Design trends 2027Architecture trends 2027Indian architecture
Architecture Trends 2027 in India: Heat, Brick, Reuse and New Rules
Seven architecture trends for 2027 in India, from heat-first design and local brick to reuse, flood-ready plinths and the new building standards, each tied to a named source.
Published on 11/11/202611 min read
Architecture trends for 2027 in India point one way: buildings designed around heat first, made from brick, earth and bamboo by local hands, reusing what already stands, and giving ground back to the street. Behind them sit the 2025 Venice Biennale, the Aga Khan and Pritzker juries, recent Indian houses in the design press, and rules that are changing what gets built, from BEE's Eco-Niwas Samhita 2024 to the new National Building Construction Standards that replaced NBC 2016 on 30 April 2026.
About the sources below: every trend is tied to a named source we opened on 11 Nov 2026: award juries' own citations, the Biennale's own pages, design press articles with named authors, official codes, and MOA members' 2025 projects. Lines marked "our view" are MOA's design advice, not rules. Codes apply only where your state or city has adopted them, so your local authority's bye-laws decide what you must do.
This post is about buildings. For what is changing inside the home, see interior design trends 2027; for the wider climate picture, our sustainable architecture trends for 2026.
The 2027 architecture trends at a glance
| Trend | What backs it | The Indian test |
|---|---|---|
| Heat sets the brief | Venice Biennale 2025 Golden Lion; Dezeen, May 2026; Eco-Niwas Samhita 2024 | Works without the AC on |
| Brick, earth and bamboo, built locally | Aga Khan Award 2025; Pritzker 2025; Dezeen, June 2026 | Skilled masons nearby |
| Repair and reuse before rebuilding | Aga Khan Award 2025; WAF 2026 shortlist | Structure checked first |
| Ground given back to the public | Pritzker 2025 citation; Aga Khan Award 2025 | Setbacks and security |
| Ready for floods as well as heat | Aga Khan Award 2025 | Plinth above the flood mark |
| Landscape first, lighter on the ground | Pritzker 2026 citation; Eco-Niwas Samhita 2024 | Monsoon runoff |
| Rules move from prescription to performance | BIS, SP 7:2026; Telangana Cool Roof Policy | What your city has adopted |
1. Heat sets the brief
The clearest signal came from Venice. The 2025 Architecture Biennale, curated by Carlo Ratti under the title Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., gave its Golden Lion for best national participation to Bahrain's Heatwave; the jury said the pavilion "offers viable proposal for extreme heat conditions" (La Biennale di Venezia). Designboom's Ravail Khan reported that it draws on wind towers and shaded courtyards and centres outdoor construction workers.
Indian houses in the press follow the same logic. Dezeen's Tirthika Shah wrote in May 2026 about the Amaltash residence by Design ni Dukaan in Navsari, Gujarat, where a landscaped courtyard on the south-west corner shields the rooms from the south sun. In Outlook Luxe, Sonali Mukherjee described luxury homes bringing back courtyards, jaalis and verandahs, naming Studio Mumbai's Copper House II among them.
On MOA, 540X Partners' TPS school in Halvad (2025) is described as designed for the region's hot, dry climate, with courtyards and open spaces for daylight and ventilation.
How to use it in your project
- Ask for the sun study before the elevation (our view): where the south and west sun lands decides where courtyards, verandahs and blank walls go.
- Plan for cross-ventilation. Eco-Niwas Samhita 2024 sets minimum openable window areas by climate, from 8.33% of floor area in cold zones and 10% in hot-dry ones to 16.66% in warm-humid ones (section 5.2.1.1).
- Roof first: our roofing materials by climate guide covers insulation and reflective finishes.
2. Brick, earth and bamboo, built by local hands
The 2025 Aga Khan Award jury singled out materials. Its seven winners, announced on 2 September 2025, include Marina Tabassum's Khudi Bari in Bangladesh, built with bamboo and steel; a community centre in Hohhot, China, built from reclaimed bricks; and Tehran's Jahad Metro Plaza, praised for its local handmade brick (AKDN). At Venice, Boonserm Premthada's Elephant Chapel won a special mention for showing how to build a durable brick structure with bio-material.
