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Designing Dreams: Ar. Prashant Deshmukh Balances Nature and Function

For Ar. Prashant, architecture is about marrying function and sustainability. It’s turning people’s needs into spaces that connect with nature and adapt to challenges.

BY Asma Rafat
Published - Tuesday, 30 Sep, 2025
Designing Dreams: Ar. Prashant Deshmukh Balances Nature and Function

When Ar. Prashant Deshmukh of Prashant Deshmukh & Associates speaks of architecture, his words move beyond walls and roofs into the realm of imagination. To him, every building begins not with concrete, but with a question: if God were to create here, what would He design?

That thought drives his philosophy. “The first step,” he explains, “is to understand what people need. Once we know their requirements, we can take them into dream plans, through sketches, options, and concepts that let them imagine something beyond the ordinary.”

Prashant is firm that a good building must look good and work well. He draws from the old maxim - form follows function. Circulation, from the entrance to the deepest corner, must be seamless; forms, whether in 2D or 3D, must weave purpose into design. At the same time, structure cannot be ignored. “Parametric software can generate fantastic ideas,” he notes, “but they must sit on strong frameworks and construction methods.”

Then comes the question of cost. He believes in the ‘life cycle cost’. A project may appear expensive at first, but by using sustainable materials it becomes cheaper over decades. “Good ideas cost a little more,” he admits, “but they serve better, longer.”

Designing with nature in mind

For Prashant, climate change makes sensitivity to site conditions non-negotiable. A building must respect its surroundings, like, water bodies, hilltops, valleys, and contours must be used to advantage, not destroyed. He sees beauty in the challenge: “Whether on a hilltop, in a valley, or by a water body, the form must grow naturally from the land.”

Green architecture excites him. He points to new practices in Hong Kong and Singapore where high-rises are clad with living plants, turning towers into vertical gardens. “Glass and concrete alone are not enough,” he says. “We must marry them with greenery so buildings can breathe.”

Infrastructure too shapes success. Even the best-designed building suffers if disconnected from roads or services. With more cars on Indian streets, he warns, architects must account for wider roads, multiple aisles, and greater margins between structures to prevent urban bottlenecks.

Rooted in culture and history

Culture, for Prashant, is as important as structure. He compares it to food: one may enjoy a burger occasionally, but every day one turns to dal, idli or vada pav. Likewise, architecture must feel native. “South India and North India do not look the same,” he observes. “Every region has its own history and style. The challenge is whether to blend with tradition or stand out as modern but either way, people must feel they belong.”

He sees Indian clients gravitating towards fusion—drawing inspiration from the West but anchoring it in Indian motifs and sensibilities. This balance, he argues, makes buildings homely, not alien.

The materials of tomorrow

Looking at the future, Prashant emphasises sustainability. To him, two materials dominate: steel and glass. Glass brings transparency, natural light, and even ventilation if used wisely. Steel, monolithic and strong, offers longevity unmatched by concrete or brick.

Yet he cautions against abandoning lessons from the past. “Mohenjo-daro had cool basements. Rajasthan’s Hawa Mahal used jharokhas to channel wind and lower temperatures. Forts used thick stone walls to stay cool. These were sustainable techniques, long before we used the word.”

Modern methods excite him too, like, concrete-filled steel tubes (CFT) and 9K form steel, which allow faster, stronger, and greener construction. In his view, the future lies in reversing the old formula: not concrete outside with steel inside, but steel outside with concrete within.

Reviving public spaces

His philosophy is not confined to private buildings. He is currently involved in redeveloping around 15 railway stations in Maharashtra, each inspired by local culture. At Kolhapur, motifs from the Chhatrapati era are revived; at Dehu Road, the memory of Sant Tukaram is woven into design; at Chitrad, the legacy of freedom fighters is honoured.

Perhaps his favourite is Kultuvadi, where colonial-era arches, domes and columns inspired a new station. The old structure was crumbling, but rather than discard the past, he integrated those forms into a modern design. The new station will feature rooftop restaurants, glass rest houses, bamboo roofs and large arched windows which are sustainable yet historic. “It is almost ready,” he says proudly, “and I believe it will become not just a station, but a picnic point for the people of Solapur.”

A living heritage

For Prashant, India’s greatest gift is its diversity. “Every 50 kilometres,” he observes, “food, language, lifestyle and nature change. Nowhere else in the world does culture shift so quickly. Why not let architecture reflect that richness?”

In his view, the role of an architect is to create spaces that are not only functional and beautiful but also carry the identity of their place. He believes architecture must anchor people to their land, their history, and to the future.

As he sees it, every design is both a challenge and an opportunity to bring together form and function, culture and modernity, sustainability and ambition. To design close to what nature itself might have made is, for him, the highest calling of his craft.

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