About us
About me
Working with earth is a deeply spiritual process for me. I find no distinction between art and work and meditation and education while working with the earth. I love traveling, learning, building, and teaching. I want to find ways to give people the possibility to create and build for themselves meaningfully.
I am exploring an approach where it might be possible to abstract the essential lessons of the preserved traditional cultures of a local context. Then learn and synthesize from their ways of building in such a manner that a genuine, fresh and sustainable design can be achieved. Such an approach makes unique, comfortable, cost-effective environments that are in tune with the rhythms, shapes, processes and cycles of nature.
Education
2011-2012: Post-Professional Masters in Architecture; Urban design and Housing, McGill University
2003-2008: Professional Bachelors in Architecture; Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.
Recognition
Second Award in Global Architecture & Design Awards 2019
World Architecture Festival 2019, Finalist – Completed Buildings: Civic and community category
World Architecture Festival 2019, Finalist – Small projects
BUILD Architecture Awards 2019 – Design/Build Firm of the Year 2019 – Bangalore
The better India: featured in 2019
Young Designers award in Architecture, Indian Architect and Builder Magazine, India, 2014
Maureen Anderson Prize in Architecture, Canada, 2012
Provost Graduate fellowship, McGill University, Canada,2011
Louis B Magil Graduate fellowship in housing, McGill University, Canada, 2011
Canadian Centre for Architecture – Charrette 2010: Honorable mention for the team, Canada,2012
Best undergraduate final thesis project, IIT Roorkee, India, 2011
Pidilite award for excellence in sustainability, India, 2007
First places: Cognizance Spotlight, All India student design competition, Roorkee, India, 2004,2005 and 2006.
Research and Publications
2014
Urban infill housing, Varun Thautam
Indian Architect and Builder Magazine, India, Feb 2014: Page 96
2012
Three houses and a studiolo, Varun Thautam, Priya Joseph
Domus India, Vol 1, Issue 05, March 2012: page 34
2011
Reap what you sow – Edible Campus, Vikram Bhatt, Varun Thautam (images)
Inside Outside, Sep 2011: Page 195
Maini, Satprem and Thautam Varun, “Questioning conventions; Life Cycle Analysis of a housing project in Auroville, India”, Ecocity 2011, Montreal, 2011
Thautam, Varun, “Rammed Earth: A Comparison of Construction Techniques”, McGill CMT Student Conference, Montreal, 2011
2009
Thautam, Varun and Gaudin, Jeremie, “Alleviating barriers of earthen architecture”, Prangan, Auroville, 2009