Office: Vastushilpa Sangath | ArchDaily

Shiv Nadar School / Vastushilpa Sangath

Pilar Caballero — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Set within the dense urban fabric of Chennai, the Shiv Nader School reconceives the educational campus as a porous landscape shaped by ecology, climate, and cultural memory. Rather than clearing the site, the project is organized around one of its most defining features: the abundance of existing trees. The architecture is fragmented into small, modular buildings. The plan hence draws inspiration from the local cuisine, or the local Chettinad thali, where diverse elements are unified on a single banana leaf. Similarly, the campus is composed of multiple buildings brought together under sweeping roofs that respond to both climate and culture.

Smritivan Earthquake Memorial Museum / Vastushilpa Sangath

Hana Abdel — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 20:00:00 +0000

The museum is located in Bhuj, Gujarat, India on the bhujiyo hill. The museum is a part of the larger Smritivan earthquake Memorial masterplan, which was made to commemorate the 2001 earthquake of which Bhuj was the epicenter. The museum anchors its journey in the city of Bhuj and the Kutch region’s unique heritage, culture, crafts, and its many villages and wildlife sanctuaries. The design intent was to create not just a museum but a civic space where the citizens could gather and celebrate their many festivals and more. As with our other projects, we recognize the larger role of such institutions in the making of a city, and ensure that architecture contributes to civic life. The same was true for the Smritivan memorial which also addressed the need for a green lung and park for the city. Programmatically, the various galleries of the museum trace the various crafts and skills of the Kutch region.

Smritivan Earthquake Memorial / Vastushilpa Sangath

Hana Abdel — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 06:00:00 +0000

At 8:46 am on January 26, 2001, an earthquake occurred in the Kutch region of Gujarat. Measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, it irrevocably shook innumerable lives and killed 13,805 people. The destruction of habitat, property, and infrastructure ran in billions. The trauma it caused cannot truly be mapped.