Architecture of Malls and Offices of Gurgaon

History of Architecture (AP313) II Term Paper | 2014

History of Architecture (AP131) Sheifali Aggarwal Aggarwal Roll Number: 07616901611 Sushant School of Art and Architecture

-

ROBERT ADAM, GLOBALISATION AND ARCHITECTURE

Globalization can be understood as a part of a modernization and westernization process via which a tendentious global transition from traditional to modern societies takes place. It has achieved the status of a “master concept” in the world today attracting a lot of critiques. It is assumed that specifically for India, the number of Indian mega cities will double from the current three (Mumbai, Delhi & Kolkata) to six in 2021 (new additions being Chennai, Bangalore & Hyderabad), when India will have the largest concentration concentration of mega cities in the world. As technology advances and India progresses it gets more difficult to not believe that globalisation is inevitable. Virtually, but in everything crossing of national boundaries can be observed, be it people, places, commodities or idea. Of course, there is no proof. It is like a myth, which has its own rational and a modern myth at that. (1) Architecture represents the cultural adaptation of building technology for social and personal space programming. It is an cultural expression and expresses cultural and social values and ethics. It is also a representation of social symbols of status, vanity and power. Architecture is never disassociated from the elite and rich, but also as buildings are needed for human activities, architecture defines our attitude towards the built. Cultural symbolism of architecture is unfortunately connected connected to materials, size and myths of the society. It is influenced more by values of foreign goods and ideas, for fashion and trends, consumerism and the market. Far from satisfying the need for shelter, architecture is becoming more as a commodity for conspicuous consumption announcing social class. Different class of people respond to different built masses - shops, hospitals, markets, offices, houses, schools, etc. Page 1 of 10


Figure 1: GLOBALISATION IN ARCHITECTURE Ref: http://shu122 http://shu1229.blogspot. 9.blogspot.in/ in/

Creation of new elite class of individuals, firms with the impact of glitz and glitter changes the technological and architectural programs and representations. The localised labour segment with its innovativeness and improvisation drastically changing the expected industry standards and blatant violations of property rights and legal and safety standards will thrive on the gullies beside highways of globalisation. globalisation. As it already does. (1)

- MARIA MIES Cheap amendments of structural glazing and aluminium cladding are already in place. The IT and BPO offices/sector have transforme d the social structure of people’s living and their lifestyle patterns.

Page 2 of 10


Figure 2: GURGAON (L) BANGALORE (R) Ref: http://www.theurbanvision.com/blogs/?p=676

Also shopping is the medium by which the market has solidified its grip on our spaces, buildings, activities, cities and lives. It is the material outcome of the degree

to which market economy has shaped our surroundings and ultimately us with the trend of malls being one major part of it. Figure 3: SHOPPING AND MARKETTING Ref: http://www.theurbanvision.com/blogs/?p=676

Gurgaon evolved as an extension to Delhi becoming a part of the National Capital Region. The city of Gurgaon had various social classes migrating migrating from various territories and has painted a black canvas with their imagery. Every single migrant has created its own micro-environment under the macro-environment of Gurgaon. (2)

Page 3 of 10


Figure 4: THE PATTERN OF URBANISATION ON A SETTLEMENT Ref: file:///C:/Users/Sheifali/Downloads/297-123-1-PB.pdf

The consumption culture when mixed with individual local and migrated imageries creates an absolutely new breed of culture. Be it the bangla dwellers of Chakkarpur or Tamil techies working in an IT company, when they paint their imagery over an existing settlement, a new type of architecture is evolved. (2) Also, the expansion of auto culture (dependence on vehicles) has nurtured a new kind of lifestyle in all metropolitan cities including Gurgaon. The busy, exuberant street life that proliferates in most Indian cities is virtually absent in Gurgaon. The energy and commerce of traditional cities has been harnessed in a new kind of space – retail malls. Gurgaon is currently home to 43 malls most built since 2007. Among these is the nation’s largest “The Mall of India”, which boasts 4.5 million

square feet of shopping. (3)

