A Female Architect: Anusha Nanavati on Building Her Own Architecture Firm to Making Cities Sustainable, Resilient, and Safe
“The best feeling is to wake up to something you love doing!” Architect by day, and baker by night, today’s woman dreamer, Anusha Nanavati has a passion for sustainable architecture, making cities more safe, resilient, and eco-friendly. She shares the story behind her favorite project to date, Edible Cityscapes, which combined her strong interests in both food and design. Anusha also shares her thoughts on how architecture is becoming more sustainable, what inspired her to become an architect, her love for baking, and her next big dream. Enjoy her exciting story below!
1) Tell us your story? Your family's experience is in healthcare, schools, etc. When did you realize you were interested in architecture and design?
Though I come from a family background that runs health care and schools, honestly, it was alright with my parents that I pursued my interest in architecture. Luckily, my parents were very open and had left my career choices up to me.
It wasn’t particularly difficult for me to take up a creative field for myself because I remember, when I was in school I had a very strong imagination. I loved drawing, painting and anything to do with design. Every time we would travel, I would explore the art, culture and design that cities offered. Acting on my interests and my creative nature, I decided to take up architecture.
2) You are also a "sustainable architect", can you tell us more about what that means? How has architecture and infrastructure changed, and become more sustainable over the years?
David Attenborough mentions in his beautiful documentary titled A Life On Our Planet that using anything that cannot be used forever is not sustainable. Sustainable architects apply a similar principle where we use local and renewable materials that are eco-friendly and have low CO2 emissions, we create systems that reduce the energy consumption of spaces by using renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro, etc. We ultimately, work in harmony with the environment to create green or ecological architecture.
Over the years, most countries have developed a strong sustainability agenda for their nations. This includes giving a LEED certificate to buildings that are highly sustainable, making city centres completely automobile-free on certain days or even months, and using sensor and other data-driven technologies to optimise the use of energy. Within the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 11 is called Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and outlines key metrics to make your city sustainable. There is a lot that is being done to make Earth sustainable but to be honest, we have a long way to go!
We have the work of certain architects like Jeffrey Bawa to look up to for their sustainable designs. His use of natural elements like light, wind and materials that perfectly suit the tropical climate that he designed for, enhancing natural ventilation and getting the outdoors - indoors are frankly, marvelous and still so relevant.
3) What was your favorite project that you worked on?
For a designer, every project is like their own baby - it is highly cherished. And yet, I feel biased toward my project called Edible Cityscapes. It grew from my architectural thesis and was based on the idea of sustainable, urban farming. This is especially special because I love food and I wanted to explore the food chain through my designs. I wanted to provide a self-sustained system where the user experiences the entire process from growing vegetables to cooking it and then eating it in engaging spaces. Unfortunately, our vegetables go through considerable processing before they reach our homes. What we finally receive is vegetables highly depleted in nutrients. Edible Cityscapes utilises the dead spaces of our homes where we can grow our fresh stock of vegetables.
I feel so grateful for the opportunity I received to do something similar in a squatter settlement in Mumbai. We were a team of 4 and we managed to work on prototypes that would help the people of the settlement to either put it on their roofs or verandas to grow fresh vegetables. We conducted workshops to educate them about the process, which was a great learning for them and for us. We also managed to put these prototypes in pre-primary schools of the settlement where kids would learn how to grow their own vegetables and appreciate it.
4) What are some of your hobbies? What do you do for fun?
My biggest hobby is to bake!! It’s something that I am also growing as a business. The best feeling is to wake up to something you love doing and this is one of it. I have always enjoyed learning and exploring new things. I recycle candles, learn classical music and have also tried my hand at pottery and flower making and have totally loved all of it.
Being an architect, I am also passionate about changing the spaces in my own house. You will see me playing around with artefacts, planters or adding new art and colours, which will completely change the look of the room.
5) As a #Dreamcatchers platform, we have to ask, what is your next big dream?
My next big dream is to grow my Studio (ANDstudio) nationally as well as internationally. I am currently working on 2 international projects and am so excited to be expanding my practice. On these lines, I am also working on my new venture - making bespoke furniture for babies
A part of me always wanted to help my family in some or the other way in schools or health care and I feel very privilege to get the opportunity to do so - in the pipeline is upgrading our family school and it’s truly very fulfilling.
Bio: Anusha Nanavati : Architect by day and baker by night.. Anusha is the Founder, lead architect and interior designer at Anusha Nanavati Design Studio (ANDstudio). She did her under graduation from Balwant sheth school of Architecture,Nmims, Mumbai and her Masters in Sustainable and environmental design from Architectural Association school of Architecture, London. Her studio specialises in various residential and commercial projects including schools, restaurants, shoe studios, baby nurseries and furniture, gyms and offices. She recently completed 3 years as an assistant professor at Balwant Sheth School of Architecture, NMIMS, Mumbai. Her handle, @andstudioofficial and her new baking page @crumbleandflakeofficial