Clem DeSylva

Meet Clem DeSylva, the man who designed a dream shelter for us at Torda, along with fellow architect Arvind D'Souza.

Right:Clem and Arvind at the virgin site

The land we had was wooded, long, narrow, steep, rocky and full of trees - not an easy task for any architect - in fact there were some who turned away our project, not willing to take on the challenge. But not Clem - he took one look at Torda, and said, in his characteristic optimistic way, "Man, I love this place, let's go for it!"

From designing offices and restaurants in Bombay, including the celebrity heavy Bay of Bombay, to designing an animal hospital, must have been an awesome task. Clem's guiding principles in his own words were

"When designing a shelter for a dog think like a dog. Treasure the gifts of nature and work with them, the trees and the rocks, the wind and the sunlight. Let the birds come back to the site once the building is ready". Well they certainly have, and the monkeys too, and that is probably the best reward of all for him.

When you are next in Goa, do come and visit out hospital at Torda, Salvador-do-Mundo, a village with predominantly rice and dairy farming, just ten minutes from Panjim, the phone number is 416180. It's an animal hospital with a difference, not quite like any other with its circular corner free shelters (which the animals curl into and go to sleep!), and countless steps that keep us all fit.

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