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The built form and the written word, both have a lot in common. Some relations are more literal – the basic building blocks, the structure, certain distinctive elements. But, both go well beyond the physical and the literal -  The ultimate purpose behind designing buildings and writing prose is to invoke feelings, to lead one through space and time, to tell stories.

While our buildings tell the specific stories of our client’s, it is through our words that are able to share our stories with you. It is through our words that we are able to visualize and create narratives that drive the process. It is these words that fuel the excitement in anything and everything that we do – whether it be about the artisans and craftsmen who work with us, simple construction processes or just the spaces that we experience.

Here is a glimpse of some of these stories.

If you'd like to read more, you can find all of our stories on our Blogspot.

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Writer's pictureSandarbh Architects

Life at the Site

The last couple of days, I have sort of made one of our sites my workplace. I have spent multiple days in the past working from site, but the jobs I was doing was related to that particular site - getting the work done over there. This time though, my job of supervision at site was not very necessary, and I had the time and space to pick my own cozy spot in this house that we are getting done, and work on whatever I wanted to work on. It has been a very interesting experience - I have sort of made a routine for myself in these few days that I have been working here. Every morning, walking into site - my day would begin with an enthusiastic "hello/good morning", by Karamjit, Pappu, or the other workers there. A couple of days - the client, Anand was also around - we would discuss the work the workers are taking up for the day before I move on to finding a spot where I can take up the morning zoom meeting. Once the rest of the team is sorted, and assigned with the jobs they have to do, I would walk around site, looking for a good spot that is inviting me to sit and work there - sometimes it is the bridge right in the center of the house, or the connection between the kids room and jacuzzi, where I can see all the corners of the site sitting at one spot, or other times, it is on one of the steps of the staircase in the courtyard.


The workers at site have a rhythm set for themselves, and organically I blend into it - creating cycles for myself. Around 11 am, the tea would come, with one of them calling me to join them. I used this as a deadline for myself, to sort out the overall picture of everything I have to work on. Teatime would be interesting - everybody at site coming together for a few minutes of conversation. Lunchtime would be the quiet times - an hour without the hammering, drilling, chipping sound. It is interesting to look at how each worker uses the lunch time break to chill. After sitting together having lunch from their tiffin (which smells delicious) - some use the remaining time to watch videos, some have conversations on the phone, some would go home. I would use this peace to my advantage, getting the core of the work I am doing completed. A couple of hours after lunch - interesting music would be floating around the site - sometimes from their phones, sometimes I could hear random singing from corners of the site! By evening, when my laptop and phone runs out of charge, and I am super exhausted from running up and down on site, I would say goodbye, with them not letting me leave until I have the evening tea.



Working at site, despite the dust and the noise - and contrary to my belief, gave me a lot of focus and energy. It was very interesting to see the small habits each of the them have for the work they do - how pappu finishing his plastering job using a sponge for the pattern, the work flow of the chipping, plastering and cleaning, or the relationship between the different teams working at site. There is a new discovery every day. Looking forward to many more days of working off the site!


- Ananya

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