUILDING
30
NUMBER OF WORDS
25
20
15
10
5
0
Glass/Concrete Green/Climate Rectilinear Tall
Responsive
TYPE OF WORD REFERENCE
Source: Author

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A majority (57%) of the people associated modern buildings with the use of glass, steel and
concrete. 40% agreed that most modern buildings were rectilinear, 37% believed they were green
and 26% thought that they were high-rise buildings.
INDIAN ARCHITECTURE
35
NUMBER OF WORDS
30
25
20
15 A clear majority (78%) associated
10
5 Indian architecture with
0
Traditional/Ancient Modernist Concepts Postmodernist traditional/ancient architectural
Concepts Concepts
TYPE OF WORD REFERENCE elements/buildings (e.g. courtyards,
Source: Author Mughal architecture, chhatris,
jaalis etc.).

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(b.) Secondary Case Study
GURGAON
Reason for Selection: In the NCR region Gurgaon has seen consistent if not exponential growth
since 1991, being a prime magnet for construction of gated communities and offices for MNCs
(Sharma 2014 and Chakraborty 2014). Kalyan (2011) talks about how New Gurgaon came up
only after 1991, and was a blank slate for MNCs and the culture they invited to express
themselves. In this manner, Gurgaon presents itself to be a physical manifestation of all that
happened in the realm of architecture in the NCR region post 1991. Due to this reason the author
studied the case of Gurgaon to see the typology and mode of construction in the region.
(a.) History
Gurgaon is one of the 21 districts of Haryana state in
northern India. Gurgaon city is the administrative
headquarters of the district. (Harsimran 2011)
On its north, it is bounded by the district of Jhajjar and the

Union Territory of Delhi. Faridabad district lies to its east.
On its south, lie the districts of Palwal and Mewat. To its
west lies Rewari district. (Harsimran 2011)
Historically known as Guru Gram, the city's economic

growth story started with the leading Indian automobile
manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Limited setting up a
Figure 1 Sarkar 2010
manufacturing plant in Gurgaon in 1970s. As of 2013,
about 250 Fortune 500 companies have a base in Gurgaon. Gurgaon is one of Indias
fastest growing districts, having rown more than 70% since 2001. There are 26 shopping

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malls, seven golf courses and luxury shops selling Chanel and Louis Vuitton. (Narayana
2013)
(b.) Rapid Growth of Population (as reported in figure 2)
Current Population of 17,43,209

Gurgaon in 2013
Population of Gurgaon 16,24,613

in 2012
Population of Gurgaon 15,14,085

in 2011
Total Male Population 8,17,274
Total Females in 6,96,811

Gurgaon
Sex Ratio in Gurgaon 826 females per 1,0 00 males
Figure 2 (Gurgaon Population 2014, n.d.)
(c.) ConnectivityBy Road and By

Metro
The extension of the yellow line of the
Delhi metro to Gurgaon has been
Figure 3 Narayan (2013)

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fundamental to the growth of Gurgaon and the decentralization of New Delhi.
Figure 4 Maps of India (2011)
Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon Limited is a metro system introduced in the Indian city of Gurgaon,
Haryana, linked with the Delhi Metro system's Yellow Line at Sikandarpur. Rapid MetroRail
Gurgaon Limited (RMGL), is responsible for the construction and the operation of this metro
line and this system is India's first fully privately financed metro. It was built at a cost of
nearly 1100 crore (US$180 million) and construction was completed in 30 months. (TNN 2009)
The project was originally conceived as a collaborative undertaking between real estate
developer DLF (Delhi Land Finance) and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services, or
IL&FS. But DLF soon pulled out of the scheme due to financial problems, thus leaving IL&FS
as the sole owner of the line. It is the only privately funded public metro anywhere in the world.
The venture thus does not have any investment by the central government, Haryana or any other
public sector undertaking. (TNN 2009)(Gupta & Soni 2013)
The connection between Delhi and Gurgaon has been enhanced by transport in the form of
Metro, bus services and Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway
The sheer volume of traffic passing between the two urban centers confirms this dependency.

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(d.) Growth of Gurgaon
Gurgaon was pre dominantly farm land and the economic activity focused on the primary sector.
The lands were owned by farmers who were engaged in agriculture and husbandry. Following
rapid land acquisition by MNCs and industries there was a shift in the land use and subsequently
the demographics
Growth of infrastructure saw a shrinkage in agricultural land and the economic activities shifted
to the tertiary sector. The growth of Gurgaon soon reached Delhi and was enhanced when it was
included in the Delhi National Capital Region.
Gurgaon has evolved in the last two decades from a stretch of agricultural land in the
neighboring state of Haryana to a major suburb of Delhi, catering to the ever growing
requirements of the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi. (Narayana 2013)
Only some parts of the north and northwest regions remain agricultural while most of the other
sectors have evolved as residential sectors interspersed with commercial areas and industrial

