VC Live: Season 2: Episode 10: Beyond Automation: Integrating Smart Tech in Architecture

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hi good evening everyone thank you for joining us in today um on a Thursday evening uh my name is Niha uh and I'm joined by manani today we are both uh curators and collaborators at VC live um this is going to be a special VC live a unique PC live this time because uh we are going to be broadcasting and already pre-recorded interview uh with the one-on only Prashant Chan who talks about um um uh basically the integration of AI and Tech and architecture and design uh but before we uh get into that we just had a few announcements to make um if uh uh we are actually going to be launching a um event called conscious Collective tomorrow um and the event is going to be open to the rest of the public to people like you on the 9th and the 10th of December that is this weekend so if you're in Mumbai if you're uh anywhere around thei please come and drop by uh a little bit about uh what is our involvement in the conscious Collective we are actually curating a series of conversations uh with some top architects in the country and top um Business Leaders uh in the country as well uh the conversations are CER around the concept of conscious living conscious design growing a conscious brand uh and similar topics so for instance we have speakers like Rahul Merra anupama kundu we have Vu seal we have rul katri uh we have brinda Somaya nandini saath madav ran and a host of other people who will be speaking at at these conversations uh that are taking place on the 9th and 10th so if you in you're based in Bombay you happen to be in Bombay uh please do come and say hi to us uh please do come and attend the sessions too uh we're going to be sharing a registration link for conversations at the con conscious Collective uh it'll be updated on the chat shortly but we'd love to see you all there right and on that note yeah on that note um I think we are ready to uh broadcast yes the link is now up on the chat so if you'd like to um if you'd like to uh register for the sessions uh on the and 10th please feel free to do so and we'd love to say we'd love to see you there um on that note um uh we'd love to um share with you today a pre-recorded conversation that we have had with Prashant Chan of 09 who talks about the integration of AI and Tech in architecture so um thank you everyone for joining and in case you have any questions for Prashant please feel free please please feel free to leave them in the chat please know that um this is is only for we are only broadcasting today um there is no um live session per se uh today but we' be happy if in case you have any questions during the conversation that is being broadcast we be more than happy to share with Prashant we be happy to answer them for you yeah so um take it away hush if you can uh broadcast the video please thank you welcome everyone again to uh this edition of VC live in person in front of an audience like you uh we have a very special guest with us uh today uh we have Prashant Chan who's from 09 please give a round of applause to Prashant have a seat Prashant be comfortable so uh just a brief introduction if you are not aware of pran's work uh Prashant Chan is a multifaceted designer and an architect by qualification he scales beyond the boundaries of architecture to explore other design disciplines his belief is design is boundless I think it's very in touch with what we are going to be talking today how design is boundless with the help of Technology uh it forms the very core of what his practce 09 stands for with his partner Anu Chan who's right there Anu do you want to raise your hand yes uh which effortly see deals with the projects in architecture in advertising interior and exhibition design as well his zest for innovation has won him recognition in the form of national and international Design Awards features in reputed Publications and host of repeat clients from pictures Bungalows to soul for interiors and from Hightech exhibition spaces he's done everything um have a seat Prashant thank you for joining in yes all right uh why are we here today just a brief introduction about why we are here and why are we talking about uh smart Tech but beyond automation uh I'm sure all of you are aware that the it's not just a buzz word but we are seeing uh and even within this space uh how technology is revolving all around us yes but the integration is now more seamless now than ever right um but uh when we're talking about uh uh technology there is a global trend of embedding Innovative Technologies even in architecture and design to create not just complex but more intuitive datadriven responsive and even sustainable built environments and spaces uh from Smart visual tools to Ai and immersive universes we have cr who will discuss the efficacy the challenges that come with working with such Innovation so Prashant thank you so much I think you're the APT person to be talking about this uh about this given your interest and given uh Your Enthusiasm and also the way that you function within the realm of technology and um and Ai and automation so if we can have the presentation play please we can start the presentation and um we um you can present and then maybe we can have a chat later so SN I think uh smart is a pretty uh uh pretty much done word these days but of course what I personally believe that technology has always been the most important driving force behind what how we design and how we build right it is always been the uh most essential part I mean uh if you can go to the next slide please yeah can you go to the next slide okay so uh I personally believe that technology has always been the driving force behind the way we design and behind the way we build uh because uh ageold practices right from vastu shastra to you know uh to the Greek to medevial to Industrial to modernism post modernism technology has always guided how we could build things you know so that that kind of really has defined the kind of architecture the kind of design the kind of products the kind of uh lifestyle overall uh so that's why I think technology is the major driving force uh if you can have the next slide please next slide so it's a journey of process uh because uh if you see the same pyramid during a particular age it would look something like this and if you do see it during another age it would look like this and maybe if you look look at it in the future it would be something else completely but but the kind of uh thought process or the kind of Technology it really kind of defines uh that what age and what time and age we are in right can we go to the next one please so uh very uh briefly when we were in a particular era Architects used to have this scale of offices where it was it would be massive where you used to have you know a staff of at least 50 and hundreds and everybody used to use this large drafting boards and you know people used to literally bend their backs and uh we used to have all sorts of issues but then what did technology do I mean in 1980s 85s we got this beautiful software called CAD