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A Chapter on Early Studies

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  Since I am writing this book for everyone interested in understanding how a hotel is developed, it is important to begin with a simple clarification: a significant amount of work is completed before an architect sketches the first line on paper. It is a common misconception that a project begins with the commissioning of a designer. In reality, by the time a consultant sits down to draft the first block plan or calculate a structural grid, the project has already lived an entire life in the boardroom. It has been tested, challenged, and refined through business planning and a relentless evaluation of numbers. You may have spent years mastering design or engineering, understanding every detail of a building’s physical form. Yet it is worth recognising that the project had a life before it reached you, and it will continue to evolve after your role is complete. Before any physical design begins, these early studies determine whether the project has a reason to exist at all. A hotel...
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Chapter 1: The Starting Line

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  Today is the first day of the hotel’s life. I am sitting in a quiet corner of the lobby, watching the first paying guest walk toward the reception desk. The polished floor reflects the chandelier above in perfect symmetry. The air carries that unmistakable scent of a newly opened property—fresh upholstery, polished timber, a trace of florals from the arrangement placed at the centre table. Around me, everything appears calm, almost effortless. But for those of us who have lived the last few years on this site, that calm is an illusion. For the guest, the experience must be seamless. They do not care that the main power was only connected a few weeks ago, or that the temporary generators—the loud, rattling heart of the construction site—left the premises only days before opening. They will never hear the echoes of drills, trolley wheels, and shouted instructions that filled these corridors not very long ago. Nor should they. A hotel, perhaps more than any other building typology, ...
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A message to my readers about the new purpose of this blog-The Start of a Book

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In 2009, I started this blog to focus on a specific niche—Art and Design—while my other space remained dedicated to life’s broader observations. For a long time, this blog has remained largely inactive, as I struggled to give it the attention and clarity it deserved. If you are returning to this site after a gap, you’ll notice it has received a facelift. The reason is simple: I have found a new purpose for both myself and this blog—I am writing a book. I will be using this platform to draft and share the manuscript—presented as evolving chapters or parts of chapters—in real time. I will be adding to it at least once every week. To keep things organized, I’ve added two new tabs to the menu: “The Book” : Where all posts related to the manuscript, its chapters, and the technical roadmap will live. “Design Slices” : For my earlier posts and new anecdotes from the profession that don’t fit into the manuscript but are too relevant not to share. So what is this book about? As my professional ...
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My Encounter with Japanese Gardens (Part 3): Styles, Forms, and Final Reflection

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 A kaiyu-shiki or strolling garden at Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, Kagawa By the time we reach the question of styles, something important has already happened. We are no longer looking at Japanese gardens as an abstract idea. We begin to recognise them as lived expressions—different responses to the same philosophy of nature, balance, and impermanence. Each style carries its own interpretation of space, silence, and symbolism. In this final part, I will explore the major styles of Japanese gardens, and how each one reflects a different way of seeing the natural world. Types and Styles of Japanese Gardens Zen Rock Garden Style Tsukiyama Style Hiranaiwa Style Chaniwa Tea Garden Style Chisen Kaiyū Shiki (Strolling Pond Garden) A. Zen Rock Garden Style: Precise and Meditative This type of garden, mostly found in monasteries, represents Zen spiritualism and is also known as a sand and stone garden. The garden is confined within a defined boundary, isolating it from external visual d...
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