The Presidential address was delivered on 22nd November, 2005, at Rang Sharda Hotel, Bandra Reclamation, Mumbai by Ar. Gurunath Dalvi.

Hon`ble Chief Guests, Guest of Honour,

Hon`ble Trustees of the Indian Institute of Architects, Hon`ble Past Presidents, Hon`ble Members of council of IIA, Hon`ble Dignitories, fellow architects, invitees from various Govt. organizations, representatives from media my dear students, ladies and gentlemen,

It has indeed been my greatest pleasure to serve this great organization in various posts. I have earlier occupied the position of the Treasurer, Vice-President and I feel honoured that I have been elected to the highest position within the professional organization, for the present term. The term should normally have started in the year 2004. However, due to some litigation which could have been easily avoided, we had to have an election again. It is perhaps rare that the President of IIA is elected with a margin which is more than twice the votes polled by the rival candidate.

It is also rare that the entire team gets elected with a thumping majority and the margin of votes, is so big that it exceeds the votes polled by the other candidates. This would have never been possible if an overwhelming majority of Architects would not have total confidence on me and my team. I would, however, take this victory with the humbleness and humility with which it deserves to be taken. We hold no ill will against any individual. Let the Architects unite once again under the banner of IIA and prove not just to the powers that be in India but to the entire architectural fraternity in the world that we, as a team are capable to deliver international class services in the discipline of architecture.

India is not only the largest democracy in the world, but also the centre of excellence in the spheres of information technology, bio-technology and other advanced sciences connected with cutting edge technology in the world. We have successfully proved our supremacy when it comes to high quality / outputs. Despite the limited resources available to us we have proved our capacity to deliver at all times. India, therefore, has now come to be recognized as an international hub for provisions of services. On one hand, we are proud of our achievements, on the other, development has affected us adversely in some areas. One of them is the indiscriminate urbanization. Urban centres within India are growing at a rapid pace and more than 1/3rd of the population lives in urban areas. Out of this a substantial percentage (40%) lives in the metropolitan cities. We have 50 cities which have a population of 1 lac and above. The indiscriminate growth in urban centres in India unfortunately is not a planned growth. We have seen that various planning strategies have failed to achieve the desired goal of decent living in the cities. While infrastructure precedes development in most parts of the world we are left with organic growth and have to provide for infrastructure as a afterthought.

The policies declared by the Government from time to time, have been grossly inadequate, and their tardy implementation is creating more problems than solving them. It is in this back ground that an organization such as ours which has a membership of over 15000 members, qualified professionals could have been pressed into action to help the government to find solutions to the problems faced in urban and rural areas. We ought to have been consulted in the process of policy making. This did not happen. I trust that it is the appropriate time to ensure that we are consulted in all matters of policy making. In any case we must make our opinion known to the powers that be on issues which concern the policies regarding housing, urban development, heritage, conservation, rural development, infrastructure etc. I appeal to my fellow architects to help my team to create an opinion among the people to put pressure on the Government to heed to professional advise when it comes to policy making and implementation, on issues of housing urban development and rural development.

We, as architects have been promoters of development and development also envisages certain amount of destruction of environment. When this destruction reaches alarming proportions, the development becomes unsustainable. Such unsustainable development would encourage disasters which have been waiting to happen. Small mistakes can trigger a major disasters. Our lack of sensitivity for issues concerned with environment has resulted in man made disasters., as we have seen during the floods in different parts of the country.

We as an Institution must strive to reach to those affected by natural disasters and help them in all possible ways. The Govt. must avail of our services whenever disaster relief requires professional advise.

Architects are perhaps the only professionals who have developed a multi-disciplined way of thinking.

We have to deal with several laws that affect the well being of the common man. The regional town planning acts, the development control regulations etc, have to be interpreted, by us judiciously when we discharge our duties. There are other laws such as coastal regulation zone law, heritage conservation law, environmental protection act, The forest act etc which need to be studied at great length to be able to practice satisfactorily. In the process of building up our practice, we have to ensure that every position that we take, must directly or indirectly be for the benefit of community and nothing that we do will adversely affect the people. When the choice is between indiscriminate growth and regulated development , we have to stand by the people, support them in their endeavour to make living more comfortable.

We have amongst us young and senior professionals who are capable to think way beyond the thinking of average citizen. Our capacity to understand issues, subject these issues through an advanced thought process, and to find solutions, must be institutionalized and developed. IIA must be India`s most innovative think tank and we must train our members to conceive and develop innovative projects which can be submitted to the governments, both at the national level and state level. There should be a think tank at the national level and at the state levels. These think- tanks should be churners of ideas and should provide solutions to every possible problem faced in the process of development.

We have amongst us many professionals who have been practicing in the field of architecture for decades. India has been an independent country for about 60 years. In these six decades there were several opportunities to plan our cities. But, whenever there is a mention of new cities, we are still given the reference of Lutyen`s New Delhi and Le Corbusier`s Chandigarh. We have seen hundreds new urban centres springing up in the lengths and breadths of India. . None of them have found a mention at international levels in glorifying terms. The individual works of some architects have found words of praise in academic discussions, workshops and seminars. Some of these architects have also been showered with honours and praises at the international level. Should this be enough to conclude that Indian architecture has become globally competitive both in quality and in content? Surely not. Instead of being leaders in the world in this sphere as well, some of us have been satisfied by some kind of plagiarism of works, transplantation of architectural styles from one part of the globe to the other part with scant respect for the climatic, geomorphologic conditions on site. This has really resulted in Indian architecture going unnoticed and unsung and in most cases the fault appears to be entirely ours. IIA shall make serious effort to reverse this trend and strive to ensure that we churn out top quality designs which should be comparable with the best architectural designs anywhere else in the world.

