At present, India is experiencing a new surge of architects and many of them have been successful in establishing themselves as eminent designers of this era. Debmalya Guha, Principal Architect and Planner, Pace Consultants, dreams of building a city that is SAFE (sustainable architecture friendly to ecosystem) where a child can live to become a better human being. It would require wisdom and not just smartness, “which is quite unappreciated and more unavailable these days.” The dream project of Kunal Mohan Naithani, Design Principle and Founder, White Studio Architects, is a significant government building. “We really have not built anything to be proud of since the British left us the buildings they did. In fact, it has been so long that these buildings are now under the ‘heritage’ category!” He believes a change will come about when someone really looks beyond the bureaucracy and awards such government projects to fresher, more open minds—not necessarily young firms, as there are plenty of established architectural firms with great design philosophies—“instead of constantly awarding them to firms who are either good at manipulating the system or massive shark firms who are not really interested or passionately feel about such projects.” While the Indian megapolis is on the verge of imploding under the pressure of its own inefficiencies in meeting with the growing population and the demands tantamount to that growth, the dream of Huzefa Rangwala, Director and Co-Founder, MuseLAB, is one of urban regeneration: to create urban rooftop gardens above every available terrace of buildings, public parts and communities or farmers’ markets under flyovers; essentially, to make the city more liveable. “Of course, this is a vision a lot of us young architects singularly dream of, but only a collective effort can actually help us realise this.” Vivek Gupta, Founding Principal, Arvind Vivek and Associates, believes in realising his dream of designing through each of his projects. “Think of my projects like savouring a dish; you give me an egg and instead of an omelette I will present a soufflé!” To explore and test responses, to produce designs that fulfil the spirit of the brief in an inventive and unique way are what keep him going. SHRIYAL SETHUMADHAVAN