Architecture and Urbanism Personal interests have not only led to disturbed ecosystems and landscapes but in many instances affects large portions of humanity. Such is the condition found among the urban and rural landscapes of India. Visible as disparate assemblies externally, one possible way to understand what is unfolding across the country lies in understanding the paradox of how connected the two systems are from within. Home to nearly 70% of India’s 1.3 billion population, the nation’s villages are systematically ignored in the broader scheme of urban politics. Persistently working to improve urban environments, rural areas are facing a continued problem of development. This is creating a lacuna among villagers for who mass exoduses toward cities create the mirage of better job opportunities and lifestyles. Simultaneously, this is resulting in scenarios for which increasing unemployment and lack of basic shelter are severely affected by supply and demand issues across all cities. This general pattern leads to the formation of slums within the core of cities. It is an irony that slum-dwellers play a major role in the caretaking of elitehouseholds, only to return to their abodes in the evening which are devoid of even basic infrastructure such as electricity and clean drinking water. Such discrepancies have made it nearly impossible for rural migrants to establish healthy environments, the very reason for which they sacrificed the comfort of their villages to migrate to the cities. Slum-dwellers as well as elites co-exist in modified realities and engage in their own spatial experiences within the city. However, the underlying question remains: what do we truly mean by development? As we move away from the city toward the villages, we realize that we are not advancing towards holistic progress but only a narrowly perceived notion of progress. Through my works of research, I intend to delve into this invisible/disregarded connotation of modernity and spatiality to devise a framework to regain the lost spirit of the rural landscape of India. A Discourse in R-urbanism The poor infrastructural character of spaces among India’s villages is rooted in much deeper problems including poverty,prejudice by the government, lack of education, health, and sanitation facilities, to state a few. Politics herein is involved in the careful management of change rather than preservation in the face of it. Although these aspects seem to be distant from architecture, I comprehend that they have a direct impact on it. Such discourses have transitioned my perception from architecture-as-a-monument to architecture-as-an-environment. As Patrick Geddes states, “Take into account the existing physical, social and symbolic landscapes of a place to allow its most favorable future development; ie; Conservative Surgery”, I strongly believe that to cater to the various issues India’s villages face, it is important to understand the aspects that affect its fabric instead of the current trend of finding inspiration and simply replicating to find ‘temporary solutions’. The rural landscape contains vital ecological, economic and cultural qualities that are a finite and dwindling resource. Their restoration and protection is crucial in order to strike a balance between urban and rural development. There is thus a need for a systematic thematic investigation of the rural historic environment and development of strategies to re-establish it. This study concerns history as well as geography. My principal motivation therefore is to scrutinize and develop frameworks of understanding the multi-scalar affects that my projects sought to understand. I am interested in delimiting and exploring those factors that led to the collapse of the potential rural-urban landscape.