Tucked into the Warmth of this World.

If you saw a building being torn down on your way to office, you probably wouldn’t turn around for a second glance; but even the thought of your home being damaged a little would definitely wrench your gut.

Deny it as we might, the architecture around us seems to have 

the power to evoke emotions we often don’t even know exist within us. One could say the same thing about travel and the proof of this lies in the fact that we tend to bring back pieces of memorabilia from each holiday we take.

The feeling of your eye randomly being held captive by something that reminds you of a distant memory is quite indescribable. But the joy of moulding your home around everything that you have seen, loved and collected over the years would feel like snuggling into the warmth of a comfortable blanket.

One tiny part of this nostalgia is what I experienced when I walked into one of our sites.

The house that has been designed capitalising on the beauty of patterned tiles and upscaled wooden frames that have been strategically placed on walls and floors to offset grey and white backdrops. These plain colours come with the opportunity to add a trace of brighter shades that heighten the brilliance of the tessellations used. And let me not forget the strikingly blue doors with a hint of stained glass that frame the greenery around the house beautifully.

While I was there for barely an hour, I couldn’t help but smile at the coloured glass lights that reminded me of Turkey, the blue tiles that seem to take you to Morocco, the light switches that I vaguely remember from a time my grandmother described in her stories and the grey, textured walls that speak of a time so contemporary yet timeless that it acts as a perfect adhesive to hold all these elements of striking individual beauty together.

I may be biased towards things that help me travel without moving but why would anyone count that as a bad thing.
Right?

Looking forward to write about many such brilliant projects,
Namitha.

Static Without Static.

What do you do when the electricity fails and you watch your old laptop that has been overworked ever since you laid your architectural hands on it, die a losing battle to its rapidly dying battery?

What do you do, when after a panicked attempt at switching from laptop to phone as your medium of work, you realise that there is no way you can efficiently detail out and finish all the mails you were supposed to send out while typing on the tiny screen in your hand?

What do you do when the electricity hasn’t returned in 2 hours and you are now knee deep in work that hasn’t been done- starting from documentations to presentations; all of which that, of course, need to go out that very day?

I’ll tell you what you’ll do.
You’ll head out for an early lunch.

And while there, you will mentally prepare yourself to beat flash with the pace at which you cover ground the moment the dim light on your laptop flickers; simultaneously bringing your device and you, back to life.

You will prioritize and make a mental note of the order in which you will handle files and, unquestionably, have to multi task.

And finally, you will wrap everything up, look at the clock with surprise and file this in your head as a relaxed day at work; quietly happy that you weren’t the one on site when the electricity went out.

Hoping to see you tomorrow,
Namitha.

Hello All

All of you might have been reading Shreya's blogs here - as she continues writing for her Project 365. Now as she reaches a landmark of 40 blogs - telling the story about her internship, the work and her experience at the Sandarbh Design Studio, this inspired the writer in me to slowly start to wake up from a long pause from writing for Sandarbh (you can find a blog from about 4 months back here).

So , here I am taking a decision to start a new series - this time from an architect's point of view - 

To introduce myself, I am Ananya, an architect working at the Sandarbh Design Studio. My role in the office includes dealing with the client communication, the marketing and working with the interns. Although I joined the office with an intent to write as well, this role had taken a back seat as the rest of the work began to catch up to me.

So here I am, bringing it back - with a desire to give you an insight into the daily life at Sandarbh, the transformations and our office culture. 

Although I will be writing on behalf of Sandarbh, it will be my ideas and experiences as an individual more rather than the team's. And even though I have taken up something like a project 365, my blogs will not be appearing as regularly as Shreya's does here  - As my commitment to writing everyday will be spread across various platforms. I may be writing for RedMax Images - Leena and Sai's Photography venture as well.

Looking forward to sharing the tales of Sandarbh, our people, our projects, our clients and my experiences here.

Looking forward to hearing what you guys think about it.

Come back to this space for more!