yes computer AED design changed life I mean suddenly Architects were supposed to know CAD it it was quite mandatory I mean so you know uh and of course evolution of lot of softwares and probably because of that uh we as a design practice can afford to have a smaller office like this the one in the center so you know it it things got more compactor and Shrink now uh postco we have moved into another era which is an interesting form again which is work from home which is cloud uh working or remote working as as we would like to call it so I am pretty much proud to say that since 2020 my entire team works from home that's amazing and it is interesting because uh there's a lot of discipline self discipline self motivation and a lot of you know uh self uh awareness that what is the kind of timeline how we connect how we kind of uh you know deliver uh drawings interesting how because of Technology you were able to do that exactly because in a particular uh say around uh 2018 or 2017 I used to get a lot of uh resumes from uh outstation colleges and they used to uh request that you know sir for an interview can we do a video conferencing and we used to be a little resistant and reluctant that how we will manage that but I think Co taught us that right and it taught us really seamlessly we were able to adapt exactly we were really uh we were forced to adapt I would say we were kind of forced to adapt but then when we adapted we thought that yes this there is a lot of efficiency out here because during Co I remember myself sending a couple of drawings as sketches to my uh design team and that sketch was not a photograph it was a video which I had done a Top Shot and I had kind of sketched that this is what I want how I want to divide these things how I want to so an entire electrical layout explained to my team and for them it would be as if they sitting right in front of me now this gave me an idea that oh I mean I can do the same thing on an iPad and project it to their screen and it kind of just becomes very seamless and things have you know kind of changed we've moved our uh servers to say Google Drive we've moved things cloud computing and all of that has come into picture so I think that really has uh changed the way we work right from what it could have been and it has been so I I would really believe that you know work smart and not hard so that's the Moto of our team as well uh can we have the next slide please yeah now um when I said that you know the AutoCAD came in or CAD came in uh there was a lot of resistance uh and I came across a very interesting article in 1999 which said that you know our our computer is going to replace Architects or you know are so all that kind of fear and those kind of fearful articles I mean even if you scan this article right now you can find out that you know how see if you can scan the QR code maybe and access the article of course you can so that's the part fun of technology I mean I really don't need to scroll that entire thing I can have a QR code for you to scan so uh and today very surprisingly I see the similar articles for AI yeah you know because a lot of Architects are kind of a little hesitant and scared and there's a little resistance there's a discussion for sure exactly there's a little resistance I feel but I think eventually that will also go past and we'll kind of come to uh Middle Ground we start using that on a regular basis so uh interestingly out here there are couple of names mentioned like Frank Gary zah Hadid and Peter asman so uh these are I think the pioneers where they changed the face of design by using these computational softwares and I think zah Hadid has been the most iconic uh designer or architect who kind of uh really brought a brought that computational change because uh without CAD or without those computational softwares these designs were definitely not possible I mean it would have taken ages either or it would have taken years or it so basically you know it kind of just made things very much possible so I think that is fantastic to kind of uh uh take an inspiration from can we go to the next slide please next slide please yeah so uh my question Still Remains that are we thinking smart I mean uh a very interesting quote says that all the biggest uh technical technological innovations are usually uh kind of uh you know uh speaks the volume of human laziness I mean frankly we are pretty lazy that we we don't go to the office and we work from home but that's that's the beauty of technology I mean you can actually do that you know so uh although I would say that yes technology kind of uh supports you but of course it can make you lazy it can tend to drag into a different direction also there is a compromise of s of course if not laziness because laziness again is something that's subjective pretty much and then my question is that are we thinking Smart in terms of logical and ecological I mean that is another aspect that we need to think about because because uh see technology can kind of keep innovating but at what cost and how how much impact on Earth that also has to be kind of taken care of I think we found a very interesting middle ground uh for this work from home pattern purely because we figured that every day the team doesn't have to travel so they are not contributing to pollution B they are kind of saving their own personal time C they were more efficient because we start at 9:00 a.m. in the morning fresh yeah and I think I get one of the best Works done between 9 to 11: and I think then the day kind of can stretch on and you know it can just but that 9 to 11: the brainstorming and the kind of vibe that we have even when we sitting apart it just is amazing and I think I I really feel that energy every day morning so it's it's fantastic and the best part is that can happen even when I'm traveling right so I really don't need to go for that Breakfast early morning I can still be at the hotel room or or at the side and I can do my meats and I can just you know charge the team kind of ignite the passion again and it kind of just can you know move further the way it is right can we have the next slide please yeah so these are a few uh interesting examples I mean uh if you see the timeline it was around 1997 and how very interestingly um we came up with the solar kitchen and fantastically just using simple Technologies of solar panels I mean solar reflectors and utilizing it for fuel and you know kind of generating that entire I mean if Oro will uh if you have a chance to kind of just visit this place it's amazing I mean the way nille was one of the first Eco villages in India exactly to use renewable sources renewable energy sources exactly and this is an inspirational space actually because of the volume of people when you see there it is absolutely tremendous the kind of work they are generating because the you know and and plus also minimizing food wastage that is another uh very important aspect because any sort of resour source wastage is not so great I mean it's it's eventually a harmful situation for the planet but uh that's that's kind of a very beautiful example can we go to the next slide