Mass rural-to-urban migration in India will put pressure on the country's architects in the coming years, Morphogenesis co-founder Sonali Rastogi tells Dezeen in this interview.
The world's most populous country is experiencing a shift from a largely agrarian economy to an increasingly industrialised one ? with ambitions set by prime minister Narendra Modi for India to become a developed economy by 2047.
According to the World Bank, towns and cities in India are expected to house 40 per cent of the country's population by 2036 ? equivalent to 600 million people ? up from 31 per cent in 2011.
Architects to face "huge responsibility"
Almost 70 per cent of the urban infrastructure needed for these cities is yet to be built, and Rastogi believes the responsibility for making sure it gets delivered will fall predominantly onto architects. "For the first time, I feel anxious," Rastogi said. "[Architects] are going to be the nation-builders, so to achieve this number I think we have a huge responsibility."
In less than three decades since being established in 1996, Morphogenesis has grown to more than 200 people and now stands as one of India's most commercially successful architecture firms.
Even so, for Rastogi the challenge ahead over the next few decades is a daunting one.
"I think I know how to do it, but I don't think I know how to do it at that scale," Rastogi said. "I'm only a small, small, tiny player."
"Going forward...