DESIGN IDEA
‘Kulhads’ or mud cups - terracotta vessels once commonly used at railway stations to serve tea or buttermilk - were typically discarded across beaches and train tracks in India. When the opportunity arose to build a pavilion at Miramar Beach in Goa as part of the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025, it seemed apt to create a structure made entirely of 18,000 kulhads collected from local communities in Dharavi, Mumbai.
FROM WASTE TO WONDERS
Constructed entirely from kulhads, the pavilion reflects on the sheer volume of everyday waste and its potential for reuse. Comprising three compressive catenary vaults that transfer the weight of the superstructure to the ground, it is designed as a series of unreinforced vaults that meander along the edge of the beach between the trees, forming seating and stages. The structure aims to provide shade for both humans and animals alike.
The pavilion consists majorly of three compressive catenary vaults that transfer the weight of the entire superstructure to the ground.
AR VINU DANIEL
Wallmakers, Kerala
Vinu Daniel completed his B. Arch in 2005 from The College of Engineering, Trivandrum, following which he worked with Auroville Earth Institute for the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) Post-Tsunami construction. On returning from Pondicherry in 2007 he started ‘Wallmakers’. The firm has won many international accolades. Vinu Daniel is also the youngest Indian Architect invited to be aspeaker at the TED Talks.