Harsh Vardhan Jain Architects, founded in 2009, is a practice that is established through combining deep material sensibilities and their relationship to space and context. A strong research and theoretical underpinning guiding the aesthetic implications of material in an environment is the fundamental basis of the practice.
Responding to context - traditional, social, historical as well as economic gives definition to the aesthetic that strives to be timeless yet evoking a sense of contemporary culture. Research at the level of detail and craft, framed within the larger urban context, serves as platform on which the contemporary practice of Harsh Vardhan Jain Architects is placed.
Harsh Vardhan Jain received his Bachelor of Architecture from Sushant School of Art and Architecture in 2008 and Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia School of Architecture in 2013. At UVA School of Architecture, his Master’s thesis, under the guidance of Prof. Peter Waldman and Prof. Iñaki Alday, was widely appreciated and received a design excellence award. Combining the nuances of craft in India and placing it in the modern day context of rapid development, his thesis proposed a methodology for pacing real development in-sync with the socio-cultural and economic growth of the nation. His thesis was published in the 2013 issue of ‘Lunch’, which is a student run journal. Harsh Vardhan Jain actively participated in teaching at UVA School of Architecture and played a significant role in foundation years of the school’s study abroad program in India. He received an honorarium to act as the India based faculty for the program. His other research based project at the School of Architecture included a proposal for the extension of the already under-construction green diagonal in Barcelona. The project was presented to several faculty and students in Barcelona.
Prior to his Master’s education in the USA, Harsh Vardhan Jain worked for well over 3 years in the office of Vir.Mueller architects where he collected valuable construction experience and met the role of project architect on several projects. These projects ranged from commercial interiors to large-scale office buildings as well as several high quality finish residences. These projects where built under his supervision. The work of Vir.Mueller architects has been internationally recognised. Harsh Vardhan Jain also spent time voluntarily researching and documenting stone crafts in India through Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts and Heritage (DRONAH) for Centre of Development of Stones. His research has been published in the form of illustrations in the book – ‘The Stone Crafts of Rajasthan A Manual.’
In the currency of the practice, Harsh Vardhan Jain Architects have engaged several projects varying in scale and nature. Projects ranging from the scale of furniture and detail to institutional and residential development have been designed, often in the manner of design-build. The core concepts and values that pushes material sensibilities and engages the craftsman, form the basis for approaching each project.