Building Narratives: The Architecture of Abin Design Studio-Monograph

New Release

BUILDING NARRATIVES

The Architecture of Abin Design Studio

BUILDING NARRATIVES

The Architecture of Abin Design Studio

Building Narratives: The Architecture of Abin Design Studio is a deep critical inquiry into twenty years of work and asks what it all means. What it is not is a glossy catalogue of works by ADS. The narratives are built on a long conversation between two architects—Abin Chaudhuri and Shimul Javeri Kadri—arguing, remembering, doubting, and trying to name the beliefs and compromises that produce buildings. Around this not-so-polite conversation lies details of works by ADS for readers to test the words against the evidence. With the Foreword by Rajesh Advani and Introduction by Praveen Bavadekar, Building Narratives is an invitation to the readers beyond architecture to look closely at what Abin Design Studio did, argue it, critique it, improve and reflect on it to help build the next chapters.

CREDITS

Monograph Conceptualised by ArchitectureLive! and Abin Design Studio

Published by ArchiSHOTS

Foreword by Rajesh Advani (ArchitectureLive!)

Introduction by Praveen Bavadekar (Thirdspace Architecture Studio)

Conversation with Shimul Javeri Kadri (SJK Architects)

Launch Supported by

From the Monograph

Architecture becomes meaningful when it expands its sphere of influence beyond its physical entity, and transforms not only the surroundings but also the lives of its users—becoming an emblem of generosity and collective asset.

Is it important to create a practice that outlives you? Are you thinking about Abin Design Studio as an institutional building exercise - that will outlive your dreams?

This monograph, in essence, becomes a critical examination rather than a celebratory showcase. The conversation reveals the philosophical underpinnings, contradictions, tensions, and evolving positions—the messy realities of practice that are often sanitised in architectural publications.

This easy coexistence between extremes is often seen in his work, where a highly minimal and almost sculptural pavilion slips easily yet assertively into the backdrop of a village football field in Adisaptagram, and at the other end of the spectrum, where masonry details that belong to an ancient terracotta temple can become the armature for the design of a chic fashion store in an upscale neighbourhood of Kolkata.

‘Building Narratives’ honours a practice shaped by curiosity, while acknowledging the trust that allowed its story to emerge through experimentation.