He really enjoyed catching the sunset every evening, right at the edge where the city meets nature — by the beach,” Nuru Karim reveals, of his guru, Sen Kapadia, master architect, planner, educationist and founder director, KRVIA (Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies) that he set up in 1992. Karim is picking up the pieces since the news of Kapadia’s passing in April hit India’s — and particularly Mumbai’s — architecture and design community.

Having worked with eminent architect Louis Kahn in the US in his early days, the Sir JJ School alumnus’ vision stood apart as his practice developed, be it his plans on the National Institute of Design campus, Gandhinagar, or his views on solar architecture well before green ideas were discussed in the architectural ecosystem. Apart from Kahn, Kapadia looked up to respected architect and urban thinker, BV Doshi as an influence on his body of work, and even collaborated with him on a book, In Conversation, on Contours of Contemporary Indian Architecture.