5 Outstanding Projects, All in Different Countries, Confirm Great Design Has No Borders May 6, 2021 Photography by Edmund Sumner. Asked to design a stand-alone garage for the private residence of a childhood friend, architect Abin Chaudhuri not only produced an astonishing brick-and-concrete structure but also significantly enlarged the building’s simple program. Aesthetically, the 4,100-square-foot, two-story facility is a contemporary take on the terra-cotta facades of traditional Bengali temples. Chaudhuri—the son of mathematicians who discovered his vocation touring a house by the Indian modernist architect Charles Correa, graduated from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, and studied industrial design at Domus Academy Milano—collaborated with ceramic artist Partha Dasgupta on the exterior’s elaborate geometric brickwork. But it was Chaudhuri’s frequent conversations with his client about giving back to their hometown that led him to suggest the garage be largely repurposed as a community center, dubbed Gallery House. Now the ground-floor parking space is mostly used as a neighborhood meeting hall; upstairs, a multipurpose room hosts dance classes and yoga sessions during the day and functions as a dormitory for resident staff at night. Even the concrete front steps provide a viewing stand for neighborhood processions and festivals: “Anyone can sit there,” Chaudhuri notes with satisfaction.