please yeah as I was already saying that zaha Hadi did what we actually could not imagine way back in 1800s or 1900s and even I think till 195 but this is what happened and this is what happened in 2012 uh I would not be uh uh commenting upon the kind of you know the the design choice and all of that that is something which is of course the architect's definition for it but the sheer volume I mean just building that entire curved surface which is uh even touchable I mean and you can you know make it as a part of the roof that itself is kind of a sheer uh excitement in terms of its form and its kind uh kind of technological factors and this was an entirely I mean probably one of the first uh parametric designs which kind of came into and I think that kind of gave rise to a full new genre of design uh next slide please and that's again uh albajar Towers Abu Dhabi uh done by Adas and similar timeline 2012 and here again uh the inspiration is from the flower how the flower petals kind of you know Bloom and kind of just showing down so that's the Innovation which they have done and again this is simply by a very simple system applied onto the building called building automation system so this kind of just again uh so parametric building automation system these are like very simple changes done to that uh existing buildings but a very important and drastic uh I would say uh movement for the future I mean setting a very good example I would say uh because again it kind of responds to The Climate the minute there is sun on it Sun hits on it it kind of deflects that yes I need to shut down or need to you know kind of open smart as well it is able to um acclimatize to depending on the temperature depending on the so now imagine that this is not anymore a dead building it's a living being it breathes so it's an organism exactly so that's that's the beauty of this one uh can we have the next slide please so uh similarly there are a lot of interesting Technologies these days which help you during the design uh process right from BM which is uh the building uh information modeling as an information uh technology and basically it kind of just manages the entire information that how much the light would penetrate into the building if you're using say a glass facade on a particular wall uh how much would be the heat gain how much would uh you know how much it would reduce your uh you know AC uh requirement or some stuff like that so by just changing a particular material you'll immediately get the values so these are informations which are immediately available on computational softwares now and of course uh another uh parallel U uh parallel aspect of this uh for buil structures is making a digital twin which is similar process but then you just make a digital twin of a building and say for example you have a heritage site um say a palace or a school or a old library and you want to study and make it more energy efficient so how you could do it probably with a digital twin so you know these are similar Technologies again but then it helps you uh increase the efficiency of a building so that's another technology that is available now uh next please another very interesting thing which I also saw at uh the godid stall was iot and uh Internet of Things is another big thing now these days with uh you know all sorts of uh data available yeah your weather is setting down you are about to get a you know a cloud burst or you're about to get say a hurrie all these information is already available with us and say proximity sensors or uh you know gyroscopes and stuff like that I mean today if I shoot from my phone U I shoot a camera a video it would be pretty smooth but way back in 2010 and 12 it would probably have not been smooth because there was no gyroscope but now there is so you know it kind of just pans like a pro exactly so that's that's uh beautiful uh iot which is already available and uh there is a very interesting software called if so if this then that so it kind of just automates things like that so these are very interesting uh technology again uh enhances the quality of living yeah uh next slide please yeah very important task because I used to already feel that you know we are not innovating in materials I mean there there is a little stagnancy in materal which I used to feel because I felt that uh beyond the point I mean Beyond steel concrete maybe glass stopped yeah so you know it kind of just made me do my own research is thater or we haven't really been thinking about Innovation because these are easily available products and they're also cost effective and they have become a part of the new uh way of building because it is very easy I mean if we today approach um any uh local teams when we work out stations like say Goa or shaur or you know say Ki any of these sites when we approach the local teams and we ask them that you know so they will always think yeah so you know because they have practically exactly they have practically now got into the groove of building with concrete and bricks and motar and simple so you know they know that RCC framework B and that is it so right we have kind of corrupted them uh to a certain extent but that corruption has got into the materials also I mean beyond that um because of overselling and over marketing and all of that we've kind of not never felt the necessity to probably innovate but there are research parall going on on Smart concrete which is very interesting because this is selfhealing concrete it has uh little uh poures into it as in the minute it touches water it can sell fill so all the cracks can get filled up get filled up so so this is something that I am really excited to explore now uh then there is of course uh shape shifting materials which uh can come in really handy uh when building say a bridge or uh in cases of hurricane and you know such uh extreme uh extreme Weathers where a say imagine that a building or a form can actually shape shift and Sway and you know kind of just bring itself back to form whenever the so it's like a tree which is swaying you know a tree which sways survives uh and a tree which doesn't sway of course falls down so you know it's it's a shape-shifting material and which kind of really uh makes me excited to kind of explore further about this uh then of course there are self-healing quods which are pretty much uh available now with kitchens with cars all of this so these are I mean you have a scratch on it and you just rub a finger on it and it eventually sell heals so that's another interesting thing uh another exciting material that I am looking forward to is transparent wood because these are out of the same balsa wood pulp and uh it just adds a nice as in just adding a few resins they're making it transparent so imagine having a wall a partition wall made in your interiors and you can also draw light from it and you really no don't don't need to really ex uh uh inst all a glass out there uh because eventually glass is also made out of silica does it have the properties of good like the sturdiness and the yes exactly because it's eventually wood so that's why they're calling it transparent