Archiprint6—Creating & Experiencing Identity
13
Between Dave ten Hoope Skyscrapers and Townships —Architecture at Breakneck Speed I have always been quite the traveller, but never could I have anticipated the journey that was about to take hold of my life. After registering my office Studio Dave, I chose a voluntary exile from an economically hampered Europe, and went east. After being groomed in the Eindhoven fashion, New Delhi became my training grounds. Following some six months of doing architectural competitions, 3D visualisation work, and graphic design, I now was working for Morphogenesis, one of the leading architectural offices in modern day India. The days of the student were over as I welcomed the lifestyle of a professional. As I was exposed to Indian lifestyles and customs along with the occasional superstition and religious beliefs, I became more aware of my position as architect within the fabric of everyday life in the hubbub of 21st century Asia; of my foreignness – to be exploited later on in the real estate market; of the (mis)fortune of being spoiled by contemporary architecture & engineering. Everything happened in high speed and nothing was too much; being architect as well as inhouse architectural photographer I had the opportunity of exploring some of the most fascinating places in across North–India, like Mumbai, Delhi, Noida, and Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh. Little did I know, however, that the design philosophy of this office evolved into somewhat of a personal attitude towards architecture later on – a blend between generic architecture and local adaptations.
Architect at D&D and the world of real estate developers To be told that working with a developer is somewhat different from working with a private client is quite different from walking the mile yourself. Being brought in D&D (Design & Development, Delhi) as their very first foreigner to be hired expectations were high — very high (a process to be repeated later on at BBCL). I was brought on board of existing and on-going projects to make alternative designs; at the same time there was not a competition that went by for which I wasn’t responsible to make, calculate, and present an option. The project scales were mind boggling at first – especially coming from the cradle that I call home, being used to individ-
New Delhi, India, 2012 [photo: Priyanka Sharma]
ual villas, row houses, an occasional office, and car show rooms. Nothing of the sort up here; new office for EY (Ernst & Young) on a 2+ acre site (8.400 m2); a 70-story skyscraper with a footplate of 1.500 m2; a 140 m tall twin tower on a piece of land 4.35 acres (close to 18.000 m2) — to be designed, calculated, and presentable within 24 hours; a mixed-use development, including office tower, retirement homes, business suites, studio apartments, SoHo’s, shopping mall, 6-screen cinema, game zone, food court, club, all in all some 80.000 m2 on a parcel of land amounting to 10.4 acres; and to top it all off, masterplanning for a new township of 120 acres! I was introduced to the concept designing servant rooms with servant toilets, separate circula-