Wikipedia

Sanjay Puri (architect)

Sanjay Puri (born 1965) is an Indian architect.[2] His work is characterised by climate-responsive design, incorporating elements such as courtyards, shading devices and perforated screens. He is the founder and principal architect of Sanjay Puri Architects, a Mumbai-based architectural firm.[3][4][5]

Sanjay Puri
Born1965 (age 60–61)
Rajasthan, India
CitizenshipIndian
EducationMayo College
Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture, Mumbai
OccupationArchitect
Years active1988–present
Organization(s)Sanjay Puri Architects (1992–present)
Architect Hafeez Contractor (1983-1988)[1]
SpouseNina Puri
WebsiteOfficial website

Some of his notable projects include the Nokha Village Community Centre,[5] Bombay Art Society building,[6] Aatma Manthan Museum,[7] the Rajasthan School,[8] the Street student housing project at GLA University,[9] Mirai House of Arches,[10] Prestige University[11] and Jabalpur's Hitkarni University.[12]

Early life

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He completed his schooling at St. Xavier's High School, Mumbai.[2] He attended Mayo College and later studied at the Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture, Mumbai from where he graduated in 1988.[13] Puri has stated in interviews that reading The Fountainhead (1943) influenced his decision to pursue architecture.[14]

Career

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Puri worked with Hafeez Contractor during his studies and after graduation, initially as an associate and later as a senior associate.[15] He established his architectural practice, Sanjay Puri Architects, in 1992 after receiving a commission to design Vasant Nagari township in Vasai, near Mumbai.[14]

His early work included housing projects, followed by hospitality and commercial developments in the late 1990s, including the Mirador hotel in Mumbai and the R World entertainment centre in Ahmedabad.[14] His project Terasa 153 in Montenegro won the award for Best Residential Building at the World Architecture Festival in 2012.[14]

Puri gained recognition for designing the headquarters of the Bombay Art Society, a 128-year-old nonprofit contemporary art venue, completed in 2011.[16][6] The building comprises gallery spaces and offices arranged within a concrete structure.[17] The project received the Popular Choice Award at the Architizer A+Awards in 2014.[18][19]

In 2013, at the MIPIM AR Future Projects Award, Puri's D Hotel project in India won in the leisure category, while his projects The Street and Sanskriti received commendations in the offices and tall buildings categories respectively.[20]

Puri designed the Mumbai Sky Courts project in Mumbai, which received the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Award in 2014.[21] The project is characterised by varied floor layouts and vertically arranged open spaces, creating differentiated residential units within a high-rise structure.[22][23]

The Rajasthan School in Ras, Rajasthan, was designed by Puri as part of a township and was completed in 2020, with a low-rise layout incorporating open and semi-enclosed spaces to facilitate natural ventilation and daylight.[8] In 2022, he completed the Mirai House of Arches in Bhilwara, Rajasthan. The project adopts a context-sensitive design approach in response to local climatic conditions.[24] The project later received the 2023 Architizer A+Award Popular Winner in the Residential-Private House category[25] and the 2023 Créateurs Design Award for Best Residential Project in Architecture.[25]

In 2024, he completed the Nokha Village Community Centre in Rajasthan, a project intended to serve 144 villages in the Nokha district. The centre was developed as a public space for gatherings, learning and recreation. The building uses locally sourced materials and features a curvilinear form surrounding the site.[5] It was named the World Building of the Year 2024 in a global poll conducted by World-Architects.[26] In the same year, he also designed 'The Forest', a high-density mixed-use development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo inspired by African forest forms and incorporating climate-responsive design strategies.[27]

In 2026, Puri designed an academic building for Prestige University in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, whose design was inspired by traditional Indian stepwells.[4][11]

Other work

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Puri has served as a juror at the World Architecture Festival and has also been on the jury for the Architectural Review Awards, the Dezeen Awards, the Plan Awards, and the Inde Awards.[28] He is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Indian Institute of Architects, the Indian Institute of Interior Designers and the Society of American Registered Architects,[28] and has served on the Government of India's Heritage Conservation Committee in New Delhi.[29]

