About us

“Pure intuitive, experiential building of atmospheres. How difficult is that”
At SPASM Design Architects, every project begins with a two-point perspective: one eye rooted in the tangible realities of site, climate, craft, and culture; the other fixed on the intangible the emotions, rituals, memories, and aspirations that give a place meaning. Between these twin horizons, architecture emerges not as an object, but as an unfolding experience. We seek to reveal rather than impose, allowing light, landscape, material, and time to shape spaces that are at once ancient and contemporary, quiet yet profound. We believe architecture is most powerful when it holds opposing ideas in creative tension, earth and sky, permanence and change, reason and wonder transforming buildings into journeys of discovery.
We are, in many ways, a product of our buildings.
Our moods are coloured by the spaces we inhabit. Our memories become inseparable from the rooms in which they were made. The cadence of our days, the light that wakes us, the shade that shelters us, the threshold where we pause, the courtyard where we gather, quietly scripts our lives.
Every human endeavour unfolds within architecture. We learn in it, heal in it, work in it, celebrate in it, grieve in it, debate in it, pray in it and dream within its walls. The spaces between buildings are equally important, for they become the stage for chance encounters, public discourse, play and community. Architecture is not simply the backdrop to civilisation; it is one of its principal authors.
If this is true, then every building carries an ethical responsibility. It should not merely maximise efficiency or satisfy a brief. It should elevate the human spirit, encourage connection, respond to climate, and leave the places it touches richer than before.
For a country like India, this responsibility is profound. Our future will not be built by copying the world's skylines, but by rediscovering the intelligence embedded in our own landscapes, settlements and traditions. The courtyard, the verandah, the stone plinth, the shaded street and the generous threshold are not relics of the past; they are timeless instruments for creating places where life flourishes.
Architecture, then, is the quiet craft of shaping humanity itself.
- Spasm Design

SPASM is a small controlled practice. We’re interested in an intimate relationship with our studio, our team, our collaborators, our models, drawings, visualizations, products, buildings and our clients. We do this because we love it. We sense displeasure; we respect questioning and constructive criticism on all the projects. We don’t know how to run our studio any other way. The extremely personal way our studio runs gives us immense happiness. Our ultimate objective is simply happiness and the feeling of moving forward.

We have a flamenco kind of approach and Ping-Pong kind of pace. Shared experiences over the years make every project we take on enjoyable. Our approach is very chaotic upfront. Our team is intrinsically involved from the get-go; several ideas are put on the table and worked through laterally. Essentially, our expression is based on the concerns we develop while understanding what the task is at hand. These concerns are then translated into a physical tangible buildable construct using our own personal intuitive logic – rational decisions based on relevance, appropriateness, technology, budgets, craftsmanship, locale, the list is too long.

Spasm, founded in 1995 by
Sangeeta Merchant & Sanjeev Panjabi

Small.
Controlled.
Intimate.

SPASM is not interested in being avant-garde. Like Marcel Proust said, “To see new landscapes you don’t need to always journey, but have new eyes.” We try to be very human in our approach and not too fussy in our details. We do try to bring a poetic touch to our expression but never at the cost of appropriateness. An eastern kind of “inclusivity” is sought; every aspect of building, occupation and future ageing of projects is mulled over – many, many, many times over. Every commission is an opportunity to discover ourselves, through what we propose and build.

A Pillow of Winds

Piero Zucchi
GEZA Architettura

A visit to Spasm Design's architectures is an experience of tranquility and appropriateness, of respect for the environment and clear, defined volumes, and is beautifully summed up in a phrase that recurs in the interviews in which Sangeeta Merchant and Sanjeev Panjabi, founders of the firm, describe their works: "(...) a single breath in which everything is perfect."

But their vast repertoire of works lends itself to a more nuanced reading, one that highlights the absence of a Style and the presence of a Method.

One of the studio's best-known works, the House cast in Liquid Stone, presents itself as a sculpture that is born from the place itself, accepts its intense natural rules and it is chiseled by the elements. A basalt soul that is shaped by air and rain, like Eduardo Chillida's Wind Combs.

