A+ on our Building Report Card
We love it when our architects visit just on general principles: it’s reassuring to know that the plans and the reality are in sync and that the drawings are being carefully reviewed and referred to at every juncture. Indeed, I often feel that Ashish and the Parag crew know what each room is for better […]
A Ramp to the Stars
It’s been a long time and a great deal has happened since my last post! Sorry about that, but I will try and make up for it by giving you a guided tour! Chalo. Let’s begin. Guided tours keep us all very busy these days. We bring parents and grandparents to see the building where […]
Meeting The Built World
When Sumita and I attended a two-day training on India’s National Building Code, I never expected it would be such a turning point in my life. I thought we would learn some things about ramps, doorways and accessible toilets. I didn’t realize that it would change the way I think and speak; that it would […]
A Tidy Site is a Safe Site
Whenever we were sick as children, my mother would tidy the “sickroom.” She put fresh sheets on the bed and brought in a few extra pillows so we could sit up comfortably. She made sure the windows were open (fresh air was key) and we were allowed to use a special tray for our meals […]
Stairs | Why Every Millimeter Matters
I cannot get over just how detailed and demanding every aspect of constructing a building is. Right down to the last millimeter. everything matters. Who thinks about stairs, though? They seem like such simple structures, the kind of thing we all drew as children and constructed ourselves using wooden blocks. But, while stairs are indeed […]
Quality Control
You don’t get to this stage of construction without having kept a close eye on structure, strength and the quality of the materials being used. And, as we keep learning in this building project, it all comes down to systems. Every month, Ashish (the Cushman & Wakefield engineer at the site) conducts a review meeting […]
Scaffolding
Sometimes you just need a good poem. Even in a Building Blog. Masons, when they start upon a building, Are careful to test out the scaffolding; Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points, Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints. And yet all this comes down when the job’s done Showing off walls […]
Visitability
Visitability! What a lovely concept, and what a goal to strive for. I first heard the word from Subhash Vashishth at the Indian Building Code seminar but it’s been around since the 1980s and in common use among architects, designers and the disabled community in the UK and the US. The idea is that it […]
Sometimes A Great Notion | The Curb Cut Effect
Some of the participants at the Indian Building Code seminar were pretty angry. Many use wheelchairs to get around, one is blind and one was there inspired by his wife who is completely paralyzed (he also has hearing issues). Yet the seminar was held in a training centre built by the Bureau of Indian Standards […]
Getting to Know the Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex
What does the brain have to do with our building project? Consider this a short introduction to tenacity, a quality anyone building a world-class campus showcasing universal design needs a LOT of. New research suggests that “the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) is an important network hub in the brain that performs the cost/benefit computations necessary […]