Vinu Daniel’s Terra-grove, a cool, shaded installation, invites beach-goers to pause and connect
VINIKA VISWAMBHARAN
On the sunlit sands of Miramar Beach, visitors can find shade and respite in Terra-grove, a winding pavilion of terracotta kulhads that curves around trees during this year’s Serendipity Arts Festival.
The installation is by architect Vinu Daniel, founder of Wallmakers, a firm known for sustainable and cost-effective architecture. His path into the field was unplanned. “I got into architecture by accident,” he says. “I never imagined I would enter a field like that.”
Early classroom experiences left him disillusioned. “We rarely discussed anything beyond drawing and drafting.” Everything changed in his fourth year when he met Gandhian architect Laurie Baker, who showed him that architecture could be lived and experienced, not just drawn.
“Baker taught me that architecture is about people. I cannot build alone. I need people with me and my communication and their skill both matter.” Having grown up in the Gulf and feeling “done with boxes”, Daniel found the idea of designing buildings that breathe with their surroundings liberating.
After graduating, he joined post-tsunami rebuilding efforts in 2005 through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He later trained at the Auroville Earth Institute under Satprem Maïni, learning mud architecture. He started with two workers. Today, he works with nearly 300 skilled builders who travel with him from project to project. “Our process is different. These workers are not hired seasonally. They grow with us,” he says.
At Wallmakers, this people-centered approach is as important as design. “Architecture is a human ecosystem. Every structure is made by many hands and many stories,” Daniel explains.
Terra-grove shows this philosophy and comments on what we discard. The humble kulhad, once common at railway stations, has nearly disappeared, replaced by plastic cups. “When you think of Indian beaches, the waste we throw away eventually returns to us. The kulhads remind us of that,” Daniel says. He chose the material for its symbolism and its science. “Fired clay traps air, which makes it naturally cooling. It is ideal for a coastal pavilion.”
The kulhads were made by pottery families in Dharavi. “Pottery is a dying craft in India. By using kulhads, we support the craft and give it a new life,” Daniel says. The pavilion is built through compression without steel reinforcement. Vaults rise and fall around trees, forming pockets that work as resting zones, stages and quiet seats. “The trees guided the design,” he adds, pointing to the curved lines around each trunk.
Inside Terra-grove, soft terracotta tones, filtered light and the passing breeze create a calm refuge. Daniel prefers not to over-explain. “It should speak for itself. It is like a fallen leaf. It is nature.” Visitors take photographs and sometimes a dog curls up in a shaded corner. “These unreinforced kulhad vaults offer shelter for both humans and animals,” he says.
The pavilion began under Thukral and Tagra’s 2024 Serendipity Arts project Multiplay. And delays in foundation work meant it was completed this year with support from Milton and Panjim Smart City. Daniel is pleased it will remain on the beach. “It is a permanent kulhad pavilion. People can sit, perform and gather. It is for everyone who comes here.”
