NARI GANDHI

Submitted to: Ar.Mugdha

Submitted by: Diksha Kumari
 INTRODUCTION
• Nari Gandhi (1934–1993) was an Indian
architect known for his highly innovative works
in organic architecture.
• Nariman (Nari) Dossabhai Gandhi was born in
1934 in Surat to a Zoroastrian Parsi family from
Bombay.
• Studied architecture at Sir J. J. College of
Architecture, Mumbai. 
• He travelled to US to apprentice with Frank
Lloyd Wright at the Taliesin.
• Studied pottery at the Kent State
University for two years.
• After returning to India He passionately worked
on as many as 30 projects over a period of as
many years.
 WORKS
• Mountain Lodge for Jal Gobhai at Lonavala
• Residence for Asha Parekh at Juhu, Mumbai
• Farm house for S H Daya at Alibag
• Residence for S H Daya at Madh island, Mumbai
• Residence for Kishore Bajaj at Karjat
• Residence for Rustom Mehta at Korlai, Alibag
• Residence for Shreya and Kishor Dalal at Awas, Alibag
• Mausoleum at Kolgaon near Ahmednagar
• Gateway to mosque at Kolgaon
• Tejani house at Lonavala
• Patel residence at Surat
• Jain house at Lonavala
• Dawood shoe house, Mumbai
 ABOUT
• He took inspiration from nature for his
architecture.
• He believed that land is the purest
form of nature and a building grows
towards light like a plant.
• Light, for him, was the soul of
architecture.
• He would spend hours studying the
relation of moving sun and his building.
• Though his work was very organic, it had
a strong geometry to it.
• Another important aspect of his
architecture was his use of materials. He
worked with brick, stone, timber and
steel.
• He chose materials meticulously as per
the site location and demand of the space.
• His pottery skills aided him in choosing
textures and colors, adding a unique
taste to his work.
• His work is a marriage of architecture &
• The Taliesin experience helped him to
develop an attitude towards the basic
understanding of nature, an utter
dedication to work and relationship of
architecture with the other arts,
imbibing the principle rather than the
formula.
• He was inspired by Mr. Wright's
principles of organic simplicity,
plasticity and tectonic figuration.
• Nari Gandhi believed that all forms of
art are aspects of the human striving
for grace.
• After the Taliesin experience, Nari
spent fifteen months at the Kent
University, Ohio studying ceramics,
weaving, wood carving and
photography.
• Inspired by the works of Soji Hamada,
a Japanese ceramic 43 designer, he
once remarked: "Both pottery and
architecture are concerned with
basic forms.
• The shape of the hand dictates the
shape of the cup; the cup upside
down becomes a hut".
• Inspired by J. Krishnamurthy, a few qualities that Nari Gandhi exhibits in
the endeavor of designing spatial environments are: -
• Timelessness (independent from stylistic movements)
• Selflessness (free from the designer's self)
• Wholeness (designs that have integrity)
• Silence (spaces that make people calm, deeply observing the subtle
processes)
• Harmony (appropriate proportions)
• Natural Instinct (drawing from and respecting the natural environment,
the light, the seasons etc.)
• Order (building intuitively using natural geometric patterns)
PRINCIPLE

• Natural Pattern
Structure: His works
aim towards a
complete self-
supporting
ecosystem, where the
material is not
violated and the
circumstances and
surroundings are
understood.
• Organic Simplicity -
towards spirituality and
freedom: To him, 'Simplicity'
did not mean 'Plainness'; it
meant that every feature
of his design would
become a harmonious
element in the
harmonious whole,
achieving a state of
simplicity towards
spirituality and freedom.
Plasticity: For Nari
Gandhi, Form and
Function were one;
intertwined with each
other without any
separation or
complication. The idea
of Plasticity is used
as the element of
continuity and
flexibility, where there
is elimination of
separation and joinery
in favor of expressive
flow of continuous
• Geometry Structure:
Nari Gandhi uses
nature's precise
geometry, extending it
to project an
understanding of the
context. The geometry is
not only used as a means
of organizing materials
and spaces but also in the
third dimension. Thus,
the buildings are created
in three dimension as
coherent organisms such
that it has no main view
or facade. He had no
structural engineers and
intuitively produced some
dramatic structures with
large stone and brick
arches.
• Ornament, Texture and
Patterns: The patterns
sometimes reflected the
texture of local rock
formations. He would
incorporate semi precious
stones, statues and
artifacts into the wall
surface, walls themselves
becoming murals.
RELATION WITH POST MODERNISM
• ORNAMENTATION – It re-emerged in postmodernism as a
noticeable shift from the modernist example of minimalism.
• The employment of sculptures and murals was an integral part
of traditional Indian architecture, and understandably, it became
one of the key features adopted in the Indian experiments of
post-modernity.
• The ISCON Temple, New Delhi and the Lake Kalibari, Kolkata,
designed by the first generation modernist master Achyut
Kanvinde, show elements of ornamentation which may well be
identified as post-modern.
• C. P. Kukreja’s buildings at the IIM Lucknow campus are notable
examples of employing decorative elements in post-modern
Indian building façades.
 NEO-TRADITIONAL AND MODERN
INDIAN VERNACULAR
• The use of “pitched roofs, chunky
detailing, picturesque massing
and brick” was the hallmark of a neo-
vernacular post-modernism in the
western world .
• But the inspiration from traditional
Indian building practices came in
various forms: materials, building
technology, shilpaic canons,
settlement patterns, and aesthetic
values
• Nari Gandhi’s residences, Gerard da
Cunha’s Nrityagram, and Laurie
Baker’s works, like St. John’s Cathedral,
Tiruvalla, display the use of traditional
building forms, vernacular technology,
and materials like stone, bamboo,
brick, mud and thatch.
 MOON DUST RESIDENCE,MADH
ISLAND
• The Moon Dust house
originally had six rooms on
two floors- one living
room, three bedrooms
along with one kitchen
on the ground floor; and
two bedrooms on the
first floor. It also had a
garage and a swimming
pool.
• Use of terracotta all over
the bungalow.
• Broken glass chips are
used abundantly to give a
unique feel to the house
• Doors glazed with glass Geometric patterns
ROOF HANG WITH
GEOMETRIC
INTERIOR
STAIRCASE ON
ENTRANC
CHIPS, STONES ETC.
 KORALI’S BUNGLOW
• For the Korlai (a small
coastal village just
south of Revdanda)
bungalow, architect Nari
Gandhi selected the
waterfront lot and
designed an elevated
open arched pavilion
facing the sea. Two
parallel arches form the
structural frame of the
pavilion and support the
large pitched roof. 
• Constructed first and
are loaded with walls on
either side to bear the
thrust of the arch.
The house is staged on an elevated platform, a beached boat of
brick, with sandstone paving below echoing the beach behind and
A gently ascending series of landscaped terraces lead
onto an elevated deck, belying the fact that one has
A flight of stairs seems to shed weight as it ascends from
the sun-bleached deck, until it’s nothing more than a slab
of stone projecting from the adjacent arch
An arched doorway, paneled in strips of recycled glass,
funnels diffused light into the guest room .
Sandstone bleachers rise from the garden onto a
large deck.
The view from one of two similarly vaulted bedrooms is
focused on the garden outside. A cast of bricks finds
expression in various roles: ceiling, floor, bed and ledge.
The roof of this Alibag house drops dramatically then rises
again as a dormer, lending the sunken dining area an
A staircase emerging at the intersection of multiple arches
shares the spotlight with the rough mandana stone flooring.
A half-domical kitchen and bar, tucked into a corner of the
building, is largely illuminated by a concealed skylight.