transparent and uh of course something that I'm really proud of uh especially because it's an Indian company carbon craft has developed this carbon tiles which I feel is one of the Fantastic uh Innovations of our times because they use uh pollution from the as in they use the pollution as their raw material and they kind of Chang that that into tiles yeah beautiful I mean just just the way they have thought about it is fantastic and I think I really uh look forward to them to kind of you know develop more products on that range because it is I think a very good balance from you know taking the pollution and converting into it's not just an experiment to make yeah yeah of course they they're pretty much uh available commercially as well so that's a fantastic uh thing from their their part actually uh next SL very interesting uh now we are entering into the you know the the fun zone of of design because um uh we are in in between we are in that era where we've seen all that hand drawing and all of that we've come to CAD we've moved on to 3D we've come on to you know wearing a headset and seeing things and this exactly will change the way we do it because AR I mean augmented reality is also I mean it's very simple uh you kind of have a QR code or a particular image and the minute you point from your mobile phone uh you you can overlay a particular design on it say it could be a 3D it could be uh you know your sketches or rendering or a video anything of that sort it's we are already using it uh like filters on Snapchat and Instagram and all of that a lot of retail Brands especially have been experimenting with so retail brand is now bringing a concept of smart windows so if you see this Central image it's like a smart window and again if you want to see this video you can scan this and uh see it later uh but this is fantastic because changes the way you uh shop yeah uh the minute you pass by the window you will see yourself wearing a particular jacket yeah which is trending which is the hot pick of the season so imagine you being the manquin and you seeing yourself out there and I mean that's the that's the most fascinating thing you should check this out whenever you get the chance because it's it's it's by of course it's a while it is a luxury experience but the way that um the transition is also so quick you know you can change the customers mind mind in the in an instant no longer do you have to entice the customer to through a VM display to say listen these are some beautiful products so Amazon uh Tommy Hill figer all of them have actually kind of got into all this and uh I don't think it is just limited to luxury now it is slowly getting into every sort of retail because smart Windows is say in another 1 and a half 2 years we'll be seeing it in Mumbai also I mean I'm sure there is definitely something at Gio also which which definitely is doing AR I still have to it but uh that's another exciting area because this completely changes the way you shop I mean it it would ensure that you know oh uh I just don't even pick up a red jacket but maybe I I should try that yellow one or the blue one or the gray one or the so it kind of change gives me the option right there and there and probably I could even skip the trial room right you know so it kind of just and maybe I I don't want to try all of them but I want to try that one particular color and then take it to the trial room so it kind of changes your uh again your store sizes would go compact yeah true your your real uh that's the challenge that's where the challenge for the architect comes in right how do you how do you adapt with these evolving I think uh if we are not aware of these Technologies we will not be able to adapt you know because uh the minute a client will come in with a request that oh I want to display a jewelry in AR and uh you need to do you know a small retail and where a customer can actually change that so now you don't need thousands as you know uh say hundreds of sets physically being displayed you can actually display that within a small box and you can just keep picking options right then and there and holographic projections AR all of this can actually do this I have seen myself a hublo watch in a display and it looks so real that it just kind of changes the way you want to you know actually you want to literally pick it up you know that's the beauty of this and again uh the next uh phase of uh design which would be VR lot of us are still using it but I think it will drastically change the minute Apple uh Vision Pro comes uh into the market and makes it easily accessible and available right now a lot of designers are using uh the small uh this thing where you insert your phone in the VR set and use it so that's a pretty uh cheapest uh technology which is available now at the moment but uh this is uh uh virtual reality to the next level and when I say next level it is this next slide please so uh parall we are trying to build a Lukes verse which is a metaverse in uh I mean a shop a retail shop in uh metaverse which is going to be like a mall where you enter inside and you create this uh you know fun wonderful experiences and then you have all sorts of Brands right from say a go to you know so everybody would be kind of be a part of that mall and uh say if I'm building a home I just have to enter into that metaverse and I'm just done I mean I I see all sorts of rugs Furniture uh you know all sorts of material tile marble everything is available in that metaverse and kind of just changes the way you shop also because uh this has already come into fashion by the way a lot of fashion brands have already been a part of uh such uh malls uh I think it's for a client in India or is it for no this is something which is a passion project it's a passion project that's great this is something that we are trying it out now and I think we we kind of going to uh launch it pretty soon now so that we kind of develop this forward to uh getting into the comfortable with an immersive environment life I think uh the most uh uh easiest uh transition will happen only once the Apple Vision Pro comes in because till now all the VR sets are a little tiresome uh why I say tiresome is because the minute you wear it for say 5 to 10 minutes it disorients you kind of feel disoriented yeah so you want to kind of take it off but the minute Apple comes in it kind of changes because it has already done that research so Apple is very well known for uh late entry uh Geniuses because they always enter late into the market but they are amazingly genius so you know they kind of just do all their backend research all their you know uh uh trial and error and everything is done yeah and once they know that yes now they are ready that is when they will you know announce that particular product so I think uh uh next slide please yeah so with apple Vision Pro what we are going to be actually experiencing is Mr it is not going to be ar it is not going to be VR anymore it's going to be a mixed reality mixed reality right so augmented reality meets virtual reality and it kind of becomes a mixed reality and it also kind of uh changes the way you