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areas along the main transportation line of NH-8 (National Highway-8) that connects Delhi to
Mumbai. (Gupta & Soni 2013)
The entrepreneur of Delhi discovered Gurgaon as a separate nucleus offering a combination of
various inputs of land, material, labor, skill and transport. As transport linkages generally
improved, the connections to Delhi gained importance with the NH8, Mehrauli-Gurgaon road
and, now, the Metro. (Gupta & Soni 2013)
Figure 5 Sarkar 2010

Timeline of development in Gurgaon:
Since 1993, the radius of Gurgaon has expanded to
about 8-10 kms
It was only after GE Capital International Services
set up its operations in Gurgaon in 1997 that
triggered an exodus of companies from Delhi to
Gurgaon. (Narayana 2013)
The Mehrauli-Gurgaon road was one of the first

locations which witnessed residential development
which dates back to the 1990s.
2003: The first phase of retail development from
Figure 5 Maps of India (2011) MGF and DLF on MG Road. Projects started on
the Golf Course Road which became operational
between 2006 to 2008. (Chakraborty 2014)
2004: DLF launched the Infinity Tower, 9A and 9B Twin Tower Edifice, DLF
Cyber Greens and some other buildings. (Mareedu 2012) A prominent landmark

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to DLF Cyber City is the CLF Gateway Tower, also known as the ship building
which seems to lead the way the Cyber City.
2009: 3rd highest per capita income was recorded in Gurgaon, following
Chandigarh and Mumbai. It was also considered to be the best city to work and
was considered to be the 11th preferred city to live. (Gupta & Soni 2013)
However, the infrastructure provided by the government is still lackingpower
cuts and short water supply are commonly experienced problems.

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(Master plans obtained from Bricks and Mortar, Sohna Road)

The changing land use pattern as seen in the master plans drawn for Gurgaon
plainly show the effect the movement of the MNCs had to the city of Gurgaon (as
seen in the creation of SEZs, etc.)

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Chapter 04 | Results and Findings
4.1 Change in Land Use Patterns Since 1991

At an urban scale, a shift can be observed in planning principleswhile previous master plans
focussed on equity and quantity, the new age of master plans revolve around concepts of
efficiency and quality (Kalyan 2011).
The introduction of MNCs to the Indian economic environment ripe for investment, exacted a
response in terms of land use distribution and introduction of new building technology. In order
to attract those Indian and foreign business houses, local bodies are making instant decisions
regarding land use, FAR, and other developmental guidelines which in most cases exemplify
lack of vision (Roy 2012). As can be seen in the case study of Delhis satellite town,
Gurgaonlarge parcels of land have been assigned to SEZs (Special Economic Zones) in
response to the influx of foreign direct investment. The Indian landscape is being prepared to be
as ripe as it can be to attract foreign capital, which further facilitates the quick construction of
shiny offices read to be moved in. (Mehrotra 2011) As can be seen in CBRE (2014) reports and
from the data collected from Sharma (2014), the rental and purchase value of land is much
cheaper in Gurgaon and its neighbouring areas when compared to the central business district
(Connaught Place, etc.). As a result, as can be seen from CBREs report titled Delhi NCR
Industrial Overview (2014), growth in real estate has been consistently observed in Gurgaon,
whereas it has stalled in central and South Delhi.

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3.2 Change In Real Estate Market Trends In NCR After the Introduction of MNCs
The neo-urbanism that is a result of globalisation is mediated by not individual architects, but by
speculative investors and large companies like the DLF Ltd.(Delhi Finance and Land, 1946). It is
centred around the newly empowered middle class and the NRI population. It is characterized by
the creation of buildings that are exclusive, high-tech, provide facilities that one would expect in
the developed world (sauna, swimming pools etc.)and is hence a simulacra of what the
interested NRI is already familiar with in his country of residence. This neo-urbanism is focussed
on creating a New India: an India that has all the steel and glass that we associate with western
modernity; an India that ostensibly omits the service class from its urban landscape; an India that
looks and feels like it could be anywhere in the world. (Kalyan 2011)
However, this promise of a new India is presently constructed only in the mind of the Indian
population, and the relevant architecture is experienced in the form of billboards that show
glossy renders of what is to come. These renders tend to conveniently omit what surrounds the
existing plot where the promised future is to come to life. As can be seen in the case of Gurgaon,
this omitted environment is what the urban classes do not include in their idea of a modern
Indiadusty barren land littered by the temporary housing of the labour class and the service
industry associated with the construction of this new India. (Mareedu, 2012; Nair, 2012). In an
age where billboards for future construction seem to create same impression as actual
construction, one cannot help but identify a shift to a temporal architecture in the metropolises of
India: What matters here is not so much the actuality of the built space but the anticipation of its
future completion; that is, its virtuality (Kalyan 2011)
3.3 Comparison Of Existing Theories On Indian Architectural Trends
Mehrotra (2011) believes that are four types of emerging Indian architecture, namely (i)
architecture catering to global capital and hence identity, (ii) regionalist architecture preoccupied
with responding to local architecture, (iii) the architecture of the minority voice/communities and
(iv)counter-modernist architecture.
Mehrotra (2011) compares these new constructions to spaceships that land on the locale. This
construction due to being aloof to its context is unsustainable and hence economically not viable.
Foreign capital has excited a generation of icon building that ensures safety to foreign investment

