The Center for Vernacular Architecture Trust has grown out of Shramik, a co-operative of building craft persons initiated by the late R. L. Kumar, in the late 80’s as part of his work with the CIEDS Collective.
The CIEDS Collective — the space in which Kumar and his ideas and work grew — was initiated by visionary human rights and women's activist Corinne Kumar and several other colleagues in 1976, to search for meaningful ways of life and politics rooted in and relevant to the specific realities of India and other non-western cultures...
As part of the Collective's efforts to secure land and housing rights and access to basic civic amenities for slum dwellers, Kumar began working in Khader Sharief Gardens...
Murgesh, one of the local community leaders who joined Kumar as an idealistic social worker became a lifelong friend and partner...
The years that followed brought in independent projects that shaped and sculpted Kumar's inherent talent for materials, textures and architecture...
CVA Trust Founder
R.L Kumar
(1962–2012)
Following Kumar's passing, we had started a Tributes Page to acknowledge the tributes and messages of support that poured in from all those who knew him or had heard of him. We keep this page open inviting you to continue sharing your memories of Kumar and your thoughts on how we could take his ideas and CVA Trust forward.
Founder Trustees and Principal Architects who have trained with Kumar since 2003 on all aspects of Vernacular Architecture, from design to construction. At present Khalid handles the day-to-day affairs in the main office in Bangalore and Goutam handles the Chennai office.
View MoreFounder Trustees and Principal Architects who have trained with Kumar since 2003 on all aspects of Vernacular Architecture, from design to construction. At present Khalid handles the day-to-day affairs in the main office in Bangalore and Goutam handles the Chennai office.
View MoreFounder Trustees and Principal Architects who have trained with Kumar since 2003 on all aspects of Vernacular Architecture, from design to construction. At present Khalid handles the day-to-day affairs in the main office in Bangalore and Goutam handles the Chennai office.
View MoreFounder Trustees and Principal Architects who have trained with Kumar since 2003 on all aspects of Vernacular Architecture, from design to construction. At present Khalid handles the day-to-day affairs in the main office in Bangalore and Goutam handles the Chennai office.
View MoreApart from the founding trustees, the rest of the experienced team at CVA Trust includes:
Manju and Mani, building supervisors who also run the Electrical team.
Palani, who heads the Plumbing team.
Muthuraman, senior mason.
Manikantha and his team of skilled carpenters.
Arun and his crew of painters.
Bhuvana, Murgesh's daughter, who in true Kumar tradition was groomed outside the formal education system into a skilled architect involved in both design and construction.
Dinesh, Murgesh's son who is also following in his father's footsteps as a site supervisor.
Madhuri, who has come into the CVA Trust not only as an architect but also to help with the publications.
Kalpana, also from the CIEDS Collective and part of the original team of Shramik, who has joined as a part-time accountant and to assist in publications.
And the innumerable craftspeople who have brought in their masonry skills... each have come together to build with much camaraderie and care, the dream Kumar shared with generous abandon.
In addition to such longstanding members of the CVA family, we also have a strong team of young architects who both design and manage on-site construction.
We are also fortunate to have Mr. Sambasivan and Mr. Ramadorai who have joined us as advisors to our Trust.
As is tradition and Kumar's mission, a steady stream of interns continue to work with us, inspiring us and in return being transformed with their introduction to vernacular architecture. Many architects trained under Kumar and worked with CVA may have now returned to their hometowns and/or taken up independent projects, but continue to link with CVA as associate architects or fellow travelers. Sundeep Nagaraj, Raina Nazareth, Charmy Adesara, Sindhuri, Raji Rajangam, Chaitali Babar and Durga Shetty are but some who are committed to walking this path inspired by Kumar.
We are indeed a community and our collective knowledge and individual talent is what binds us together.
The Centre comprises a core team of six architects, eight engineer/supervisors, and a team of about 150 dedicated craftspeople drawn from all the building-related trades. Apart from undertaking turnkey projects, we also offer consultancy, training, and promote student exchange/residency programs.