compute right so what Vision Pro is going to do is it's going to be a computer which is attached on your face as simple as that so that's why it is so expensive but uh it's going to be a computer not sure whether to be afraid by that or excited by that or both at once but yes go ahead so the resistance always is there resistance is always there to technology so the minute you talk about a new technology there's always a human reaction to kind of be a little resistant that what next you know so yeah it is kind of creepy also at times but then what I would see is a lot of possibilities for us designers because now imagine that you're working on 10 different windows I mean you can probably see something out here this is not Vision Pro but uh the next slide probably is Vision Pro uh can you put on the next slide yeah so now you're probably working on five different Windows which are open and trust me I know all the designers nobody works on single tab I know that for sure I can guarantee on that we are all fantastic multitaskers we will somewhere we have something as a you know as a chat window we'll have an aut drawing we'll have a SketchUp drawing so we have all these multiple things and now all I need to do is just move my neck from year to year and I'm on the next window you know so so everything is open everything is still there and this is not just Mr this is spatial Computing yeah so this is where you can actually feel that you are your your entire space is a computer a large computer the entire world is the computer and now you can do things just with hand gestures and Eye controls I mean you can actually just look at a particular thing and it gets selected so imagine you know the the level of detail that Apple has got into I mean now they are not working with those joysticks with which meta had released and all of that so now they're all done with that and with just simple gestures hand gestures and uh just your retina scan retina movements they can actually make out that what you want to do right so technology has become more intuitive I would say and more uh I would say easy to adapt because uh of course when it kind of comes into such level uh it it becomes easier and you you feel that this has always been a part of me I mean the minute iPhone came you don't have to educate yourself or spend time in educating yourself in with a lot of meta products and the earlier VR sets there used to be a challenge because you had to learn it you had to always Define a boundary that this is the boundary where I want to build or this is the boundary where I want to you know start my design or start my something but out here it's going to completely change the way you think so that's that's why I'm kind of really looking forward to it next one please and of course the most talked about uh thing these days in AI is the generative AI so AI as we know uh as we don't know has has two aspects of it one is Ani and one is Agi yeah so we are still in the phase of an ani an ani is more of the you know um artificial natural intelligence because it is uh like for example if you go to Mid journey and if you type a few prompts you are bound to receive some images whether that is Graphics that are close enough to what you want correct so similarly on on these kind of prompts you can generate music you can generate text chat jpd you can generate uh images so these are the three segments at the moment and Ani is right now um in its kind of learning phase what scientists are aiming interestingly is Agi now AGI is general you know uh General artificial intelligence right where an artificial intelligence would be able to think so today you're prompting it yeah AGI is the phase where you will you will not want to kind of prompt it it will kind of get to know your thought processes and probably generate things and make things more easier for you algorithmically and it has been also getting trained for emotions so you know that's of course again scary but yeah imagine it is scary because imagine the technology feels that you're not uh listening to its command to its answers and you're not responding it might even hurt you yeah yeah it might even become sentient exactly you EXA you don't wanted to take over your life but but it does sound exciting for sure because uh especially when it comes to the person that you can do with design exactly exactly you're you're not just creating with that technology you're collaborating with that technology exactly so in uh as I would say mid journey I mean we are constantly exploring Concepts and design ideas because uh frankly uh Pinterest was a particular phase I think now it has come to generative AI which is the phase because today a client can sit on uh say clip drop uh mid Journey uh stable diffus any any of these lookx These Days looks lx. a can we have the next slide please yeah so these are few uh Concepts that we generated for uh for a client for a farmhouse and of obviously these are the images which you will never uh see or you know feel on on a Pinterest but we could generate this because we knew that what kind of prompts we were giving in we knew that what we wanted we wanted an actual Forest you know and we wanted that exactly but you'll not find this on uh Pinterest and that's why we could you know kind of make the client visualize that we want to do this and not a typical Farmhouse and not a typical Bungalow and you know because otherwise you'll find either this or that and you'll not be able to merge both of them so that's that's the kind of generative AI we could play around with next please next slide please yeah so um just not not really deep diving into uh what the cheat sheet of mid journey is but it it kind of works on you know a particular set of prompts it's very simple I mean you once you learn it it's like Maths for us so you set up the as how many of you just by show fans have worked on Mid Journey how many of you yeah few few okay all right yeah so basically it's it's pretty easy to kind of you know adapt I mean it's pretty intuitive I would say that way and you once you set up a few things like you know say uh say the camera angle or editorial style or a particular photographic style time of the day aspect ratio all of these even details like texture color pal brand also exactly so certain brands of course like if you say uh say Gucci it knows that Gucci has a c particular design style if you say famo it knows that you know it has to be so I have been fooling around and I have even generated uh pots I mean WCS around these Brands and it's it's pretty fun because you know you kind of see that if fig had to design a pot how what would it look like exactly so that's that's really fun to kind of explore and of course luex is pretty much f focused purely on architecture right because that that kind of is developed only for Architects and interior designers and uh of course you have clip drop and all of that also uh next please uh interestingly this is all about what we design but technology is also where we kind of build so this is where uh it becomes more interesting because I personally feel that uh we as an industry are the most waste indust