Neha Sayed
This issue of Tekton comes as the first quarter of 21st century ends. With a lot of hope we prepared for the new Indian dream. A nation rising from the colonial past finally establishing its identity in the world. That pursuit continues. We also wonder if there can be an identity of a nation that addresses all the values that its people hold. The world seems to be riddled with the same old worries while transforming into something new all the time; for good or for worse. We in India have a complex history leading to a complex societal structure. Architecture stands as a reflection of this complexity and hence becomes a valid research pursuit.
This issue presents seven research articles which take up this very task of discussing the transformations witnessed in the spatial configuration and manifested in architecture. These research articles were initially presented in the annual Research Symposium at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India. The first article by Simone le Grange presents a case of district six in Cape Town where she has demonstrated the impact of apartheid in the urban displacement and continuous re-configuration of the space. This article is followed by Sonali Gurung’s amassment of colonial maps and how the meaning of space got transformed during the period undermining the value system of the ethnic local identities of Darjeeling.
Priya Gupta, in her paper on the impositions and negotiations of facade aesthetics on Marla Houses in Chandigarh, India, focuses on the aspect of mitigation in transformation. Chandigarh, planned as a modern city based on European design aesthetics, interestingly, shows the marks of cultural adaptations by local communities. The author has successfully showed the implications of authoritarian aesthetic control on the facades of the houses. Neethu Mathews, in her study of Chawls of Mumbai, has indicated the value in adaptations and appropriation of everyday space. Both these papers examine the architecture which arises out of migration and the lack of value appreciation in the manifestation of culture in design.
Indian traditional architecture supported the cultural spontaneity. In the modern adaptations, we find a struggle to sustain the notions of communities and informal networks. Himadri Das, in his paper, has presented the case of Nehru Place, a bustling repair marketplace for electronics, where the informal networks established through traditional notions sustain a modern marketplace while adopting the built space to reflect the mode of traditional marketplace. Indian traditional bazaars with their multi-layered vending space varying from right on the street to the upper stories of the buildings allowed all types of vendors to sustain and survive. Maulik Chauhan argues in his paper about the insensitivity towards the street vendors and hawkers in the re-design of streetscapes. The paper brings forth the importance of vitality of streetscapes as a need for building a robust economy. Daniel D’Souza in his paper enforces this same ideal of urban vitality by presenting the work of Paul Maas.
Prof. Smita Dalvi who has been the Tekton editor and initiator of the journal offered to dedicate this issue to the symposium and it has come out as a compilation of brilliant research articles. The large part of the credit goes to Prof. Meghal Arya, head of the PhD programme at CEPT, who believed in the collaboration and relentlessly perused the publication process. A heartfelt thanks to the Prof. Sudnya Mahimkar who showed keen interest in the review process, ultimately improving the quality of publication process. I want to thank all the researchers who patiently responded to all the needs. This publication would not have been possible without the valuable contribution of the new editorial team who supported the process despite their own time commitments.
Neha Sayed, PhD
June, 2025
nsayed@mes.ac.in
