Khushnu Panthaki Hoof

Studio Sangath

---

Khushnu Panthaki Hoof is the principal architect at Studio Sangath together with Sönke Hoof, she also assumes the role of Director at the Vastu Shilpa Foundation for studies & research in Environmental Design founded by Balkrishna Doshi in 1978. Graduating from the School of Architecture, CEPT Ahmedabad in 2003, her journey intertwined closely with the venerable Balkrishna Doshi for over two decades, collaborating as a partner architect. With Doshi's blessings, she, along with her husband, established their own practice, Studio Sangath, delving into numerous independent residential and institutional projects in India. The firm's focal point lies in crafting spaces that seamlessly integrate the environment and human behaviour. They continue to be involved in extensions to Doshi's earlier works, and participating as collaborators in his currently ongoing projects.

Chitra Vishwanath

Biome Environmental Solutions

---

Chitra Vishwanath is the original creator and managing director of Biome Environmental Solutions (www.biome-solutions.com), a diverse team of 30 professionals engaged in the realm of ecological architecture and innovative water and waste solutions located in Bangalore, India. Coming from an artistic lineage, with a father who is a sculptor and a mother who is a homemaker, Chitra's educational journey began in Banaras. Her family's relocation to Nigeria in 1977 led her to pursue a Civil Engineering Diploma at Auchi Polytechnic. In 1990, after completing her studies at the School of Architecture CEPT India, Chitra initiated her architectural enterprise in Bangalore, marking the commencement of a fortuitous journey. At Biome, the aim has been to seamlessly fuse challenges encompassing materials, ecology, and requisites into holistic ecosystem designs.

Aishwarya Tipnis

Aishwarya Tipnis Architects

---

Aishwarya Tipnis is an award winning architect, educator and heritage conservationist based in New Delhi, India. She works at the intersection of architecture, urbanism and heritage conservation. She holds a PhD in Urban Design as well as a Masters in European Urban Conservation from University of Dundee,Scotland, UK. In 2016, her work was recognised by the UNESCO Award for Heritage Conservation in the Asia-Pacific Region and in 2018 she was conferred Chevalier Des Arts et Des Lettre (Knight of the Arts and Letters), by the Government of France in 2018 for her outstanding commitment to preservation of French Heritage in India. In 2019, she co-founded Jugaadopolis, a social innovation enterprise to work with youth in making the rich heritage of India relevant to local communities in the contemporary context through a process of co-creation. She is a published author and currently visiting faculty at her alma mater the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

Apurva Bose Dutta (Moderator)

Architectural Journalist

---

Ar. Apurva Bose Dutta is a Bengaluru-based author, award-winning architectural journalist, curator, editor, and educator. An alumna of the Chandigarh College of Architecture (2005), she works at the intersection of architectural design writing, curation, critique, discourse, communications and thinking. Apurva's professional journey of 18 years has seen global collaborations with architecture-design multimedia publication houses, firms, organisations, and institutions. Recognised for her pioneering initiatives in architectural design writing, she has been invited by the Australian and Finland Governments to represent the Indian delegation at the International Media Visits of Architectural Writers in Melbourne and Helsinki. Author of Architectural Inheritance and Evolution of India (2023) and Architectural Voices of India (2017), Apurva is widely published and holds advisory positions with several renowned global architectural and design platforms