Architects display varying degrees of awe and envy when discussing Bijoy Jain's Studio Mumbai. The US-trained Indian architect's reputation rests on exquisitely detailed buildings – homes predominantly – that combine a modernist rigour with traditional Indian craftsmanship. 

Bijoy Jain's Copper House 2, with its courtyard exposed to the elements.
Bijoy Jain's Copper House 2, with its courtyard exposed to the elements.

Thoughtfully positioning his dwellings around natural landmarks – a well, mango trees, views to the sea – it's the precision stonework, crafted timber and copper in buildings such as Copper House 2 (2011) that cause the "if only" muttering. 

But he dismisses any notion that his creations arise out of affordable craftsmanship. 

Studio Mumbai's 2016 Venice architecture biennale installation made from bamboo and lime hints at the M Pavilion design by Bijoy Jain.
Studio Mumbai's 2016 Venice architecture biennale installation made from bamboo and lime hints at the M Pavilion design by Bijoy Jain. - What value is he trying to communicate? "If we want our world to sustain, what's the best thing? Love. It's a no-brainer. We are just embarrassed to speak about it like that." No surprise then that Jain's ambition for the M Pavilion is to construct a "universally shared experience". Inspired by the red earth of central Australia, Jain has designed an umbrella-like pavilion made of bamboo, wild branches, earth, mud and lime. Red earth lines the interior. With earth above and below us, Jain's pavilion effectively conjures a "cave". "I was looking for one thing that would connect everything, which is free of prejudice, judgment, free of culture – free of everything," he says. "In some ways free of time."