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looking for familiar architecture to embrace and encourage. (Mehrotra 2011)

These global follies are an aggressive onslaught on Indias terrain by weapons of mass
construction (Appadurai 2009 as cited in Mehrotra 2011). Hence pockets of India are getting
remodeled to respond to a global idealisolated from the rest of the country, and the gaps in the
Indian landscape that do not get developed by foreign capital. (Mehrotra 2011)
While Khosla (1983), Mehrotra (2011) and Biswas (2014) see this creation of a global
architectural identity as a loss of identity, Koolhaas (2014) believes otherwise:
In 1914, it made sense to talk about a Chinese architecture, a Swiss architecture, an
Indian architecture. One hundred years later, under the influence of wars, diverse
political regimes, different states of development, national and international architectural
movements, individual talentstechnological developments, architectures that were once
specific and local have become interchangeable and global. National identity has
seemingly been sacrificed to modernity. (Koolhaas 2014)
An example of a contemporary Indian architect who seems to embrace corporatization of

architecture instead of working against it, would be Ar. Hafeez Contractor. Hafeez Contractor is
one of the prominent architects in India currently (Kalyan 2011) and his firm has been likened to
a factory mill of architectural designs (Kalyan 2011). His work boasts a pastiche of elements
from various architectural movements from different places and different periods of time. The
end result so created is a response to the consumerist attitude of todays masseshe creates what
the market demands. He manufactures simulations of different times and places for users who
can afford it. (Kalyan 2011, Nair 2012)
To the critics who disparage his design ideology he says:
Even though most pundits might term my residential work gimmicky, it comes out

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of valid rationale. The numerous styles that seem to tick off many people are simply
a response to the aspirations of the consumers and the market context. Vernacular
architecture which uses local materials is dead. Using local materials has become
more expensive. There are materials coming in from China which works out
cheaper than the local materials. The most honest way of construction at any point
in history has been the cheapest, fastest, and the most superior. Today if the global
options provide those qualities then I will obviously opt for them. (Contractor, cited
in Kalyan 2011)
The reaction to this quest for modernity and subsequent deterritorialization, by many has been a
return to a policy of reviving the oldas cited by Gupte, Mehrotra & Shetty (2009):
Simultaneously there is an emerging phenomenon, which perpetuates a model or
pattern of practice that is facilitating the resurfacing of ancient practices the
master craftsmen as the decipherer of ancient texts and scriptures! This resurfacing
of the past is a growing phenomenon with numerous temples and an entire range
of institutional buildings being built by these practitioners. Besides religion-driven
fundamentalism, the quest for greater economic mobility has triggered a great
interest in ancient treatise with the industrialist and business community in India
seeking refuge in the security of ancient props where pre-industrial, even
primitive images are confidently labelled as being integral to the regional identity.
Besides being clear strains of resistance to the modern Identity these trends are
symbolic of the collision course religious chauvinism has taken with the integrative
mechanisms of globalisation; a situation in which communities are concerned
about the threat to their identities as well as their autonomy and freedom to dissent.

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Moreover, an increasing demand for the ancient techniques of Vastu Shastra in the
designing of buildings and interiors is a clear indication towards such a resurfacing
of the ancient.
3.4 The Effect of the Indian Global Identity and MNCs on Architectural Demand
Agarwal & Whalley (2013) record the following observation about the change in consumption
patterns record post the policy change 1991:
The growth acceleration has been accompanied by a shift in the pattern of demand
from household consumption to capital formation which has increased as a share
of GDP by about 50% since the 1991 crisis and to exports of goods and services
As discussed in chapter two (Kalyan 2011), this shift in consumption pattern was a result of the
creation of the credit empowered middle class that had been birthed by the 1991 economic policy
change. Since social housing was now, unlike before 1991, in the hands of private players, the
citys most recognizable and needed construction activity became a monopoly of the corporate.
Corporates are driven by their intrinsic need to make profit (The Corporation 2003)this profit
could be made only by attracting investment from those who had the required purchasing power.
These were, namely, the working upper middle class seeking accommodation and foreign MNCs
interested in opening offices in India.
The members of the newly empowered middle class were not interested in investing in
references to a glorious Indian past that they were not necessarily a part of, and the international
offices were seeking images, not buildings, that they were familiar with and could operate
within. (Mehrotra 2011)
The predominant architectural discourse in India was changing.
The following quote from Gupte, Mehrotra & Shetty (2009) elaborates on this changing
architectural discourse:

