Prakruthi Residence

From designing homes for hundreds of others, our Principal Architect, Prathima Seethur, found herself facing a unique challenge — designing a residence for her own family. Still at the young age of 32, she began by putting her foot down and choosing a larger plot in the ever-expensive city of Bengaluru, facing a quiet 60 ft road to the south.

The initial plan was simple: a home for a family of four with ample greenery and sunlight, and a cool basement where she could continue her architecture practice. But the basement turned out to be the largest obstacle in her grand plan. On digging, they discovered gigantic boulders covering nearly a fifth of the plot. Should the boulders be removed to reclaim the precious real estate, or retained? How can one retain boulders in a home? How would it feel to wake up in the morning, make a coffee in your kitchen, and have massive piles of rock stare back at you?

On one early site visit, with her two-year-old son alongside her, Prathima stared back at the boulders that had created such a huge obstacle — and suddenly remembered all the wonderful moments she had spent as a child climbing rocks and mounds in her hometown of Seethur, a magical village nestled in a valley in the Western Ghats. Then it struck her: 'My kids, or any kids at this day and age, would never get that magical experience, being so close to nature. Let's retain the boulders!' And so she took on the challenge of building a home so close to nature that it wraps itself around a tiny hill of rocks and the greenery that accompanies it.

Prathima went on to face many challenges — working with a new but experienced contractor, casting a futuristic slab only a few inches thick, creating a never-before-seen open floor plan, and stretching the young couple's budget so far that they were forced to sleep on a mattress laid bare on the floor once they moved in. But it was worth it.

From running a home and office in a 900 sq ft shoebox studio, she went on to create the most magnificent abode and an extraordinary workspace. From countless site visits dragging along her two children, aged 2 and 7, she created a dwelling that bemuses and bedazzles every visitor. From running a small practice in her late twenties, this piece of brick, clay and mortar marked the beginning of a new journey — of a firm that would henceforth be known as Wright Inspires.

From that day standing in the dust and sand, staring at the boulders, to today — having built a thriving architecture practice that has realised over 250 homes and empowered hundreds of young architects — her ideology remains the same: to design spaces close to nature, and to support every young architect who shares that vision.

The young couple named their home 'Prakrti', Sanskrit for 'Nature'. And Prathima named her practice 'Wright Inspires' — a homage to her Guru Jaisim Fountainhead and to Ar. Frank Lloyd Wright, whose work inspires her to this day.