The 2025 Pritzker laureate, Liu Jiakun of Chengdu, makes the same point. His jury citation says he prefers traditional craft and raw local materials, and describes his "Rebirth Bricks", made from 2008 earthquake rubble mixed with wheat fibre and cement (Pritzker Architecture Prize). In India, Jon Astbury's June 2026 Dezeen piece on The Anthill by Kaushal Tatiya Architects in Ahilyanagar describes curved brick balconies, terracotta, lime plaster and perforated brick courses for air. The TPS description says its materials and techniques use local labour skills.
How to use it in your project
- Match the material to your climate and region using our building materials by climate and region guide.
- Earth and bamboo need specialists. Our guides to rammed earth and CSEB and bamboo construction cover plinths, treatment and approvals.
- Exposed brick needs a deep eave or a sealer in heavy rain (our view), or the monsoon stains it.
3. Repair and reuse before rebuilding
At least three of the seven Aga Khan winners work with what was already there: the revitalisation of historic Esna in Egypt, a once dilapidated Tehran metro station turned into a pedestrian plaza, and the reclaimed-brick centre in Hohhot. The World Architecture Festival's 2026 shortlist of 416 finalists highlights adaptive reuse of existing structures for civic, residential and cultural use, wrote PBC Today's Megan Traviss (PBC Today). The festival runs 18 to 20 November 2026 in Fort Lauderdale, so its winners were not out when we wrote this.
TPS shows the move at school scale: its description says a large lobby connects the new building to an adjacent old structure.
How to use it in your project
- Get a structural check before you decide to demolish (our view). Many 1980s and 1990s houses can take a floor, a new roof or a new front.
- Codes reach additions too. Eco-Niwas Samhita 2024 applies to additions and alterations to existing residential buildings above its threshold (sections 2.5 and 2.6).
4. Ground given back to the public
The Pritzker jury praised Liu Jiakun for open public space in crowded cities. His West Village in Chengdu wraps a whole city block in sloping paths for cyclists and walkers around sports, cultural, office and shop space. The Aga Khan Award's announcement says its 2025 winners explore architecture as a catalyst for community resilience and cultural dialogue, and the World Building of the Year at WAF 2025 was a church and community centre in La Laguna, Spain, by Fernando Menis (ArchDaily).
India has a strong recent example: our Krushi Bhawan case study describes how Studio Lotus planned its ground floor, plaza and roof in Bhubaneswar for the public.
How to use it in your project
- Treat the front setback as a shaded threshold, not a car park (our view): a tree, a seat, a low wall. Our setbacks and FAR guide explains what may be built there.
- For shops and offices, a covered edge that shelters people from sun and rain is the cheapest public gift.
5. Ready for floods as well as heat
Khudi Bari answers flooding. Dezeen's Cajsa Carlson described the buildings as lightweight and transportable, designed for people displaced by floods in Bangladesh (Dezeen). Closer to home, our Copper House II case study notes that Studio Mumbai set the floor level from the mark the 2005 flood left on a pump house on the site.
How to use it in your project
- Ask neighbours and the local body for the highest flood level and set the plinth above it (our view).
- Keep services above that line: meters, the inverter and the pump controls.
6. Landscape first, lighter on the ground
The 2026 Pritzker went to Chile's Smiljan Radić Clarke, announced on 12 March 2026 (Dezeen, Ben Dreith). The jury citation speaks of fragility and lightness and of a building as a guest that acknowledges "the primacy of the landscape" (Pritzker Architecture Prize).
India's residential energy code now writes some of this down. Eco-Niwas Samhita 2024, from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, adds site, water, waste and indoor air to its energy rules. For buildings in scope it caps paved area at 25% of the site, wants more than half of that paving to be pervious, and asks for at least 30% of the landscaped area to be planted with native or adapted species.
How to use it in your project
- Keep the existing trees and levels; the code asks for natural features to be retained where possible.
- Pervious paving lets monsoon water soak in instead of flooding the gate (our view). Pair it with a recharge pit.
7. Rules move from prescription to performance
The biggest change is in the rulebook. BIS now lists the National Building Construction Standards 2026 (SP 7:2026) on its National Building Code page, and the National Building Code of India 2016 was withdrawn with effect from 30 April 2026 (Agile Regulatory). Commentators describe a shift from prescriptive rules to a performance-oriented approach, published as voluntary guidelines that states and local bodies adopt through their own bye-laws (Drishti IAS).
