In this thought-provoking session, Ar. Lokendra Balasaria articulated a deep rethinking of how architecture engages with ecological design. Further, urging professionals to go beyond surface-level sustainability. Lokendra Balasaria is an architect, urban planner, and urban ecologist with a strong dedication to sustainable design and urban development. In his position as ASSOCHAM GEM Gujarat’s chair, he is active in programs that encourage cities as ecologically regenerative habitats. Additionally, he founded TREEWALKS in Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar, groups that work to improve urban ecology.
Speaking at an event in Bhopal, he questioned the contemporary glorification of mud houses as the ultimate eco-friendly solution. While acknowledging their value, he emphasized that architecture must evolve beyond nostalgia or aesthetic symbolism. Instead of limiting sustainable design to rustic imagery, he proposed a framework of regenerative ecological design. An approach that not only sustains but actively regenerates ecological systems and relationships.
Balasaria pointed out that while cities occupy only 3% of the Earth’s land area, they account for 75% of global energy demand and 80% of ecological degradation. As architects shape cities, they bear responsibility for the environmental consequences. Yet, ecological knowledge remains absent from formal architectural education, including his own. He proposed a shift from “sustainable architecture” to ecological design, a comprehensive design philosophy that factors in biodiversity, natural cycles, and environmental systems.
The presentation highlighted how city expansion causes deforestation, biodiversity loss, water depletion, air pollution, and urban heat islands. Balasaria argued that architecture must respond to and mitigate these challenges, not contribute to them. He critiqued “green” buildings, glass boxes adorned with potted plants, that lack real ecological function or benefit.
Emphasizing the importance of understanding and integrating natural systems into design. He illustrated how urban ecosystems are being disrupted, notably through the loss of scavenger species like vultures and crows, whose disappearance has resulted in broken food chains and reduced urban biodiversity. Nature, he reminded, has its own equilibrium and systems for renewal, systems that architecture can either disrupt or support.
One of Balasaria’s most powerful points was about the importance of inclusive architecture. He challenged the human-centered mindset that labels all non-domesticated creatures as pests, from snakes to cockroaches, and called for a shift in attitude. All organisms play a role in ecological balance, and architecture should make room for them.
Using bees as a central case study, he explained how bees, vital pollinators responsible for over 75% of global food production, are increasingly absent from urban environments. He encouraged architects to provide nesting habitats for solitary bees through simple design interventions: bamboo bundles, wooden niches, and even pre-fabricated bee hotels. Similarly, birds, nature’s gardeners, disperse seeds and help maintain ecosystems. Old architectural practices in Indian cities often incorporated niches and hollows in walls to house birds. He proposed reviving and modernizing such traditions.
Further, he described the need to support symbiotic relationships within cities, where humans, animals, and plants can coexist in mutual benefit. He gave examples of how rigid urban policies, like excluding stray dogs from gated societies, unintentionally disrupt ecological balances, resulting in overpopulation of other species like cats or monkeys.
In a highly practical turn, Balasaria advocated for gardening and farming in apartments, demonstrating how even the smallest balconies or 2-foot planters can become productive ecological zones. He described how over 25 herbs, vegetables, and pollinator-friendly plants can be cultivated in minimal space. His workshops teach residents how to grow food on terraces, create carbon-neutral homes, and design biodiversity-supporting landscapes even in the most urbanized settings.
Architecture must not be an isolated product, but a process embedded within nature. Designers must learn from ecological systems and design buildings that serve all life, not just humans. Through empathy, observation, and thoughtful design, architecture can heal what urbanization has harmed and become a tool for ecological restoration.
Lokendra Balasaria’s masterclass was a manifesto for ecological design, not as a style, but as a responsibility. A call for architects to create buildings that breathe, grow, and participate in the cycles of life around them.
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