Kamal Sagar

Last updated


Kamal Sagar
Born (1969-07-16) 16 July 1969 (age 55)
NationalityIndian
Alma mater Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Occupation(s)Director, Total Environment
SpouseShibanee Sagar

Kamal Sagar (born 16 July, 1969) is an Indian architect, designer, real estate developer, restaurateur, and music enthusiast. Based in Bangalore, India, he is the founder and chairman of Total Environment Building Systems, and Total Environment Hospitality (Windmills Craftworks and Oota). [1]

Contents

Early life

Kamal graduated from IIT Kharagpur [2] in 1992, with a degree in Architecture. After a short stint with Omni Architects at Lexington, Kentucky, USA, he returned to India. As a young architect, he was entrusted with the design and construction of Poonawalla Stud Farms at Hadapsar and Theur, Pune. For this project, he extensively used exposed brick masonry, evolving a special technique with the help of steel spacers to bring out the character of every individual brick – in line with his core design philosophy of using natural materials that blend with the landscape and age gracefully. He built this out in a span of just 8 months, in time for the Asian Racing Conference by Asian Racing Federation on 27 January 1995. [3]

Career

In 1995, Kamal's move to Bangalore marked the beginning of a significant chapter in his career. He started his own architectural practice, first under his own name, and later as Shibanee & Kamal Architects, along with his wife and partner. In 1996, in his search for a one-bedroom apartment, he realized just how bad the state of large scale housing projects was, and saw tremendous scope to make a difference in this area. After several failed attempts in trying to get developers to accept his design ideas, he decided to take on the task of developing and constructing his projects. He founded Total Environment, a construction and real estate development company, to build out his designs. [4] [5] Total Environment has since built more than 4.5 million square feet of individually customized and furnished space, mostly homes, across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. "Tapestry", located in Frisco, Dallas-Fort Worth metro area in the US, is a 56-acre, 121-home residential community - the company’s first international endeavor. [6] [7]

Kamal’s work has always been inspired by music, art and nature. His architectural inspirations include Frank Lloyd Wright, Bart Prince, Bruce Goff, Alvar Aalto, Mies van de Rohe, and Tadao Ando. He also draws inspiration from sources as varied as Enid Blyton, Alexandre Dumas, Pink Floyd, Ahmad Jamal, Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Los Paraguayos, etc. [8] [9] [10]

In 2012, he founded Windmills Craftworks, a Jazz Theater, [11] [12] [13] Microbrewery and Restaurant, where the audience gets to experience talent from across the globe at close quarters, with superior sound quality in a setting with beer and food. In less than two years, Windmills Craftworks soon established itself as a live music venue in Bangalore, [14] bringing varied music ranging from Jazz, Blues, rock, folk, Bluegrass, Indian Classical music, Indian folk music and Latin. [15] [1] [16]

Work

The Magic Faraway Tree, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore View of garden at The Magic Faraway Tree, South Bangalore.jpg
The Magic Faraway Tree, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore
The Good Earth, Ulsoor, Bangalore The Good Earth, Ulsoor, Bangalore.jpg
The Good Earth, Ulsoor, Bangalore
Section of the terrace garden Section of the terrace garden.png
Section of the terrace garden
The Magic Faraway Tree, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore The Magic Faraway Tree, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore.png
The Magic Faraway Tree, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore
Windmills of Your Mind, Whitefield, Bangalore Windmills of Your Mind, Whitefield, Bangalore.png
Windmills of Your Mind, Whitefield, Bangalore

Design Philosophy

Kamal’s work has focused on using natural materials to create warm living spaces, through handcrafted homes that embrace nature. [17] His people-centric design philosophy and the idea of providing a garden with every home have defined the product offerings of Total Environment. [18] Over the years, he experimented with various different formats for these gardens, with most rooms having visual/physical access to these gardens. [4]

“We combine our design skills with excellent craftsmanship to deliver homes of the highest quality, always striving to design and build the most beautiful homes in the world," says Kamal Sagar [6]

