“ARCHITECTURE IS ABOUT WEAVING THAT EXPERIENTIAL NARRATIVE TOGETHER”
In conversation with the principal architect of Delhi-based Architecture Discipline, Akshat Bhatt whose unique approach to design is one of the many reasons why he has won several awards and accolades
Two opposing design languages seamlessly integrated can stop anyone dead in their tracks. Walk into Architecture Discipline’s Delhi office, located in south Delhi, and we dare you not to. If on the one hand there are lush meadows growing maize, carrots and cucumbers, on the other is a metal shipping container fitted with stateof-the-art design. If the exteriors exude a laidback country vibe, the interiors are contemporary, straight lined and fuss-free. Architecture, according to Akshat Bhatt is what fuels his guitar-addiction. He even has a music room in his office. Not too long ago you would find this extraordinary architect with long blue hair, nails painted black, in a sarong, playing trash metal on his guitar. In fact, it is this background in music that has led him to have a unique approach towards architecture. Bhatt founded Architecture Discipline in 2007. After studying at TVB School of Habitat
Studies he worked with in London with the celebrated Penoyre & Prasad before joining Jeff Kahane & Associates. The 38-year-old’s designs merge theory with technology while giving it a novel design narrative, one that is built around the everyday needs of the occupants. He shares this journey from a musician to an architect.
EARLY INFLUENCES
In the second year at architecture school, one of my tutors asked me to visit the library. The first book I opened had a crazy steel and glass rooftop extension in Vienna on the first page and I realised architecture can be cool. It was bold, cantankerous and aggressive. Everything my music was. Then I started looking at that kind of work of British architects, the high-tech guys such as Norman Foster, Nicholas Grimshaw and Michael Hopkins; then diversified by studying design theory using Daniel Liebskind and Bernard Tschumi’s work. Crisp and concise, there was no fluff, yet it had meaning and narrative. It was a level of architecture that had a tactile quality and detailing that one had not seen. It piqued my fancy.
LONDON CALLING
I embarked upon a 30-day backpack tour through Europe after college, to see what I believed were seminal
architectural works. London was very charged at the time. They had just completed the Millennium Wheel and the Millennium Bridge was swaying. Millennium Dome was also being criticised. Foster and partners had just finished the roof of the British Museum and that too was marred in controversy. Architecture was everyday tube station conversation. All this helped shape me into the architect I am today.
YOUR STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE
It is a critical modern approach—it works with British high-tech sensibilities. I am all about high engineering, rationalisation and optimisation. But at the end of the day since it is the role of architecture to express itself, that’s what we do best. So, we don’t do pure engineering or pure construction. Things are detailed from concept to door handle and tied together.
CURRENT PROJECTS
We have designed all the suites at The Oberoi, Delhi. We are renovating The Oberoi Grand, Calcutta, one of the oldest hotels in the country. We have just commissioned the first prototype for a prefabricated micro homes system and are working on micro homes that can put together from beginning to end; three-four bedroom space plan can be done in seven days only. In addition, we are engaged in the design of three new brands of hotels, all of which will revolutionise the industry. Late last year we completed the first phase of an urban regeneration project in the walled city of Jodhpur.
PRESENT DESIGN SCENARIO
We are at the lowest ebb of our built environment. There is no regard for how much energy we consume and waste we generate. Economic parametres are all that inform the design of public spaces. See any urban space, it is a mess. Think about the last 15 places you have visited. Not a single space would demonstrate any consideration for the people that occupy it or a space under the garb of contemporary design one sees rehashed post industrial kitsch.
AT www. architecturediscipline.com
There was a crazy steel and glass roof top extension in Vienna, I realised architecture can be cool. It was bold, cantankerous and aggressive. Everything my music was. Then I started looking at that kind of work.