Interview with Architect Karan Grover

“Putting up glass buildings does not make us modern”

“Designers are arrogant”

says Karan Grover, the Platinum Award winner in 2003 under Version 2 of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the US Green Building Council,the first architects in the world to get this highest possible award for Sustainable Architecture-2003.
The man who never fails to impress his audience with his colourful presentation on a 70mm screen, speaks to Pooja Sarkar and G Seetharaman on the sidelines of a Green Building conference held in Mumbai. Excerpts from the interview:

P&S: What is happening with the Tata’s D.E.S.I.G.N lectures?

KG: Under the Tata Tiscon brand, we are doing a design knowledge series where we talk to architects and students. It is basically a lecture series where we are spreading awereness where the architect has something to share on design where myself and another architect come around for a session. We started the series in Kolkata last year and we have covered about 15 cities. For the tier-II and tier-III cities, I and 15 other architects would make a film. It would be a capsule and it would travel to these places where we can’t go. We are planning to complete 100 cities by the end of next year. We also feel it is becoming a brand. People are interested in speaking at the seminar. Every time we choose a different architect who has something to share. In Pune we had Gurmeet Rai who spoke about conservation. We have different people talking about different things.

P&S: There is a lot of talk about green buildings, but are developers interested in constructing such buildings and will these buildings sell?

KG: The green movement is a very new movement .At the summit in the morning developers spoke about developing a billion sq. ft. by 2010 which is not small. Green buildings save money, use less energy and less water. People feel better living in these buildings. Of course, it is a new movement and in the next 3 years it is going to become the biggest thing in the world. It is going to become mandatory to build green buildings. We have got Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), in next two years they are projecting it as a self imposed norm for developing buildings. We are not talking about zero-carbon buildings, they are very high-end. No building is zero-carbon. We are talking about buildings which save 50% energy, 40% water and use 100% day-lighting. Increase the productivity of the people by 30%.

P&S: What about the cost of green buildings?

KG: It is very very nominal. When I did my first green building it cost 16% more than normal buildings, now the differential is only three-fourth. It has got to do with attitude and nothing to do with money.

When you design a green building right from the conception there are some parameters which you should keep in mind, you must not have anything on east and west, so it’s in the attitude. The cost of running the building was never included, the budget for developing the building was done but not about the maintenance. The point is that we are not taught these things in colleges. Today the lifecycle cost of the building is being taken care of which is the actual cost of running the building.
It is like having a luxury car whose maintenance cost is more than its price. What is important is running it.

The other thing is our perception. Everything from the west is not modern. We think steel is modern, we think glass is modern. Putting up glass buildings does not make us modern. We don’t look at our culture, heritage and roots. We just copy the west. So its our perception which leads us to make buildings which is not energy efficient.

P&S: Is it possible to build such buildings in a city like Mumbai which is congested and lacks space?

KG: Of course it is. The design for buildings has to be contextual.
For example, At Nariman Point, you pay Rs700-800 per sq ft for the huge glass window, then you realize that too much heat is coming in you pay another Rs 500 per sq ft for vertical curtains and you keep it closed. Then why did you have it at the first place, because you thought it will look good. A building which is working well is bound to look good. But if you want the building to look good and then see the other aspects then it will never meet your expectation. Today’s designers they don’t look at the context. I question the very validity and basis of designers. They are arrogant and do not consider the context. They have some pre-conceived notion and they decide what they want to do.

P&S: Have you seen attitudinal shifts as far as green buildings are concerned?

KG: Yes. When we first organized a lecture there were just 100 people, but at this summit there were over 1000. That is the shift. The only reason I agreed for the Tata lectures because I had decided when I was invited by former U.S. president Bill Clinton in 2007 for a lecture that I would address 10,000 students and 10,000 professionals every year. I was amazed at the response at this summit.

P&S: What do you want to say to students of architecture?

KG: My message is, never forget your roots. Whatever you are looking for is in your culture. Look within and not outside and you will get your answers.