World Architecture Day is marked on October 5, with the theme "Housing is a Human Right. Build It." Experts say we must rethink how we build safe, affordable homes. Sarah Sham said, "True modern luxury isn’t about emulating someone else’s aesthetic, but about infusing authentic personality into a space."
There is much more to turning a house into a home than simply having a roof over one’s head. Ahead of the World Architecture Day, established by the International Union of Architects (UIA) in 1985, and observed annually on the first Monday of October, it augurs well to rethink how adequate, safe and sound is our housing.
The architecture day runs in parallel with the UN’s World Habitat Day, whose theme for 2026 is ‘Adequate Housing for All’. The UIA Council has chosen ‘Housing is a Human Right. Build It’ as the theme for this year’s World Architecture Day, to be marked on October 5. Both themes align well with global efforts for sustainable development and adequate housing for all.
Architects, interior stylists and real estate industry professionals translate these goals in the context of India’s burgeoning towns and cities.
Building material
Affordability in housing is usually discussed in terms of how cheaply a building can be put up. We need to look at the question differently. For housing projects, particularly those serving lower-income communities, we could build regional material libraries, establish clearer specifications for locally produced stone and create dependable links between designers, processors and suppliers. Instead of looking only at the cheapest option on day one, we could also ask what a material is likely to cost over the years. If a material can last longer, require less maintenance and support businesses closer to where a building is being constructed, those factors should have a place in the affordability conversation, too.
Rishabh Jain, director, international business, Petros Stone, Pune
Luxury design
In contrast to densely packed tier-I metros, tier-II cities offer significantly more space, prompting a noticeable shift of people moving there as companies expand beyond major hubs. Today, home buyers are prioritising overall quality of life over the fast-paced hustle of traditional city living.
Redefining luxury housing starts with dismantling the notion that luxury must be price prohibitive. An affordable home can undeniably be luxurious. In my opinion, luxury stems from everyday details — thoughtfully chosen lighting, tactile bedding, and quality materials. Even compact spaces on modest budgets can evoke a sense of opulence. True modern luxury isn’t about emulating someone else’s aesthetic, but about infusing authentic personality into a space while leaning into local materials and thoughtful design.
Sarah Sham, principal designer, Essajees Atelier, Mumbai
Hospitality
There’s a shift in hospitality design from an aesthetics-first approach to one that incorporates more thought into the function and the climate and how a space is experienced by people. For design, not all great design means more design. Hospitality design has to synthesise the function, purpose, context, climate, and the site in a beautiful and sensitive way. This is even more critical in design for hospitality since the purpose of a building is to take guests to a destination and this is further amplified for eco-lodges that aim to take guests to wild and remote destinations. The future of great hospitality design is in incorporating the climate and people of a location in a sustainable way and interpreting it all in a beautiful and thoughtful way with design elements in a built structure. It’s about making thoughtful, climate-conscious choices that take into account of the location, the climate and the culture.
Manav Khanduja, director of Pugdundee Safaris, Bhopal
Heritage and climate responsive
Every project has the potential to discover its own solution. It should emerge from the particular combination of place, people, climate, resources, technology, culture and aspirations that make that project unique. Traditional or vernacular buildings are a great source of inspiration, they provided successful solutions at a different time, with different materials, technology and lifestyles. The way we interact with our spaces today has changed, so a mindless imitation is also not the answer. Perhaps, this is the real journey of architecture: not to impose a predetermined answer, but to discover the answer that is already latent within the problem.
Dhruv Futnani, architect and green building consultant at Green by Dhruv Futnani, Chennai
Residential
Housing is not only the habitat of individuals but also the environment within which family members or society co-exist in general. Thus, if adequate housing is not provided, then there arises a social housing problem, a family problem, and a problem for the future generations of society. In this regard, all agencies involved in the housing development process should, on this World Architecture Day, look at housing provision from the other side of the design and construction plan. The residential sector appeals to all stakeholders to consider building houses that are safe, stable, and secure structures with good architecture and design to meet the needs of their people. Housing is a human right, and we will build it because it is our pleasure.
Keshav Mangla, general manager, business development, Forteasia Realty, Delhi
Interior design
For me, ‘Housing for All’ cannot stop at four walls and a roof. It should also mean the right to live well within those walls. In India, that makes interior design less about decoration and more about intelligent, empathetic problem-solving. Our homes have to respond to compact footprints, multigenerational families, varied budgets and spaces that often need to perform several roles throughout the day.
Good design, therefore, is about doing more with less, without making it feel like less. Flexible furniture, thoughtful storage, local materials, repurposing what already exists and planning spaces around real routines can make a home both accessible and deeply personal.
Anubha Aneja, interior stylist and founder, HōmAnAn, Delhi
It’s our responsibility to look at the current building stock as something with huge potential instead of razing buildings to the ground. What one needs to realise is a building that has already been built has a carbon footprint assigned to it, and extending the life of that building would create a positive impact. It just takes a bit of creativity and thinking out of the box to see how existing building stock can be tweaked and upgraded to meet the current and future needs.