Simple Strokes

WITH A DREAM TO DESIGN A PROJECT THAT'S ON A CURRENCY NOTE SOMEDAY, THIS YOUNG DESIGNER, PHILOSOPHER AND ARTIST IS SKETCHING HIS WAY TO THE TOP. WITH HIS POCKET-SIZED MODEL PHILOSOPHY AND DESIGN BACKBONED IN CORBUSIER'S DESIGN APPROACH, AMAN AGARWAL IS A DESIGN LEADER OF THE FUTURE.

- SUMISHA GILOTRA

"If not an architect, I would have been an architectural tour guide!" says Aman Agarwal, because that's how well he knows the Corbusier-designed buildings of Chandigarh. With his heart and soul immersed in the gorgeous city of Chandigarh, being an architect was incidental for Aman, and admittedly a way of life he wouldn't trade for anything. From growing up experiencing Corbusier architecture up close, considering both his grandfathers were statesmen, and working with the Pritzker Laureate and India's most celebrated architect BV Doshi, his journey to starting his firm, Charged Voids, was straight out of a book. Incidentally, the unusual name of his firm emerged from his love for the in-between, transitional spaces in architecture - the voids-and how they inspired him.

Through his practice, Aman aims to search for a sense of temporal continuity that can tie our glorious past with the beads of the future. His design philosophy and thinking have been shaped by Le Corbusier's core principles of modernism and experience, but the applications are very modern. In fact, for each of his projects, Aman adopts a unique architectural approach derived from a critical examination of the times we live in and the ecological and environmental factors that shape our collective experiences.

SUMISHA GILOTRA speaks to Aman Agarwal, Principal Architect, Charged Voids, about his journey from a two-member team that started work with a small restaurant interior to today being a 20-member team designing large institutions and masterplans.

You have lived quite the childhood, I believe, Aman! You have also had the privilege of working with Architect Doshi. Tell us about your learnings in the process of becoming an architect and how you apply those to the current times.