Total Environment has leveraged technology to deliver custom-designed homes at scale. Their proprietary platform "eDesign" offers homebuyers options to customize their floor plan and furniture layouts, feature enhancements, design studio, functional planning and much more in an online, 3D format. [19] [5]

Projects

1995 Poonawalla Stud Farms, Hadpsar, Pune, India
1999 Ion Idea Corporate Campus, [20] Whitefield, Bangalore, India
2000 Bougainvillea, Vibhuthipura, Bangalore, India
2000 Green is the Colour, BTM Layout, Bangalore, India
2001 The Good Earth, [21] Ulsoor, Bangalore, India
2001 Webb India Limited [4] – Corporate Office & workshops, Bommasandra, Bangalore, India
2004 Shine On, Rahath Bagh, Bangalore, India
2004 Time, Indiranagar, Bangalore, India
2006 Footprints, Indiranagar, Bangalore, India
2006 Residence for Navin Dhananjay, Hennur Road, Bangalore, India
2008 Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore, India
2009 Orange Blossom Special, Uday Baugh, Pune, India
2010 Greensleeves, Singasandra, Bangalore, India
2015 Windmills of Your Mind, [22] Whitefield, Bangalore, India
2015 The Magic Faraway Tree, Phase 1, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore, India

Awards and Recognition

In recognition of his work, Kamal has won several Architectural Design Awards - at both National and International levels – including many projects that were finalists at the World Architecture Festival.

S. NoAwardCategoryYearProject
1Finalist at WAF, SingaporeCompleted Buildings - House & Villa2024Green-roof Walk, Hyderabad
2Finalist at WAF, SingaporeWAF Completed Buildings: Housing2023Lost in the Greens, Bangalore
3Winner of The Economic Times Real Estate Conclave & AwardsResidential Project: Row Housing2022The Magic Faraway Tree, Bangalore
4Winner of The Economic Times Real Estate Conclave & AwardsArchitectural Project: Residential2022Windmills of Your Mind
5Finalist at WAFHighly Commended, Future Project: Office2021Total Environment Business Park
6Finalist at WAFCompleted Buildings: Display2019Think Design, Bangalore
7Finalist at WAFCompleted Buildings: Housing2019Van Gogh's Garden, Bangalore
8Finalist at WAFCompleted Buildings: Housing2019The Magic Faraway Tree, Bangalore
9Finalist at WAFCompleted Buildings: Higher Education and Research2019BHAU Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership, Pune
10Finalist at WAF, AmsterdamBest Large Scale Housing Project in the World2018Windmills of Your Mind
11Winner of The Innovation in Structural EngineeringBentley – Be Inspired Awards2013College of Engineering, Pune
12Best Luxury Residential Project – SouthZee Business- RICS Real Estate Awards2011Windmills of Your Mind
13Outstanding Concrete StructureICI (Pune) – Birla Super2011Orange Blossom Special
14Sustainable Design AwardSociety Interiors2010Windmills of Your Mind
15CNBC Arabia International Property AwardsBest Residential Architecture – Asia Pacific Region2009Windmills of Your Mind
16CNBC Arabia International Property AwardsBest Residential Development – India2009Windmills of Your Mind
17Runner-up for the Style Icon for Excellence in ArchitectureKansai Nerolac2007Shine On 2
18Winner of The Habitat Award for Apartment PlanningArchitecture + Design Spectrum Foundation2005Time
19Winner of The Habitat Award for Apartment PlanningArchitecture + Design Spectrum Foundation2003The Good Earth
20Winner of The Best Group Housing ProjectJK Cements – Architect of the Year Awards2002The Good Earth
21Habitat Award for Apartment PlanningArchitecture + Design Spectrum Foundation2002Reach for the Sky
22Habitat Award for Apartment PlanningArchitecture + Design Spectrum Foundation2002Bougainvillea
23Winner of The Institutional Architecture AwardArchitecture + Design Spectrum Foundation2002Webb India Limited
24Young Enthused ArchitectArchitecture + Design Spectrum Foundation2002The Poonawalla Stud Farms

