Benny Kuriakose: The vernacularist

Ecogradia Podcast – Series 3 Episode 4

The vernacularist

Ecogradia Podcast – Series 3 Episode 4

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    Ecogradia Series 3

    The DakshinaChitra Museum offers interesting interfaces between indoors and outdoors, softening the impact of the tropical sun. Photo: © T.P. Naseef, Benny Kuriakose & Associates.

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    Ecogradia Series 3

    In this episode of Ecogradia, the prolific practitioner from Chennai, India, whose firm, Benny Kuriakose & Associates, champions vernacular-inspired architecture, illustrates how traditional knowledge is a pathway to sustainability.

There is wisdom in the vernacular. But does this knowledge offer something more than feel-good nostalgia? Are traditional buildings models for low-impact architecture that must be emulated?

Last updated: September 12, 2023 Chennai, India

Benny Kuriakose certainly thinks so. In this episode of Ecogradia, the prolific practitioner from Chennai, India, whose firm, Benny Kuriakose & Associates, champions vernacular-inspired architecture, illustrates how traditional knowledge is a pathway to sustainability.

His portfolio includes conservation, hospitality, and housing projects. The vast majority of his buildings are in peri-urban or rural settings and tend to be low-rise structures set in natural landscapes. His work is a conduit for the materials and crafts indigenous to a region.

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