The site, on the edge of the Pune metropolitan region, slopes down a spur of the Sahyadhri mountains and the institute is conceived as a vast, green, stepped garden when seen from afar. The slope has been exploited to break the fabric of the campus into descending terraces that structure the functions into a long stepped section. Uppermost is the administrative quadrangle, from which descend a series of garden quadrangles, each devoted to a core learning function focused around an open garden-there is a water collection pond at the lower end, with cisterns to store rainwater. The building materials exposed concrete, rough plaster walls and sloped copper aluminium roofs mirror the mountainous terrain.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture