- Armed with international exposure — including stints at NU.DE in Mumbai, ARUP in Singapore, MAD Architects in Beijing, and RSP in Dubai — Boghani returned to Vadodara and established The Crossboundaries in 2013
- His design process is a fusion of client dialogue, conceptual clarity, and cutting-edge software tools— but he’s quick to clarify that technology is only a part of the equation. Innovation isn’t about flashy tools: Parag Mehta
NE FEATURES BUREAU
VADODARA, JUNE 2
In the heart of Gujarat’s cultural capital, a young architect is rewriting the design narrative with bold ideas, artistic flair, and an instinctive understanding of space and form. Meet Harsh Boghani, 36, the co-founder of The Crossboundaries, a boutique architecture and design firm based in Vadodara that has swiftly garnered national recognition for its distinct and sensitive approach to architecture and interiors.
For Boghani, the journey began in an unusual way — through paper planes. “As a child, I would fashion hundreds of planes from discarded paper. My father, an architect himself, discovered bags full of these creations — over 500, each with a unique structure. To my joy, most of them actually flew,” he recalls with a smile. Those early experiments with form and balance laid the groundwork for a promising career in architecture.
A gold medalist from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Harsh honed his professional skills at his father’s established firm, Boghani & Associates, for six years. Yet, his creative vision soon outgrew conventional frameworks. He pursued a Master’s in Advanced and Digital Architecture from the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona, an experience that exposed him to global perspectives and sharpened his digital and experimental design thinking.
Armed with international exposure — including stints at NU.DE in Mumbai, ARUP in Singapore, MAD Architects in Beijing, and RSP in Dubai — Boghani returned to Vadodara and established The Crossboundaries in 2013 as an extension of his father’s 35-year-old practice. The new studio focuses on bespoke, small-scale projects that integrate architecture, product design, and interiors, often with an artistic twist.
“We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all designs,” he says. “Vadodara’s vibrant art community deeply influences us. We collaborate with local sculptors, painters, and artisans. Traditional clay modelling, for instance, inspires us to create handcrafted elements for our spaces.”
One of the studio’s standout projects — The Cutting Edge Hair Salon — demonstrates this philosophy. Designed and delivered within an astonishing 27 days, the salon features hot wax-crafted cobalt blue pendant lights and a striking mural of six sculpted hands — a literal imprint of the salon owner’s hands. “It’s a space that reflects personality and purpose. Despite time and budget constraints, we completed the project with 18% cost savings,” says Boghani. (Can we focus on some other project that is on a larger scale like, NSIL Office , ISRO or a 5 Star property for 108 keys which is ongoing in Manali, Himachal Pradesh )
Parag Mehta, a global businessman and Harsh’s happy client says, “His design process is a fusion of client dialogue, conceptual clarity, and cutting-edge software tools — but he’s quick to clarify that technology is only a part of the equation. Innovation isn’t about flashy tools. It’s about context — how a space interacts with culture, history, and the people who inhabit it.”
Boghani’s commitment to contextual creativity has not gone unnoticed. He has racked up a string of prestigious awards, including:
- TAD 50, Top 50 Architects & Interior Designers in India, ( 2025)
- National Winner, Retail Interior Design, IIID Excellence Awards (2017)
- National Runner-Up, Young Practice of the Year, IIID (2018)
- Gold Winner, Commercial Office Interior Design, FOAID (2022)
- Bronze Winner, A’ Design Awards, Interior Space & Exhibition Design (2018)
- Multiple zonal and national commendationsfrom IIID and Glitz Design Honors
With a focus on blending craft with computation, art with architecture, Harsh Boghani is not just shaping structures — he’s shaping stories. As The Crossboundaries continues to grow, so does the promise of a new design language, rooted in Gujarat but speaking to the world.
