these varied worlds. Cutting across these
differences while respecting their integrity
and aspirations became somewhat of an
obsession. How do we as architects engage the
complexity of the city? Do we respond
simultaneously to the past, present, and future?
And, if so, how do we do this when all these
“times” exist concurrently, in the same space?
In addition to these questions associated
with the future, the idea of tradition must also
be addressed. Through our research on the
city, we were made conscious of the fact that
modernism perpetuated the tabula rasa — the
mind-set found in the preceding generation
of architects that believes, “I have seen the
future, and it works!” In response to this, our
practice is also committed to addressing the
issues of the contemporary urban landscape
and identifying aspects of our history that
have relevance in India’s emerging post-
colonial urbanism. The practice has thus
engaged actively with urban conservation
projects in Mumbai, with an aim at facilitating
the gentle transition of our historic cities into
the emerging urban milieu.Beyond urban
conservation, RMA Architects is also involved
with building conservation projects in
Mumbai and other parts of India. The
emphasis we place on this area of work is
that of “creative conservation.” It is the idea that
a critical dialogue is created between
the old and new. Our interest lies in the
recycling of buildings and spaces where the
revitalisation occurs after observing patterns
of contemporary use. These use patterns are
seen as the generator of the conservation
process. As designers, we are equipped to see
the opportunities that exist in the
reorganisation of spaces, and thus, new
potentials for historic buildings. As a practice,
we have learned a great deal about design
from conservation, which informs our work
tremendously. We believe that the design
of a good, modern building and the
conservation of a historic building are not
really different practices.
Building in the tropics
While addressing these wider questions
involving the context of our context, we are
acutely aware of the physical challenges
found in issues related to building in the
tropics. Naturally, the most direct and perhaps
relevant issue was that of the interrelationship
of climate and lifestyle — namely, how people in
particular cultures and climates use
buildings. Activities can shift within a
building, depending on the time of day or the
month of the year. This idea extends into the
city, where the streets, arcades and other
open spaces are epicenters of social and cultural
life. The looseness with which activities are
imagined and organised impacts the form of the
building. Spaces that can be inscribed upon,
that are neutral enough for multiple uses at
different times, become the ones with a greater
premium. They are the ambiguous, in-between
spaces that are at times animated in far richer
ways than spaces confinedto a strict function,
or those that use conventional delineations
extending from western paradigms.Technology
and its application is critical and often linked
to cultural aspirations. For instance, the “curtain
glass” style of building, often symbolising
corporate power, is a classic example; the
hermetically-sealed box pumped with air-
conditioning becomes the symbol of corporate
aspiration. Similarly, elements from luxury
hotels percolate down to home interiors, and so
on. New materials, air-conditioning, and new
building technologies have all moved
architecture in the tropics towards a global
response, both in terms of architectural form
as well as aspirations. This obsession with
foreign technologies and a misalignment
between local cultural practices and perceptions
of modern efficiencyis embodied in this
new form of architecture. In the tropics,
buildings were traditionally heterogeneous
in their composition, consisting of many parts
each responding to different aspects of thePhoto Rajesh VoraPhoto Rahul Mehrotra