Malavika: Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of wiser voices an insightful podcast for learners and career builders I'm your host, Malavika Issar, and today we'll be exploring the fast-paced world of architecture with our special guest Aditi Singh with over 10 years of rich experience.
Aditi's journey began with her naturally creative instincts and a passion to reshape urban landscapes. As an expert architect she has worked with one of the most respected architectural firms, PG Patki Architects, where she contributed to large-scale projects that include residential and commercial complexes hospitals, an international hotel and the list goes on.
Now as a manager on the client-side of things she's responsible for leading design teams and ensuring project executions and successful outcomes.
So, let's jump straight into this. Thank you so much Aditi, for taking out the time and joining us today for the podcast.
Aditi: Thank you so much for inviting me, happy to be here!
Malavika: Awesome Aditi, the first question that we ask everyone is what is your education background and how did you get introduced to the world of architecture so after my 10th right I decided to pursue my higher education in science and after that I was very clear that I did not want to get into engineering or medical background.
Architecture was another option introduced. After 12 you have to give a national entrance test that is NATA and basis your ranking you are allocated colleges. That's how I landed in Architecture and post my graduation, you know, I've been practicing it ever since
Malavika: So yes, awesome! And you always knew that this is where you want to be in architecture in design
Aditi: No, it was a discovery to be quite honest and that is one of the good things about this course you know it allows you to discover yourself and I'm not sure how many other courses allow that so yes if you're somebody who naturally wants to discover yourself, I think architecture is a very good course for you to do
Malavika: Amazing, and if you had to give us an overview of where design and architecture is today, especially in the Indian landscape what would your thoughts be around that.
Aditi: So, I think one of the advantages of being in India today, is that there's a lot of construction activity happening in India in terms of the focus. The focus is more on real estate development in terms of residential development specifically okay large-scale societies and so there's a lot of infrastructure work happening in and around that in metro cities there's a lot of development now reaching into cities as well and along with residential development especially in two tier cities. You're seeing a lot of commercial development so there's a lot of office infrastructure coming up there's a lot of malls and all of these developments also happening right now so yeah it's a very exciting time to be you know it gives you a lot of options where you want to practice, which city you want to be in, which town you want to practice large scale or small scale, so yes a lot of options absolutely and in a country like India where you have, you know, geographically more developed areas like Mumbai and Delhi and if have tier two cities which are absolutely raw and open for development right from, you know, level square one. Yes. I think it makes a lot of sense. It does. For people to pursue a career here.
Malavika: Yes, absolutely. On the more human side of things, right, from a resource, human resource standpoint, what does the work culture look like for architects?
Aditi: It's a team effort. Architecture is a team effort, right? And your projects typically last for a long amount of time. So, you're looking at typical five years on an average. So, there's a lot of collaboration also that happens. It's a very collaborative field. It's a very social field if you want to put it that way. You're constantly interacting with large group of people to see that about.
But yes, it's something that requires immense dedication, patience, and a lot of interaction to go about.
Malavika: Right. And if I had to ask you about, you know, the hierarchy of growth, where do you start from when you're pursuing architecture?
Aditi: So, I'll take a very typical example. Someone who's just graduated from college, right, after an internship, you would typically join an architectural firm as a junior architect. And depending upon your skill and adaptability and natural inclinations, because that plays a large role, you graduate towards become a senior architect.
Post that, either you're a project architect/ associate, right? And typically, most of them decide to open their own firm as well. So, then you are the principal architect.
Now, this is a very, you know, a very small hierarchical description that I'm giving. There's a lot more to it. So, you can even get into, say, a real estate office or a builder's office. So, then you are looking at a manager position. Then a senior manager. Then you're looking at a VP.
And a General Manager. Then, of course, a HOD of a department. Right. So, it's quite varied. There are a lot of opportunities. And depending upon your inclination, where you want to see yourself, you can go as high or you can be at a position that you want to be in. But yeah.
