Solely Sustainable

We are sitting at his lake house in Andur It’s a beautiful day, with birds immersed in their joyful chirping outside; Bhidu, his dog, quietly basking in the afternoon’s laziness; the wind gently caresses the tree leaves, overlooking the vast lake in front of us; Amidst the serene landscape, we unfold our conversation with the man who has made “Designing with nature”, a way of life. Unlike the social media romantics, whose fascination with conscious design is temporal, here is an architect, who has time and again showcased award-winning examples of awareness and acceptance in architecture, Ar. Shirish Beri. Every project of his, is a simple response to the existing ecosystem – the context, the need, the function. When asked about three projects that define Ar. Shirish Beri said it is as difficult as a mother to choose her favourite child. But still he mentioned the projects like LaCONES in Hyderabad which has a special impact because of the existing 10M high rocks on site. He convinced the government clients to conserve it and the project won the ARCASIA Gold Medal for best building in Asia also his project of Gandhi farmhouse in Nagpur fetched another ARCASIA Gold Medal. He also mentioned about the Drug De-addiction Center in Pune and its impact as the designed space actually enhanced the healing project. With this he said his own houses define who he really is and are very satisfying because he alone was the client, contractor and the architect. Further when asked about the possibility of sustainable living in present scenarios , Beri answered, “It is possible but we are avoiding it. We are blindly following the crowd which is not necessarily moving in the right direction. Hence, I decided to create a lifestyle of my own which is more harmonious with nature.” Further he explained about the basin counter with only two things, a soap dish and a toothbrush holder as the only primary necessity unlike the spread in most houses which have about 40-50 different products unnecessarily lying there. “Why? Unless we simplify our living, unless we have some ‘saiyam’ (restraint), we cannot talk about sustainability” later he added. In conclusion Ar. Shirish Beri says “ Don’t measure your life with the number of breaths you take, but, by moments in your life, that take your breath away! ”