Born in November 1950, Shirish Beri graduated in architecture from School of Architecture (CEPT), Ahmedabad in Jan 1974. Instead of pursuing higher studies in the U.S he opted for living and working in the mountains near Kolhapur (with his father and brother's architectural firm in Kolhapur) from June 1974. He felt that after studying architecture for 6 years, it was necessary to uncondition oneself and unlearn rather than spend two years learning for masters degree abroad.