SR eVeNt tale of two Capital Cities New delhi and tirana with Ar Dikshu Kukreja

Tale of Two CapiTal CiTies

New Delhi aND TiraNa

Ar Dikshu Kukreja in an exlusive conversation with Aneula Ristani, Deputy Mayor, Tirana, Albania. This talk focused on the capital cities of India and Albania with regards to their urban transformation and policies that influence city engagement and efforts in achieving a sustainable habitat.

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In this promising episode of the Tale of Two Capital Cities: New Delhi and Tirana, Surfaces Reporter and CP Kukreja Architects (CPKA) hosted an exclusive tete-a-tete between Ar Dikshu Kukreja, Managing Principal, CPKA and Ms Anuela Ristani, Deputy Mayor, Tirana, Albania, in the presence of chief guest Mr Rahul Shrivastava, Ambassador of India to Romania, Albania and Moldova. Moderated by Ms Vertica Dvivedi, Editor-in-Chief, SURFACES REPORTER and Ms Aurela Cuku, Founder, Artissima Art Gallery and Artissima Art Agency. Ar Rajendra Kumar offered the vote of thanks.

“Tirana is a very beautiful and colourful city. One thing I have noticed is that every building is coloured differently, like a painting. I was told that the present Prime Minister, who was the mayor of Tirana back then, is a painter and wanted to add this colourful landscape to the Tirana skyline.”

A common threAd between new delhi And tirAnA

The session commenced by Ms Dvivedi introducing Ambassador Mr Shrivastava, who at the age of 40 became India’s youngest appointed ambassador. Born in Chhattisgarh, India, he grew up in Odisha where he attended ravenshaw

university, Cuttack and National Institute of technology,

raurkela. Being a diplomat, Ambassador Mr Shrivastava’s work has taken him to interesting places. Although a current resident of Bucharest, he often visits Albania. Reminiscing one of his visits to Tirana, he said, “Tirana is a very beautiful and colourful city. One thing I have noticed is that every building is coloured differently, like a painting. I was told that the present Prime Minister, who was earlier the mayor of Tirana, is a painter and wanted to add this colourful landscape to the Tirana skyline.” Drawing a connection between the two capitals, he further adds, “Other than the strong connection of Mother Teresa, just like Tirana, New Delhi is also a green city. You may be surprised to see monkeys and birds in the capital city with a population of 30 million. While New Delhi is an old city with almost1,000 years of history, Tirana with a population of about 1 million, is a smaller and comparatively newer (600-year-old) city. Tirana has a bit of character as it combines its rich history with modern time. On the other hand, New Delhi, which has accommodated several rulers in the past, has historical gates. Of the 30 gates, five stand tall at present.”

new delhi: Fine trAnsFormAtion, best Architecture And the urbAn turmoil

Continuing further, ar Dikshu Kukreja, principal, CpKa, Delhi joined the panel. Touted to be among the top 100 in the world and the top five architectural firms in Asia, CPKA has achieved a unique distinction of being the first design firm in India to acquire US-based design practice, specializing in sustainability. Drawing the connotation from the tale of four blind men and an elephant, Ar Kukreja narrated the tale of New Delhi. Taking us 75 years back, he painted a distinct picture of Delhi during the independence era. The partition caused millions migrating to the capital, which transformed the character of the city. Fast forwarding to the early 70s, the government realized that for the country to prosper a strong educational foundation is a must, and this lead to the genesis of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), one of the largest universities in the country. The JNU project was awarded to ar Cp Kukreja, Founder, CPKA.

Other than the strong connection of Mother Teresa, just like Tirana, New Delhi is also a green city. You may be surprised to see monkeys and birds in the capital city with a population of 30 million. While New Delhi is an old city with 1,000 years of history, Tirana with a population of about 1 million, is a smaller and comparatively newer (600-year-old) city. Tirana has a bit of character as it combines its rich history with modern, present time. On the other hand, New Delhi, which has accommodated several rulers in the past, has historical gates. Of the 30 gates, five stand tall at present.

Mr Rahul Shrivastava

Ambassador of India to Romania, Albania and Moldova

Although there were many universities coming across India around that time, what makes JNU so special even today according to Ar Kukreja is, “it was a completely new departure, one of which was how you embrace nature and create anarchitecture which is sustainable to modern and resurgent India. Deep overhangs to reduce heat glare into the building and natural use of brick material enhanced the sustainable aspect of its architecture. Becoming the first-of-its kind in the country, JNU fused faculty housing at one end and student housing on the other.” With the help of a slideshow, he further highlighted the transitory spaces between one building to another against the play of light and shadow which is significant in tropical architecture and brick-concrete made Karmapa International buddhist Institute. He also informs CPKA’s involvement in New Delhi’s master plan for 2041 and with the help of a pictorial representation of the marina bay in singapore a century back and at present, he imparts knowledge on how design transformed a water feature of a city into an iconic architecture.

