This design is recycled

A team of two architects, says Ravi Teja Sharma, works hard at achieving unique design sensibilities through materials that can be reused.

It is a sight to behold "" architects designing their own office. Aashish Karode and Sushil Karer of Design Atelier Urbis are in the process of moving into a new office in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar and when we walk in we see work in full progress.

"It's almost done," says Karode, one of the co-founders of Design Atelier Urbis, explaining how the metal they have used for the staircase has been recycled from the floor of a bus.

The floor tiles right at the entrance are recycled too but still manage to look good. This new space is an expression of their philosophy but there is only so much they can do to an existing building.

In a singular voice Karode and Karer tell us about their philosophy which revolves around participatory planning. "The client is a key voice in the planning process. The design needs to appeal to all the three participants "" the client, the expert and the artist," explains Karode.

Architecture as a discipline, they feel, has grown tremendously in India and the current construction boom is taking it even further.

"The processes have more or less remained the same but more and more technology is being used now and it's getting increasingly international. What has also changed the way we work is the clients' willingness to change," says Karode.

Earlier, if there was a cheaper way to do things, most clients would insist on that. "What has also changed is people's willingness to spend on quality."

What the duo tries to do in the work is use local elements, craftsmanship and tap local talent. "But the idea is never to be overtly ethnic in our outlook. It's more about being modern while using local sensibilities," says Karer, adding, "We make sure that our architecture appeals to the larger surroundings and it responds to its context."

So instead of importing furniture from Italy, for instance, they try and source it locally. "There is tremendous local talent here," clarifies Karode. And recycling and reusing is something that they try and implement in their projects, unless of course the client doesn't want it all.

Architecture for them works at different levels. "It is just not about constructing a building," says Karode.

Smarter design over excessive use of technology is what they believe in. In every project, their team tries to optimise every available resource.

"We understand that even climate, trees, the sociology of the building is a resource for us," explains Karer. In an office building they are working on in Gurgaon, for example, Karer tells us that unlike most others they are not insisting on maximising the floor plate.

Instead, they are using some space for a garden and more outdoor spaces, trying to get more of the outside in. There is minimal use of glass in the building and the orientation is such that glass is used only in the shadow areas.

People use more glass to make buildings look slicker but then use air-conditioning to reduce the heating effects of glass.

"Why use more technology if you can use smarter design," says Karode. But it is not as if technology is not used at all. Intelligent use of technology is the mantra, feels Karer.

The building will use 40 per cent less water than other regular buildings and 25 per cent less power. Technologies like low flow, solar power for heating and street lighting have been intelligently used. Incidentally, early in his career, Karer worked in Jerusalem on a number of solar power projects.

In all their work, the duo responds to directions and uses them efficiently. Karode gives an example of a home they did for an artist who does large works (though they are clear that as a business they don't do residences, except for friends). The house had a large, high ceiling room on the ground and on top of it was his apartment covered with trees all around.

"The artist who is working on a ladder high up does not want focussed lighting directly on his face. The idea here was to optimise the use of natural light flowing into the room and to light up with two large walls he uses for his work," says Karode. Also, he could access large sculptures from different levels in the house.

"The architect needs to understand how the space is going to be used and that comes with constant dialogue," explain the architects. Clients create a focus and sometimes have great ideas. Both Karer and Karode agree that this implies an ongoing dialogue with the client.

The good thing is that as architects they are not interested just in their work but in a larger debate on architecture and the sociology of design as well. Karode is an academic in this respect.

At the moment though, he says, there is very little architectural debate going on in India. "The level of architectural debate is higher internationally. Here you are not allowed to debate much," feels Karode.

The two are reconciled to being green, even though they prefer not to be labelled green architects. "Sustainable design for us is a given," says Karer, as he explains one of their latest projects. This is resort for the Mahindra's outside the Corbett National Park which is a good example of how they are tackling sustainability issues.

"The land available was very degraded, and the whole challenge for us was how to return this land to the jungle," says Karer. So the resort design ensures soft forms, concealed curved lodges, use of natural materials and, most importantly, using only plants native to the area.

The landscape plan has very little grass in it. Most of it is local elephant grass. The resort will be very sustainable, says Karer. All water will be recycled, the air-conditioning systems are very intelligent, the whole resort is designed in a way that reduces the footprint of human intrusion.

With sustainability as their bottomline, the two are looking ahead to more innovative projects than merely those they have worked together on over the last 17 years.