Vinu Daniel

Climate-responsive architect

Using natural materials such as mud and waste, Vinu Daniel creates beautiful, sustainable buildings.

Why you should listen

Architect Vinu Daniel is the founder of Wallmakers, a design firm dedicated to building dream-like spaces that are responsive to specific site contexts and conditions. Wallmakers has no official office and is constantly on the move, looking for ways to minimize the carbon footprint of buildings and make construction more sustainable. Using innovative designs and locally sourced materials (including waste and debris), Daniel and his team have developed new natural building techniques that are both utilitarian and alluring, earning them global recognition. Wallmakers won the 2022 Royal Academy Dorfman Award, which celebrates new ideas that highlight the future potential of architecture. In 2020, ArchDaily selected Wallmakers as the only Indian practice in its "20 Young Practices of 2020" list.

Daniel has also worked with the Auroville Earth Institute and the United Nations Development Programme. For Daniel, the central question for architects now is not "What should we build?" but rather: "Should we build?"

Vinu Daniel’s TED talk

13:19

Vinu Daniel

The beauty of building with mud and trash

Posted Jul 2023

More news and ideas from Vinu Daniel

Live from TED2023

Celebrating the unbridled power of imagination: Notes on Session 11 of TED2023

April 21, 2023

Session 11 of TED2023 was a celebration of the unbridled power of imagination. What is imagination, exactly? According to poet and session co-host Sarah Kay, it’s the ability to notice, see and observe what is — and then to dream, build and expand on what is not but could be. Eight speakers and one performer […]