Indian design firm Studio Naqshbandi has just completed the Sri Aurobindo Integral Life Centre. It is a spiritual education space with a partially walled design in western India surrounded by rainwater harvesting ponds. The hub is dedicated to Sri Autobindo, a yogi and philosopher, and his collaborator Mirra Alfassa, who is recognized as ‘The Mother.’ The hub features meditation spaces, a lecture hall, and yoga teaching rooms.
Principal architect and the founder of Studio Naqshbandi, Mona Doctor Pingel shared, “About 60-70 truckloads would have been necessary to be transported, creating an ecological disaster somewhere else on the planet. We took the decision to instead retain and transform the low-lying land into rainwater harvesting lakes while landscaping the edges with indigenous plants that can survive varying water levels.”
Image Credit: Studio Naqshbandi