Building Blocks

Story Time!

When I was 8 years old I decided to become an architect. Not really knowing what an architect was, but my parents said it was nice, so it must be fine. And so I played with Lego blocks, given by my mother, and made zany objects.

Skip five years, after an intense reading and repeated enactment of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s infamous Sherlock Holmes, I decided it was time India got its first consultant detective.

Skip five more years. Quantum Physicist it was.

Five years later. I will be passing out as an Architect. So it does come full circle.

I am not saying that architecture is something I fell upon. But I believe it is something I was fated upon. My point being. Sometimes life just happens. And it may be exactly what you needed. However, it may turn sour really fast if you don’t try to do anything about it.

I know, confusing. Imagine Newton. Life happened and an apple fell on his head. But instead of cursing his luck of sitting below the one apple that was going to fall he did something about the whole scenario of the apple falling on his head. And asked instead. Why did it fell down?

I studied architecture because it reminded me of my childhood aspirations. It made me feel like I was meant to be, and showed me real beauty in life.

This is my story of falling into architecture and then soon falling in love with it.

What’s yours?

Fun fact: One great architect whose mother also gave him wooden blocks to play with as a child: Frank Lloyd Wright. I think I had a good start ;)

Tale of a few Ceilings: Then and Now

Now I understand how there are millions of architectural blogs talking about architecture: then and now. So many that now it’s almost pretentious. And you know how all of them would sound.

“Oh my God, architecture is so trashy now, remember when…”

Yeah. Pretentious. However, hear me out on this one.

Ceilings.

Yes those, often overlooked, part of the building which is overlooking the entire space.

In the older days, people used to look up and be awed by the magnificence of the ceilings. A beauty other than the sky that hung above us.

The Romans made it right.

In the Gothic period, we reached great heights.

It was developed further in the Baroque.

One of the most well-known example being the St. Peter’s Basilica

Wait we did it as well

(Dilwara temple Mount Abu)

And the Hajia Sophia

My point being, it is one of the sexy that we should definitely bring back.

Stories - continued

Each person is unique, so are their stories. The definition for luxury for me isn't the same as the definition of luxury for you. 

So, in continuation to yesterday's post, (you can find it here) - you can ask me, how do we bring your story to your design?

The definition of luxury changes from person to person - the 5 year old and her mother, the husband and the wife, the architects and their clients . While we know that the minimum requirement for every line we draw, every design we make, every house we design is beauty, how do we know if your sense of beauty is the same as the one we try to achieve?

For some, luxury may mean largeness, huge scale, for others, it maybe the beauty of the material that brings luxury. You can love the imperfections of the hand made tiles, or find beauty in the rhythm of straight lines. Your garden may be a space you want to spend your weekends with your family around or a space where you watch the rain fall while sipping coffee from the porch. Luxury could be in the functionality or it could be in the aesthetics. You may get excited by the wall covered by books or the elaborate AV room that you possess. 

How do you define your sense of luxury? 

So, we start from day one. We develop a process that makes sure that your ideas have a space to develop.We ask you questions, we exchange ideas, we have conversations which might digress far away from Architecture.  We take help from other inspirations around the world. We develop mood boards, we exchange sketches, we ask you to criticize. From the first hand sketch to the final working drawings and the modifications through them, together we understand and define your sense of luxury.

And ,in this journey of discovering stories, your home is created.