This is surely one of the rules behind the Spasm Method, "form follows climate," quoting Charles Correa. But their architecture is never mimetic: there is no timidity, lines are defined and confident, volumes are clear, and types are recognizable. The comparison is on par.
The result is the constant search for architectural landmarks combined with messages of sustainability and correspondence with the environment.

“Eternity is in love with the productions of time.”

— William Blake

This is a fundamental point: in Spasm's works it seems that the traditional dichotomy between Man and Nature, the struggle between Technology and Natural Elements, has found a different path. Architecture and Nature are no longer antagonists; they collaborate together until they compose a new result with greater value and depth.

Nature is sitting at the design table, it informs the project from the beginning, it has the same value as Tradition, Technology and the other compositional tools of Architecture.

No longer struggle but collaboration, not violence but calm...an extremely contemporary method: it is no coincidence that today the world's best tropical architectures set an example, with the very high quality of the results, achieved by adding spiritual qualities to the ability to listen to and translate both human and environmental needs.

The essential and profound interrelationship between Man and Nature is the basis of Spasm's work.

Today, at a crucial time in the history of the Planet, such a collaborative idea is as relevant as ever.

Moreover, Spasm's projects exhibit a strong will to adapt, linked to particular environmental conditions - the tropical Indian climate, the Namibian desert, the heat of Dubai.

In this way, the projects produce meaningful, deeply identity-laden places that are developed through primal, foundational actions: digging, building with the materials of the place, "feeling" the desert, orienting with the winds, using the civic centrality of water as a public meeting place, protecting, shading, letting air and life flow...with lightness, tranquility and spirituality.

Spasm's Design Method has thus identified a set of tools, to be used in a practical, cross-cutting and always highly articulate way: the Indian Tradition is reinterpreted in a free, creative way, on a par with the culture of the Modern, whose Architectural Types lie in the same palette as the Natural Environment.

Wind, Climate, trees, shade and water are elements of the design on par with bricks, stone, wood and attention to the needs of the Planet. The house breathes, the spirit breathes.

The placement of buildings is never random, it is always determined by climate and wind, and the landscape is always framed, enhanced, chosen and selected, and eventually constructed. The relationship between inside and outside is at the center of the life of the house, "the soul of the home."

All in a bespoke, handcrafted feel, where the perceived quality of materials and attention to detail is at the highest level.
Even in vertical projects such as Aranya House, the message of climate concern is not lost. The facades are layered with mixed materials, making sophisticated architectural figures of simple climate control elements. Thus, the building becomes a new urban landmark.

The Ethos of Spasm Design contains values that speak of Relevance, Adequacy, Durability, Technology, Nature, Craftsmanship, Tradition, Spirituality...
The buildings are meditated, timeless, connected to nature and space: it is a continuous search for relevance and a refined operation of sustainability.
An idea of sustainability that eliminates the superfluous, and creates buildings that can last, physically and culturally.
To top it off, Spasm's projects present a clear control of "tone of voice."
In the case of the Sanskriti Vihara Centre, a public building, the language is of high register and profound. In this case, the research is related to inclusiveness, the creation of shared meaning. The use of a traditional type such as the stepwell, the act of "digging" in search of water produce a deep rootedness in the earth and culture. A lyrical tale, speaking of the path from darkness to light, reaching out toward immortality.

Differently, when Spasm designs a vacation home like Parikrama, the intonation becomes soft, familiar, and speaks of lightness, freshness, movement, waves, and goes along with the flow of the wind and natural elements. It is impossible to remain a stranger, and suddenly, metamorphosis takes place: the wind opens your lungs, the sun changes your colors, spices linger in the air and reveal a part of you that will remain forever.

The ubiquitous Swing Bed (Jhoola), with its detachment from the Earth, with its slow, rhythmic rocking, offers a different point of view and connects the world with the soul, suspended between reality and dream.