"...the reality of architecture is not contained in the roof and walls, but in the space within. It is the space that is."

- Nari Gandhi

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.

Nari completed his schooling at St. Xavier's High School,

Mumbai, and studied architecture at Sir J. J. College of

Architecture, Mumbai for five years in early 1950s.

He travelled to USA to apprentice with Frank Lloyd Wright

at the Taliesin and spent five years there.

After Wright's death in 1959, Nari left Taliesin and studied

pottery at the Kent State University for two years.

While working in India, Nari continued to work on

Wright's ideology of organic architecture and further

developed his own unique style with a subtle influence

of local climate and culture.

He ceaselessly continued to work on Wright's idea of

'flowing space'.

Nari worked without an office and rarely made any

drawings for any of his projects.

Nari spent a lot of time on his sites and worked closely

with the craftsmen and often participated in the

construction process himself.

Also known as ‘Howard Roark of India’.

Using a wooden stick as his pencil, he sketched on

the ground to explain his plan.

If he wasn’t happy with a construction, he would

immediately tear it down !

His works display a distinctive organic character.

They appear to have evolved as a response to the

context, remaining strongly rooted to the site and

being very well connected to the surroundings.

Nari's works display highly skilled craftsmanship and

structural ingenuity.

Each building designed by Nari is as an

example of unconventional thinking in

architecture.

He created built spaces that remained

forever connected to their un-built

surroundings allowing sunlight and wind to

interact with the inside and animate the

space with time.

Each house is a series of dialogs between

the built and the unbuilt.

He has stacked earthen pots to construct arches out

of them and built stairs out of brick arches.

Throughout his works you see extraordinary use of

stone, brick, wood, glass and leather.

Nari rejected conventional ideas and paradigms and

introduced his own through his work.

Through his work, he started 'rethinking' about

standardised practices and set up his own.

When you visit any one of his houses, you will

notice an evident 're-thinking' of the arrangement of

various functions within the house.

Construction

Extensive use of :

Brick Arches

Buttresses

Stone Masonry

VARIOUS PROJECTS

Dawood Shoes Office – Mumbai

Gobhai Mountain Lodge -

Lonavala

Jain Bungalow – Lonavala

Korlai Bungalow – Korlai

Madh Island House – Madh Island

Moondust Residence –Madh

Island

Revdanda House – Revdanda

Tungarli Bungalow - Lonavala

Gobhai Mountain Lodge, Lonavala

Dawood Shoes Office, Mumbai

Exterior detail of the roof overhang, supported by trusses.

The overhang has rectangular openings and is sheathed in terracotta

tiles

Exterior view taken from the

second storey, looking to

the garden and the beach

Exterior detail of a roof projection supported by wooden struts

and clad along the edge with flat terracotta tiles

Roof detail showing chipped stonework at the base of the lower

roof and protruding struts to support the deep overhang

Exterior detail of terracotta-

clad roof corner with

rectangular openings in the

roof

View of the garden

looking to the beach

from beneath deep roof

overhangs

Interior view of the entrance door

with infill of chipped glass, thin

wooden rails, tiles and precious

stones

Detail of a staircase on an arch.

Located in the living room, the stair leads to the bedrooms on the

upper floor

Interior detail of stair

treads resting on a stone

arch; there are no hand

rails on either side

Interior view of the intersecting stone arches made from a

variety of chipped stones, large boulders, and terracotta pots

View of the dining area with a mural wall at left.

Beyond the glazed slanted wall is the beach

Detail of the mural wall: geometric patterns in mud brick

Detail of the mural wall: a variety of shapes in relief create a

pattern

Interior view with mural wall

ahead and glazed kitchen

wall at right

Interior view looking at a stone wall made in situ using

stone chips, large dressed stones, and boulders

Interior view: leather-upholstered seat cushions, a

stone wall, and a mirror reflecting the wall

Interior detail of the living space just below the roof:

a bench is placed where the roof meets the wall

Exterior detail of the terracotta-tiled roof overhang supported by numerous

struts

Interior detail within the roof, showing the junction of the struts, rafters, beams,

and the glazed slanting wall on the lower storey

Interior view looking upward at

wooden beams and roof above

View of the main living areas set behind the double-arched opening

made from exposed brick

Exterior view of a house adjoining the Revdanda house, where

a double-arched exposed brick façade has been added !

semi-circular arched verandah

projecting beds on the mezzanine level

main living areas set behind the double-arched brick wall

seating area

view from the mezzanine level looking at an arch supporting the roof

Interior view looking at the living area with a small staircase

leading to the mezzanine

Exterior view of the house taken from the landscape in the

backyard

courtyard from the entrance verandah

checkered brick-paved pathway leading to an adjoining structure

that the architect built for himself

Detail of the concentric landscaping done using

inverted terracotta pots in a concrete bed

Detail of the inverted terracotta pots beside an old iron

gate

Detail of the moss-covered water channel used for

irrigation

Exterior view of sea-facing elevation of bungalow; the barrel-vaulted bedrooms

are visible in center and at right. Under the main roof of the bungalow is the

arched pavilion

Exterior view of bungalow taken from the wall of the compound (the sea is located at right). The vault of one bedroom is visible at center right. Steps lead up from the garden to the main living area

Exterior view taken from the rear garden (the sea is located at left). One bedroom is visible at lower left; at center is the main arched pavilion with its sloping roof

Exterior detail view of the sea-facing elevation of the arched

pavilion.

Below the ridge line of the roof is a balcony leading to the interior

loft.

