Kerala architect Vinu Daniel made it to TIME’s 2023 list of 100 emerging leaders shaping the world
Vinu Daniel, founder of ‘Wallmakers’, a sustainable construction company is inspired by Larry Baker’s style of eco-friendly constructions, his work stands out in the architectural landscape of the country in context of using local materials (mud, brick & bamboo) and labourers of Kerala.
Vinu Daniel is one of the three Indians to make it to the “2023 TIME100 Next” list. Harmanpreet Kaur, Indian women’s cricket team captain, and journalist Nandita Venkatesan are the others on the list whom Time magazine honours as rising leaders in health, climate, business, sports and arts.
The Chuzhi (whirlpool) House, in Shoolagiri, Tamil Nadu is a perfect example of eco friendly mansion, he made whorls of precast poured earth composite to accommodate the three large tamarind trees on site. At another home in Pathanamthitta, Kerala, he used the earth from the site to build the walls, and the debris became a curvilinear wall in the central courtyard.
In the Jackfruit Garden Residence, in Vangola, Ernakulam, he used discarded pipes from the junkyard, where they bend and twist to become grills and chandeliers, in a house in Mannanthala, Thiruvananthapuram, he hangs a staircase from a bamboo facade so his clients can literally walk on the wild side.
Baker’s philosophy permeates through his entire house, in being resourceful in the use of space and materials,he has also focused on making ‘clothcrete’ furniture using clothing waste and ferrocement.
Raised in Dubai, he saw the concrete boxes as dwellings, he always felt there had to be a better way to build. Following the Gandhian definition of finding materials and resources within a three-kilometre radius of the site, he believes there are different approaches to being sustainable in architecture.
All of Daniel’s projects carry that spirit of experimentation, be it the Ledge House in Peeremedu, a hill station in south Kerala, where he uses treated Casuarina tree poles almost like shards in the roof and external walls; the Chirath residence in Pala, near the Meenachil river, where he gave the roof a latticed finish and opened up spaces like a lamp, full of light, or creating ‘clothcretes’, fabric draped over steel frames and coated with lime and soil, so it can be used as furniture.
