In memoriam - Werner Stoff

On May 3rd, German Aurovilian Werner Stoff left his body in his house in Prayatna, at the age of 81, after a struggle with cancer.

Werner was an architect and a Freemason. He lived for a while in Bali and married a Balinese woman before the couple moved to Germany. He became a renowned architect of residential villas and office buildings ‘without corners’. He was also the designer of the iconic Stoff Nagel candlestick holder in the 1960s.

After the death of his wife, in 2001 Werner came to Auroville and became an Aurovilian three years later. In Auroville he was known for his daring project of transforming the community of Prayatna into one of the most densely populated communities of the city, with plans agreed on by Roger Anger for up to 250 people. It would be a ‘Gesammtkunstwerk’ or ‘total art concept’, where the inhabitants agreed to live in the architectural art work “in exchange for interactions with the designer in order to fashion their living space according to their needs, but always in line with the overall design language and style of the total project”.

As it was not easy to find people who were willing to adhere to the concept, eventually only the main building consisting of an office-cum-demo space, as well as two spaces for the homeopathic clinic and twelve living spaces were built in his design language.

At the same time, Werner also designed abstract sculptures, and many new objects for his AuroDesign unit as well as various structures around Auroville, such as housing in Aranya, a temple in Jawadhi hills and Kallallipattu, a design for the new Svaram campus and the cremation space at Auroville’s cremation grounds near Adventure. His remains were cremated there on the afternoon of May 6th. To celebrate Werner Stoff's legacy, a retrospective exhibition will be organised in the expo space at Prayatna.