Malavika: Absolutely. You told us about, you know, your career, how it's grown in the past 10 years. You worked at PG Patki. Yeah. And now you're on the client side. What is that experience like? How is it different?
Aditi: So, I was very fortunate to work with the firm. Excellent place to work. You know, got an opportunity to work on a lot of projects. So had a lot of exposure. And so but on a consultancy side, what is this? You're focused on the design. Okay. A project brief is given to you. Right.
And basis that you start your design and you deliver it to the client. Right. And you are interacting with different principal consultants to bring it all about together. It's like a cook with all the ingredients and you're creating a dish which has been ordered by a client in a restaurant. It's something like that.
If I would like to describe now how my journey is on the client side, on the client side, I am involved in the other aspect, you know, like how you go about a project, how you decide whether the project is to be a residential or a commercial. Looking at more business aspects.
So, you know, I think it's important to have a design aspect of things rather than the design aspect of things, designing a brief, which will be then given to an architect so that we can get the required product. So, it's a step up. It's like going behind the curtain. Right. It's more like that.
Malavika: Yes. Brilliant. And it always makes more sense to gain experience as an architect for us, be hands on and then transition to the client side.
Aditi: Absolutely. Absolutely. It's very important to something what we call is complete a project cycle. So, we have a project cycle. So, you start from concept to schematic to development, you know, and then there's a construction phase.
And then when your product is finally given or handed over, it's important to understand the project cycle because each of them have different difficulties. You know, there are different challenges at each step to understand what is required to be catered to and how to approach each and every step of these stages is very critical. You're interacting with different consultancies in each of these steps.
Once you understand how the project actually works, right, then your growth is quite organic because you've done it, you understand it, then you can start looking at it at a more macro level. Right.
So, I personally would highly recommend that, you know, people finish that project cycle.
Malavika: Absolutely. When we were briefing about this podcast, you mentioned about urban landscapes and, you know, redevelopment, how it's very dear to your heart.
Aditi: So, I want to talk about that whole experience as well. I think it's something that so naturally what happens when you join a career, right, you there's something there's something different than just doing a job and there's something that ignites your passion, you know.
And it becomes like a reason for why you do it, not just a job. Yeah. So, one of the projects that I was fortunate enough to work on was a redevelopment project. And what it did was it gave me a scope to interact directly with the people who were impacted by what I was doing. So, I was fortunate enough to interact with an individual who was directly affected by that project. And his feedback, you know, when he came to know that the project would finally go on floors because of the work that we had done, which had made it feasible.
And because of that, the individual would end up getting a house in the re-development. So, it sort of, you know, gave me a sense of purpose. It sort of gave me a sense of, I would like to call it direction in terms of where, why is it that I want to do it?
What will keep me driven to do it? What will keep me sincere towards it? So, yeah.
That is one of the reasons why, especially when I do redevelopment projects, it is something I'm very keen towards it because I know that it impacts a lot of people, especially in our cities right now.
The majority of the projects are redevelopment projects. So, it is a social responsibility also. And so that is something that we thought during our course as well. You know, as an architect, you are what you're doing is you're doing as a service to the society. Right. Because what you do directly impacts people.
People spend most of their life from places to places. And behind most of those places, there is a designer or an architect involved. So, it's a very physical, the experience is very physical. It's there for everyone to see. So, it suddenly just becomes a reality for you.
This is what I'm contributing towards. So, yes. Absolutely. You know, to build a space for someone that they see as a dream home, as a dream office. Correct. Right.
It's so pure as an emotion. And people work towards their entire life towards it. Yeah. So, you know, that conscious realization has a deep impact, has a deep impact. Definitely.
Malavika: Absolutely. Absolutely. For budding architects, right. They want to know which city is the best. Which city is booming in terms of growth. Which cities would you say, you know, are the top-ranking cities for architecture and design right now in India?
Aditi: So, if you want to do hardcore commercial architecture, right, big buildings, big commercial offices and everything, then you're looking at your metro cities, which are developing really fast, right, and which are expanding also. So, there's a lot of job opportunities available there.
