Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya—Architect, academician, and thinker, Neelkanth Chhaya has researched and worked extensively on appropriate architecture for India. He has documented places of historic significance and authored numerous critical papers. He retired in 2013 as the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at CEPT, Ahmedabad, after a 24-year teaching sojourn at the School.
Before we begin, a quick shout out to Ruturaj Parikh from Matter in Goa for introducing me to these brilliant minds in architecture and education. I also want to say hi to Ayaz Basrai, whom I interviewed in episode 104. He recommended documenting Prof. Neelkanth.
Questions
What is standardization, according to you? Where do you see it happening? Do you see it happening in Architecture? Do you see it happening in design at large?
It is said, that standardization and process bring scale - How true it is in design? How important is a scale for a developing country like ours? Are we trapped in a cycle now?
Does standardization kill diversity and ingenuity? What according to you is the biggest tradeoff of bringing standardization in design as a discipline?
You have been an educator for more than 40 years. The education system is designed to meet the demands of the market. The market demands profit. Profit can be achieved only through scale. Can one scale without standardization?
Do you envision further standardization 50 years from now?
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