Home without a balcony

On domestic architecture in the era of unprecedented pollution

- Mayank Austen Soofi

Delhi's outdoors have grown increasingly hostile. Extreme pollution is poisoning the air, summer heatwaves are becoming inhumanely intense, and, every year, the monsoon inflicts a renewed threat of dengue fever.

One victim of this triple whammy is an element of multi-floor housing architecture that is commonly taken for granted: the balcony.

Once a cherished outdoor space at home for breathing, observing, and relaxing, the balconies in the city’s residential towers are losing their relevance. Today, they survive mainly as decorative relics, Even those citizens who have the luxury of balcony rarely step into it, keeping themselves secured in AC rooms equipped with air purifiers. Many balconies, in fact, tend to be sealed with jali screens, or glass panels, to keep out pigeons and mosquitoes.