waste uh generating industry and it's mainly because of raw material because you call for raw material obviously you have lefts you have you know stuff which is wasted and stuff like that uh 3D printed buildings on the other hand uh kind of minimizes waste second thing it is uh technologically very fast I mean uh you could build you could print the same building in maybe uh 110th of the time or maybe even 12th uh depending on the complexity of the building and of course once you have this built you you can always add in so these are the columns where you kind of add in the reinforcement and stuff like that so so these are just placing a robot in the center of the space and you just start printing it so it's it's like a large printer and just it kind of just uh you know kind of just does the magic over overnight and of course not overnight but uh in in some span of time yeah so uh 3D printed buildings are next uh thing and it has caught up all across the world I think India is also kind of moving now there are a few Brands which are already providing this technology here in India that's right in India right next slide please yeah and robotic construction so 3D printed is where uh you have a paste kind of a thing which kind of sorry yeah which kind of uh the paste kind of lays rightly but uh if you don't want that and you want you know your building to be made in bricks or blocks so that is also possible with robotic engineering and robotic construction right where again it's an arm which just kind of uh you you load all the blocks here and with a pulley it kind of just keeps dropping and placing it there it's like a child who would set up you know the bricks and just a large robot doing it yeah exactly so so that is again a very interesting technology which of course uh relates to your Cad and cam so computerated design and computerated uh manufacturing right uh next please and this is the most exciting one I mean I have seen this it live yeah yeah in Dubai and one of my friend owns it and he's in integrated this into a uh their computational software which kind of can go to the site inspect the site monitor the site completely right there there is a camera in the face of this I would say a robo dog it's like a robo dog and it's very interesting to kind of see it walking uh I definitely recommend everyone to scan this so that you can see the video because this video is excellent I mean you just you want to keep watching it again and again what it can do and U of course it um can talk back to the to the office it can kind of report from the site itself uh and it can of course uh you know analyze if there is any danger so it knows that it cannot go beyond this particular boundary it cannot step this uh it can climb steps it can kind of change floors it can go to you know from one level to the other this is absolutely exciting and very fascinating this is where I would say the robots have entered into our periphery and now we are we should be all prepared to have a robot standing in one of the exhibitions here and there or a retail store I serving an idea for the G log for sure exactly in fact in Abu Dhabi I had uh experienced one ice cream store which was absolutely zero man right just one robot right I could select the menu of as in I could select the particular flavor of the ice cream and the robot would kind of bring it and serve it to me the minute I've done my payment right so you know robots have kind of entered right and and and now it's it's time that we kind of either embrace the technology or kind of be resistant still but till what time will you be resistant so you know you eventually will kind of embrace them and make them a part of your uh design process your uh building process your uh I think your daily lifestyle also because slowly and steadily you will eventually kind of move into that direction so I think this uh is is what I had to kind of offer in in the exciting realm of technology these days uh I'm sure this will be outdated in the next 15 days maybe not 15 days but we can be hopeful that maybe some of this uh would be exciting to see at least in the realm of Indian architecture of course yes of course 100% yeah but but thank you so much for a really insightful uh presentation I think I have learned quite a bit from you I have known you for years and uh I have seen your journey uh not not just as a designer and an architect but someone who is genely a um uh you know a proponent for um you know integration of the technology in the way that we designed it I just have a couple of questions for you and then we can open it out to people here as well um one of the things that I uh one of the things that I've been thinking about and while you were speaking as well was um it's nice to see all of this I think these are all of course Global observations Global Trends I wanted to understand from you and with your interactions with clients right how open are they with like for instance you showed one example of you using generative AI right but how open are they with maybe experimenting with 3D or experimenting with you know other technology that's that can be integrated as part of their life whether commercial or residential I think clients are pretty much open to exploring so there is absolutely no resistance that I have faced as of now because they but even in commercial spaces and Retail very much very much in fact they more keen to know that what what can we do new right how can we create that buzz word you know or how can we kind of create some excitement or how can we get new eyeballs you know so that has always has been a case uh with a lot of clients I really haven't come across any client who's technologically resistant I mean even my clients these days are doing video calls with me right but I'm I'm the reason why I'm asking is because this while yes while it is not really new in terms of a trend there has been a significant shift right in the last decade or so so I wanted maybe from your experience right what what has contributed to that shift from people maybe adapting to you know U traditional Interiors like for instance um there used to be a time when India had homogenized Interiors right set corre right so in your experience what has contributed that shift towards people adapting to this okay you know what it's time to embrace technology I I would say uh internet definitely played a very very very very very big role into changing the way people think right uh second thing that really changed uh the perspectives was travel Global travels becoming easily accessible yeah changed a lot of uh your perspective for people to go abroad explore people were very much aware these days that Moroccan [Music] style right you know I mean people know that what Scandinavian is and what is japandi and what is minimalism and this could not be expected in 1980s right at all 1990s also probably but in 2000s yes definitely in 2010 100% And 2020 to you have to give a credit full credit to the client that he knows much better than you trust me the client is so well traveled so well exposed so well learned that they have actually kind of you know gone around the world and