Photographer Bharat Tiwari says, “We are just adding on to the old cities.. From 850 AD to 1550 AD India has seen empires of the Rashtrakutas, Chandelas, Cholas, Kadambas, Chalukyas, the Khiljis and Portuguese. And slowly fading away into the realm of forgotten times are the little home-grown joys of pickles drying in a sunny courtyard, story sessions under the stars on the terrace, growing plump tomatoes in the backyard, sprawling armchairs on verandahs, fans whirring on high beamed ceilings, and that little hidden crevice for storing childhood treasures in the gnarled jackfruit tree…. “Thus we find a Portuguese wish for Lisbon in Goa or an English yearning for London in Kolkata. In pretty little hilly towns, old houses and colonial bungalows we had read about in Ruskin Bond’s stories are being brought down to give way to multi-storeyed buildings. Tall, ornate columns, stained-glass windows, spiral stairways with wrought iron vines.

A gloriously beautiful Indianness in architecture once gave our cities and towns a distinct visual identity — from the smallest of homes to the grandest of buildings. Everything just changed for the worse with time. Architect Sonali Rastogi says, “Some of our strongest visuals of the Art Deco Movement comes from the skyscrapers of New York.Windows from Rajasthan (Credit: Pixabay)As the change gains momentum, some individuals and groups are fighting to preserve these heritage buildings, and photographing and documenting them to preserve the memories of those lovely lost homes. The percentage of historic sites when compared to new habitats is reducing at an alarming rate today given the phenomenal growth and development of new cities and habitats. Each of these dynasties laid the foundations to their own architectural languages, adapting, recreating and innovating with care. That did not happen and we kept on putting pressure on existing cities. Manish Golder feels, “How we imagine and adapt to space has completely changed. Ours is a new country, just a few hundred years old, so having this tangible, vast sense of history, all the time, in so many architectural forms, was overwhelming for me. I miss the charm and nostalgia of Lutyens Delhi, the colonial style architecture and the old world bungalows with open courtyards and huge stairways,” she says.”Compact livingTall buildings and compact living are a response to the rapid increase in urban density. Interior designer, art director, photographer and poet, Bharat Tiwari recalls, “In Delhi, when Connaught Place was built, it was extremely beautiful. The debate lies in defining the balance between low and high rise. Courtyards with swings. Design juries are absent in the current system or have no power at all to override the bureaucracy. Chrysler building is one of the first buildings that comes to mind when one thinks of skyscrapers. Even small towns and villages are losing their visual identity. There’s also the Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (Intach), a non-profit charitable organisation, whose mission is to conserve heritage, and it has done tremendous work in identifying, listing, documentation and conservation while spreading awareness through publications. From time immemorial, all cultures have aspired to build high and create iconic structures. With our monuments, we are running against time. In our fast-paced lives, we have forgotten to pause and appreciate art and aesthetics.”After India gained independence, apart from Chandigarh, no new city came into existence in India. (Pic Credit: PIXABAY)Most of our grandparents&Soft Cover Notebook Factory39; homes are forever entrenched in our memories, agrees architect Sangeeta Kapoor, wistfully ruing that the huge big peepal tree in the courtyard, gardens with arched walkways and half-open courtyards are now a thing of the past. On the other hand, in high rise developments, the design needs to engage the community and the reclaimed land.Expansion and growthArchitectural monuments are a window to the past and are a living testimony to our historical legacy. There are several other organisations too looking at conserving heritage in India. Qutub Minar is one such example. The tall windows, red floors, steep steps, elegant paraphernalia still haunt me. They only go by mathematics and norms. The government should have strict laws regarding town planning and heritage. Red oxide floors, chequered verandahs.

