A Chat with the expert on The Influence of the Pandemic on Indian Architecture & Urban planning

The COVID-19 has led all astray. The globe stopped spinning for us as the gloomy pandemic loomed over us in the last year. Its effects are visible in all areas and domains, and we are slowly starting to recover from pandemic’s impact after missing out a whole year of social life. In the business world, the COVID-19 has been devastating for some, and yet caused surprising upticks and downturns all across industries. Some foundational perspectives were altered, and work from home has become the new normal.

In the architecture world, the pandemic has been particularly effective in shifting some long-held beliefs and traditions. People have started to think differently and visualise the design and planning from a fresh perspective.

Veneta Cucine, always being at the forefront of trends and innovations in the design and planning domain, decided to explore the effect of the COVID-19 and the industry’s response with an expert. So, in its latest episode of the Out of the Blueprint, Santhosh Unni from Veneta Cucine sat down with the renowned and revered architect Krishnarao Jaisim, Jaisim-Fountainhead, Former Chairman of Indian Institute of Architects, Karnataka Chapter, for a conversation on ‘The Influence of the Pandemic on Indian architecture & Urban planning’.

The conversation started with KrishnaRao’s glimpsing into his past and his journey through the architecture field. Then it was pivoted to the topic at hand, the Influence of the Pandemic on Indian architecture & Urban planning.

Krishnarao Jaisim took a somewhat optimistic approach towards the whole lockdown. He recalled that he was able to communicate with all his students and got more thinking done despite being bound to the home. So his vision of the future in urban planning also reflected those aspects. He shared his thoughts on multifunctional spaces in cities and urban spaces that will grow more prominent in the future.

Another major topic of the discussion was about home design and the modularity of the plan. Krishnarao expressed his vision of the future in home design to be modular and flexible, just like the Veneta Cucine products itself. He also went on to quote some instances from India’s Chandigarh and Thailand’s floating city to make his point.

During the conversation, he also mentioned that urban and home planning must be integrated with the locale, and circumstantial factors must be considered for the design to be effective and fruitful. The talk was really enlightening and opened up some astute thoughts and opinions that we can take away.

The interview was aired on Facebook and in case you missed it, you can watch it from the Veneta Cucine India’s Youtube channel here. And as long as you are here, make sure to check out the previous episode of the Out of the Blueprint with architect Anshul Chodha on Micro Homes here. Also, follow Veneta Cucine’s Facebook page for the latest updates and upcoming episodes of the Out of the Blueprint.