The Buildofy Narration, the Giant Cut-Out, and the AC Bill
So recently I bought a Buildofy subscription. In my free time, I usually explore different residences and download their PDFs. I usually avoid watching the videos because most of them have a very weird narrative.
They can start anywhere, from a bedroom on the third floor to a random cutout in the ceiling. Usually, the architect talks about the play of light, the experience, double height spaces and grand lobbies. Especially the grand lobbies. They’re never actually grand, they’re just weirdly spaced places with weird proportions. And then there’s all this talk about the play of light in a country like India.
The narrative can literally time skip. They could be talking about the entrance and then suddenly jump to any other place in the whole house instead of talking about what actually happens after the entry.
And one other very funny thing I’ve noticed is that most architects try to use the same words to describe their designs: experience, grand, juxtaposition, materials, and so on. But the thing is, it’s not actually happening. They use words like experience, grand and juxtaposition when the materials are literally some of the dullest materials you could possibly see.
And what is it with architects not giving projections over windows? They’ll invest so much time planning double height spaces and grand spaces.
In places like Delhi, what sort of electricity bill are they paying to have these spaces air conditioned? And these aren’t even projects somewhere in the colder parts of India. They’re literally in places that experience sunlight for most of the year.
And yet we’re still designing huge double height spaces and cutouts with barely any projection over the windows.