Nariman (Nari) Dossabhai Gandhi (1934–1993) was an Indian architect known for his highly innovative works in

organic architecture Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is achieved through design approaches that aim to be sympathetic and well-integrated with a site, so buildings, furni ...

. He practiced as an architect in India from 1964 to 1993 having worked on approximately 27 projects.Jalia 2008, p. 36 He primarily focused on designing residences with a secondary focus on designing furniture, objects, and upholstery textiles.Jalia 2008, p. 36, p. 106

Early life and education

Nari Gandhi was born on 2 January 1934 in

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

to a

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

family based in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. He was one of the six children and had three brothers and two sisters. He completed his primary and secondary education at St. Xavier's High School located in

Fort, Mumbai Fort is a business and art district in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. The area gets its name from the defensive fort, Fort George, built by the British East India Company around Bombay Castle. The area extends from the docks in the east, to ...

. He then attended the

Sir J. J. School of Art The Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art (Sir J. J. School of Art) is the oldest art institution in Mumbai, India, and is affiliated with the University of Mumbai. The school grants bachelor's degrees in fine art and sculpture, and Master's de ...

in Mumbai and pursued the diploma program in architecture until 1956. During his time at the Sir J. J. School of Art, he was acquainted with Rustom Patell, a former

Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the '' Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts ...

(1949-1952), who, in turn, introduced him to a colleague from Taliesin, Mansinh Rana (1947-1951).Hawker 2007, p. 2-4, cited in Jalia 2008, p. 14 Upon recommendation from Rana, he left the Sir J. J. School of Art without completing his formal education to join Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin.

Taliesin

Following his departure from the Sir J. J. School of Art, Nari Gandhi attended Taliesin from October 1956 through December 1961. The time spent training and collaborating with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin heavily influenced Gandhi's views on organic architecture.Jalia 2008, p. 9 The environment at Taliesin was conducive for artists to explore and engage in various forms of artistic express; it was here that, along with architecture, he became interested in stonework and

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

. His interest in stonework helped him leave an enduring mark at Taliesin. He once ignored the mandatory Sunday breakfast with Frank Lloyd Wright and Olgivanna Lloyd Wright to instead drag a large stone that he had discovered in the mountains down to the Taliesin campus. This stone—referred to as Eagle Stone or more rarely as Nari's Rock—was erected at the entrance of the Taliesin campus. He befriended architect

Bruce Goff Bruce Alonzo Goff (June 8, 1904 – August 4, 1982) was an American architect, distinguished by his organic, eclectic, and often flamboyant designs for houses and other buildings in Oklahoma and elsewhere. A 1951 ''Life Magazine'' article sta ...

during his time at Taliesin. After leaving Taliesin, he briefly worked with architect Warren Webber before studying pottery,

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

, and

woodcarving Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

Career

Following his studies at Kent State University, Nari Gandhi returned to India to practice as an independent architect. He owned an office space on Nepeansea Road near Malabar Hill in South Mumbai but it was rarely occupied and used. He was not a registered architect with the

Indian Institute of Architects The Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) is the national body of Architects in India with more than 1,24,000 members. It was established in 1917 with its headquarters in Mumbai, India. It is associated with the International Union of Architects (U ...

so the legal permits for his projects were obtained by an architect-friend, Dady Banaji, and other associates. He practiced as an architect in India from 1964 to 1993 having worked on approximately 27 projects. He primarily focused on designing residences (apartments, penthouses, farm houses, beach houses) with a secondary focus on designing furniture, objects, and upholstery textiles. His work-team included Pravin Bhayani—acknowledged by Gandhi as his 'troubleshooter'—and Arvind Soni—who was responsible for the on-site labour force.Jalia 2008, p. 44

Architectural style

Nari Gandhi was known for his highly innovative works in organic architecture that blended elements unique to India with the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright. He developed an integrated architectural style that considered the local climate, tropical lifestyle, and artisanship in collaboration with the craftsmen and masons on site. Labor-intensive methods were intrinsic to his work, which showed a refined sense of materials with an extraordinary use of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, stone,

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

, wood,

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

, and

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

. Recurring themes in his work include extended roof slopes that touch the ground, arched structural design, preservation of and building around on-site trees, and obscuring the interior-exterior distinction. The idea of constant growth and change, as evident through rebuilding, rearranging, and extending, was also present in his work.Jalia 2008, p. 48

Personal life

Nari Gandhi was a practicing Zoroastrian Parsi who dressed plainly in white,

khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi as ''swadeshi'' (self-sufficiency) for the freedom struggle of the Indian subcontinent, and the term is used throughout India, Pakistan ...

fabric kurta pyjamas, a Parsi top, and Kolhapuri chappals. He was a bachelor and a teetotaler. He was influenced by the ideas of the Indian philosopher

Jiddu Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti (; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was a philosopher, speaker and writer. In his early life, he was groomed to be the new World Teacher, an advanced spiritual position in the theosophical tradition, but later rejected thi ...

. He died in a car accident on 18 August 1993 while on a visit to a client's site.

Selected works

* Jal Gobhai's mountain lodge (Lonavala) * Asha Parekh's Akruti residence (Juhu, Mumbai) * Valia resident (Vile-Parle, Mumbai) * Interior design for Vasant Seth's penthouse (Mumbai) * Sam Dastoor's weekend house (Madh Island, Mumbai) * Vasant Seth's beach house * Landscape and furniture design for Moondust (Versova) * Sadruddin Daya's Revdanda residence (Revdanda, Maharashtra) * Sadruddin Daya's Mark Haven apartment (Coloba, Mumbai)Jalia 2008, p. 57 * Suryakant Patel's residence (Surat, Gujarat) * Interior design for Mr. Malik Tejani's apartment (Kanchanjunga, Mumbai) * Rustom Mehta's residence (Korlai, Maharashtra) * Jain (co-owners of

the Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

group) bungalow (Lonavala) * Kishore Bajaj's farmhouse (Karjat) * Nasir Jamal's penthouse (Colaba, Mumbai)Jalia 2008, p. 72 * Abu Asim Azmi's penthouse (Colaba, Mumbai) * Sadruddin Daya's Madh Island house (Madh Island, Mumbai) (unfinished) * Malik Tejani's Tungarli bungalow (Lonavala) * Madhusthali Vidyapeeth girls school (Madhpur, Jharkhand) (unfinished)Jalia 2008, p. 81

Notes

References

* Jalia, Aftab Amirali. (2008).
Refiguring the Sketch: The Nari Gandhi Cartographic
' (MSc). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. * Hawker, Michael C. (2007). "Celebrating the life and work of Nari Gandhi".
Friends of Kebyar
'. Volume 23.1, Issue No. 72.