In dialogue with brick and mortar

An innate social responsibility shines through all our stories this week. Responsibility that is born out of respect for nature, for heritage, for human and plant life; almost like an ode to inherent aesthetics.

Handcrafted sensitivity of Bangladesh meets the precision of the Dutch as a collaborative effort by both architects culls out a village supermarket more like a community centre. A beautiful merger of function and humanitarian values.

Just as serene and sentimental, is the restoration and refurbishment of an old mansion in East China that is now transformed into a boutique hotel. Restraint proves to be the showstopper in this architectural makeover.

And of course, our cover story on studio PKA from Mumbai that yet again endorses the fact that when architecture speaks it's potent language, it results in a bonding of human and surrounds as none other.

Enjoy the issue. There's plenty to mull over…

Warm regards,
Savitha Hira
Editor