Figure 5: Ambience Mall, Gurgaon Ref: http://gyaandar http://gyaandarpan.com/wp-content/ pan.com/wp-content/uploads/20 uploads/2013/03/Ambience13/03/Ambience-mall-.jpg mall-.jpg

Page 4 of 10


Figure 6: Sahara Mall, Gurgaon Ref: http://www.gurgao http://www.gurgaonsite.com/wp-content/up nsite.com/wp-content/uploads/200 loads/2008/11/sahara-mall 8/11/sahara-mall.jpg .jpg

With names like “Ambience Shopping Centre” and “The Sahara Mall”, these spaces

are clearly not just for retail consumption, but represent a private oasis for a wealthy self-selecting group looking for close interaction with similar people. The architecture of Gurgaon has likewise been transfigured into something new: a patchwork of styles and historical references. references. (3) What is striking about Gurgaon’s rocky and bleak landscape is that amid several

construction sites and half built buildings, all the high rise luxury condominiums, massive shopping malls, multiplexes and office buildings have Western architecture and facades, reflecting a peculiarly modern aesthetic and urban design. (4) Out of all the malls features a central point from which consumers enjoy an expansive view of various floors and shoppers throughout the building. (5)

Figure 7: City Centre Mall, Gurgaon Ref: http://www.speed4haryana.com/gurgaon/m2.jpg Ref: http://www.speed4haryana.com/gurgaon/m2.jpg

Page 5 of 10


Figure 8: MGF Metropolitan Mall, Gurgaon Ref: http://local.images.burrp.net/images/e/c/w/photo_mgf-metropolitan-mall Ref: http://local.images.burrp.net/images/e/c/w/photo_mgf-metropolitan-mall

DLF City Centre, the first mall built in Gurgaon (2001), may have provided a template in this regard. It consists of three floors wrapped around central open space, which, on the ground floor, has seating for shoppers who wish to look up. Inevitable they have something to look at: shoppers on the second and third floor seem drawn to the railing, where they stand gazing down, up, or across at their fellow consumers. consumers. The architecture of these malls can seem odd to those accustomed to a different, more horizontally oriented mall archetype. (5) Talking about offices of Gurgaon, we will discuss it with a few examples. DLF ATRIA (CONVERGYS) makes for a powerful architectural gesture. The central design idea always envisaged creating a building with a forceful disposition in tune with it architecturally strong surrounds. The design essentially consists of two parts: a basic rectilinear body with glass curtain walling that houses the office space fronted by a clear glass atrium running the full height of the building from which the structure derives its name. A cantilevered pointed pergola supported by tapering column further enhances the drama of the 6-storey high atrium. The offices overlook the green spaces on its two zones. (6)

Page 6 of 10


Figure 9: DLF Atria (Convergys), Gurgaon Ref: http://media.glassdoor.com/m/10/e1/7b/88/dlf-atria.jpg

The treatment of the form and the materials used are in line with the international architectural architectura l argot of the other DLF projects in Gurgaon. (6) DLF SQUARE & NESTLE has contrasting diversity: the cubist high-rise DLF Square and the forceful low-slung DLF Nestle House. It completes the trilogy on NH-8 along with the DLF Gateway Tower and DLF Atria. The first building, DLF Square verbalises absolute minimalism. Its simplicity is especially evident in the square module used in the plan. The façade with rhythmic patterning of minor fenestrations in the concrete cradle adds to the structure’s austere charm. Four

aluminium clad bastions hold up the structure. The recessive blue glass entrance almost blends with the blue sky and funnels down the structure’s enormity. (6) As a sharp contrast to symmetry of the DLF Square, DLF Nestle is a blend of curves. A trussed roof supports the roof slab while an extended pergola gives it an added visual dimension. The glass clad organic form creates visual interest and gives a different dimension to the building. (6)

Figure 10: DLF Square & DLF Nestle Gurgaon Ref: http://www.mncprobuild.net/dlf/commercial-projects/square-gurgaon-images/banner.jpg

