Kamal Sagar

Kamal Sagar (born 16 July 1969) is an Indian architect, designer, real estate developer, restaurateur, and music enthusiast. Based in Bangalore, India, he is the founder and chairman of Total Environment Building Systems, and Total Environment Hospitality (Windmills Craftworks and Oota). in 1992, with a degree in architecture. After a short stint with Omni Architects at Lexington, Kentucky, USA, he returned to India. As a young architect, he was entrusted with the design and construction of Poonawalla Stud Farms at Hadapsar and Theur, Pune. For this project, he extensively used exposed brick masonry, evolving a special technique with the help of steel spacers to bring out the character of every individual brick – in line with his core design philosophy of using natural materials that blend with the landscape and age gracefully. He built this out in a span of just 8 months, in time for the Asian Racing Conference by Asian Racing Federation on 27 January 1995.

Career

In 1995, Kamal's move to Bangalore marked the beginning of a significant chapter in his career. He started his own architectural practice, first under his own name, and later as Shibanee & Kamal Architects, along with his wife and partner. In 1996, in his search for a one-bedroom apartment, he realized just how bad the state of large scale housing projects was, and saw tremendous scope to make a difference in this area. After several failed attempts in trying to get developers to accept his design ideas, he decided to take on the task of developing and constructing his projects. He founded Total Environment, a construction and real estate development company, to build out his designs. Total Environment has since built more than 4.5 million square feet of individually customized and furnished space, mostly homes, across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. "Tapestry", located in Frisco, Dallas-Fort Worth metro area in the US, is a 56-acre, 121-home residential community - the company’s first international endeavor.

Kamal’s work has always been inspired by music, art and nature. His architectural inspirations include Frank Lloyd Wright, Bart Prince, Bruce Goff, Alvar Aalto, Mies van de Rohe, and Tadao Ando. He also draws inspiration from sources as varied as Enid Blyton, Alexandre Dumas, Pink Floyd, Ahmad Jamal, Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Los Paraguayos, etc.

In 2012, he founded Windmills Craftworks, a Jazz Theater, Microbrewery and Restaurant, where the audience gets to experience talent from across the globe at close quarters, with superior sound quality in a setting with beer and food. In less than two years, Windmills Craftworks soon established itself as a live music venue in Bangalore, bringing varied music ranging from Jazz, Blues, rock, folk, Bluegrass, Indian Classical music, Indian folk music and Latin.

Work

Design Philosophy Kamal’s work has focused on using natural materials to create warm living spaces, through handcrafted homes that embrace nature. His people-centric design philosophy and the idea of providing a garden with every home have defined the product offerings of Total Environment. Over the years, he experimented with various different formats for these gardens, with most rooms having visual/physical access to these gardens. Whitefield, Bangalore, India 2000 Bougainvillea, Vibhuthipura, Bangalore, India 2000 Green is the Colour, BTM Layout, Bangalore, India 2001 The Good Earth, Ulsoor, Bangalore, India 2001 Webb India Limited – Corporate Office & workshops, Bommasandra, Bangalore, India 2004 Shine On, Rahath Bagh, Bangalore, India 2004 Time, Indiranagar, Bangalore, India 2006 Footprints, Indiranagar, Bangalore, India 2006 Residence for Navin Dhananjay, Hennur Road, Bangalore, India 2008 Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore, India 2009 Orange Blossom Special, Uday Baugh, Pune, India 2010 Greensleeves, Singasandra, Bangalore, India 2015 Windmills of Your Mind, Whitefield, Bangalore, India 2015 The Magic Faraway Tree, Phase 1, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore, India 2017 Van Gogh's Garden, Bangalore, India 2017 College of Engineering Pune 2020 Lost in the Greens, Bangalore, India 2021 A Few Honest Words, Bangalore, India 2023 Green-roof Walk Home, Hyderabad, India

Awards and recognition In recognition of his work, Kamal has won several Architectural Design Awards - at both National and International levels – including many projects that were finalists at the World Architecture Festival.