He wanted to walk in his father’s footsteps and dreamed of being an engineer. But destiny had a different and a better plan for Kanwar Khurana, Principal Architect and Proprietor, Ideal Arch. In conversation with Nikita Agarwal, he talks about his journey and how he made his dreams come true.
When did you know that you wanted to pursue architecture as a profession? Can you tell me about your journey?
Architecture was never a choice of profession for me. In fact, it’s an act of serendipity for me. I wanted to be an engineer, as my father was an engineer. But I wasn’t lucky enough to get the required score in CET and therefore, I got admission only in architecture. Also, architecture was not a very popular career option at that time, which is around 30 years ago. But with time, I fell in love with my profession, and I believe destiny has the right plan for me. I went to various architectural design competitions, worked under a famous architect and gained experience in the field. I even worked as a lecturer in the Architecture department of Guru Nanak Dev university. I always wanted to have my own firm and worked towards making my dream a reality.
Where do you get your inspiration for architecture from?
The passion for this profession I believe comes from within. My journey has always been driven by passion. Wherever I go, whether it is to a restaurant or to movies or even while traveling, everything everywhere is architecture for me.
How did you start with Ideal Arch? What is the USP of your brand?
Ideal Arch was started in 1997 with a single project. I was happy teaching in the department of Architecture at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar on adhoc basis and when that ended, I got a project of a hospital. This year we are celebrating 25 years of our firm. Our USP is that we put our heart and soul in any project that we work on. Each design is specially customized as per client’s requirements as every client is unique, so are our designs. From the start till the handover, we show the same enthusiasm and passion considering the project as our own.
You also have another brand by the name of Kabit Art. What’s that about?
That is a furniture manufacturing unit. I had a keen interest in furniture, right from early days of my career. It was during the period of demonetization, when various projects that we were working on were put on hold for a while. So, that was the time when along with my mother, we started Kabit Art. My mother has always been motivating me to face the hurdles in my journey. Here, we manufacture bespoke luxury furniture, where we design it and customize it as per the space or the customer’s requirements.
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