Monday, November 15, 2010

House: What it Means to People in Today’s World

By Bhakti Shah

In ancient times, basic needs of man were food, shelter and clothing. Over the period of time, man has developed due to globalization, industrialization and competition in various fields and his basic needs now have taken a larger scope. A house is one of such needs that have changed drastically.

A house has an emotional touch and it replicates the personality of the person living in it. It has an interior as per the requirements of the person living in it. Growing interest in the field of residential architecture and interior design has given a boost to housing design. People are now aware of the trends in house designing. From small cities to metropolitan areas, trend in decorating and designing the house of any scale is taking competitive form. Houses of different forms, materials and interior spaces are being preferred by the people. House is now not only a need but also a status of symbol in society. Creativity is now challenged because people are ready to spend large sums of money on their house. Interior Design and Landscape Design are the two additional fields on which people focus while designing a house. Old houses, bungalows and small apartments are also given ambitious makeovers.

The development in these creative fields is worth appreciation. It challenges the creativity, technology, knowledge and development in today’s globalized world.


Now a days, the awareness and implementation of sustainability concept is increasing. Individual houses are not behind in this race. I came to know about the world’s greenest and costliest house which was recently built in India. “Antilla” – It’s a house in the form of a 27 storied building with exceptionally high ceilings. With ideal ceiling height, it could have been a 60 storied structure. It occupies 35,000 sq.ft. of area with 500+ feet height. It is a private residence of an Indian billionaire industrialist and it is located in Mumbai, India where real estate costs as much as $1800/square foot. Mumbai is amongst the densest cities in the world, with almost 30,000 people per square kilometer. There has been some debate in India about spending a billion dollars to make an Individual home. It’s covered in foliage, with living walls enclosing all four sides, hanging gardens and green rooftop. The walls of plants will increase green space and combat urban heat island effect. But look behind the green façade, and as far as we can tell, there’s nothing else sustainable about the materials or construction. According to writer Sarah Rich, “Sustainability is most commonly defined as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability is about humanity as much as it is about greenery. Living walls are lovely, but they’re not a free ticket to environmental integrity. “

Ref : http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/10/25/sites-residence-antilia-green-tower-in-mumbai/

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