Stepping into a space designed by Anand Puri is like stepping into a story waiting to be told. Mr. Puri, co-founder of CDE (Centre for Design Excellence), an Architecture and interior designing firm has a unique talent for weaving narratives through design, transforming ordinary spaces into extraordinary experiences.
With a philosophy rooted in innovation and a passion for pushing boundaries, Anand Puri has maintained a reputation for creating environments that are as functional as they are beautiful.
In this interview, Mr. Anand Puri opens up about their creative journey, the inspirations behind their most iconic projects, and the trends shaping the future of interior design.
Discover the magic that happens when creativity, passion, and expertise come together, and get an inside look at the mind of a designer who is redefining the way we experience the spaces around us.
Anand Puri briefed about his professional journey and shared some good experiences. He said I graduated as an architect from Academy of Architecture in 1983. I passed from Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture, which is a renowned institute in Mumbai.
Mr. Puri continued, I finally decided set shop in Bangalore. In 1985, me and my partner Milind Nulkar migrated and moved to Bangalore, started working together on various projects.
We both together reconfigured this company as ‘Centre for Design Excellence’ because we said we are going to do our best in everything related to the designing field, and we wanted to encompass and bring in a larger format of things under one umbrella. We had some ideas of starting a sort of a training setup which by default we were doing. A lot of institutes would send their people for training, and that’s where our focus started getting more into buildings and interiors.
Mr. Anand Puri stated that we trained a lot of people by which we had an approach to do our best with simple things like we always talked of integrity as architects. We don’t want to change the role of getting into turnkey contractors. Milind and I are professionals and we need to play a very candid role of being a neutral person, whether it is client or a contractor.
We kept on educating our clients because clients those days thought that you do everything for yourself. We also want accountability to be shifted but what we used to say is it’s not the accountability, in fact, we are probably creating more accountability because everybody has to answer. We are always clear with clients that if you have any commissions to be given to the architect, please give it to the project. Let the project cost come down. So that’s where we stood apart from anybody in the industry.
Mr. Puri clarifies that I’m not saying that people in the industry are different, but various practices are categorical. So that’s the kind of a benchmark we created. And when we started working for the corporate sector, it became even more clearer where we tighten our belts and become more refined. And we saw this transferring into all the projects which we were doing, and also transferred the people we were working with as they have also started carrying the same thing forward.
So what we call today, professionalism, was germinated. We started with that. Let us be very, very clear. Let’s keep professionalism above everything. That’s what even today we tell our staff in the organization, clients are trusting us with their money. We cannot compromise on anything whatsoever and to the best of our knowledge, if there is some mistake which has happened, is a different story.
Ownership of whatever you’re doing, that’s most important. Integrity was most important and professional ethics is what we really believed in because there is no reason why we need to change our principles as we’ve been happy with what we did.
Mr. Anand Puri said, fortunately, today, at the age of 65, I enjoy what I do because it’s a passion. When the sun sets, I go home, have food, sleep, and rest peacefully because I did my job honestly. So that’s the kind of satire I and Milind have set down for our life. And every call that comes, we attend. A lot of clients today tell us our problem because we have worked with them. Our Client used to tell us, we cannot go to anybody else because the kind of service you give, nobody gives. So, that sought of relations we maintained with our clients.
We feel our projects are happier projects which adds into creating a good project. Actually we tell our clients the project is our baby till we complete it. The day we complete it will be handed over to you and then onwards it’s your responsibility. Once the baby is delivered, it is your responsibility to grow and we are always there if any guidance you require.
Today after 41 years also where we have done a project. Even if they want to change a painting on the wall, they used to call us, can we shift this artwork which you have given. Over the last 41 years we are working and it is flowing into the next generation also.
Mr. Puri shared his top philosophy which he implies in his professional career. He said first we have to be upright and call a spade a spade. I mean, sugar coating things doesn’t solve a problem. It can just make things easier for a little bit of time but more cleanly.
Execute the project as if you would like to live in it as you’re doing it for yourself. Then go ahead and do the same thing. We tell the staff every single line that you draw, you need to own it. One should work like that you can stand in the middle of the office and say proudly, this is done by me.
Mr. Puri continues, if you’re simply joining the lines and completing the project because somebody told you, then you’re not doing the right job. You need to be proud of what you do. Even if somebody tells you, are you consciously clear, you should be like yes, this is to be done this way.
So we should keep exploring, keep doing each time better where the client’s money is at stake. The philosophy is you need to deliver at the best price, the best thing to the best situation. And just because somebody is spending more money, it doesn’t mean that it is going to become a better job.
When a Clent doesn’t have money, it doesn’t mean that job is not going to be great. It’s by design. You bring value to the project is what we thought. And design is something which does not yet cost too much money. It’s just a thought process which needs to be applied and the same thing can be delivered for a different price.
We can knock on our client’s door in the middle of the night saying, can we meet as I was nearby. That’s a relationship we still maintain with all our clients in which they believe. So work is passion and while doing it, we make sure that all agencies who are involved, whether it’s a client, vendor, building supplier or a material supplier, anybody, each one has a win-win situation with mutual growth.
Mr. Puri stated that in our profession human relationships impact the efficiency of organization, clients and self the most. Because every person has excellence. We have to find that excellence and ask to make use of that excellence. I mean there are some people who might not be good at creativity, but they’re good at something else.
So maintain good human relations and find that something else in that person and encourage him to work in that thing and get 100 ways of doing things. Like architects and designers are sensitive, we have to work with the sensitive nature of those people, understand and nurture them. This aspect I find perfect in the long run, it pays very well.
Secondly, we have to give them flexibility in working, we tell them your deliverables are your responsibilities and deliverables. Whatever commitment you made to the client, you make sure to honor it. Give the actual timeline as everyone likes to keep it as transparent as possible.
On asking about challenges he faced in his professional journey, Mr. Puri said every different project has its own challenges. If I am taking an example of hospitality, I cannot go and do quality checks for everything. So I give the complete task to a factory. It comes in the manner of challenges.
Second, another typical challenge we faced was Vastu, people started complaining about vastu shastra. In fact, in the beginning, we did our design brief. We don’t tell clients whether you should believe or not, but if you believe, we respect. Then you tell us about the particular person who is guiding you and we bring them on the table.
Some of the clients say if you know basic vastu, you can follow. So we say, there is nothing like basic vastu because everyone comes with a different story. Because even if there is a north at 45 degrees, the astrologer will come and say, no, this is not right as I am taking north straight. So where does it begin and where does it end? We don’t know. But every client should put those principles on the table, because at the end everybody suffers a loss.
So these are the basic challenges which we face, not knowing the fact and working with it and then realizing that we have to go on the same way for a change. Change is a problem but if the project goes into construction, it hassles everybody and there are other consultants also working with us like structural consultants, MIT consultants, and landscape concerns. Because at the end everyone starts complaining that we are facing difficulties and you keep changing the things as every drawing that you do costs us.
He said that is the kind of challenge which is there. And that’s how we went. If a client walks in, we actually virtually interview him and then decide whether we want to continue this project or not. It’s like this entire journey there has been a transformation in the way of working from the last 30 years.
So it’s been constantly upgrading your knowledge, learning, evolving, sharing, and it’s been a continuous process. So I can’t say this day has stopped and this day another new thing has come. It’s been a journey all along. And if I look at, go back and look at what I was 15 years ago, I probably laughed at myself for 20 years before. All that learning has brought us to where we are.