An Indian temple reinterprets vernacular design in a new parametric design

India is known as the "Holy Land" because of its historic, revered, and protected temples. Thousands of holy temples that serve as beacons for India's illustrious legacy may be found throughout the region of South India.

The Gode Neem Tree of Shirdi, Maharashtra served as an inspiration for Shilpa Architects as they created the masterplan. Additionally, the company conducted a number of research into mathematical progressions that led to an inductive basis scheme that served as the design's foundation. The sanctum's design is primarily focused on form, but also attempting to adhere to vastu, numerology, and computational design principles.

An Indian vernacular temple has been created using parametric design by RatLab Studio and Shilpa Architects in Koppur. In the heart of a 338-acre masterplan on the outskirts of Chennai is the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, which spans over 11 acres. Design incorporates a 11-sided polygon (hendecagon) articulated as a three-dimensional polyhedron.

The new temple was built using an algorithm with spatial and structural limitations as its inputs, balancing religious geometry with engineering logic. The concept embraces Tamil Nadu, known as the "Land of Temples," and responds to the client's request to employ the number 11 in light of their faith in numerology and vastu, a conventional old Indian science. As the hendecagon assessed environmental factors including sunlight, solar heat gain, and shadows, it began to take the form of three-dimensional environments.

The main hall's flooring is a mathematical looping system made up of 11 hendecagon vertices that fold to create interstitial gaps in the geometry. At the ground floor, where the pattern bends and directs the guests for prayers and gifts, a recursive division of curves forms a focal point. 

Sunlight emitted from the top of the oculus illuminates an interior room that is completely white. The team states that overhead the hard framework with flowing columns that integrate into the interior space while permitting a long-span shell-like structure was constructed by the double fold origami construction.

The spiritual temple, which will be comprised of 4 areas—the front walk, the temple complex, the back walk, and the idol, and will be constructed in accordance with Vastu Purush Mandal principles. The front walkway serves as a gateway into the temple complex, luring guests within after they depart. The space is physically split into a search area, a bathroom area and counters for shoes and bags.