Energy codes are tightening at the same time. Eco-Niwas Samhita 2024 applies to residential buildings with a connected load of 100 kW (or 120 kVA contract demand) or a plot of 3,000 m², whichever is stricter, and caps heat gain through walls and windows (RETV) at 15 W/m² in four of the five climate zones. Its commercial counterpart, ECSBC 2024, is covered in our guide to IGBC, GRIHA, LEED and ECSBC. States are acting too: Telangana's Cool Roof Policy 2023-28 made cool roofs mandatory for government and commercial buildings and for homes on plots of 600 sq yd or more, with occupancy certificates issued only after compliance (Telangana Today).
How to use it in your project
- Ask your architect which codes your city has adopted, and in which edition, before design starts.
- Expect calculations, not just drawings: RETV, window ratios and solar sizing are now part of compliance for larger projects.
Our view: what will date fast
- Glass boxes with no shade. They fight every trend above and the energy codes.
- Cladding as costume: stone or brick tiles stuck on a frame that does nothing for heat or rain.
- "Green" claims without numbers. If a project cannot show its RETV or water figures, treat the label with caution.
MOA's coming posts on house elevation and sustainable material trends for 2027 go deeper on facades and materials.
FAQ
What are the main architecture trends in India for 2027?
Designing for heat first, local brick, earth and bamboo, reusing existing buildings, public ground at the edge, flood-ready plinths, landscape-led sites, and codes that ask for measured performance.
Has NBC 2016 been replaced?
Yes. NBC 2016 was withdrawn with effect from 30 April 2026, and BIS lists SP 7:2026, the National Building Construction Standards 2026, in its place. What applies to your plot depends on your state's and city's bye-laws.
Does Eco-Niwas Samhita 2024 apply to my house?
For most individual houses, not directly: it covers residential buildings with 100 kW connected load or a 3,000 m² plot, and states may change the plot threshold. Its ideas on shade, ventilation and roofs still help any home.
Who won the Pritzker Prize in 2026?
Smiljan Radić Clarke of Chile, announced on 12 March 2026. The 2025 laureate was Liu Jiakun of China.
Planning a building for 2027? Find an architect on MOA and look at their climate-responsive projects first.
Sources
- La Biennale di Venezia: Biennale Architettura 2025, Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- La Biennale di Venezia: The awards of the Biennale Architettura 2025 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- designboom, Ravail Khan: Kingdom of Bahrain's Heatwave pavilion wins the Golden Lion, 10 May 2025 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Aga Khan Development Network: Winners of the 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture announced, 2 Sep 2025 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Dezeen, Cajsa Carlson: Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2025 winners, 2 Sep 2025 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- The Pritzker Architecture Prize: Liu Jiakun, 2025 Laureate (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- The Pritzker Architecture Prize: Smiljan Radić Clarke, 2026 Laureate (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Dezeen, Ben Dreith: Smiljan Radić wins Pritzker Architecture Prize 2026, 12 Mar 2026 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- ArchDaily, Enrique Tovar: World Building of the Year and Interior of the Year revealed at WAF 2025 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- PBC Today, Megan Traviss: World Architecture Festival reveals its 2026 shortlist, 15 Jul 2026 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Dezeen, Tirthika Shah: Amaltash residence by Design ni Dukaan, 14 May 2026 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Dezeen, Jon Astbury: The Anthill by Kaushal Tatiya Architects, 17 Jun 2026 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Outlook Luxe, Sonali Mukherjee: Building for the Indian climate, 11 Jun 2026 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Bureau of Indian Standards: National Building Code page, listing National Building Construction Standards 2026 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Agile Regulatory: BIS update 2026, National Building Code 2016 replaced by SP 7:2026 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Drishti IAS: National Building Construction Standards 2026, 1 May 2026 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Bureau of Energy Efficiency: Eco-Niwas Samhita 2024, sections 2.2, 2.5, 2.6, 4.2, 5.2.1 and 5.2.4 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- Telangana Today: India's first Cool Roof Policy launched in Telangana, 3 Apr 2023 (accessed 11 Nov 2026)
- MOA: TPS by Abhishek Patel, 540X Partners (accessed 11 Nov 2026)