Creating iconic buildings needs political will & skill

The Petronas Twin Towers of Malaysia is a world destination. Thousands of tourists throng every year to catch a glimpse of it. During the past two decades, there has been a growing trend in many countries of creating spectacular buildings as a reference point and a tourist destination for the entire world.

The idea of creating national monuments is not new. The wonders of the world such as the Eiffel Tower of Paris or the Leaning Tower of Pisa show that countries have used the concept of world class architecture to create benchmarks on the world map besides wooing tourists since time immemorial.

These splendid twin towers of Malaysia are built in the heart of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Standing majestic over 88 floors, they are connected by a sky bridge.

These buildings are made of stainless steel that glistens and are visible from most parts of the city. Illuminated by night, they form a guiding point and are clearly the signature landmark for the country of Malaysia. Constructed by the oil company Petronas, this is an excellent example of how private participation can be effectively used for the economic growth of a country.

Tourism forms the single largest economy for Malaysia, though the traditional business and main occupation of the local people is rubber and palm oil plantation. And the hottest spot for tourism is clearly the twin towers that draw huge crowds daily. Tourists swarm the building and wait for 6-7 hours to walk through the sky-bridge.

Built in the early 1990s, one of the intentions of building these towers was to create an attraction for the Commonwealth Games which were hosted in Malaysia in the year 1998. Hosting International Games is an opportunity for countries to showcase their infrastructure and many new and contemporary public buildings and community places get built during this time.

Besides the twin tower, the entire city of Putrajaya - a man-made city was also thrown open to the public just before the Commonwealth Games.

The city of Putrajaya is a planned city that was built over 10 years and is slated to be the new capital of the country, although shifting the capital from Kuala Lumpur is creating quite a challenge. In years to come, these twin cities may bear the same relationship as Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar- one being the political capital and the other the commercial capital.

Putrajaya is everything Kuala Lumpur is not. Low-rise buildings surround a huge man-made water body. The government machinery is housed in modern contemporary buildings that flank this man-made lake. Modern architecture mingles with the local dome architecture used for 'masjid' and important buildings such as the prime minister's office.

The lake has many bridges each one a copy of the famous bridges of the world - the Rotterdam Bridge, the Golden Bridge of San Francisco, the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Lisbon Bridge.

The commendable effort of throwing open an entire city and a world famous iconic building such as the twin tower before hosting the games, creates a sharp contrast of the dismal performance that India put up before the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

The skill of the people of Malaysia maybe more superior which is why they put in such a fine effort to build world class infrastructure before the Commonwealth Games. Hosting the Commonwealth is a matter of pride for any country  and  the political will for both countries, India and Malaysia will have been the same - to show case the respective countries to the world.

What went wrong with India then? Did the country's goals not match the individual's goals?  Rather than creating iconic buildings, why were there stories of crores of rupees being stashed away? Our country spends immense amounts of monies in the name of infrastructure. When was the last iconic building built since the Taj Mahal?