The pavilion itself is supported by an arcade on the lower level;

openings in the walls are filled with colored glass

side view of pavilion,

showing the corbelled

buttresses abutting the

arcade. Arcade handrail is

detailed to echo the

buttresses.

Stairwell at the far corner.

view of the arcade of the pavilion, viewed from within the pavilion.

The stairwell opening, under a projecting roof, is visible at left

view of the living space of the arched pavilion, defined between the two

arches.

A staircase (at left) leads to the overhead viewing room/loft

view from within the pavilion, looking at the roof with its steel rafters

supporting the wooden layer of the Mangalore-tiled roof

view of the pavilion looking at the circular dining area, showing the chairs

with different leg heights designed for the split-level floor

view of upper level of pavilion, facing the overhead viewing room.

Balconies in the viewing room face the beach and the backyard

view of the ground floor of pavilion, facing the backyard.

At left is built-in seating area complete with integrated handrail

View of a bedroom (below, at right) from the stairwell of the arched

pavilion

View from within the arcade, at

ground level.

The volume of a vaulted

bedroom intersects with the

volume of the kitchen and the

landscaping platforms of the

garden

Exterior view of the Madh Island house within the landscape

night view of the Madh Island house, showing 2 of the 3 lit barrel vaults and

terrace canopy against the silhouette of a triangular gate

view from the triangular gate looking at the vaulted entryway

Detail view of the stone paving at entryway made with

smooth stones from the nearby beach

Exterior view from the rear-end garden of the house,

overlooking a non-structural stone buttress with large pots and

foliage

Interior night view of entrance from the gateway to the main vaulted living space

Exterior vew taken from the rear-end garden of the house

showing the non-structural stone arch and main vaulted living

space

Exterior evening view taken from the rear-end garden overlooking the non-

structural stone arch and main vaulted living space

Exterior view from the rear-end garden looking towards the stone-clad main

barrel vaulted living space

Interior view of the stone-clad barrel vaulted living space with the swing

suspended from a punctured opening in the vault

Night view of the barrel vaulted living space with the furniture designed by the architect

Night view of the barrel vaulted living space with custom

furniture and strips of light within the floor

swing suspended from a wooden brace in the elliptical opening

elliptical opening in the barrel vault from above; interior floor visible through opening

Front view of the barrel

vault with stonework that

integrates large boulders

and plants

Detail view of the chipped stonework and larger stones, cladding the vault

Detail view of interior wall

surface, showing chipped

stonework with clay faces

Interior view from the dining vaulted space overlooking triangular gates

with encroaching boulders in foreground and vegetation beyond

Interior view from the dining vaulted space looking inwards at

the stone table and the glass chipped bathroom at left

Interior view of a mother-of-pearl awning covering a massive stone

facing a stone platform opposite the bathroom

Interior view of the bathroom and kitchen platform taken from the

dining barrel-vaulted space

Interior detail view of the bathroom, showing flat chips of glass - similar

to the stonework outside - and circular mosaic tiles with intermediary

stone arches

Interior view looking outwards at the wooden triangular gates

Exterior detail of the wooden gates and smooth stone pavings at the entrance

sentry statue guarding the

vaulted main spaces in the

background and the terraced

garden above

view of the terraced garden above the barrel-vaulted spaces

Exterior view of the terraced garden at night.

The mother-of-pearl canopy sits on the crown of the vault

Exterior view of the terraced

garden showing the chipped

stone pathway, flowerbeds,

and the large mother-of-

pearl canopy

the vaulted mother-of-pearl canopy

View from under the mother-of-pearl canopy

Interior of the mother-of-pearl canopy, looking at the lush garden in the

background

Detail of the mother-of-pearl canopy adjoining the foliage and chipped

stonework

Detail view of the mother-of-pearl pieces, which are tied together using thin ropes

Interior view looking upwards at the arrangement of broken amber-colored

bottles forming a skylight ring with chipped stonework in the foreground

Detail view of a concave-in-centre circular paver block made from

chipped stones that are cast on a bed of plain cement concrete (p.c.c.)

Detail of view of a convex-in-centre circular paver block made from

chipped stones that are cast on a bed of plain cement concrete (p.c.c.)

General view of the Jain bungalow, looking at the sloping roofs set in

the undulating terrain

Exterior view of the garage showing the play of mangalore-tiled sloping

roofs, supported by steel members on the ground

Exterior view from the gate

Exterior view looking upwards at the entrance facing balcony

and mangalore-tiled roof

view of the steel truss-supported roof that follows

the terraced landscaping on site

skylit opening in the roof overhang

Exterior view of the house taken from the lowest end of the slope.

The external wall is made of hand-dressed stone arranged in random rubble

masonry

Interior view of the bedroom wall showing the exposed truss overhead and

elongated polygonal openings set in dressed stone masonry

play of light against a rough stone wall

Interior view looking at the staircase, which is set behind a stone buttress with

horizontal bands of polished stone and wood

Interior view looking towards the card room with a hemispherical grilled

opening

Interior view looking outwards through an elliptical window

Interior view looking at a variety of openings set in stone masonry

Detail view of chipped stonework used for cladding wall surfaces

Interior view looking at the flight of

stairs leading to the main living

spaces of the house

Detail view of the staircase

with the curvilinear forms of

openings, pots, and arches

around it

Detail view of the skylit court and its chipped stonework, with built-in planter beds

surrounded by circular openings and a blue glass-chipped hemisphere

circular colored glass infills in a bathroom

n a r i g a n d h i

. . . the different mind !