Interview with Architect Kiran Kalamdani, Maharshtra

When did you start Kimaya? What was the mission behind forming Kimaya? Kimaya started in October 1989 after Anjali and I returned from York. The mission behind it was to put to practice various theories about Architecture, Interior Design, Urban Design and Conservation we had heard about in college in Pune, Delhi and York. You are an Architect, Urban Designer, Conservationist, Landscape Designer, Interior Designer. Which role do you enjoy the most? There is no single one that interests me completely or any one that I might choose over the other. All these partitions between disciplines melt in the oneness of experience. For the outsider and the man on the street these partitions do not matter. Each of these actually help in a better understanding of a subject or work of art. Tell us something about your approach to your projects. We try to defy the typical methodical approach. As architects we approach projects either with a highly passionate understanding of the central subject or a comprehensive and inclusive understanding of what is required or a multiplicity of viewpoints that need to be incorporated in the final solution. It takes time in any project for the final picture about the intended programme to emerge. For example in a project for developing the memorial for Kanhoji Angre the Maratha Admiral it was necessary to understand the heroism and his contribution to Indian history, whereas while designing the Jain house a poem and a photograph that summed up the essence of a house without corners! So in conservation projects it is necessary to understand the values that are enshrined in the stones while in new projects it is necessary to identify the inner aspirations of the occupant. Source: Zingy Homes