India Glycols Corporate Office, Noida exemplifies the identity and corporate ideology of equity and transparency in the workplace as an integral part of the architectural vocabulary. The site surroundings and context along with an optimum enclosed square volume enabled a built form with minimum exposed surface area. A stacking system is used to generate the variety of open space; courtyards, Page 7 of 10


verandas, terraces, green roofs etc. that help to structure the office spaces. A central spine traversing the built volume serves as the common activity zone, with other departments branching out. (7)

Figure 11: India Glycols Corporate Office, Noida Ref:

http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/1308430072-1993-andre-j-fanthome-edit-

528x321.jpg

SB Towers at Film City, NOIDA is planned with flexible, adaptable modular grids to suit noveaou work practices. (8) Building is a RCC structure building with staircases and openings. openings.

It constitutes constitutes of external external glass glass cladding, cladding, stone and aluminium

composite panel composition. External and internal infill walls including plaster/cladding/finishes.

Incorporates

rain

water harvesting systems and is an earthquake resistant building. (9)

Page 8 of 10


Figure 12: SB Towers at Film City, Noida Ref: https://assets.re https://assets.regus.com/i gus.com/images/1863/b mages/1863/businesscentre/1_4 usinesscentre/1_454x340. 54x340.jpg jpg

Increase in land values and the demand for floor space is one reason for putting architecture on the fast track of change. But moreover, it is the people’s perception of style that’s seems to blame for accelerating this this change. Few years ago Punjabi Punjabi

baroque was an emerging style in Delhi in which the persuasion to elevate the modern domestic buildings to higher levels of ornamentation was just a joke. At that point of time this type of architecture seemed to have no purpose other than that of exterior decoration and was just thought of a passing stage that would soon die down. But the short span of 2- years of early globalisation had an adverse effect on architecture. Architecture, once a profession considered to be that of creating spaces with an aesthetic value that will live through the ages have lost its meaning. Architecture seems to have given in to the age of globalisation, it has lost its purpose of influencing people and the society, purpose of making habitable spaces to one of assembling masses in space. “THE IDEAL HOUSE MUST BE BUILT BUILT

OF MATERIALS MATERIALS

AND SKILLS GATHERED FROM WITHIN FIVE MILE RADIUS OF THE SITE”

-

MAHATMA GANDHI

The last two decades of globalisation has taken Gurgaon and Noida from sleepy village of buffaloes and mud housed and industries and warehouses to a city of multinational tower blocks and apartments. Here the idea of Punjabi baroque has acquired a great deal of respectability. Architecture in these cities and similar upcoming cities has now become a lifelong materialistic buffet that relies on technology to display newer forms of abundance with the extensive use of exterior materials for cladding, for example, GLASS & ACP (Aluminium Composite Panels), and make them available to growing market of Indian consumers. In this age of malls, big fancy offices, cinemas and multiplexes there lies a hunger for novelty and delight. The fate of a building is now that of a commercial commodity. The old definitions of architecture as creating spaces of rest, containment, comfort and protection don’t make sense anymore. It ca n only be

Page 9 of 10


directed towards real life situations, built on an assumption that any desired change id effective if only it is an enhancement of the present condition.

1.

Globalisation, Globalisation, Building technology and Architecture. 2010

2.

Urban Interfaces in Gurgaon

3.

. Architecture and Capitalism: 1845 to present. Routledge

4.

. The Natural City: Reenvisioning the Built Environment. University of Toronto Press. 2012

5.

A Companion to the Anthropology of India. John Wiley & Sons. 2011

6.

Architect Hafeez Contractor. Architecture publishing. 2006

7. http://www.e-architect.co.uk/india/india-glycols-corporate-office 8. http://www.businesscen http://www.businesscenterindia.in/of terindia.in/office/india/utta fice/india/uttarrpradesh/noida/noida/noida-sb-tower/ 9. http://www.slideshare.net/Rohit_24/sb-towers 10.

Globalisation and Architecture.

Page 10 of 10

Architecture of Malls and Offices of Gurgaon

Recommend Documents