Architecture responds to the pragmatic needs of site, programme, climate, regulations, as well as aesthetic concerns of creating quality space. The former deals with rational/tangible quantifiable considerations, while the latter deals with ephemeral/intangible qualitative concerns.

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In architectural education as well as practice, we increasingly observe that projects are being described through the pragmatic lens and lesser so through the lens of aesthetic aspirations. Simply because the rational considerations are easier to justify, are we shying away from assessing the quality of the spaces we create?

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In this year’s Kurula Varkey Design Forum, we want to grapple with the question of how much of a role ‘beauty’ plays in architectural projects today. Is it the result of a conscious pursuit to achieve spatial quality or is it a resultant of other practical considerations?