In 1968, Angur Baba Joshi, who ran the Nepal Women’s Association, decided to construct a Hostel to accommodate tourists in the area. As the borders of Nepal opened, there was an unusual influx of foreign visitors, be it tourists, scholars, artists, and architects. Located at a walking distance from the sacred Boudhanath Stupa, Taragaon was imagined as a cultural abode for travelers seeking to imbibe the intrinsic spiritual essence of Nepal.

Angur Baba Joshi soon commissioned Austrian architect and urban planner, Carl Prusha, to design the Taragaon Hostel in 1970. Prusha approached this project from a dual perspective, thinking of a minimal, modernist visual vocabulary, but with indigenous technique, tradition, and material. Over the next three years, Prusha’s designs were carefully built, and the Taragaon Hostel came to life.

Back in the 1970s, there were no urban structures between Boudhanath and Taragaon – a direct, serene pathway connected the spiritual anchor and its modern, transcultural companion.