It is not just Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao but someone else also who wants to see the city’s skyline dotted with skycrapers. Noted Indian architect Hafeez Contractor said on Friday that he wants to build the tallest building in the world in Hyderabad.
He said that he could do the job and put Hyderabad on the global map with a high-rise construction project provided he gets the required support. Mr. Contractor was speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Insider-X Design Expo’, a three-day architecture and interior design event, which began in the city on Friday.
The Mumbai-based architect had recently met the Telangana Chief Minister and other higher functionaries of the government to discuss various development initiatives in Hyderabad.
A proponent of skyscrapers, Mr. Contractor said that high-rises are the saving grace in the present scenario where cities are taking the pressure of migration.
“Most cities do not have proper laws related to skyscrapers and this is the reason there are very few of them. Building skyscrapers will lead to larger space, gardens and wider roads.”
“We cannot keep on expanding and gobbling up farmland. We need to plan properly for the future and avoid cutting forests. In smaller areas we need to go vertical, have more greenery and intense infrastructure,” he said.
Addressing the participants, Mr. Contractor, who had built a number of prestigious projects like Infosys in Mysore and ISB in Hyderabad, expressed concern over the deteriorating quality of students and colleges. He felt that the admission criteria for students opting for architecture course should be oriented towards creativity rather than testing for math or technical knowledge. He also felt that there were far too many architecture colleges today with unimpressive faculty.
Expo with a difference
The expo, organised by the Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID), Hyderabad chapter, will have about 80 stalls. “This will be a design exhibition with a difference; a primarily B2B Expo that will showcase the best of global trends in architecture and interior design; with over 150 plus reputed products, contemporary design solutions, etc. ,” said Sona Chatwani of the IIID.