Explaining the challenges of the capital, Ar Kukreja says, “Other than the River Yamuna, New Delhi is clogged with traffic and is one of the most polluted cities in the world. CPKA is one the first Indian architecture firm to be involved with the underground metro. This has improved connectivity and has changed the urban vocabulary. Besides, we are designing India’s and New Delhi’s first transit-oriented development across the city over 85 acre. We aim at creating New Delhi as a vertical city with intelligent skyline.”

tirAnA: Young, vibrAnt And growing

Joining the city in 2015 as the Chief of Staff, ms ristani became the Deputy Mayor after the 2019 elections. Being in charge of international affairs, she has also overseen the city’s Green City Action plan, Tirana child-friendly agenda, and the resilience and sustainability strategies. With such strong credential work, she has amazing plans for the city ahead. A small and young city located in the south centre of Europe, Tirana was expected to celebrate its 100th anniversary last year, which got held on the account of the ongoing pandemic. Deputy Mayor Ms Ristani told us that the city will be a european youth capital in 2022, which is a first as no capital city in Europe has ever been a capital of the youth before. Sharing comparative images of first urban map of the city with a few decades later and at present, she started her presentation on highlighting how quickly the city has quadrupled its population and grown over the years, registering 25,000-30,000 new inhabitants yearly. For a city this small, it is challenging to accommodate the rising population by transforming the infrastructure. Dept Mayor Ms Ristani adds, “We started from the Skanderbeg Square, nestled in the heart of Tirana, a place where people often visit and history resonates. Back till the 80s, people didn’t own private vehicles and the centre turned out to be a place for people to meet and walk. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, this place started to shrink and grew smaller as new cars started invading the place. Although it is named Skanderbeg Square, it is almost only a roundabout for cars – a transit point when you first step into the city from anywhere. We realized it was not suitable for a city that aspires to be vibrant, modern and urban. Today, it is 100 percent pedestrian friendly. The footfall we received was humongous and we realized how much people need public space, a space that is safe and sustainable. I believe this is a human right which was taken away due to development. We introduced some green spaces and water features to mitigate the temperature.” Other than the River Yamuna, New Delhi is clogged with traffic and is one of the most polluted cities in the world. CPKA is one the first Indian architecture firm to be involved with the underground metro. This has improved connectivity and has changed the urban vocabulary. Besides, we are designing India’s and New Delhi’s first transit-oriented development across the city over 85 acre. We aim at creating New Delhi as a vertical city with intelligent skyline.

Ar Dikshu Kukreja

Principal, CPKA, Delhi

We started from the Skanderbeg Square, nestled in the heart of Tirana, a place where people often visit and history resonates.

She further citied few more transformational examples in her presentation including the 100-year-old bazaar, boulevard, allocation of space for transportation and pedestrian movement, playgrounds, bike lanes for young kids, and creating a horizontal, orbital forest and a neighbourhood hosting residential and business centre.

wAY to the Future For new delhi And tirAnA

ms Vertica Dvivedi, Editor-in- Chief, SURFACES REPORTER Magazine asked Deputy Mayor Ms Ristani on Tirana’s health infrastructure for the ongoing pandemic. “We were lucky to close up early with an aggressive lockdown for the first month. This enabled health institutions to get ready for the future rise. We also started vaccination as soon it was made available. People took walks in the parks when gyms were closed and opted for bikes as private vehicles weren’t allowed,” she informed.

On the concluding note, Ar Kurkreja allures that one cannot put a stop on how much you can allow a city to grow, however, “As designers and urbanites you have to come out with the right solution. For example, New Delhi faces the challenge of scarcity of water or the quality of air; it doesn’t mean that it’s going to go away if you reduce the number of people coming into the city. I believe in going vertical in response to the needs of the city. Land is a finite resource and water on the Earth’s surface is a far greater available risk than land. So as futuristic as it may sound, it is imperitive for cities to develop on water. But for now, it is important to go vertical without losing the characteristic of a good neighbourhood. I think the solutions are about how you build it by making it resilient with the environment-friendly technologies and systems. It is important to thrive for public spaces such as playgrounds, plazas, riverfronts, etc.” Resonating the sentiment of Ar Kukreja, Vertica Dvivedi concluded, “While going vertical is the need of the hour for a city like Delhi which is overcrowding with each passing day, the growing infrastructure must consider environment as a major point. We must not put the environment at stake for the sake of the development. The approach must be to accommodate for the rising population while looking for alternate resources that can be replenished and also save the environment at large.” Although it is named Skanderbeg Square, it is almost only a roundabout for cars – a transit point when you first step into the city from anywhere. We realized it was not suitable for a city that aspires to be vibrant, modern and urban. Today, it is 100 percent pedestrian friendly. The footfall we received was humongous and we realized how much people need public space, a space that is safe and sustainable. I believe this is a human right which is taken away due to development.

Ms Anuela Ristani

Deputy Mayor, Tirana, Albania

While going vertical is the need of the hour for a city like Delhi which is overcrowding with each passing day, the growing infrastructure must consider environment as a major point. The approach must be to accommodate for the rising population while looking for alternate resources that can be replenished and also save the environment at large.

Ms Vertica Dvivedi

Editor-in-Chief, Surfaces Reporter