IIA must play a proactive role in enhancing the quality of education by reaching out to its members from the academic faculties through the wide network of architectural colleges that we have across the country. It is only when the younger generation is trained to meet the international challenges, that we can be assured of the safe future. We should not just be satisfied in being recognized as the Best Brand which can provide solutions on a wide range of subjects. We must also be seen as a catalytic agency which will help our Architects to compete at the international level and get nominated / commissioned on projects in different parts of the world.

Making ourselves compete with the rest of the world and carve a niche for ourselves may not necessarily be our ultimate goal. Our role as nation builders must also be reexamined. We must also take a look at ourselves. The new breed of builders which has emerged in recent times have promoted a different work culture in which architects have little role to perform. Most builders / developers appoint Architects on their pay role and the job appears to be to provide as much floor space as permitted in the development control regulations. Little emphasis is given on top quality designing and aesthetic values. The nett result is bad architecture. While the world moved from modernism to the post modernism and then shed post –modernism to go in for other options including, deconstruction, some of us have not grown up to the realities of architectural advancement. Some of our architects churn out something which becomes an constant source of embarrassment to us when international critics have a close look at their work. We must set up a mechanism to discourage such architecture, which may undermine the role of Indian architects at the international level.

The Indian constitution grants the citizen the right to live. The supreme court of India has time and again ruled that the right to live in encompasses the right to shelter. The political system in India was quick to recognize this as it suited them, but the national housing policy, as amended from time to time, needs to be bold and must identify the core issues, and address them.

The 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution of India makes it clear that more powers need be delegated to the local self government bodies. However, in practice the powers are sought to be taken away from the local self government and concentrated into the hands of a small section of power brokers. These actions not only go against the spirit of the Indian Constitution but also hurt public interest.. We must strive to evolve a process of decision making which is decentralised and which consider the hopes and aspiration of the people at large. Issues must be decided on merit, professional advise should be considered supreme.

On one hand we talk in terms of preserving our cultural heritage. However, some of us suggest demolition of heritage structures and encourage new construction. The IIA must work towards organized protection of India`s cultural heritage. Tourism brings us the much required revenue for fuelling economic growth. Heritage tourism can be best encouraged if we have a movement to conserve historical monuments and heritage precincts.

Research and documentation is another aspect which the Indian Institute of Architects must concentrate on. We have abysmal record when it comes to churning out good books. IIA shall promote research in various disciplines, and ensure that such research will be helpful in achieving of our goal of improvement of standards of architecture in the Country.

IIA shall encourage the conceiving, designing and implementation of intelligent, smart and green buildings. We shall encourage research in building materials, and use of eco friendly materials.

If we were to take a close look at urban growth centres in the country one would realize that a overwhelming majority of citizens have never availed of the services from the architectural discipline. We cater to a small percentage of the population. The rest thrive, and survive not because of us but in spite of us.

The IIA shall look forward to change this situation and make architectural service available to make housing at affordable prices to all those who really need it. We have been a profession which catered to needs of the kings and the royal families. Later we started catering to our rulers whether they be locals or foreigners. Then came a time when we sang to the tunes of the rich and wealthy. We have gone through bad times when our services were exploited by those who use them to amass wealth by indulging in non sustainable development projects. The time has now come to take architecture back to the masses-to where it belongs-to what is its legitimate place.

As we attempt to reach the masses we must focus on functional and economical planning without neglecting the aesthetical point of view.

The IIA shall strive to take the profession to a new level of moral and ethical conscience keeping where we should not be seen as agents or brokers who strike a deal between the clients and the approving authorities. We should instead be seen as a breed of professionals committed to the advancement of profession and strive to enhance architectural practice.

Some practices have emerged in recent times which need to be opposed with all the strength at our command. The calling for tenders for professional charges, insistence of payment of security deposits by the architect before awarding of the job, etc. must be stopped. The IIA will make special efforts to convince the government to stop such practices.

Plans prepared by architects are scrutinized and approved by engineers and non architects. It has been common a complaint that the understanding of architectural planning, if the approving authorities comprise non-architects is fairly limited. The IIA will try to ensure that architectural planning must be scrutinized and approved by architects only. Our endeavour should be to demistify every single aspect of architecture so that it becomes intelligible to the masses. It is necessary that the communion between the Architects and the masses is complete. The society at large gains by such a communion. When the society benefits architects benefit as well. It shall be my endeavour to take IIA to higher levels of acceptability in the society. This may require hard work. Some of us may be required to do selfless work. Selfless work comes if we build up a will to sacrifice for the society. I know and am aware that raising expectation may not necessarily be good for all as it is difficult to live up to the expectations. However, like many other leaders of all times, I too have dream. The dream has a vision of strong and powerful IIA, vocal IIA, active IIA, honest IIA, dynamic IIA. I know that the task is huge and difficult and as a poet puts it …..“ I have things to do, promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep”….