Room for Utopias New Podcast From designboom Explores Indian Architecture
designboom launches Room for Utopias podcast in collaboration with INDX|GLOBAL, featuring 11 conversations with Indian architects in Paris exploring site-responsive design.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- The new podcast 'Room for Utopias' is produced by designboom in partnership with INDX|GLOBAL.
- Features 11 recorded conversations with prominent Indian architects and designers in Paris.
- Focuses on architectural approaches rooted in listening to nature, site, and local culture.
- The debut episode highlights indoor microclimate control and harmonious landscape integration.
Architecture and design publication designboom has launched a new podcast series titled Room for Utopias, produced in collaboration with INDX|GLOBAL. The series gathers eleven conversations with architects and designers from India, filmed in Paris, exploring architecture as a practical method to imagine and test alternative ways of living rather than relying on grand speculative urban visions.
The debut article, titled 'A World that Starts with Place', brings together two podcast episodes moderated by Iñaki Laguardia, designboom's Managing Editor. Both episodes examine architecture that begins by listening instead of imposing—one focusing on how buildings coexist with natural elements, and the other uncovering existing spatial, cultural, and technological intelligence on site.
The release of this podcast series reflects a broader global shift among contemporary architects toward sustainable design and contextual architecture, moving away from hyper-futuristic structures that conflict with natural surroundings. Indian contemporary architects are increasingly recognized for bridging traditional regional wisdom with digital tools to tackle pressing environmental and spatial challenges.
In the first conversation, Anushri Patel of HPAD discusses interacting with raw site conditions in high-temperature regions. Rather than treating greenery as mere decoration, Patel describes utilizing native vegetation as a functional building instrument to regulate indoor microclimates and control thermal conditions. She also notes a shift in client mindsets toward preserving existing site topographies, such as designing around natural rock formations instead of clearing land for maximum footprints.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
The second conversation expands site reading beyond physical topography. Moderator Iñaki Laguardia sits down with Dinesh Panwar of Urbanscape Architects, Hiren Patel of HPAD, and Monika Choudhary of ZHCollective | Habitat Architects to discuss how existing conditions, user requirements, and digital tools shape architectural decisions.
Dinesh Panwar of Urbanscape Architects addresses integration when surrounding conditions demand spatial restraint. Faced with designing adjacent to a 21-meter (70-foot) structure, Panwar's studio submerged a 2,787-square-meter (30,000-square-foot) building below ground, utilizing surrounding earth and planted landscapes as context rather than competing visually. Panwar adds that for specialized programs like schools or industrial facilities, human end-users replace physical terrain as the primary context driving spatial decisions.
Through microclimate planting, local artisan networks, subterranean layouts, heritage masonry, and AI pattern testing, these discussions outline an architecture rooted in careful site observation. Featured guests include Anushri Patel, Shilpi Sonar, Shiny Mariaselvam, Ridhima Sogani, Dinesh Panwar, Hiren Patel, and Monika Choudhary, with partnerships from AMICI, MARMO SOLUTIONS, and AGGLOTECH.
Source: designboom
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