KUNAL MANIAR: The Plant Whisperer

In a candid chat, the landscape architect elaborates on his journey through design, his thoughts on sustainability and his experiments with product designing

- SEEMA SREEDHARAN

Landscape architect Kunal Maniar is a perfectionist, a purist in the true sense. There’s something infectious about his confidence, attention to detail, and sensitivity towards ecology. He describes his design philosophy as ‘studied negligence’, where nature is handed back the power to assert its own design statement freely. We meet at one of his surreal projects—where the built and the unbuilt seem entangled in a symbiotic relationship. One encounters seemingly uncultivated plantations of bougainvillea, frangipani and palm trees…nature runs wild here.

The landscape meanders in and out of the house: It’s a testimony to the spectacular collaboration between the architect and landscape architect. “I was thrilled when Shobhan Kothari from ADND approached me for this project. We were working together on a project after a gap of 8 years. That made it very special,” Kunal says.

Whilst an architect envisions fixed forms, a landscape architect must work with constantly changing elements. “The key is to embrace transience, and work in tandem with nature,” says Kunal. He strongly believes that creativity cannot be compartmentalized, and his bespoke landscapes take inspiration from varied disciplines like fine art and craft, product design and even fashion.

His oeuvre is replete with prestigious clients, most of whom he prefers to keep classified. Kunal has worked on greenspaces for Mukesh and Nita Ambani, Shahrukh and Gauri Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, Mahendra Singh and Sakshi Dhoni. We sit down with this master craftsman to understand what inspires him, and what nudged him towards this incredible journey! Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

THE BEGINNING: FOLLOWING THE GREEN ROUTE Seema Sreedharan (SS): Landscape Architecture is an extremely niche segment within the design stream. What veered you towards it?

Kunal Maniar