Sarto Almeida, who mentored architects across the country and gave buildings a modern regional edge, was instrumental in planning Goa’s cities.

Architect Sarto Almeida arrived in Goa in the early 60s, when the newly liberated Union Territory was searching for a new identity. Fresh from his experience in Ahmedabad, which was at the time, every architect’s pilgrim city, Sarto brought with him a modernist vocabulary. Having worked at BV Doshi’s office, it was hard to miss the influences of Le Corbusier in Sarto’s early works. Over the years though, as he embedded himself into the life and pace of Goa, he realised concrete alone wasn’t the answer to the future. That’s when he shifted his gaze to the way houses and structures were traditionally built and developed his own way of blending the old and the new. For the next five decades, from 1967 onwards, when he set up an office in Margao, Sarto designed numerous public and private buildings, including institutions, places of worship and homes. He was actively involved in conservation and urban planning strategies for Goa and was instrumental in shaping futures for many young architects across the country. On May 26, he passed away at the age of 95.

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Sarto’s family was based in Tanzania, and his brother Anthony was a well-known architect there. Sarto chose to study at Sir JJ School of Architecture, Mumbai and had worked with Piloo Mody, before he headed to Ahmedabad. Along the way, he had made numerous friends, including the well-known cartoonist-painter Mario Miranda. This city also helped me meet his wife, Therese. When they moved to Goa finally, they founded the Manovikas School, one of the finest in the State.