MUMBAI, India -- India’s construction industry has always been a strong reflector of the economy and one that gets impacted by any fluctuation. With new policy initiatives such as the Land Acquisition Bill, industry constituents including realtors, architects and interior designers expressed concerns whether radically new designs or ideas can match the rapid pace of realty developments in the face of lack of/ delay in approvals and lack of incentives for green buildings. These were the key takeaways from ET Edge’s Architecture & Design Summit held in Mumbai.
The opening address was by James Law, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, James Law Cybertecture International. After a session titled “Adding the WOW factor in Architecture & Designing”, the following Special Committee and Advisory Board Members were felicitated: Isabelle Miaja, Principal & Creative Director, Miaja Design Group; Ponni M Concessao, Partner, OCI Architects; Seema Puri, Founder, Seema Puri Architects; Sheila Sri Prakash, Founder, Shilpa Architects; Sunita Kohli, Founder, K2 India; Moderator : Sonali Bhagwati, President, Designplus Architecture.
Some of the presenting panelists and speakers include: Sunil Mantri (CMD, Mantri Realty), Niranjan & Surendra Hiranandani (Hiranandani Group of companies), Ali Lokhandwala (Lokhandwala Infrastructure), Kishore Bhatija (CEO, InOrbit Mall), Mayur Shah (MD, Marathon Group), Sandeep Runwal (Director, Runwal Group), Hafeez Contractor, Abhishek Somany (JMD, Somany Ceramics), Bobby Mukherji (Bobby Mukherji & Associates), Manju Yagnik (Nahar Group), Manit Rastogi (Morphogenesis), Martin Klassen (Klassen Lighting Design), Mustansir Dalvi (Professor, Sir JJ College of Architecture) and Laukik Bothara (World Trade Center Project) amongst others…
In his opening remarks, Deepak Lamba, President, TCL-BCCL, said, “The first annual ET Edge Architecture & Design Summit discussed and deliberated some of the challenges facing the industry such as regulatory approvals, budgeting and lesser efficient project management systems that have shrouded this industry since many years. Many of these queries have remained unanswered and to a great extent stagnated the ascending curve. Despite the pessimism that surrounds the industry at large, the subset community of architecture and design has boomed and the contemporary designs of the spaces being built are a sufficient proof.”
Architect Hafeez Contractor said, “While we have seen numerous innovations in building spaces right from state-of-the-art offices to luxurious homes, yet the Indian industry in general has a long way to go before we meet up with global standards. This definitely does not indicate lack of creativity or talent within the industry at large. We believe that demands of the emerging era will be met only by those who continuously explore and think beyond the present. Today, as the Indian architect and designer community makes its mark in the global landscape, it is imperative, they reinvent at every stage to ensure that they stay abreast of the cutting edge trends and leave behind not just historic landmarks for the country but ones that would be etched on the world map. This aggressive vision would need all stakeholders to regularly meet, deliberate and exchange views while sharing global practices that would add new dimensions and dynamism to this fraternity.”
“ET Edge Architecture & design Summit aims to become a convergence platform for this community bringing real time business solutions with an endeavour to become the voice of the industry in the coming years. The first edition of the forum brought together leading patrons to discuss on topics aligning with our theme. With our robust plans to take this conference to new heights over the years, we strive to leave back a footprint on the industry and become a focal point on deliberation on key industry issues while successfully disseminating critical industry information,” added Lamba.
The strategic discussions amongst leaders and visionaries presented India and global industry barons & visionaries on a single platform to put across their concerns to the policy makers, discover new opportunities, create and expand into untapped markets and understand the existing lacunae and loop-holes that impact profits and market share, thus enriching the industry at large. This conference will see participation from c+ level executives, business & functional heads from established as well as upcoming retail chains, and will focus on bringing the greatest international minds and the industry on the same platform to discuss challenges, exchange ideas and network.
ET Edge has been founded to empower multiple sector, industries and segments through the dispersion of critical business knowledge through strategically developed conference and summits. Foreseeing the tremendous potential, which India has in store, especially in sectors such as Retail, Infrastructure, Healthcare, education, Technology and BFSI, ET Edge strives to bring together visionaries and key global leaders through its enriched knowledge through strategically developed conferences and summits. Foreseeing the tremendous potential, which India has in store, ET Edge strives to bring together visionaries and key global leaders through it enriched knowledge platforms to aid the symbiotic relationship societies and businesses share. Extensive market research with core practitioners, experts, leading trend setters and policy makers is conducted to ensure that these platforms are unparalleled in the vertical they cater to. Visionaries and industry leaders contributing as speakers will only ensure that these platforms set themselves apart.
Deepak Lamba, President, TCL-BCCL, said, “We aim to develop knowledge destinations by channelizing global intelligence vide summits and conferences through fortifying lectures, workshops, panel discussions, roundtables and case studies. The forums would ensure that the senior decision makers are equipped with information to respond to challenges being faced from a global perspective. We have substantial expedients for the business and visualize it taking mammoth proportions while developing into a one-stop destination for the stalwarts of the industry. The plan is to formulate a focused holistic solution for key sectors, which contributes largely towards the GDP of the nation.”
Times Conferences Ltd. (TCL) specializes in building B2B communities through the creation of high octane content with a long term objective of becoming a holistic destination for industry segments. TCL will deploy unique B2B initiatives to attain high levels of saliency and attract the brightest minds across industry sectors. These initiatives leave back a footprint on the industry and over the years become a focal point of deliberation on key industry issues, and disseminating critical industry information.
