India is a land of opportunity. Especially for those adept at using the system to milk its cities.
Architects are no exception.
The urban chaos in India today is in no small part due to the subtle and skillful manipulation of civic bodies and real estate interests by ambitious architects whose flouting of building codes is causing irreparable damage to Indian cities. Their greed has already destroyed the once elegant cities of Bombay and Delhi. But since enough is never enough Chandigarh is the next prize in the architectural sweepstakes of India. It offers rich pickings to enterprising architects who can think big and network globally to provide an ideological veneer and legitimacy to a brazen attempt to hijack this splendid city for personal pelf and fame. This was the reason for the drama staged in Chandigarh last week.