Born in Dubai to parents of South Indian origin, Vinu Daniel was always expected to pursue a career in something mainstream, such as law or medicine. ‘Certainly anything but Carnatic music,’ jests Daniel of his childhood love for the arts and, in particular, the form of South Indian classical music. In a bid to reconcile his passions and his family’s hopes, Daniel moved to India for university, enrolling for a degree in architecture at the College of Engineering Trivandrum in Kerala. ‘I got into architecture, thinking that it would be a creative space where I could express myself. But within a year or two, I became disillusioned by the pedagogical framework of the curriculum,’ he says. It was a chance encounter with eminent British-Indian architect Laurie Baker in his fourth year of university that reshaped his worldview.
That meeting with Baker served as the watershed moment for Daniel’s career, prompting him to ponder where nature should end and built form should begin. ‘I was inspired by the idea that buildings should coexist with nature. Baker also told me something very profound about a meeting he once had with Mahatma Gandhi: that the real people we should be building for are the ones in need, the “ordinary” people in villages and congested catchments,’ says Daniel. ‘But the most important thing Gandhi told him, and one that has stayed with me, is that the ideal house in the ideal village should be built using materials found within a five-mile radius.’
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Denne historien er fra February 2023-utgaven av Wallpaper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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COOL RUNNINGS
Palace founder Lev Tanju is bringing his own unexpected brand of weirdness and love of eclectic mash-ups to Fila's new contemporary line
LIVING COLOUR
Mexico's San Miguel de Allende is home to a bold young crowd of talent that's thriving off the city's brightly-hued heritage
STARS ASCENDING
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. We profile ten creatives forging their own paths to success
SUITE DREAMS
Cathay Pacific’s new aircraft interiors turn the inflight experience into an art form, upgrading the business-class cabin for the next generation of flyers
Brutal harmony
The Escheresque Italian villa designed by Fausto Bontempi for sculptor Claudio Caffetto
LOCAL HERO
London studio Holloway Li’s recent makeover of Polish hotel Puro Poznan is right up our street
STAR TURNS
An exhibition at Louvre Abu Dhabi unveils the stellar shortlist for this year's Richard Mille Art Prize
SCREEN GEM
A multifaceted residence in Beverly Hills puts the beauty of potentiality in the frame
SOFT SPOT
We've taken a shine to Bottega Veneta's collaboration with Flos on a special edition of a Gino Sarfatti lamp
Between the lines
Frequently drawing comparisons with Francis Bacon, painter George Rouy is gaining peer points for his use of classic techniques to distort the human form