Jaspal Bhogal: For the love of architecture

AT 86, and with decades of experience in his field, Jaspal Bhogal remains in love with architecture.

Try asking him a question about any of the buildings he's had to design. His face will light up and he will vividly recall the project from inception to conclusion.

From being raised in a cosy town in Kenya to living his dream in TT, Bhogal tells his story of perseverance.

He was born and raised in Eldoret, in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. He told Sunday Newsday it was "a small town filled with lovely people.

"We were all very closely associated people. Everyone cared for each other," he recalled, referring to it as "the good ole days."

It was growing up there that he realised he was interested in art and began sketching people and buildings, painting and taking photos of buildings.

He also enjoyed long-distance running, which is not surprising, as he was in a country known for its excellent athletes in that discipline.

Unfortunately, he said, his father was not initially very supportive of the idea of his doing any form of art as a career, but wanted him to become a doctor or a lawyer.

This, Bhogal said, challenged him "to prove (his) father wrong."

It took some convincing and assistance from his brother, but it was eventually agreed he would study in England. He did architecture at the University of Bristol and earned a postgraduate diploma in it at the Polytechnic of Regent Street in London (now University of Westminster).

While there he did some minor designs for railway sites and offices, among other things, to earn money while he did his postgraduate studies.

Later, he was living in Canada with his wife and two children when he stumbled on a newspaper ad about an employment opportunity in TT. This was at least 47 years ago, he recalled. Architects were being sought to help design West Mall, in Westmoorings.

When he called, he was told: "We were looking for a Trini architect...I don't know if you'd like Trinidad."

Immediately interested, he ventured to another country yet again in pursuit of his goals. The company told him they'd observe him for a week and if they liked his work, he would continue there.

So said, so done. A week turned into 47 years.

He recalled that when he initially came to TT, it was during the Carnival season and he was very impressed by the celebrations he was observing for the first time. He said Trinidad reminded him of his hometown.

He has designed buildings locally that include Coosal's head office in Las Lomas; the headquarters of both the Chaguanas Borough Corporation and Arima Borough Corporations and the main offices of the Diego Martin and Princes Town corporations; Turtle Beach Hotel in Tobago; the millennium wing at Southern Medical Clinic; and the Concacaf Centre of Excellence in Macoya. He has also designed many private homes as well as a gurdwara – a Sikh temple – in El Dorado, Tunapuna and is a practising Sikh.

Regionally, he designed the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry headquarters and a refurbished section of the Pegasus Hotel in Guyana, among other things. He's worked on malls, banks, and several other types of buildings.

He told Sunday Newsday architecture is so much more than just creating a floor plan. It also means understanding your clients, trying one's best to capture the vision of another person, and ensuring functionality is being taken into consideration in the construction of a building.

"It is a very satisfying profession," he said. "When you start to see your building come up, it looks beautiful and functional, people admire it and its features – that grabs you."

He has lived through architecture moving from every part of the process having to be done by hand to the emergence of new technologies to assist, such as autoCAD (Computer Aided Design). And he admires them both, he said.

"Everything was drawing boards, set square and T-square. But when this automated thing came, that transformed the whole thing."

Sticking to his roots, he still prefers to do all his sketches by hand, but then passes them on to his "very talented" team to fine-tune them with the help of technology.

During his time in TT, he was also the president of the TT Institute of Architects from 2000-2002, which he said was a rewarding experience. In September 2022, he was made a fellow of the institute.

"All of the architects respect each other and each other's work."

He said it is crucial for architects to form professional relationships with civil, electrical and mechanical engineers, as they and their contributions are also important to the process.

"That's how you get the best of both worlds.

"People are satisfied with my work, they keep coming back to me, I don't have to go looking for jobs."

His favourite design, to date, is the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, as he said it takes a more classical approach.

He continues his artistic expression with abstract art now as well. Those pieces decorate the walls throughout his Maraval office, and he said it is an important hobby.

Speaking to Sunday Newsday, Bhogal's fellow architect Mark Franco described him as someone who has "always been very involved in the profession.

"He's given a lot of service to TT and he's always been very conscientious in his service to the profession and to the community of architects.

"He's very friendly, very welcoming, very positive and appreciative."

Although the two never worked together, Franco said Bhogal is "very generous with his praise and support."

As Bhogal ages, he said he is trying to only take on as many projects as he can manage easily.

But asked if he still loves this field of work as much as he did when his current successes were merely dreams, he said: "Absolutely."