if the client is coming to you they know that why they coming to you they have done their all obviously yeah I mean that's that's what I wanted to come to right because obious obviously your process of visualization has also changed right no longer are you doing this yourself you are doing this in collaboration with the client the client is giving you useful input very much right so I think yes you can give credit to the fact that your visualization your collaboration process has also Evol in the in very much absolutely in fact at our all our projects we always put the client thoughts in the center and then you know build around it right so we kind of value add to their thoughts that if this is your thought we want to kind of you know ensure that this also happens so you kind of get a more better value you you do this and you'll get more value you know so we've always built around their thoughts we never kind of see I personally also believe that we are not artists where we could make an art and sign on it and put it on sale we are not artists so we are eventually Architects we are kind of there to facilitate to service provide to kind of you know uh ensure that that entire Home Building or you know whatever building journey is smoothed is uh kind of we kind of facilitators so we kind of smooth the entire process for them because that's our qualification that's our expertise so uh that kind of completely defines that okay I know that you've traveled you've learned this this this this is what your style is but I think this particular thing will not probably go well with this and because you're thinking too many things I know how to narrow it down and still get you the ense right so that is how we kind of now have started adding uh value to the client's thoughts um speaking of adding value uh you're not just adding value to your clients uh you spoke at the beginning as to how you decided very consciously to go remote right uh however that might not be a choice for most design practices uh most architectural practices uh maybe interior design to a certain extent maybe but for most architectural practices that might not be an option for whatever reasons maybe can you give words of advice here as to why why do you think remote working aided by technology is definitely not just the future it is now it is time to maybe Embrace that even more can you maybe offer some words of wisdom here I I I'm pretty pretty much not that capable of offering words of wisdom but yes I could speak from experience that uh this is uh now as you rightly said not the future now because uh I think remote working has still been happening I mean people have been just not uh accepting that it is remote working but um even when remote aided by technology but even when the large offices had uh you know a design office team they had a site team as well and the internal coordination would happen remotely only so the site team would never visit the office daily or the office team would never visit the site daily so it was kind of remote but now that it has become technological more easy uh today probably a side team does not need to the go to does not need to go to physically see the the site and can be shown the site on say videos or VC or something like that and things can still be easy and probably the uh site team does not need to go to the office and to explain a particular drawing because that can be done on say again VC where they can actually share their screen on say video or sketch it out and stuff like that and it can still be happening so I think technology is um definitely there yeah the next step of going completely remote is a drastic step that we have taken I think for personal reasons because I think we found a lot of uh um I would say family time me time or a more better lifestyle I would say uh because now we know that you know by 6:30 we wind up the day earlier we used to stretch it till 8:30 and 99 and by default uh you know and then again we used to get into the mad rush of traffic yeah to kind of reach a home which would be 7 minutes on a regular timelines but even 45 minutes uh during monsoons or during heavy traffics and stuff like that so imagine why waste that kind of time that is what I personally thought and we kind of I had to kind of convince my wife on that and kind of just kind of brainwash her that no we we need to do this because this is a great way of life I mean uh and today I think that really helps us because say if we are traveling the office team is not Disturbed the functioning Still Remains the Same so the teams know what they have to do how they have to do even if I'm in Dubai I can kind of wake up there at 7:30 and I can kind of do my team meetings which is here at 9:00 a.m.

and I can still you know give them a feel that I'm still there right so you know it kind of just changes the way uh you want to kind of integrate this and make it a part of your own so I think it's just a matter of time and choices well Cho and if you can adapt to that those choices very much I know a few friends internationally in Delhi a few of them have already adapted to it uh but not many of them some of them still have that resistance in fact this gives us a lot of flexibility also because now going to a site physically practically every day is not required because then you can have one person who stationed there and as in he or she travels daily to that site yeah and then they are kind of managing the site completely yeah so then their only task is to go back home and go to the site that's it so they have to kind of just uh be the eyes and ears at the site for us yeah and kind of revert to us so that's that it's pretty much doable I feel yeah yeah I'm I'm going to hold I mean yeah I I I totally see that I mean um I'm also someone who used to work full-time um you know at an office used to commute every day to an office still I think the pandemic was a big decision maker for me or at least help me influence that decision to say listen you don't have to spend half your life commuting anymore especially in a city like Bombay so so yeah thanks for sharing that pandemic was a good big punch on our faces yeah it was yeah yeah and I think um um because of that I think that really truly tested the way we um not just saw Solutions in terms of of course environmentally ecologically uh social economically but also using technology efficiently cor you know in order to imagine this same P pandemic would have happened in say 2010 we would have been collap because we didn't have we didn't we didn't probably use Skype that well at that point of time where we knew it that there is something called as Skype we used to use it only for interacting with friends yes that's true but zoom in 2020 just shot up because of this and we all came to know about Zoom only because of pandemic I guess yeah yeah absolutely yeah um just um just lastly and then I'll open it out if anyone else has questions um I'm I am I think I'm someone who's a tech Noob I'm not someone who while I under while I'm okay with I mean I'm using an iPad right now to converse with you um but uh AGI is something that's sounds really exciting Prashant