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The discourses on efforts to establish a pan-Indian identity and to assert regional
identities through architectural vocabularies was completely dismantled in the
decades of the 90s which saw a large-scale development in the private sector and
a dissolving of the public sector. The structural adjustment programmes and
liberalisation policies of the Indian State adopted in the early 1990s brought in a
new era of economic and cultural globalisation and subsequent changes in the
Indian landscapesThe most striking change in the recent landscape of the Indian
Metropolis is the emergence of new types of built-forms for working, living,
shopping, education and leisure that indicate a definite change in the behavioural
patterns of the people inhabiting them. The changes in the economy of the city
since its liberalisation seem to have influenced the development of these types.
Changing typology indicates the beginning of a new architectural movement. The current
scenario witnesses a shift of focus from the secondary sector to the tertiary sector. It is easy to
find old industrial warehouses being converted into discotheques and art galleries, while small
apartments are transforming into office and industrial spaces (Kalyan 2011). Patterns of mass
housing show a shift from community housing with shared open public spaces, to an enclosed
housing programme with swimming pools and gyms. Large public schools have taken a
backseat, and expensive international schools have grown ubiquitous. The freeing up of the
economy allowed for foreign competition, and hence architecture in todays world is a
competitive business. While some believe this corrupts the practice of architecture (Post
independence Delhi: in search of an identity n.d.), others believe that this levelling of the
playfield (Nilekani, cited in Friedman 2005) improves product quality and should be accepted as
the new face of architectural practice (Kalyan 2011).
The boom in software exports (IT industry) turned out to be a major patron of a global
architecture, an architecture that was desperately trying to seek a dialogue with its client base in
the United Stated of America (Mehrotra 2011). Mehrotra (2011) likens this phenomenon to a
kind of colonisation by MNCs. He goes on to profess that the chief patrons of regionalist

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architecture are various social and cultural institutions such as schools and hotels. While their
patronage has shifted (from the public to the private), their ideals remain (Mehrotra 2011).
The architecture that does not conform to global ideals, seems to stem from a need to react to
itwhich may be seen as extremist in nature (Mehrotra 2011).
Mehrotra (2011) compares indigenous institutions with foreign institutions and the kind of
architecture they promote. The former tend to advocate contextually responsive architecture and
are willing to wait for their capital to be realized, whereas foreign capital is impatient
(Mehrotra 2011) and vies for architecture that can conceptualised and constructed quickly.
Foreign capital driven architectureglobal architecture thrives on predictability, since it
functions as a corporate:
Most importantly, this form of global architecture thrives on nits perceived
competence to provide predictable and stable services (often impatient) capital
searching for a host terrain in which to invest. (Mehrotra 2011)
Hafeez Contractor (cited in Kalyan 2011) has been fundamental to providing for a new global
architecture:
Contractor has been at the forefront of exploring the potential of this impatience
of global capital in an array of projects that juxtapose autonomous architectural
forms in the local landscape.
The following quote by Kalyan (2011) presents the case of Gurgaon:

Since neoliberal economic reform began in the 1980s and select parts of the Indian
economy were progressively liberalized (i.e., deregulated and privatized), select
parts of Gurgaon have mushroomed into private enclaves of rapid capital
accumulation. Some urbanists have called such fragmented neoliberal development
a galactic metropolis associated with post-industrial global capitalism. Such an

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association describes a city which, rather than being a single coherent entity,
consists of a number of large spectacular residential and commercial developments
with large environmentally and economically degraded spaces between. In the
context of a neoliberal city like Gurgaon, which not only houses global capitalist
firms and multinational corporations but metonymically represents the new India
in its dynamic and transformational urban landscape, spectacular and highly visual
architecture performs a symbolic and material function of imaging the exuberant
confidence of the postcolonial capitalist era of neoliberal globalization.
Cities like Gurgaon show the rise of paranoid architecture (Kalyan 2011), where houses and
buildings provide an experience so holistic that they are removed from the environment they are
situated in. This deterritorialization reflects the building on a new global cultural identity. Due to
rampant consumerism, what is popular in the world of architecture is not controlled through
government bodies like the PWDs, but by the investors in this businessthe urban middle class,
contractors etc. Examples of such architecture are DLF Corporate Park, Ambience Mall and
Beverly Hills apartments in Gurgaon.

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Chapter 05 | Conclusion
5.1 Summary
The 1991 economic reforms created a socio cultural atmosphere which was unlike any seen
before in India, in terms of the speed at which tangible change manifested itself in the Indian
landscape in the years that followed. A key area that seemed to have been affected by this policy
change, despite relative political stability, seemed to be the field of architecture. In the previous
years, it was political conflict that brought about major cultural change in India: examples being
the Mughal invasion, the British Indian Empire and the independence of India in 1947. Post
1991, most of this change seemed to have followed change in economic policyand this
hypothesis was successfully validated in this paper. There did emerge a relationship between the
privatization of economy and the current trend in Indian architecture, which the author
recognized.
5.2 Detailed Inference
The privatization of the Indian economy led to the following:

(i) Exchange of goods and information with the rest of the world, on a larger and more formal
scale. (Kalyan 2011)
(ii) Change of the governments role from being a provider to a facilitatori.e., increased
operational responsibility (in terms of providing infrastructure) given to private companies.
(Sundaram 2010)
(iii) Mass proliferation of ideas through piracy and exposure to western standards of living and
concepts of aesthetics and building. (Sundaram 2010)
The scenario hence created led to change in land use patterns to invite more foreign investment,
and led to the evolution of a global Indian identity that had different demands that the one that
existed before 1991. (Gupte, Mehrotra & Shetty 2009) Over time, both of these forces combined
has led to the proliferation of architecture that seems to be contextually removed (in terms of
climatic response, cultural references etc.) (Mehrotra 2011, Koolhaas 2014) and hence global in

