The inaugural edition of the Realty+ Architecture And Design Fest (AADF) 2024, a unique gathering of top designers and architects from across the country was a day full of insightful discussions followed by the felicitation of Iconic Designers of India and awards for architects and designers in various segments for their projects.
The event Partner was NCL Door, Co-partners were NemetschekGroup, Victora, Magicrete and Champion Infratech, the Automobile Partner - Navnit Motors and Industry Partner – ISOLA. The event Associate was Eztablish Design.
The Design Fest kickstarted with the inaugural address by Dr Annurag Batra, Editor-in-Chief & Chairman, BW Businessworld & Founder, exchange4media Group. He spoke about the crucial role of designers in the holistic development of the country and also emphasised on health and kind behaviour that many times is ignored in our hectic life.
The event continued with the discussions under the segments of ‘Age of Co-creation’, ‘Collateral of Design Rebooting Cities’ and insightful conversations with renowned design gurus.
The first discussion on The Next Level of Design Collaboration was led by Deben Moza, Senior Executive Director, Head of Project Management Services, Knight Frank (India) with speakers comprising Praveen Thampi, The Ministry of Light; Priya Daniel, Principal Architect, Five Scale Design; Ar. Rajendra Kumar, Architect, Urbanist, Curator, Author, Local Ambassador, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), UK; Smita Tiwari, Founder, Articlad; and Vaishali Mangalvedhekar, Partner, SJK Architects. The speakers spoke about the importance of co-creation, and collaboration in the design world. They highlighted the fact that co-creation and collaboration when mixed with technology can do wonders.
The next panel discussion on Design & Technology In The Age Of AI was chaired by John Alok Decruz, Director, Morphogenesis and had experts, Akhil Kiran Ganatra, Managing Director, Clancy Global; Amrita V Chowdhury, Co-founder & CEO, Gaia Smart Cities; Kuldeep Sehrawat, President - Architecture & Design, Tribeca Developers; Dr Ponni M Concessao, Principal Architect & Founder, Ponni & Oscar + Rahul Architects, Chennai; and G. Naga Varma, Vice President, Business Development – NCL Doors. The speakers discussed the shifts in technology and design, how it was before and how the current young architects are engaging in technology. The speakers also shared their message to the young architects.
Speaking on the New Approach To Business Of Design Ar. Santosh Wadekar, Design Director, Studio SW; Jasmine Jhaveri, Chief Designer & Founder, Jasmine Jhaveri Design Studio; Kuber Shah, Creative Consultant, Photographer, theKuber; Nisha JamVwal, Brand Consultant, Columnist & Author; and Sakina Rangwala, Partner, Eztablish Design threw light on how the architecture and design have evolved and upcoming business trends. The role of social media and ancillary professional engagements like photography & styling were discussed in detail while they also shared their own experiences.
The most talked about topic Rebooting Cities -Redevelopment Projects For Urban Renewal was chaired by Mansi Sahu, Director, Urban Designer, Studio POD along with speakers Karan Daisaria, Principal Architect, Daisaria Associates; Kunal Kuwadekar, Principal Architect, Naren Kuwadekar & Associates; Parth Mehta, Founder & CMD, Paradigm Realty; Ar. Prashant Deshmukh, Principal Architect, Prashant Deshmukh & Associates; and Sanket Jayakar, Director, Kapadia Associates. The speakers spoke about the opportunities and challenges in the redevelopment projects for urban renewal and what more can be done at the public and private levels for the inclusive development of Indian cities.
The Design Dialogue on Fusion of Art, Space & Design among Jimmy Mistry, Chairman & Managing Director, Della Group; Arjun Rathi, Product Designer & Founder, Arjun Rathi Design; Kayur Patel, Founder & Creative Director, Studio Cast Glass India and Monika Choudhary, CDO, Co-founder & Growth Strategist, Habitat Architects showcased the need to recognised the role of each stakeholder and the speakers spoke about the how there is a lack of art and design in public spaces.
Concluding the conclave was the inspiring talk by Sapna Srivastava, Editor, Realty+ with eminent designer Alfaz Miller, Principal Architect, ABM Architects who shared his thoughts on the present scenario of the design profession and his design approach. He shared his learnings and interesting experiences as well as his future plans for the coming years.
The highlight of the AADF Excellence Awards evening was the visionary presentation by Architect James Law, Founder of Cybertecture, from Hong Kong on ‘Architecture Is Time Travel’ that took the audience into the future. He shared his insights and experiences from across the world and also appreciated how the Indian designers are doing wonders and can do more in the years to come.
He expressed that India is changing very fast and in the last few years’ wonderful designs have been created across the country. He spoke about how architecture is about time travel because whatever is created by the architects not just matters to them but to all those other people who use it, they are also influenced by it.
The inspiring presentation was followed by the Felicitations of the Iconic Designers of India. The recipients were:
The Felicitations were followed by the Realty+ AADF Excellence Awards 2024 for individuals, projects and organisations in various categories. The winners were:
Architectural Firm of the Year
INI Design Studio
Architectural Firm of the Year – Commercial
DSP Design Associates
Architectural Firm of the Year – Residential
Studio KIA
Architectural Firm of the Year – Institutional
Ponni, Oscar, Rahul Architects for Telangana State Secretariat, Hyderabad
Architectural Firm of the Year – Residential
Daisaria Associates
Architectural Design Project of the Year – Offices
ARK Studio / Reza Kabul Architects for Fintech Commercial, Gift City
Architectural Design Project of the Year – Villa
Space 5 for Cove House
Architectural Design Project of the Year – Residential
Habitat Design Architects for Hill House, Himachal Pradesh
Prashant Parmar Architect | Shayona Consultants for Terracotta Screen House
Architectural Design Project of the Year – Hospitality
Habitat Design Architects for Haveli, Amritsar
Architectural Design Project of the Year – Institutional
Ayan Sen Architects Urban Designers and Planners for NKDA COMMUNITY CENTRE
Interior Design of the Year – Hospitality
Daisaria Associates for Midas Lounge – A Biophilic Experience Centre
ARK Studio / Reza Kabul Architects for Taj Wellness Resort & Spa, Gandhinagar
Designers Group for Pilibhit House
Interior Design of the Year – Residential
Spaces & Design for Ashira
The Works Interiors for Valley Of Dreams
Interior Design of the Year - Offices
LVNG Design Studio for Spectra One - Sales Gallery
Interior Design of the Year - Show Flat
Tushar Mistry Design Studio for The Palette
Interior Design of the Year – Villa
Pentaspace Design Studio for Eden Abode
Space 5 for One Villa
Interior Design Firm of the Year - Residential
Envisage
Studio SW
Furnishing Product of the Year Award
Dorby India for Design with Dorby
Architect of the Year - Institutional
Varun Agarwal, Director, Renascent Consultants
Designer of the Year – Architectural
Ayan Sen, Principal Architect, Ayan Sen Architects Urban Designers and Planners
Architect of the Year – Hospitality
Ponni Oscar, Rahul Architects
Young Architect of the Year – Residential Award
Reha Patel, Co-founder, Kalagate Collective