um um I'm just curious to know how do you see uh AGI and the relationship with Architects and designers because you talked about how you can truly create an uh an immersive work environment couple of things that came to my mind was okay um the architect is creating something that is immersive uh but are they is there a fear or is there a notion of you losing that tactil of being on site or of interacting with people or even like um having to be there in person to check materials or check you know check something that needs that tactil right so is that ever a concern or a fear you think with the introduction of this mixed reality as a concept at the moment yes but in about 5 years no because I see that you know in future we would be having those kind of tactile uh gadgets as well I mean they are already there but they are used only for I mean all the technology comes from defense to the reality so it's already there so I mean uh I I don't know whether I should be saying this but uh Dro has already kind of developed myis right that can get into any territories do the scan survey the entire place and come back safely without anybody realizing that they thing what we could do with that Sur exactly so so drd has already so I mean Dr is like one Temple for me to kind of keep researching on them so it kind of just brings you to to I mean yeah these are possible pretty much possible things in near future not even distant future near future uh so I really don't think uh there is much of a challenge I'm curious to know what uh because you are a tech Enthusiast and you are someone who is uh someone who's actually practicing What You Preach in a way I'm curious to know what scares you as someone who you know um who who uses a lot of this technology and who researched a lot of this technology I'm curious to know what what is your I think I am only scared of hacking of hacks right exactly I mean that that's very easy these days to get get hacked you know and uh I think that's the only thing that I fear that you know everywhere you you need to do that two two uh two Factor authentification so that you you're not hacked so that is uh of course our website has been hacked quite a few times so we know how to get out of that but uh I mean that's that's something that I think is always a technological barrier for me to kind of uh get irritated with that part I mean I would not say fear but because no so where I'm coming from is another thing that came to my mind was this whole thing of authorship and ownership right when you're creating something with uh models uh when you're creating something with AI when you're creating something with anything smart where the contribution is from the tech you are just feeding in Proms and it's created by Tech correct where does the ownership lie and is that ever like a blur is is that constantly going to be a blurred line of course going to be a blood line and in fact we kind of have always been very clear that this is generated on AI as as long as you CLA that as simple as that I mean uh uh I don't know whether you've received a couple of our uh seasonal greetings yes which says generated on AI so it is it is as simple as that so we've been doing that shamelessly uh and writing it also that this generated on but it's transparent as Wella so that's that's completely on your uh of course if I show you that 3D and say that I have made it I mean I have not made I don't even know 3D software so where am I going to make that all but of course you you need to kind of give uh technology its due and ensure that you know it's it's uh put in its right place so I think once that is done you're kind of pretty sorted that way right but yes you right uh there could be misuses of course see technology when it comes there is always use and misuse abuse all of that it depends on how you whether you use that nuclear power for bombing or whether you use that nuclear power for development or whether you need another tech solution to solve the tech problem exactly right okay um thank you so much Prashant uh on that note uh any questions or any comments from anyone of your any one of you any questions I have a very interesting ending slide can you please uh put on the next slide can we have the slide change please towards the end yeah so you're ending it with this so I definitely believe that technology is there technology is going to be kind of always uh dominate our think thought process I would say U but then eventually technology is a brainchild of human right so as I say one machine can do the job of 50 ordinary men but no machine can do the job of one extraordinary person so we need to decide that whether we are out there or whether we are out there so you know we we kind of have to Define that whether technology is using us or we are using the technology techology and how we uh kind of take this entire transition to develop a concrete jungle or a real jungle no that's that's why I like how why you used that picture yeah of a I mean it is it is an interesting conversation in itself and that is also generated on EI also generated on EI all right on that note Prashant sorry any questions no questions from anyone okay thank you so much Prashant part of this so round of applause for forant thank you so much for your time and for sharing the experience and that's it I really know I I know that everybody is kind of a little hesitant to ask questions uh in in front of so many people so if youall have any questions you want to pop into me and just ask please feel free I am available around so please feel free to come directly to me and ask questions it's absolutely fine please do that so maybe after we close you can you can do that uh thank you so much everyone for being a part of this session of VC live if you wouldd like to uh be a part of the next sessions uh we do this online uh this is a continuing series uh the series has been curated by me snea alal and my partner brani garok uh we are both passionate about design and architecture uh but the reason why we did this was uh to inform a community like you a lot of times we don't have that many resources yes we have Google yes we have Internet yes we have uh smart Tech but um you know some sometimes we need to bring this closer this is an opportunity bring this closer to you so uh maybe join us next time uh for our Zoom live sessions and for now thank you Prashant you can interact with him after the session closer so thanks everyone have a good evening thank you thank you thank you thank you everyone um so uh on that note um uh please look forward to uh the next future uh VC live sessions um our um hush was is going to share a link with you very shortly Milani if you want to say a few words maybe come online and um just say um hi to everyone yes thanks Niha that was a really interesting session it was it's interesting to see um you know have these engagements in person as well yeah in light of that I think what's really exciting for us is uh the coming weekend like you mentioned earlier uh we're going to be having a series of conversations at consciou

2024-02-20 14:03

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