Notable projects

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YearProjectLocationNotesSource
2026Prestige UniversityIndore, IndiaInstitutional campus building, stepwell-inspired design[11]
2024Aatma Manthan MuseumNathdwara, IndiaMuseum project, BLT Built Design Award (Interior Design of the Year)[7]
2024Nokha Village Community CentreRajasthan, IndiaCommunity project serving multiple villages[30]
2022Mirai House of ArchesBhilwara, IndiaResidential project[10]
2020The Rajasthan SchoolNagaur, IndiaEducational project, climate-responsive design[8]
2018The Street (GLA University)Mathura, Indiawinner at World Architecture Festival (Housing category)[9]
201772 ScreensJaipur, IndiaOffice building, was recognised for facade and environmental design[15]
2016Ishatvam 9Ranchi, IndiaResidential building[15]
2015Courtyard HouseRajasthan, IndiaResidential project based on courtyard typology[15]
2014Sky CourtsMumbai, IndiaResidential project, winner at MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards[21]
2013D HotelLucknow, IndiaWinner (Leisure category) at MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards[31]
2012Terasa 153MontenegroResidential (future project), winner at World Architecture Festival[14]
2011G.I. SchoolMumbai, IndiaInstitutional project[32]
2010CubesPune, IndiaOffice project, received commendation at MIPIM Awards[13]

Awards and recognition

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Puri was included in the Hot 100 list by Architect and Interiors India in 2017,[15] 2018,[33] 2024[34] and 2025.[35] His project Aatma Manthan Museum in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, received the BLT Built Design Award for Interior Design of the Year in 2024.[7] Architectural Digest included his firm in the AD100 list in 2019,[36] 2021,[37] 2023[38] and 2025.[39]

In 2013, Puri won the MIPIM AR Future Projects Award in the leisure category for D Hotel,[20] and in 2014, his Sky Courts, Mumbai project received the same award.[21]

In 2017, projects including 'Reservoir' in Rajasthan and 'The Village' in Alibag received International Architecture Awards from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design.[40] He was included in the Forbes India list "The Bold Club: India’s Top 30 Architects" in 2018.[41]

In 2021, a project by Puri received the Best Interior Project award at the LEAF Awards.[42]

Sanjay Puri Architects received World Architecture Festival awards for Offices 63 in the Future Projects (Commercial) category in Barcelona in 2010,[43] The Street as the winner of the Large Scale Housing category in Amsterdam in 2018,[44] and Ras Houses as the winner of the Housing category in Lisbon in 2022.[45] In 2023, the firm won the Completed Buildings: Production, Energy and Logistics category at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore for The Courtyard CCR Lab.[46]

Sanjay Puri and members of his family are among the architectural practices examined in the book Architectural Inheritance and Evolution in India (2023) by Apurva Bose Dutta, published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, which explores intergenerational architectural practices in India.[47]