A/2423/2011
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nature. This in turn has also led to counter movements protesting this change.
Figure 8 CBRE (2014)

From the survey conducted, one can infer that a large percentage of the working middle class
sees this new global architecture (replete with the use of glass, steel and concrete) to be the new
modernity that India faces currently. A large percentage of the survey sample however doesnt
equate this modern architecture with Indian architecture. While the likes of Koolhaas (2014) and
Kalyan (2011) discuss the creation of a new Indian architecture devoid of references to the past,
the layman (as well as quite a number of professionals) seem to still equate Indian with
passive and architectural elements of the past (courtyards, chhatris, domes etc.). From this, and
from Kalyans (2011) observation of the middle classs quest for an India (in his case, Gurgaon)
that does not look like India (Kalyan 2011) seems to be a driving force for construction
currently happening either temporally or tangibly.
This idea of what is Indian and what is not, as well as this drive for amenities that match
standards present abroad seem to be a direct result of exposure to and contact with a global pool
of informationmade accessible via the 1991 economic reforms to a larger population of
people. (Kalyan 2011) This trend is seen in the commercial world as well due to the influx of
global capital to India. A larger issue that the author recognizes, as is seen in the case of the city
of Gurgaon, is the abrogation of the governments responsibility towards the development of the
city as a cohesive whole. Instead, as Arundhati Roy (2013) points out, land use policies and
FARs seem to be flexible and are developed in response to whatever attracts foreign capital. As a
result disparate development of cities and inequitable provision of amenities is seen. The
corporation seems to be the real dictator of what the city looks like and who it is inhabited by.
Change in a privatized atmosphere is dictated by what creates larger profit. Hence, for concepts

A/2423/2011
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such social equity or directed urban development to realize the light of the day, sufficient
incentive needs to be seen in doing the same. More often than not, this incentive become the
reversal of calamities that occur when an incorrect practice is continued over time. A corporation
(and thus corporatized cities and their architecture) by its very definition functions as an
externality (The Corporation 2013) and is required to primarily make profit. A corporation
hence cannot sustainably run a city, since it does not mitigate problems that may present
themselves in the future. To mitigate and sustainably operate is the responsibility of the
government.
The 1991 economic policy in India empowered corporations to dictate growth in Indian cities.
The modern Indian city, as it were, seems to be a slave to foreign investment and policies are
bent into shape to cater to the same. This abrogation of the governments responsibility towards
the cohesive growth of cities (that provide for all citizens equally) seems to call for further policy
change, to allow for the mitigation of problems such as insufficient affordable housing.
Figure 9 Hoffman 2014

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Hence, while this research investigates and validates the relationship between economic policy
reforms in India and the subsequent architectural trends evinced, one recognizes that exposure to
and easy proliferation of information, the education of the masses and the corporatization of
modern culture seem to be the driving forces for architectural change in the modern world. All of
these factors came into play in India only after the privatization of the Indian economy, and
hence relationship between the two is not of action-reaction, but of cause and consequence. The
economic reforms of 1991 created a socio-cultural scenario which then led to/encouraged the
trends in architecture seen currently.
This document hence then highlights the importance of the economic policies of a country (the
mode of transfer of goods, information and services) in the realm of architecture.

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Bibliography
Adam, R 2012, The globalisation of modern architecture: the impact of politics,

economics and social change on architecture and urban design since 1990, Cambridge
Scholars Publishing, New Castle upon Tyne.
Agarwal, M & Whalley, J 2013, The 1991 Reforms, Indian Economic Growth and Social
Progress, dissertation, Ontario, University of Western Ontario, viewed 6 August 2014
Friedman, TL 2005, The world is flat, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York.
Bernard, W 1991, Economic Crisis Forcing Once Self-Reliant India to Seek Aid, The
New York Times, 29 June, p. viewed 14th October 2014, New York Archives Database.
The Corporation 2003, Big Picture Media Corporation
CBRE 2014, viewed 14th October 2014,

<http://www.cbre.co.in/research/Pages/indiareports.aspx>
Gupte, R, Mehrotra, R, & Shetty, P 2009, 'Architecture and contemporary Indian

identity', in Herrle, P (ed.), Constructing identity in contemporary architecture: case
studies from the south, & Schmitz, LIT Verlag Mnster, Berlin.
James-Chakraborty, K 2013, 'Beyond postcolonialism: new directions for the history of

non-western architecture', Frontiers of Architectural Research, viewed 15 July 2014,
Elsevier.
Kalyan, R 2011, 'Fragmentation by design: architecture, finance, and identity.' Grey

Room (Grey Room Inc. and Massachusetts Institute of Technology), vol. 44, pp. 26-53.
Khosla, R 1983, 'The Indian experience and the search for some light at the other end', in
Powell, R (ed.), Architecture and identity, pp. 62-71, Aga Khan Award for Architecture,
Singapore.

