Designing in context

Ravi Teja Sharma explores landscape architecture "" which is not the same as landscaping "" and how it has matured lately.

Walking into a building in Delhi's Connaught Place area is such a pain. The entry is all concrete, and it really isn't an invitation. Looking at the bland exteriors, your mood goes for a toss and you begrudgingly walk in to finish your work. It would have been different if the area was well landscaped, wouldn't it?

Newer buildings across the city,however, are more conscious of this. The landscaping, though, is still old-style, horticulture based. In recent times, projects have been laying more emphasis on landscape design and specialised landscape architects are now being roped in by developers at the very initial stages.

"There has been a sea change in the last decade. Earlier, the landscape architect got called when the project was ending, essentially to help in undertaking the 'soft' or the horticultural component of work. Today I can say without doubt that better and responsible developments engage a landscape architect at the conception of the design process of the project," says Aniket Bhagwat, partner, Prabhakar B Bhagwat landscape architects.

"A good landscape design in a residential apartment project is a big draw for many today," says landscape architect Kavita Jain. She is right "" we'd buy an apartment facing a nice landscaped garden (even if it's on the 10th floor), or also because the entrance to the building makes you feel nice and refreshes you at the end of the day.

Jain is working on an 80-acre township in Patiala with plots, apartments, commercial buildings and even a school. All plots in the township are being planned around a green space (1-1.5 acre parks). Most of the roadside is landscaped.

There is a difference between landscaping and landscape architecture, but many of us use the terms interchangebly. Landscaping is just the garden part of it, while a landscape architect is part of the larger plan which includes setting up the services as well. "All the services are coordinated with the landscape and spaces are planned," says Jain.

Design styles are changing today. Delhi-based landscape architect Nikhil Dhar feels that today "contemperory language is being appreciated rather than just a horticulture-based approach. Now, landscape design is getting more experiential and a lot more emphasis is being laid on being eco-sensitive".

He gives the example of the Vedic Village near Kolkata, a project he worked on. The 125-acre resort and farm houses orginally was rice fields. Even today, rice fields are part of each farm house at the Vedic Village and the rice plantations are cultivated by the farming community living there.

The water bodies in the village relate to the typical West Bengal village fishponds and, apart from being strong visual elements and forming natural focal points for outdoor activities, serve to manage storm water.

"The phrases 'contemporary rural' and 'controlled tropical forest' would probably be appropriate terms to describe the landscape spaces and planting at Vedic Village," explains Dhar.

Such design interventions are full of impact, says Dhar, and most landscape design in India has been executed with minimal respect to the environment. "This seems inexcusable since landscape designers are in an ideal position to ensure that projects are designed and executed in an environmentally sensitive manner. This is one of the primary roles of a landscape architect," he adds.

In most of his work, Dhar uses plants which are native to the environment and need less water than other imports. Rainwater harvesting is now standard in most projects.

Effective landscape design must respond to the context, both regional and architectural in which it is set, he explains. An airport project in Thiruvananthapuram displays this effectively. For the landscape design, Dhar has used a lot of palm trees, water and stone, all very basic to Kerala. The way they are used sets the ambience when you are entering and gives you a final look while one is getting out.

"Regional ecology and regional ideology should be kept in mind while designing the landscape," says Bhagwat. It is, indeed, very important to understand how people use their open spaces and, in India, it is different for every region, area and culture.

A design made for Pune, where people might use the outdoors for pujas as well, cannot be used in Kolkata, where no outdoor cannot be planned without space for football.

A new trend in landscape design is the zen kind of look, says landscape architect Prakash Alvares. "Stark, simplistic, with few plants, lots of pebbles, good lighting effect, water bodies around buildings "" that's the new look people are looking for," he says.

But he doesn't like it too much. His style is more naturalistic. He also feels that compared to international design, we are no where.

"We have not reached that level of artistic appreciation as yet," he explains, adding "It's like wine drinking: you first start with run-of-the-mill alcohol and then move to more sophisticated wines."

Even our farm house bugs are getting more aesthetic with their choice of design. It is a fact that they are spending more on hiring landscape architects and getting the design right.

The landscape always sets off the building and that's the way it's going to be in the future. Bye-bye to boring old gardens.