Kamu Sir would refuse to speak to students from a dais; instead, he mingled with the architecture batch who would sit around him, holding on to his every word," recalls Swapna Joshi, architect and former principal at AIKTC, New Panvel. She, like most of Mumbai's architecture and urban planning fraternity are still coming to terms with the news of Kamu Iyer's death. The octogenarian architect, author and teacher, who was a guide to thousands, panning generations, passed away yesterday. He graduated from Sir JJ School of Architecture in 1957. As a practitioner since 1960 with Architects' Combine, a highly-respected firm where he was a partner, his practice covered educational, institutional and low-cost housing. As a teacher, he taught across architecture campuses, and wrote books and essays on the subject.

The architecture stream in AIKTC shares a link with Iyer because of the Kamu Iyer Design Competition (KIDC). It was instituted in his honour in 2014 to encourage architecture students in Navi Mumbai who until then didn't have a platform to showcase their talent. Joshi, who was part of the faculty when the contest was initiated, recalls when they approached him with the idea: "He asked us, 'Why me?' Such was his humility. He always had positive feedback to share with our students. It's why the students had a close bond with him despite the age gap. He loved the informality they brought along." Despite being in his 80s, he'd make the trek from Mahim to New Panvel until 2018.