Dear friends
I was so happy this morning, to find out, that the Maya Somaiya library that we built and inaugurated last year, at the Sharda School we run in Kopargaon, won the 'Building of the Year' award for 2019 under the education category. This is a global competition run by Arch Daily and is extremely prestigious. There were over 4000 entries and only 15 winners (one for each category) were chosen.
https://www.archdaily.com/903713/maya-somaiya-library-sharda-school-sameep-padora-and-associates-page/37
It is always nice to create a sense of space. I have always felt, that when we travel overseas, we see lovely spaces created in those countries. Similarly, when we travel back in time, in our own country, whether it is the Taj Mahal, old Jaipur city, Udaipur, temples in Kerala, Ranakpur, the Jama Masjid in Delhi, the pols of Ahmedabad, a simple village in Kutch, there is a sense of space.
We need to reimagine spaces, and we must want an aesthetic. Architect Sameep Pandora and his team, along with the Sharda school staff, Somaiya Vidyavihar staff and the Staff of Godavari Biorefineries have done a wonderful job of articulating and giving form to this dream.
The article states that 'The library is, in fact, one of two Indian projects to take top honors this year - a strong first year showing for the nation whose design talent seems finally to be coming to the fore.'
https://www.archdaily.com/912997/winners-of-the-2019-building-of-the-year-awards?fbclid=IwAR26PYSAJsIJYqk8wDZWrUaqXa1H7cWC2exYxo0pUsfdmpFOjihf8SaNpUc-page/37
I am so happy, that we as Somaiya Vidyavihar were the clients for this project, and that this is one of our libraries, and also, as an Indian, that we have won an international award.
My late mother, after whom we named the library, would have been so happy today. Books were her life.
Samir