The parking space used to be gardens. As a result, there’s lack of sensitivity in terms of heritage and rationale in terms of urban growth,” believes architect Dhruv Kalra, adding, “Solutions seem weak, either serving the capitalistic ideology or just filling spaces in an irresponsible way. We are more trapped in cubicles and clustered housing now. The iconic Kenilworth Hotel in Kolkata was razed this March. It should have been the responsibility of the government to build new cities across the country.As we hurtle straight into a future towards a unified global civilisation, new communities, townships and cities are mushrooming at an unprecedented rate. Delhi is almost reaching Panipat now.”In present times, people are connecting over social platforms and meeting up in coffee shops. “Lots of our emotions of our growing up years are attached to open courtyards and verandahs. They brought an immense sense of well being and comfort. Most rules and regulations are out-dated, unnecessary and seem to be full of loopholes for exploitation. They adapt and respond to a common global market and adopt and use global design philosophies and construction techniques making them all similar in nature.A home in Pondicherry (Credit: Instagram: pondicherry_a_heritage_home)RK Studios in Mumbai will soon be demolished.”Urban planningNot all cities have a historical or cultural heritage, modern cities are a result of expansion of domain, eventually moving so far away that the direct relationship with heritage ceases to exist. It is either vote bank politics or personal/biased agendas which drive policy making in most case scenarios. Lack of vision and holistic approach at town planning level has led us here. The entire perception of home and hearth has changed.“However, coming up with a conservation plan for the entire country, region by region, allocating and # arranging funds for the restoration works and carrying them out is a mammoth task that requires an unified driving political will, state by state and as a nation on a whole. Artist and curator Priyanka Banerjee reminisces, “Development activities have taken a toll on the scenic beauty of our villages — the jharokhas in havelis are being replaced with plain, utilitarian windows, artistically adorned walls are being replaced with modern tiles.”Conservation plansIndia has the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), that has 3,650 listed monuments under its care, protected by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958. They can be found in living sites like the old Portuguese homes in Goa, the French quarter in Pondicherry, the grand mansions of Kolkata or the living fort of Jaisalmer. The urban landscape is largely concrete and clinical.A perspective from someone who didn’t grow up among this heritage, certainly makes one think of what we are losing.History around every cornerThe beauty of our historical heritage is present in every nook and corner of the country — from a serai in a seaside town, to a shikar ghar in a city, a dak bungalow in a hill station, or a zamindar’s mansion in a village… It’s something that’s been part of our everyday lives, and thereby, often not cherished enough.A fading beautyOne such team trying to capture the fading charm of houses in Kolkata runs a page on Instagram called ‘Calcutta Houses’.The change is sweeping across the country. History is not only embedded in the grand and regal structures of India, but also in the homes our elders once lived in. So where is the development? The argument that Indian architectural heritage is being lost because there is no space left in the cities is an invalid argument.  Adreesh says, “Architectural history does not only stop at major historical monuments.Art and aesthetics of modern spaces have changed not only our way of living, but also our sense of home. Sheikh Abdullah's old home in Srinagar, Delhi's Hall of Nations have been brought down. Today, suburban gated communities are preferred due to the ease of availability of communal facilities, gathering spaces and playing fields.”Even during the era of colonisation, the small countries that came to hold significant parts of the world would build to recreate their homeland.”A home that wasThe charm of long verandahs, sprawling gardens filled with blooms and squirrels, attics filled with cobwebs and creaky trunks, ivy covered walls… that’s the stuff of memories and stories now. “It was thrilling to be surrounded by layers and layers of history, that’s not something Americans experience on the same scale.”It is not just heritage buildings in cities that are a faded version of what they once were. But has the government ever bothered to beautify, restore and revive it? It could have generated such huge revenue from tourism. Height has other reasons for existing, other than just urban density.Shingled roofs, green slatted windows. What is fascinating to see is that the architectural characteristics of the region would unwittingly find their way in to create an altogether new language for each region,” he says. Growing up in North America, Vicoria Lautman, author of The Vanishing Step-wells of India, was spellbound on her first visit to India.. Architect Adreesh Chakraborty, founder of The Earth Home and author of The Adventures of Inchy Slim says, “If you woke up in a hotel room, out of your jet-lag driven slumber, not knowing where you suddenly are, chances are that the sight from the window might bewilder you even more. My memories and imagination are full of the nostalgic charm of these old houses,” says Manish Golder, who is part of the Calcutta Houses team. These transitions have commercialised and modernised our living styles, we are all in a big rush of instant living. The debate of whether high is artistic or not, to me has deeper psychological and political ramifications. “I have many memories of growing up in an old house. You may take that for granted, but I can tell you, it’s miraculous for someone like me,” she says.Architectural wonders of Rajasthan. I feel pained to see the loss of interest in our rich cultural heritage.“Unfortunately in India administrative officers who deal with urban planning and are the ones in charge of approval are the usual government office-goers with no knowledge or skill to focus on aesthetics. A place like Hampi where you can literally wander a few yards and you’ve gone back in time several centuries. It’s a shame.But the demands of time have been swiftly and sweepingly changing the face of our urbanscape — and old homes, heritage buildings, iconic landmarks and nostalgic hubs are being razed to make way for builder flats and monolithic high-rises. Without these monuments, we will be devoid of any tangible proof of our history, only to depend on the ones who wrote it. Everyday we lose precious parts of our history to neglect, encroachment, new developments and the dire requirement for new habitats in our times of an unprecedented population explosion,” shares Adreesh. Each building in Old Delhi has heritage embedded in it.Architectural languagesDuring the period of 1950 to 1987, as the Republic of India, we built mass housing, new cities and expanded into the hinterland on a large scale to cater to the population boom, without any significant additions to our architectural heritage. While low-height, high-density developments have various forms of human engagement that are conducive to communal living, quite often, there is almost no ground available.