A/2423/2011
P a g e | 49
Kumar, R 2003, Essays on Indian art and architecture, vol. 3, Discovery Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.
Lang, JT 2002, A concise history of modern architecture in India, Orient Blackswan,

Telangana.
Mareedu, R 2012, Architecture and cultural identity: has the search for Indian identity
succeeded in reviving the cultural memory?, dissertation, School of Planning and
Architecture, New Delhi.
Mehrotra, R 2011, Architecture in India Since 1990, Pictor Publishing Pvt. Ltd.,
Ostfildern
Montek, A 1993, Indias Economic Reforms, Planningcommission.gov.in, viewed 6

August 2014, <
http://www.planningcommission.gov.in/hindi/aboutus/speech/spemsa/msa012.pdf>
Nair, A 2012, How do contemporary spaces reflect today's culture, dissertation, School
of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi
Nangia, A, 2005, The beginnings of an architectural culture: Delhi post independence

challenges, Boloji.net, viewed 27 June 2014,
<http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=1028>
Nangia, A, 2006, Post colonial India and its architecture, Boloji.net, viewed 27 June
2014, < http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=1028>
Modern Indian Architecture n.d., viewed July 5 2014,
<http://indiannewsreader.blogspot.in/2009/11/modern-indian-architecture.html>
Post independence Delhi: in search of an identity n.d., viewed July 5, 2014, <http://delhi-
architecture.weebly.com>.

A/2423/2011
P a g e | 50
Roy, A 2012, Capitalism: A Ghost Story, Outlook Magazine, 26 March, viewed 17th
August 2014, < http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Capitalism-A-Ghost-Story/280234>
Shankar, VV 2010, Symposium on impact of globalization on Indian architecture today,

2010, Vivek Shankar Design Partnership, Bengaluru, viewed July 17, 2014 , <
http://www.vsdp.in/wp-content/themes/twentyten/pdf>
Sundaram, R 2010, Pirate Modernity, Routledge, New York
'The Corporation' 2013, documentary, Zeitgeist Films
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 1 Sarkar, C n.d., viewed August 8 2014,

http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/haryana/haryana.htm
Fig. 2 Gurgaon Population Growth, n.d. viewed September 4 2014, <

http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/population/gurgaon-population.html>
Fig. 3 Narayan N, 2013, viewed September 4 2014, < http://www.business-standard.com

/economy-policy/key-policy-changes-transformed-india-1110915600094_1.html>


Fig. 6 Sarkar, C n.d., viewed August 8 2014, <

http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/haryana/gurgaon.htm >
Fig. 7 Sarkar, C n.d., viewed August 8 2014, <

http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/haryana/gurgaon.htm >
Fig. 8 India Office Market View, 2014, viewed 14 November 2014, <
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/09/03/18761093.php?show_comments=1>

