Benny Kuriakose

Benny Kuriakose (born 25 May 1962) was born in Kerala, India.

He made his mark in architectural conservation and the design of new buildings, taking his roots from the vernacular architecture of South India.

He is known for designing structures which are built from natural materials such as timber, stone and brick.

He has practiced mostly in Chennai and Kerala.

He runs a consultancy firm in Chennai.

Kuriakose was born in Koothattukulam and brought up in Thiruvananthapuram.

There he attended the Government Model High School before joining the Government Arts College for his Pre-Degree course.

He then attended the College of Engineering, Trivandrum, where he took a basic degree in Civil Engineering.

In 1984, as a recent graduate of the College of Engineering, Trivandrum, he started practicing architecture after a chance meeting with British-born, Indian architect Laurie Baker.

After working with him for nine months, he started his own practice in 1985.

During his early career as a self-taught architect, he worked with several organizations such as the Integrated Rural Technology Centre, Palakkad, the Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development (COSTFORD) and Kerala State Nirmithi Kendra for the development of alternative, low-cost and eco-friendly architecture.

From 1985 onwards, he built low-cost houses that mirrored Baker's style, until in 1992 he built the house of actor Mammootty.

In 1986, he received the Charles Wallace India Trust Award for a master's degree in Conservation Studies from the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies at the University of York, in the UK.

In 1994, Kuriakose was commissioned by Malayala Manorama to design housing for the village of Banegaon after the 1993 Latur earthquake.

Kuriakose was awarded the Inside Outside Designer of the Year 2001 for the weekend retreat in Chennai, and in 2011, the Celebration of Architecture Award from Inside Outside magazine.

He also designed the layout of public and residential buildings in the village of Chapredi for the Earth Quake Rehabilitation Project, Bhuj District, Gujarat State, 2002.

He has been visiting faculty at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management and other architecture schools.

He completed a doctoral degree at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 2015.

Kuriakose is married to Dr. Milly Mathew and has two children.

His son, Kevin Kuriakose is an architect settled in Denmark and daughter, Dr. Eileen Kuriakose

In 2016, he was conferred with the 2016 Estrade Lifetime Achievement Award (the previous recipient of this honor, in 1980, was Architect Karan Grover).

He was also listed as one of the top 10 Indian architects who is harnessing traditional wisdom to build homes of the future.

He has written books such as Conserving of Timber Structures in India and Post Tsunami Reconstruction: Manual for Supervisors and Project Staff.

He is one of the editors of the book Guidelines for the Preparation of a Heritage Management Plan published by INTACH.

Kuriakose has offered his services as a consultant to UNDP, UNESCO, various State Governments and other organizations.

He has also presented many papers on Housing, Conservation and Cost–Effective Building Techniques in various seminars, conferences and workshops in India and abroad.

Kuriakose seeks to achieve sustainable architecture through vernacular and traditional practices.

He believes in the logic behind vernacular architecture being climate responsive, and using locally available materials to create projects that have a simplistic beauty.

Sustainability and cost-effectiveness form the most important factors in arriving at the final design.

He tries to explore an architecture that is appropriate to the environment, cost-effective, sustainable and at the same incorporates the principles of vernacular architecture in the modern context.

Tradition and heritage is not used as a style, but more as a concept.

Vernacular architecture to him is more like a depository of knowledge.

Society ad technology has undergone many changes, so it is for architects to look at these and then derive a different kind of vocabulary in architecture.

Kuriakose tries to design for the client in such a way that there is constant dialogue between them, each affecting the other in various ways, leading to and influencing the final design of the building.

This leads the design to progress and clarify as it is continually revised in the light of the constant and evolving interpretations of the parameters.

This leads to a final design that is unique and caters to the user.

Kuriakose does not have a style of his own.

He thinks the concept is much more important than the style in design.

He does not want to impose his ideas onto the buildings he designs.

He designs each building according to each one's needs.