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitefield, Bangalore</span> Suburb in Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Whitefield is a suburb of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka, India. Established in 1882 as a settlement for the Eurasians and Anglo Indians of Bangalore, Whitefield remained a quaint little settlement at the eastern periphery of Bangalore city till the late 1990s when the local IT boom turned it into a major suburb. It is now a major part of Greater Bangalore. Whitefield is Bengaluru's first tech corridor to be connected by Namma Metro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC</span> Indian association football club based in Bangalore

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Sporting Club is an Indian institutional multi-sports club based in Bangalore, best known for its football team. It was named after the company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The club has competed in the top tiers of Karnataka football — the Bangalore A Division and the BDFA Super Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangalore Football Stadium</span> Football stadium in Bangalore, India

The Bangalore Football Stadium is a football stadium in Bangalore, Karnataka. It has served as a venue in three editions of the I-League, then top-tier football league in the country. The stadium was the home of Bengaluru FC for one season, when they won the I-League trophy in their first attempt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rupa Publications</span> Book publisher in India

Rupa Publications is an Indian publishing company based in New Delhi, with sales centres in Kolkata, Allahabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Kathmandu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benny Dayal</span> Indian singer (born 1984)

Benny Dayal is a UAE born Indian playback singer. He is a prominent singer in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi and more languages films. He has sung more than 3500 songs in 19+ Indian languages. He is a member of the band S5, launched by SS Music TV channel. He made his acting debut in the Malayalam movie By the People, a suspense thriller. All the songs were sung by S5 members and it was then that A.R. Rahman noticed him and took an audition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Expressways of India</span>

Expressways are the highest class of roads in India. In July 2023, the total length of expressways in India was 5,930 km (3,680 mi), with 11,127.69 km (6,914.43 mi) under construction. These are controlled-access highways designed for high vehicular movement with speed limit of 120 km/h and entrance and exits are controlled by grade separated system interchanges whereas National highways are flyover access or tolled, where entrance and exit are done by service interchanges, flyovers are provided to bypass the city/town/village traffic and these highways are designed for speed of 100 km/h. Some roads are declared as expressways by their respective State Governments but not by the Government of India, such as Bagodara–Tarapur Expressway, Biju Expressway etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DSK Shivajians FC</span> Former Indian association football club

DSK Shivajians Football Club was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. The club was owned by the DSK Group, and competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system. It has also participated in Pune Football League.

Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender.

Eugeneson Lyngdoh is an Indian former footballer who last played as a midfielder for Indian Super League side East Bengal. He had also represented the India National Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengaluru FC</span> Indian association football club based in Bangalore

Bengaluru Football Club ( ) is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 20 July 2013, and began its first competitive season in the I-League on 22 September the same year. Since its inception, the club has won two I-League titles including one in its debut season, two Federation Cup titles, one Indian Super League title, and a Super Cup championship making it fourth-most successful club in Indian football.

The 2013–14 Bengaluru FC season was the club's inaugural season in I-League, the top flight of Indian football, and the first season in the club's entire history.

Thongkosiem Haokip, commonly known as Semboi, is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward.

Housing.com is a Mumbai-based real estate search portal which allows customers to search for housing based on geography, number of rooms, and various other filters. The company has 6,000 brokers and serves 40 cities in India including Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengaluru</span> Capital of Karnataka, India

Bengaluru, formerly called Bangalore in English, is the capital and largest city of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than 8 million and a metropolitan population of around 15 million, making it India's third most populous city and fourth most populous urban agglomeration. It is the most populous city and largest urban agglomeration in South India, and is the 27th largest city in the world. Located on the Deccan Plateau, at a height of over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level, Bengaluru has a pleasant climate throughout the year, with its parks and green spaces earning it the reputation of India's "Garden City". Its elevation is the highest of India's major cities.