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Fig. 9 Houses Stay Empty As Homelessness Grows, n.d., viewed 12 October 2014 <
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/09/03/18761093.php?show_comments=1>
APPENDIX A: SURVEY INFORMATION
1.1. Sample Excel Sheet Used To Generate Graphs
Timestamp Name Date of Birth Profession If you are an Do you: Area of Residence List 5 WORDS that List 5 WORDS that List 5 WORDS that you associate with: INDIAN
architect, d you you architecture.
Responsiveness Connectiv Brick
Cooling ity Culture Trees
03/10/2014 Arastu Gupta 19/01/19 Architect and No Stay in a rented Safdarjung Enclave Glass Concrete Courtya
19:21:06 85 Project Ma apartme Services Glass rd Wood
Landsca Cars Water
pe
Innovative Rational Ingenuit
Self- Secular y
03/10/2014 Kushagra Keshav 25/11/19 Architect No Stay in a rented Saket sustainable Extrovert Resilient
19:50:56 88 apartme Inspirational Industrio Efficacio
Strategic us us
Expressive 'Jugaad' Expressi
ve
Glass facade Youth BJP Evolving
Temples
No balconies Smartphon Parking
03/10/2014 Mamta Jain 13/11/19 Corporate Communications Head for a Own your own Suraj Kund Road High Rise es Trouble Joint
20:16:35 69 Magazine house/ap Concrete Social Networking Families
Jungle Awareness Casual
Underground Courtyards
03/10/2014 Saurabh Gupa 24/06/19 Grad Student No Own your own Rajinder nagar, Parking
clean, efficient plan, Developing, simple, efficient, passively effective, modern, sometimes
23:15:07 89 house/ap central d strai Increasing d inconsiderate
Contextual Authoritar Bulky
Circulation ian Scale
13/10/2014 Rahul Singh 31/01/19 Architect Yes Stay in a rented New Friends efficiency Lack of Educated Romant
16:27:53 72 apartme Colony ornamentation Democrati ic
Energy inefficient c Non Fusion
Lack of wit secular Durable
Swadeshi
Quickly Movement
Culturally Hind
built vivid Swaraj
13/10/2014 S. Qazi 04/04/19 Artist No Stay in a rented NFC Commodi Westernize Tradition
16:35:36 84 apartme ty d Advanced al Mud
Automatic Technology Balance
Monumen Diverse Copy and Paste
tal
Efficient
Green Equality Surajkun
Sustainab Literate d Turban
14/10/2014 Vikram Verma 04/06/19 Scientist Own your own Gurgaon le GRIHA Cleanline Economi
14:08:38 92 house/ap Rectiline ss Modi cal Green
ar Public transport Courtyar
Something to do (efficient d
with not
plane Industrialist Jaalis
facades Developed Forts
14/10/2014 Shashank Prasad 03/05/19 Architect Stay in a rented Saket shiny villages Public Kings
14:15:46 69 apartme linea transportation Mugha
r Subway ls
blue SIlicon Valley Chandigarh
Double heighted
spaces sandston
14/10/2014 Sumit Mehra 11/11/19 Architect No Stay in a rented NFC sharp malls e wood
glass highway vastu
14:31:46 69 apartme minim flyover marble
al journalis mud
block m NRIs jali
cube
New construction Delhi Mughal
Technologically Metro architecture
14/10/2014 Dhiren Gupta 21/11/19 Scientist Own your own Rajendra Nagar Sound Le RTI DDA
14:45:14 88 house/ap Corbusier Feminis Mysor
Concrete m e
Prefabricated Awareness in Brick
society Mud
Technolo Technology
Cars Habitat
gy Glass Cellphon Human
15/10/2014 Gaurav Watts 24/12/19 Architect Yes Stay in a rented Karol Bagh Material es Climate
01:49:37 81 apartme Project Arrogant Response
Management Fast Sustainable
Materials Unresponsive Heritage
Rational Functioning
Truthful anarchy Without a clue
15/10/2014 Sambuddha Sen 04/08/19 Architect Yes Own your own South Delhi Clearly Dirty Superficial
01:51:36 50 house/ap articulated Inequity Insensitive
Geometric/Rectil Greedy Confused
inear Climate destructi Imitative
responsive ve
Energy Progressiv COntextual
efficient e Liberal Traditional
15/10/2014 Anuj Mehta 31/03/19 Architect Yes Own your own Anand Vihar Functional Empowere Climatically
01:53:59 65 house/ap Efficient d Urban Responsive
Aesthetically Sprawl Green
simple Chaotic/ Low Cost
CLean Dirty
DDA Factorie Indian Habitat
Housing s Centre Triveni
15/10/2014 Snehanshu 01/01/19 Architect Yes Own your own Noida Nirman Highwa Kala Bhawan
01:56:54 59 house/ap Bhawan ys Malls Red Fort
Boxes Mass Mothem Sun
Utilisation Housing Temple
Functional Shoppi Ellora
ng
Nehrhu
Brick/Concrete Dams Courtyards/Veranda
15/10/2014 Gaurav Sharma Architect Yes Own your own Vikas Puri structure Chandiga hs/C Fatehpur Sikri
01:59:04 house/ap SPA Building rh Temples and Palaces
Govt. 5 year plans an
building/Architectu Power plants Jaipur/ Jodhpur
A generic building/ (Cities)
aGreen
sol Progressive Elegant
Spacious Economically Soothing/Pleas
15/10/2014 Anup Mohta 13/07/19 Doctor Own your own Mayur Vihar 3 Well sound ing Inclusive
02:01:03 61 house/ap lighted Infrastructure Impressive
Energy saving Boom Culture Scientific
Good design Preservation
Insulating Glass Young
Metro
Glass Lifts Mid size cars
15/10/2014 Hari Nambiar 25/10/19 Architect Yes Own your own Sarita Vihar LEDs MBA Temples
02:02:58 63 house/ap
Glass Jawahar Lal Nehru
Glass Narendra Modi
15/10/2014 Sudhir Vohra 23/11/19 Architect Yes Own your own CR Park Glass Haveli
02:06:17 56 house/ap Glass Aangan
Glas Chabutr
s a

