CRAFTING CULTURAL NARRATIVES

Delving into the architectural genius of SJK Architects

One of the most coveted architecture firms in the country, SJK Architect’s design philosophy emulates the culturally modernist maxim, that’s an amalgamation of traditional features and evocative materiality set in contemporary designs. Driven by the design direction of its four mavericks – the founder, Shimul Javeri Kadri, and partners, Vaishali Mangalvedhekar, Sarika Shetty and Roshni Kshirsagar – the firm has invented new paradigms in the design world.

Through a series of award-winning design projects and buildings, the firm has created an international reputation as a member of a new generation of architects who design spaces for a rapidly urbanising economy, meticulously crafted from a study of climate, culture, history, and technology – each unique to the place and its people.

SJK Architects works all over India, in both rural and urban contexts, in small towns as well as metros. Their portfolio cuts across scales and typologies, including residential, retail, hotels and resorts, museums and galleries, industrial and healthcare, amongst others. Some of the firm’s notable projects include the Nirvana Films’ Studio (2011) in Bangalore, which won at the World Architecture Festival held in Singapore in 2012; Automobile Design Studio (2015) for Mahindra and Mahindra; multiple-award winning projects for Marasa Hospitality, including the Dasavatara Hotel (2015) in Tirupati, a holy city for Hindus and home to many historic temples, and the Hotel in Bodh Gaya (2020), one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world. These buildings typify the particularly expressive, while still tightly disciplined cultural-modernism that marks out SJK’s evolving style – a style that embraces qualities of light, transparency and openness.