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The campus already hosts several academic buildings, but these often follow a conventional, closed design. They are introverted structures—rigid blocks that, while functional, fail to engage with their surroundings or the students in a meaningful way. Our approach was to break away from this norm. The program presented an opportunity to rethink how academic spaces could engage not just during the day but also beyond academic hours. This shift required not just designing functional spaces but also envisioning these spaces as social and community hubs.
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The building extends outwards, expanding its functionality into community spaces for events and gatherings and often acting as a thoroughfare connecting the terrains at different levels. Bridges, ramps and the steps of the amphitheatre connecting the land make the space accessible to all. Observing from a standpoint, the “door-less” academic space responds to the community, giving it an after-life. The building becomes a symbol of inclusivity, encouraging collaboration between the academic community and the city's residents, fostering creativity, dialogue, and shared experiences
Given the climate, covering the terrace was essential. A network of parasols, placed at varying heights, created a tactile, canopy-like space. Crafted by local artisans using bamboo, the structure celebrates circular economy and cultural continuity. Steel frames with central columns integrate rainwater pipes; sloped metal sheets ensure water collection and reuse. Bamboo is hand-cut on site and laid over the sheets, protected from rain while enhancing the spatial experience. The project reimagines traditional craft at a new scale, empowering communities and creating a functional, climate-responsive public space.
Premise: Reading the City
Manipal, a coastal town in Southern India, evolved from a small settlement into an educational hub. Today, with 25,000–30,000 students forming nearly 60% of its population, the city lacks communal spaces for its young, transient residents. The TAPMI Centre for Sustainability addresses this void by rethinking academic spaces.
Site & Context
Located within TAPMI’s 40-acre hilltop campus, the 5,000 sqft site overlooks lush valleys and plays a pivotal role in bridging landscape and community.
Program & Narrative
The brief called for classrooms, admin, workshops, and a cafeteria. But could the project go further — shaping how academic spaces engage Manipal’s urban culture?
Design Strategy
Rather than expanding outwards, we activated the terrace — usually neglected due to heavy rain — as a communal hub. A stepped roof connects land and people, with a covered space for informal learning and gathering. Inspired by the bamboo “chhatris” of Varanasi, we used locally crafted parasols for shade, cultural resonance, and climate response. This collaboration empowered artisans while creating layered, meaningful spaces.
The Future
The Centre offers a democratic, porous campus model — rooted in culture, yet ready for evolving educational needs.
The design ideology of the centre is deeply rooted in a transformative model—one that can evolve to meet the demands of modern learning while embracing cultural roots. The idea is to foster engagement beyond academia. As the town continues to grow, the centre stands at the vortex of change by not just being a model of change but also empowering the present to be future-ready.
The Purple Ink Studio is an Indian practice that sees Architecture as a powerful catalyst in reshaping the cultural landscape of India. Conceived in 2011 by Aditi Pai and Akshay Heranjal, as the Principals along with Nishita Bhatia & Arpita Pai, the Studio has now grown into a Highly Collaborative Practice. Based in Bengaluru, the practice is driven by a passion for crafting incredible stories through architecture that is contextual and unburdened by normalcy.
Existing at the threshold where familiarity meets the unpredictable, these approaches are reflected in academic spaces that extend their after-life by opening up to the community, homes that celebrate the craft by embodying the past and are tied together to age gracefully into the future, and landscapes that are productive and respond to biodiversity.
In a nutshell, the studio’s approach embraces architecture that is free yet grounded, exuberant yet layered, liberated yet deeply rooted in its essence.
http://www.thepurpleinkstudio....
