It was a celebration of spaces. Having secured a contract to design the Indian
Embassy in Nigeria, Dikshu Kukreja, the young director of C.P. Kukreja Associates, decided to throw a lavish bash at the Le Meridien.
Besides raising a toast to Kukreja, the guests were also kicked about the changing architectural scene in and around the city and the National Capital Region. “With the advent of multinational corporations, we are seeing beautiful buildings come up in Delhi’s surroundings. The premises are getting more cost-effective too with effective use of space. Now, one can even design the counters oneself and not just settle with readymade ones,” said Sanjay Batra from the A.L.Batra group of companies. Concurred Lumax JMD, Deepak Jain. “It’s good to see that the old and the new co-exist. However, the infrastructure is getting worse.”
Atul Chauhan, president of the Amity group, on the other hand, wasn’t happy with residential architecture. “Delhi’s homes don’t have the elegant feel seen in other cities the world over” Indipopper Shibani Kashyap seemed to be happy with the apartment and mall culture. “Apartments are all about more utilisation of space. So I like them but there is a definite western touch to the buildings that are coming up. The villas for instance have an Italian feel with Roman arches clearly evident. Then French windows are also in vogue. I think it will be better if we can give a more ethnic, more Indian look.”
Buildings apart, the ladies, quite a few in white, made a statement in elegance.
