How do you describe your journey in this male-dominated industry?
All industries till date are male dominated. The Architecture Industry now has many women designers but the core execution teams remain male dominated. The journey has been had its up’s and down’s. But I do feel, that the industry respects knowledge – if any person (women or men) is knowledgeable and genuinely into conscious designing – they respond equally to both.
Who has been your inspiration in the process of your entire career?
Laurie Baker. His sustainable designs, material explorations within the Indian context have been inspirational. His material inspired architecture is still relevant after all these years and will continue to be.
Which has been your first project? Where? What was it? How has been your experience?
Our first project was interiors for an office of 500 sq. foot in our internship years. first experience dealing with site issues , workers etc. It was a mini coaster ride.. Since the carpenter refused to speak to women. And it was tight layout! It taught us a lot … and we are still learning
What type of projects captures your interest or rather interested to do?
Each project has its challenges – it might be space constriction, client design brief, less execution time, terrain etc .Projects which allow us to explore different design techniques and are open to exploring sustainable alternatives, different design styles and execution techniques.
Your most challenging projects; where and why? Tell us more about the same?
We have been blessed with some interesting projects. Apollo Cradle Amritsar, we converted a de-funct mall into a luxury mother and child hospital keeping the external façade and some of the services intact. It has been till date one of the most challenging projects we have executed successfully.
In the panipat event hall project, we created a self-sustaining environment. The client was highly knowledgeable about sustainable methods and it motivated us to create this green building which serves the community around as well. The house of greens project, we created a luxury environment for the client while retaining all the existing mature trees, scattered across the site.
Tell us about your upcoming projects; where and what type; schedule of completions?
We have some very interesting projects getting completed within 3-9 months. A corporate office in the making where we have designed a 30 feet curving parametric reception table for the client with undulating ribbed ceilings. The project is located in the hills and the execution is on-going. A residential project in the heavenly hills of Kashmir in the midst of apple orchard. We have used the local traditional techniques of khatamband ceilings. Owing to the climatic situation, the execution time of these projects is almost double.
Your wise words to next-gen stepping into this profession?
While social media platforms have become an integral of part of information – sharing/dissemination . It should not replace real life experiences. Design for a sustainable and conscious future – not content generation.