Still sinking in, says Pune-born architect invited to Coronation
London: Sourabh Phadke, a Pune-born architect and teacher who has been named among the selected charity champions invited to attend the Coronation ceremony of King Charles III, says he is still absorbing the news and approaching it with the spirit of the unknown. The 38-year-old was chosen for his association and great success through the causes supported by the Prince’s Foundation, the charity founded by Charles when he was the Prince of Wales. Originally trained as an architect, Phadke joined the foundation’s Traditional Building Skills programme and expanded his repertoire by training as a stonemason.
It was during the course that Phadke’s work stood out as he was based for four months at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, the Scottish headquarters of the Prince’s Foundation, and he and his fellow students built a new education pavilion on the estate.
“It’s still sinking in and I don’t know what to expect considering I’ve never been to a Coronation before. It’s with that spirit in mind that I’m approaching it,” said Phadke, when asked about his royal invitation to Westminster Abbey on Saturday.
Phadke also received an Albukhary Foundation Scholarship to do an MA at the Prince’s Foundation’s School of Traditional Arts, where he now works as a tutor. Having led a nomadic existence in India, travelling from place to place teaching and also building schools, Phadke moved to the UK a few years ago when his wife Persis won a scholarship to do a geography PhD at King’s College in London.
“It was an opportunity for me to become a student again and become part of the [Prince’s Foundation] programme. I was really happy that I got the opportunity. Even though I’d done stonework in the past, I hadn’t trained as a stone mason,” he recalls.
Growing up in India, he lived and worked in communities around the country – helping design and construct buildings using local materials such as mud, stone and bamboo.