Puri's Mirai House of Arches was featured in 20×20: Twenty Architects × Twenty Iconic Homes of India (2024), a book by Gauri Kelkar published by Roli Books on contemporary Indian residential architecture.[48]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "An Inside Look at the Studios of Sanjay Puri Architects". Rethinking The Future.
  2. 1 2 Makhija, Prerna (1 March 2014). "The shape of things". Mint.
  3. ↑ Gupta, Nidhi (10 May 2024). "Building with Indian craftsmen". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. 1 2 Crook, Lizzie (24 February 2026). "Sanjay Puri Architects references stepped wells for Indian university". Dezeen.
  5. 1 2 3 Adlakha, Nidhi (10 May 2024). "A virtual tour of four interactive community spaces in India". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. 1 2 "Mumbai's new iconic structure: Bombay Arts Society building". Rediff.com. 19 November 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 Menezes, Anisha (7 March 2026). "Aatma Manthan Museum in Rajasthan redefines meditative experience". The Hindu.
  8. 1 2 3 Kelkar, Gauri (11 April 2020). "The Rajasthan School's rugged landscape makes light of the weather". Architectural Digest.
  9. 1 2 "Sanjay Puri: student housing in India". Abitare. 10 May 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Sanjay Puri joins Dezeen Awards 2023 judging panel". Dezeen. 30 March 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 "Architect Sanjay Puri's stepwell-inspired campus design in Indore reimagines community spaces". The Better India.
  12. ↑ "Sanjay Puri, Principal Architect, Sanjay Puri Architects". Architect and Interiors India. 27 December 2022.
  13. 1 2 "Sculpting Success". Construction Week Online. 13 October 2009.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Dua, Aarti (25 November 2012). "Building a new world". The Telegraph.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sanjay Puri". Architect and Interiors. 27 July 2017.
  16. ↑ "sanjay puri architects sculpts the bombay arts society". Designboom. December 10, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Bombay Art Society, Mumbai". Rethinking The Future. 22 May 2024.
  18. ↑ "Bombay Arts Society by Sanjay Puri Architects". Architizer. 22 May 2024.
  19. ↑ "2014 Best Buildings in the World". Business Insider. 1 April 2014.
  20. 1 2 "Future Project Awards 2013 Winners". The Architectural Review. 12 February 2013. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025.
  21. 1 2 3 "Indian architectural firm wins in Cannes". The Hindu. 11 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 June 2014.
  22. ↑ "Sky Courts". The Plan. 1 April 2024. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  23. ↑ Kamal, Hassan M (2 April 2014). "22-storey Lower Parel residential complex hopes to rewrite Mumbai's skyline". Mid-Day.
  24. ↑ Astbury, Jon (20 July 2022). "Scalloped walls shade interior of family home in India by Sanjay Puri Architects". Dezeen.
  25. 1 2 "2023 Typology Winners". Architizer A+Awards. 2023.
  26. ↑ Hill, John (4 February 2025). "Community Center in India Wins Building of the Year". World-Architects.
  27. ↑ "The Forest's design mimics a dense tree on the building facade, inspired by African forests". Parametric Architecture. 31 January 2024.
  28. 1 2 "Sanjay Puri Architects". LOOP Design Awards.
  29. ↑ "Notification S.O. 2953(E) dated 15 September 2016 regarding reconstitution of Heritage Conservation Committee" (PDF). Delhi Development Authority. 15 September 2016.
  30. ↑ Talawadekar, Vaishnavi Nayel (13 April 2024). "Nokha Village Community Centre may look AI-generated but it's very real—and useful". Vogue India.
  31. ↑ "D Hotel in Lucknow, India by Sanjay Puri". The Architectural Review. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020.
  32. ↑ "G.I. School". World Architecture Community. 19 January 2011.
  33. ↑ "Hot 100 2018: Sanjay Puri". Architect & Interiors. 2018.
  34. ↑ "Hot 100: 2024". Architect and Interiors. 2024.
  35. ↑ "HOT 100 - 2025". Architect and Interiors. 2025.
  36. ↑ "AD100 2019: Sanjay Puri Architects, Mumbai". Architectural Digest. 27 March 2019.
  37. ↑ "AD100 2021: The definitive list of the 100 most influential architects and interior designers in India (Part 2)". Architectural Digest. 2021.
  38. ↑ "AD100 2023: Sanjay Puri Architects". Architectural Digest. 11 April 2023.
  39. ↑ "AD100 2025: Meet the winners". Architectural Digest. 4 December 2024.
  40. ↑ "Sanjay Puri Architects win two international awards conferred by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design". Architectural Digest. 30 May 2017.
  41. ↑ Britto, Darielle (2018). "Sanjay Puri Architects". Forbes India.
  42. ↑ "Sanjay Puri Architects – Dezeen Awards 2021 longlist". Dezeen Awards. 2021.
  43. ↑ "Award Winners at the 2010 World Architecture Festival". Bustler. 5 November 2010.
  44. ↑ Varghese, Shiny (8 March 2019). "World Architecture Festival: Home Coming". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019.
  45. ↑ "World Architecture Festival Announced Day 1 Winners". ArchDaily. 1 December 2022.
  46. ↑ "World Architecture Festival 2023: Day One Winners Announced". ArchDaily. 29 November 2023.
  47. ↑ Varghese, Shiny (28 May 2018). "Indian architecture, design philosophies: What's the plan?". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018.
  48. ↑ Bagchi, Shrabonti (22 July 2024). "Inside iconic Indian homes built in the 21st century". Mint Lounge. Hindustan Times.
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