“China has had many opportunities to fully address our concerns,” Trump said in a statement. American companies say regulators are already starting to disrupt their operations.China’s Finance Ministry said its tariff increases are aimed at curbing “trade friction” and the “unilateralism and protectionism of the United States.By expanding the list to USD 200 billion of Chinese products, Trump may spread the pain to ordinary households. The tariffs focused on industrial products, not on things Americans buy at the mall or via Amazon. He demanded Canada and Mexico renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to make it more favourable to the United States.The increases are in response to the US announcing it will impose tariffs on USD 200 billion worth of Chinese-made goods starting next week.The American Chamber of Commerce in China warned Tuesday that Washington is underestimating Beijing’s determination to fight back.”The two countries have already imposed import taxes on USD 50 billion worth of each other’s goods.

Those plans include “Made in China 2025,” which calls for creating powerful Chinese entities to compete in robotics and other fields.Beijing: The US-China trade war escalated further Tuesday, with China announcing retaliatory tax increases on USD 60 billion worth of US imports, including coffee, honey and industrial chemicals. “The downward spiral that we have previously warned about now seems certain to materialize,” said William Zarit, the chamber’s chairman., the administration removed smart watches and some other consumer electronics products.”The trade gap means China will run out of US imports to tax while the US still has plenty of Chinese imports to target.At the root of the trade war are US complaints about China’s plans to try to overtake US technological supremacy. And in a victory for Apple Inc.American companies and trading partners including the European Union and Japan have longstanding complaints about Chinese market barriers and industrial policy. But Beijing has other ways to retaliate. 1. President Donald Trump threatened to add an additional USD 267 billion in Chinese imports to the target list if China retaliated for the latest US taxes. The administration is targeting a bewildering variety of goods — from sockeye salmon to baseball gloves to bamboo mats — forcing US companies to scramble for suppliers outside China, absorb the import taxes or pass along the غير مجاز مي باشدt to their customers..”There was no word on whether China would back out of trade talks it said it was invited to by the US, but a Chinese Commerce Ministry statement said the US increase “brings new uncertainty to the consultations. “No one will emerge victorious from this counter-productive cycle.The US taxes are targeting Chinese goods that Washington says have benefited from improper industrial policies.Trump has also complained about America’s gaping trade deficit — USD 336 billion last year — with China, its biggest trading partner. “I urge China’s leaders to take swift action to end their country’s unfair trade practices. The tariffs will start at 10 per cent, then rise to 25 per cent on Jan.The US government did withdraw some items from its preliminary list of imports to be taxed, including child-safety products such as bicycle helmets.Last week, the American Chambers of Commerce in China and in Shanghai reported 52 per cent of more than 430 companies that responded to a survey said they have faced slower customs clearance and increased inspections and bureaucratic procedures.Trump has strained relations with potential allies including the European Union, Canada and Mexico by raising tariffs notepad Factory on imported steel and aluminium. The US says the plans are based on stolen technology, violate China’s market-opening commitments and might erode American industrial leadership. That would raise the total affected by US penalties to USD 517 billion, covering nearly everything China sells to the United States. Beijing’s tariffs have hit soybeans and other farm goods from states that voted for Trump in 2016.”

In the first two rounds of tariffs, the Trump administration took care to try to spare American consumers from the direct impact of the import taxes. But they object to Trump’s tactics and warn the dispute could chill global economic growth and undermine international trade regulation.“Contrary to views in Washington, China can — and will — dig its heels in and we are not optimistic about the prospect for a resolution in the short term,” said Zarit of the American Chamber of Commerce.