Jan 09 2025 to Jan 09 2025 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

In South Asia, architectural practice is characterized by a rich pluralism of approaches. This event brings together leading studios—CollectiveProject, Kamat and Rozario Architecture, M9 Design Studio, and Made in Earth Collective—for a panel discussion moderated by Pranav Thole and Ela Singhal. The conversation aims to explore the evolving landscapes of practice, focusing on forms of patronage, methodologies, emerging technologies, innovative construction techniques, and the architect’s role as a social catalyst.

Speakers
Nischal Abhaykumar
M9 Design Studio

Nischal Abhaykumar is a Bangalore-based Architect. He received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from RVCE Bangalore (1999-2004) and a Postgraduate degree in Master of Arts in Advanced Architectural Design from SAC Frankfurt (2006-2008).

He has worked as a lead design team member at few national and international design firms like InFORM Architects – Bangalore, Plasma Studio – London, Blocher Blocher Partners – Stuttgart and Ippolito Fleitz Group – Stuttgart on various international design competitions.

He returned to India in 2009 started working on projects of varied scales. M9 Design Studio as we see it today was setup in 2016, where the team strives to impact people through spaces. They envision spaces that will inspire people, help them connect with one another, and enrich the human experience. They engage seamlessly in a wide range of scales and types of projects – furniture design, graphic design, interior space design and architectural projects which include private houses, institutions, cultural and public buildings, as well as landscape design and urban planning.

Smruti Kamat
Kamat & Rozario Architecture

Smruti Kamat graduated from the Kamla Raheja Institute for Architecture, Mumbai. She began her professional career with Kamu Iyer of Architects’ Combine, Mumbai, where she gained exposure to projects of varied scales. This was followed by a Masters in Architecture at Virginia Tech, USA . Prior to establishing Kamat & Rozario Architecture with Lester, Smruti worked in New York city at Calvert Wright Architecture PC and then in Bangalore with Mathew & Ghosh Architects.
Cyrus Patell
CollectiveProject

Cyrus Patell is an architect who lives and works in Bangalore, India and is the co-founder of CollectiveProject. He has a BArch from Vishweshwaraya Technical University (RV College of Architecture) in Bangalore and a Master’s from Yale University (Class of 2010). Before transitioning to private practice, Cyrus worked in Mumbai with the office of Rahul Mehrotra and in New York for Kohn Pedersen Fox. In addition to leading the design and execution of many of the studios’ projects, Cyrus enjoys exploring the intersection between digital design and handcrafted production through personal studies of objects and furniture.
Eliza Higgins
CollectiveProject

Eliza Higgins co-founded CollectiveProject with partner Cyrus Patell in 2013. Now living full-time in Bangalore. Eliza previously practiced as a designer in the offices of Canon Design, Deborah Berke Partners and Diller Scofidio + Renfro on institutional, hospitality and cultural projects. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from Roger Williams University and her Master’s from Yale University (Class of 2010), where she received the David M. Schwarz Architectural Services Award. She has been a guest visiting critic at Yale University, Parsons School of Design, University at Buffalo and Roger Williams University.
Shruthi Ramakrishna
Made In Earth Collective

During her studies, Architects Anna Heringer and Satprem Maïni changed the way Shruthi looked at what architecture could achieve. Her passion for ecological construction led her to France, where she worked with Chenelet Construction in Calais for two years discovering the extensive potential of bio-sourced materials. She also collaborated with Touraterre & Inventerre in Avignon & Toulouse, France, and Oficinas do Convento in Montemorro, Portugal to organize design and build workshops for public projects, further reinforcing her belief in how architecture can be a collaborative process, and the strength of community in design. On returning to India, an eagerness for hands­on craftsmanship took her to Khamir & Hunnarshala in the incredible region of Kutch, Gujarat. Working with communities made her step back from a product-focused approach and consider how to bring the soul back into a process. She extensively engaged in field research with nomadic and artisanal communities culminating in two international exhibitions about the region. Together with Kalpavriksh, she has co-authored a children’s book, introducing local biodiversity and culture for children. Since 2015, Shruthi has led Made In Earth Collective, an architecture and design practice based in Bangalore, India.

With an essential craving to connect more with her region, and people, and her continued rebellion to broaden the scope of architecture, she often finds herself blurring the boundaries between architecture and art, between the designer and the maker, and between the individual and the collective.
Agnimitra Bachi
Made In Earth Collective

Agnimitra Studied his architecture in the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. His first encounter with the world of activism for sustainability was with the Center for Science and Environment, Delhi. His passion for art and architecture took shape during his apprenticeship under Architect C. Anjalendran in Sri Lanka. He started his journey into earth construction in Bangalore in 2015 coordinating the construction of an adobe residence. Meeting Jeremie Gaudin and Shruthi Ramakrishna at a workshop to build a library on the edge of a forest in Thirvanamalai led them to come together as partners in Made in Earth. He believes in a practice centered around people and is passionate about the possibilities of building with natural materials. Backed by a nuanced understanding of the local region and its people, he works closely with different teams of artisans, to train, organize, and mobilize them to eventually translate ideas into reality at Made in Earth.
Ela Singhal
Executive Director, Architecture Foundation

Ela Singhal is the Executive Director of the Architecture Foundation, India. She has been involved with the exhibitions, publications, and programming at the Foundation. Singhal studied History Theory and Critical Thinking at the Architecture Association, London, with an interest in education and pedagogy, she is visiting faculty at the Balwant Sheth School of Architecture, Mumbai.
Pranav Thole
ONE Architecture + Urbanism

Pranav Thole works as an urban designer at ONE Architecture + Urbanism in New York, focusing on climate-resilient infrastructure projects. He holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design (MAUD ’23) from Harvard Graduate School of Design and has previously worked with junya.ishigami+associates, Sameep Padora and Associates (sP+a), and Flying Elephant Studio. He is currently a Research Associate at the Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard University (LMSAI).

His interdisciplinary work has been recognized as a finalist in both the 2022 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Competition and the 2023 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Innovation in Affordable Housing Competition. He has co-authored ‘Architectures of Transition: Emergent Practices in South Asia’ and is co-curating the State of Architecture in South Asia project.