redBus Online bus ticketing company

redBus is an online bus ticket booking company that provides bus ticket booking through its website and iOS and Android mobile apps. ‘’’RedBus’’’ India is headquartered in Bangalore and works like a hub, acting as a medium for a network of more than 3500 bus operators, across the countries of India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Peru, and Colombia. It claims to have registered over 180 million trips, with a customer base of over 20 million. In 2018, the company achieved a GMV of 50 billion, with a 70% share in the Indian online bus ticketing segment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ozone FC</span> Indian association football club based in Bangalore

Ozone Football Club Bengaluru was an Indian professional football club based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Founded in 2015, the club competed in BDFA Super Division, the top division of football in the state. Ozone reached the final round of the I-League 2nd Division in the 2017–18, 2018–19 seasons respectively and were also the winner's of the BDFA Super Division in 2017–18.

The Ken is an Indian business news website based out of Bangalore, India. It was launched in 2016 as a premium subscriber-only platform that publishes one article per day. Its founders include Rohin Dharmakumar, Seema Singh, Sumanth Raghavendra and Ashish Mishra. PayTM founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma is an investor.

The Kempegowda Award or Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Award is a civilian award presented annually by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.

Livspace, is a home interior and renovation company headquartered in Singapore. It provides interior design and renovation services in Singapore and India. The company was founded in 2014 by Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma and has raised funding of $450 million.

References

  1. 1 2 "Drink, Listen, Browse". Rohin Dharmakumar, Forbes India. forbesindia.com. 26 October 2012. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  2. "Total Architecture: Different Kind of Builders". Rohin Dharmakumar, Forbes India. forbesindia.com. 29 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  3. "Total Focus, Absolute Intent". Subroto Bagchi. forbesindia.com. 10 October 2009. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Bringing Nature Home" (PDF). Apurva Bose Dutta. apurvabose.com. 2 April 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 Dharmakumar, Rohin (24 July 2020). "The Interview: Total Environment's Kamal Sagar on his 25-year mission to build the Apple of real estate". The Ken.
  6. 1 2 "Total Environment, World's Largest Builder of Custom-designed Homes, Launches $250 Million Project 'Tapestry' at Frisco, Texas". www.businesswire.com. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  7. "Tapestry in Frisco: art, community and green living are behind this luxury development". Local Profile. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  8. "Playing across genre lines". The Hindu. thehindu.com. 11 December 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  9. "Hamlet: Method and madness". TIMES NEWS NETWORK. timesofindia.com. 17 October 2015. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  10. "LIVE STREAMING PLANNED - City Becomes a Stage for Bard's Globe Theatre". Divya Shekhar, The Economic Times. timesofindia.com. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. "A devoted fan, a legendary pianist and all that jazz". Khushali P Madhwani, Bangalore Mirror Bureau. bangaloremirror.com. 5 July 2014. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  12. "How Jazz Legend Ahmad Jamal Wowed Bengaluru". Sunil Sampat, Rolling Stone India. rollingstoneindia.com. 6 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  13. "Jamal comes to town". Susanna Chandy, Rolling Stone India. The New Indian Express. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  14. "How Bengaluru Architect Kamal Sagar Convinced Jazz Legend Ahmad Jamal To Perform In India". Lalitha Suhasini, Rolling Stone India. rollingstoneindia.com. 26 June 2014. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  15. "Have a jazzy time at the Total Environment Jazz Festival". Times News Network. timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 25 November 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  16. "Sway to crossover jazz tunes". TIMES NEWS NETWORK. timesofindia.com. 30 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  17. "Personalise Your Space". Deepika Mital, Times of India. timesofindia.com. 27 March 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2015.[ dead link ]
  18. Dharmakumar, Rohin (2 February 2023). "Picking principles over convenience | Podcast". The Ken.
  19. "Customizing Homes". Sujit John. Times of India. 7 September 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  20. "How to bend it like Beckham in work space design". Utkal Mohanty. DNA. 5 February 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  21. "Total Elegance Intent". Shrabonti Bagchi. telegraphindia.com. 24 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 November 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  22. "The million buck home in Bangalore". Gargi Gupta. rediff.com. 16 June 2007. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.