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High rise
Glass Versatile
15/10/2014 Bharat Grover 27/10/19 Builder Own your own Krishna Nagar Technolo Developi Tradition
02:10:22 61 house/ap gy ng al Bye
Attractiv Political Laws
e Polluted High
Inefficien Class
t
Lively Rich in
Faciliti Urbanizi heritage
15/10/2014 Neera Grover 15/09/19 Air Hostess Own your own Krishna Nagar es Tall ng Functional
02:13:02 64 house/ap Elegant Utilitaria Traditional
Skyscraper n Low profile
Crowded Uniform
Democra
Responsi tic
complex no existent
ve contradictor confused
15/10/2014 Rajiv Bhakat 28/12/19 Architect Own your own GK 2 Contextu y divided conversative
02:14:59 77 house/ap al changing financially only
Formalist chained to driven short
ic past sighted
Complex
Unhindered
Exlusi by Fast Compl
biases
ve Eliteof Disparate ex
15/10/2014 S Sanyal 30/08/19 Professor No Stay in a rented Jor Bagh Rich Fussy Layered
02:16:47 83 apartme Opulent Artificial Rural
Static Uninform Spontaneous
ed Transient
heritage
15/10/2014 Naresh Shekhawat 18/01/19 Service Own your own Gurgaon Openness Young use of natural
Energy technologically resources mix
02:19:28 63 house/ap efficient advance connected different culture
Appealing to its heritage good Mughal
Mix Usage family values Modern Concepts
Flow with rich-poor divide being
surroundings Less
Eco friendly rain experimentation
restoring ancient wit
harvesting heritag unique
15/10/2014 Nisha 23/05/19 Housewife Own your own Gurgaon physically educated ancien
02:21:29 72 house/ap handicapped people no t
people friendly poverty ancien
using solar energy everyone gets a t
healthc ancien
well up beat t
largely
finished IT savvy confused
15/10/2014 Ranjana Mital 20/08/19 architect and No Own your own Vasant Vihar well fitted complex imitative
02:25:09 60 educator house/ap sq ft drive exploitati unimaginativ
architecturally ve e timid
rational, b lack of dishonest rational
philosophy/comm
Mall gadgets taj mahal
s flyovers gateway of
15/10/2014 urmila verma 14/03/19 Home maker Own your own laxmi nagar glas bridges metro India arched
02:27:13 70 house/ap s continental gateways
ac and food western havelis of
lifts tall clothing jaisalmer
IHC verandah
Eco computer taj
friendly rage mahal
15/10/2014 Sanjay Kumar 04/08/19 Teacher Own your own Laxmi Nagar luxurious education lifts
02:29:15 Verma 66 house/ap Burj technology Lutyen's
dubai living zone old
centrally air standard Delhi
conditioned shopping Haveli
green environment malls
identity
15/10/2014 Moulshri Joshi 08/09/19 Architect Own your own Dwarka Not traditional crisis
probably declaratio mine
02:31:24 80 house/ap characterless n here
better bathrooms development and now
large its poli need to (deflection of all of
windows assert the a
pretense meaning is a
function of
disconnect
1.3 Sample Survey (Individual)

A/2423/2011
P a g e | 53
PLAGIARISM CHECK AND DECLARATION
The research work embodied in this dissertation titles, 1991 Economic Policy and Trends In
Indian Architecture Today, has been carried out by the undersigned as part of the undergraduate
Dissertation programme in the Department of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture,
New Delhi, under the supervision of Mr. Rajiv Bhakat.
The undersigned hereby declares that this is his/her original work and has not been plagiarized in
part or full form from any source.
_____________________________
November 2014

A/2423/2011

Dissertation: Economics &amp; Architecture

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Acknowledgement

Cover Image | Source: GETTY (The Telegraph), modified by author

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

2. Indian Economic Policy, 1991__________________________________________09

3. Research Design and Methodology_____________________________________16

4. Results and Findings_________________________________________________36

7. Appendix A: Survey ________________________________________________ 49

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

1.1 Research Proposal

identical time frame (Adam 2012, p. 17).

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

1.2 Key Terms

Movement: A cultural movement is a change in the way a number of different disciplines

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

1.3 Aims, Scope, Objectives and Limitations

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

1.4 Research Methodology

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

(b.) The relationship between globalization, consumerism and architecture.

(e.) The nature of corporations and how they operate.

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

Chapter 02 | Indian Economic Policy, 1991

1.1 General Background

Buildings and urban patterns also have a fourth dimensiontime. The

expected sequential organization of the built environment is very much

aspect is that the built environment, at any moment, is a compilation of

the change made in it overtime. It is seldom static; it changes as human

needs and perceptions of the good life changeas people's aspirations

(Post independence Delhi: in search of an identity n.d.)

It has been stated that:

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

Architects and urban designers are commissioned by commercial and

social conditions. Although they are significant participants in cultural and

political developments...It must be clear that any assessment of architecture

changes in society have driven them (Adam 2012, p. 2).

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

be studied only after a considerable amount of time has passed.

2.2 Introduction to the Economic Reforms of 1991

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

What changed and why?

Kalyan (2011) states that:

recognition of the important role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the

government eased licensing restrictions on investment and exposed previously

protected or state-owned industries to global competition and the temporalities of

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

2.2 Socio-Cultural Change Since 1991

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

imagination. They belong instead to dimension. The city of tenements

overwhelms, swallowing the past in an uncontrollable spasm, stretching its

unofficial connections. Hotel facades rise up in finely proportioned compositions

of tiles and terracotta; in parks behind themvillage life continues; early

2.3 Globalisation: Identity and Infrastructure

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

faiths. So there is no single state religion, no dominant religious community, and

great imitations of American accents at call centres and American business

in a whisper, Honey, I confided, I think the world is flat.

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

Chapter 03 | Research Design and Methodology

1. Professor Tanaji Chakraborty (interview conducted and transcribed over the

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

of the architectural activity in the capital?

Dissertation | 2014 Shivani Raina |

2. Mr. Rajesh Sharma, CBRE

Dissertation: Economics & Architecture

Dissertation: Economics & Architecture