LIFESTYLE INSIGHT

THE POETRY OF SPACE

A Home in Bhavnagar designed by Ahmedabad based architect Chirashree Thakkar

Chirashree Thakkar is the founder and principal architect of Chirashree Thakkar Studio, a multidisciplinary design practice known for integrating vernacular elements with contemporary design. With over 15 years of experience, she specializes in climate-responsive architecture that honors cultural contexts. Her studio, established in 2010, has garnered recognition for creating spaces that seamlessly blend functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability..

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SPELLING COOLTH

Ar. Monish Siripura’s Sustainable Design of Air-coolers

Nature has always been the greatest teacher, and Monish Siripurapu listens carefully. An ‘antrepreneur’ – a term that combines architect and entrepreneur – Monish has spent his career crafting magic where Art, Nature, and Technology converge. A graduate of the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) Delhi, and founder of Ant Studio and CoolAnt, he turns ancient wisdom into futuristic, living solutions. His journey is an inspiring dance between creativity, sustainability, and the quest to build not just structures, but a legacy of ecological mindfulness.

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Architect Shirish Beri

Architect Shirish Beri

“I believe… that true sustainability comes from compassion and caring concern for everything and everyone. My journey and search in life has nurtured a universe-centric standpoint in me, where I feel myself as an integral, indivisible, miniscule part of this delightful Fullness and Oneness of life.” After graduating from CEPT, Ahmedabad in 1974, Ar. Shirish Beri joined his father and brother in Beri Architects & Engineers Pvt Ltd. Later in 2002, he started his Shirish Beri and Associates. With a focussed approach to sustainability and an innate tendency to achieve an implicit unity between the natural and the man-made, Beri has been at the forefront of Indian architecture; with his designs reflecting his values and concerns in life itself. His body of work spans across varied typologies; but more notable projects are in the sectors of institutional campuses for research, rehabilitation, healthcare and education.

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BRICK BY BRICK

An Art Gallery in Gandhinagar designed by Ahmedabad based Bhadri and Snehal Suthar

The Grid Architects is a research & design studio founded by Bhadri and Snehal Suthar in 2002. The Ahmedabad-based practice spans across architecture, interiors, landscape, and furniture design. Their work reflects a deep sensitivity to human-nature relationships, aligned with ecological awareness and contextual relevance; their approach drawing from vernacular knowledge while engaging with contemporary practice. The studio’s project Tarang Pavilion in Gandhinagar is a 3,000-square-foot vaulted structure that reinvents exhibition spaces; and stands as an example of what can emerge when architecture listens: to the site, to the people who build it, and to the rhythms of use over time.

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CORBUSIER, CHANDIGARH & CUBISM

Chandigarh-based Ar. Sangeet Sharma analyses the power and potential of architecture

Graduating as an architect in 1987, Sangeet Sharma is a Partner in the Chandigarh-based firm S.D. Sharma & Associates, founded by his father Ar. Shiv Datt Sharma. Carrying forward the legacy of Chandigarh, Corbusier, and Cubism – the 3 Cs of his life – Sangeet Sharma crafts his own identity; maybe getting more drawn towards the Cubist than either Corbusier or his own father. A staunch advocate of sustainable design, Ar. Sangeet Sharma is a self proclaimed protagonist of Cubist Modernism, his architecture resonating with the clarity of pure geometry. A widely published architect and author, and winner of multiple prestigious awards and honours, Sangeet Sharma has grown to become a formidable name in contemporary Indian architecture.