With more than 1200 projects designed and finished, Sheila Sri Prakash, an Architect and Urban Designer is the first woman in India to open her own independent architectural firm. The architectural profession was heavily dominated by men in 1970, when she began her career, and she encountered resistance from them. Still, she began working after earning her bachelor's degree in architecture from the Anna University School of Architecture and Planning.

Hema Sankalia was employed in the 1950s by Vina Mody, a female architect from Mumbai, to go with her on construction sites and be a part of the field work. This allowed one of the country's first architects to inspire and, one can presume, awe a larger number of people. 

She later joined hands with architect Pravina Mehta to create one of the first female partnerships in India. The Navi Bombay design was created and suggested in 1964 by the latter, in collaboration with architect Charles Correa and civil engineer Shirish Patel. Additionally, they collaborated with Pakistan's first female architect, Yasmeen Lari, and Sri Lanka's first modern architect, Minnette De Silva, to design cheap housing for the benefit of slum inhabitants and communities afflicted by earthquakes.

Despite being decades apart, Pravina's passion to support the underprivileged is evident in the work of a number of young Indian architects, like Swati Janu and her company, Social Design Collaborative, who created the low-cost school Modskool with modular design. Architect, activist, and artist Swati Janu focuses on social justice problems ranging from housing rights to participatory planning. Her multidisciplinary approach blends policy lobbying with community participation in Indian cities. The Moira Gemmill prize in Emerging Architecture 2022, which aims to promote gender inclusion in architecture and urban planning, was recently given to Swati in recognition of her critical spatial practice.

 

Even though they are architects from two distinct times, Pravina and Swati could be seen as an equally good illustration of the conclusions of Cornell University author and architectural historian Mary N. Woods' research on women in Indian architecture. 

Among the group of Indian architects fusing heritage with modern design are Brinda Somaya and Neera Adarkar, who both belong to what the former terms the "bridge generation of architects." (The latter is also the chair of the School of Environment and Architecture (SEA) and one of its founding trustees.) 

Anupama Kundoo, the 2021 RIBA Charles Jencks Award recipient, is arguably the most frequently mentioned younger inspiration within this group of Indian architects. The architect from Auroville is renowned for fusing inexpensive vernacular elements into contemporary buildings, a practice that is sometimes referred to as a service for the privileged.

From her own house, which was completed for a total of one million rupees, to the affordable housing at Sangamam, which combined cement stabilization with the age-old rammed earth method, one need only examine the architect's captivating methods and approach to comprehend why she rejects the notion that architecture is an exclusive profession.

Mumbai-based architect Bhawna Jaimini describes architecture as an elitist profession. The architect, who actively works to improve the built environment for women and children from marginalized areas, exposes the roots of the profession's elitism, celebration of inequity, and exploitation of resources for the wealthy and powerful.

Bhawna is a member of a new wave of architects who see this as more than simply their duty as professionals; they also think that in order to guarantee the topic's continued relevance as socially and ecologically significant, the wealthy and powerful must be conditioned.

Gurmeet Sangha Rai, the founder and director of CRCI in Delhi, is another conservation architect who resonates with the idea that communities are an integral aspect of heritage. Gurmeet emphasizes the importance of incorporating the environment into legacy in order to provide room for everyone, using conservation as a means of offering care. Gurmeet goes into more detail about how the constructed and the new are related. Studying the former, particularly its materials and methods, offers options for sustainable design for the soon-to-be-built.

One of the pioneers of Indian mud building, Revathi Kamath, lived and worked in Delhi and devoted her life to using local materials and methods. JSPL Gateway, the highest stainless-steel structure in South Asia and India, was designed by her, and she was honored with the coveted Aga Khan award among other accolades. Known for her socially and contextually conscious designs, the architect created the latter in 2006 as a reworking of tribal patterns for swings and ladders. 

Despite her contribution, there has been a continuous, if varied, contemptuous attitude towards the relevance of women in Indian architecture. Women architects have had to navigate a male-dominated field throughout their career. 

Even though there has been progress in the field regarding the representation of women, we cannot ignore the gender barriers and bias that still exist. For example, boardrooms still exhibit a male to female ratio that is not well balanced, and hesitation and discomfort around a female architect are still relevant issues today. Although women have achieved success in every aspect of Indian architecture, it is a well-known fact that women in the profession and in academics generally get less recognition in the field of architecture. 

Despite the many obstacles, these women, along with many others, blur the lines between alternative and mainstream architecture, between the modern and the contemporary- by being both activists and successful businesswomen and inspire a great number of young girls in the nation and beyond.

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Text provided by Kimaya Tendulkar-

Kimaya Tendulkar is an architect who graduated from the L.S. Raheja School of Architecture in Mumbai and is interested in working as a researcher in the subject of urban development and planning. Her interests lie in contributing to social justice and making cities more habitable. Her research interests include public and urban policy, urban inequities, and mobility. She believes that tackling a problem from an empathetic lens will lead to an authentic solution. She enjoys observing and writing about cities and their complexities. Her graphic and visual interests, which include illustrating and photography, assist her in better articulating her observations.