But if you are somebody with more poetic inclination and want to do something like a bungalow or, you know, those quaint spaces, then you have your two-tier cities also, which are really booming now.
Yeah. Right. And that's not just limited to certain states. That's happening all across the country. Yeah. So, you have that. And if you're somebody who's interested in media, right, you can get into set designing. Movie industry. That's available for you.
If you're somebody who really wants to practice, say, none of the traditional form of architecture, right, there's also these niche design areas available. You can become a naval architect. You can get into airport designing. These are specialized field. Right. You can actually form a career with what you want to do. And there's an option for you to enter that area.
Malavika: Yeah. Amazing. Absolutely. It's so optimistic, right, for anybody who's wanting to pursue their career.
Aditi: Yes. You are not limited to just tier one cities or tier two cities. You could literally be anywhere and you would be able to pursue.
Malavika: Another important question that we have, right, for you, since you've been in the industry for such a long time, you would know where people generally falter.
Aditi: Typically, in architecture, you peak in your 40s. Okay. It's a field that tests your patience. So, you have to be patient. The rewards are later in life. If you are not knowledgeable enough in what you're doing, right, you will stagnate. And that is where majority of them falter.
Other thing is you need to keep on pushing yourself forward. If you want to open your own firm, so you take the knowledge, you work in some of the best firms that are available for you, you take your knowledge and you start your own firm and you start progressing forward with that.
But if you're somebody who is like, you know what, I want to work in some of the biggest companies, right, real estate division, then you need to keep on upskilling yourself. There are various courses available by which you can upskill yourself. And I'm not talking in terms of software skills. Okay.
I'm talking in terms of you can do an MBA in real estate management. You can do project management. Right. So, these are the courses which will upskill you and will help you push forward in your career. Especially if you're looking at corporate side. So you need to continuously upskill yourself. That is very important.
Malavika: Absolutely. Absolutely. When it comes to the competition, right, there is obviously a lot of competition. Everyone's working hard to be on the top. Yeah. How do you beat that competition?
Aditi: Even for you as an individual, how do you deal with that? So, architecture is something that comes from within, right? So, when you connect with like-minded people, you know, that they immediately become aware. You become your target audience.
The way you succeed is identifying your target audience. It is finding your target audience, right? So, I would say if you study strategies of some of the real estate builders, right?
What they're trying to do is finding their target audience and delivering to them. How do you stay ahead of the competition is understanding very clearly, right? Not trying to imitate.
It's very important in terms of what you are delivering. And once you establish that, and once you clearly establish what it is that you are going to deliver, you find your target audience, right? And then that helps you stay relevant.
Malavika: Absolutely. I mean, and it's such a subjective space. It is very subjective. Being unique, being original and authentic to your style.
Aditi: Yes, yes.
Malavika: And your calling, I'm sure, is one of the most important things.
Aditi: Yes.
Malavika: So, what inspires you to be brilliant? What inspires you to be brilliant every day and go out there and perform so successfully?
Aditi: I think I relish in the fact that I contribute to the society. Like I said, the incident where I could see where I was fortunate enough to interact with a person who was directly impacted by the work that I did is something that has had a lasting impact on me.
Malavika: This was so insightful. We have another segment. Which is the rapid lightning round. Okay. The rapid lightning round segment.
My first question is, one piece of advice to your younger self.
Aditi: I think would be to be patient and not be too hard on yourself. Yeah. Because it can be overwhelming, right? Because as I said, there's so much to choose from. Like, where do you start, right? So, and it can get very overwhelming.
There's not enough information available. You really do have to jump in and learn how to swim. Right. And I would just tell myself to enjoy that process. And because it's nice to swim. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's a healthy exercise. But yeah, to take it, to just take it on, you know. Yeah. Not be so frightened with it.
Get into it head on and don't be too hard on yourself. Yeah. You can just try things. You can get into it. Try interiors you don't like it. Switch to commercial you don't like it. Get into hospital design. Get into decor design.
I mean, it's like, just try things, you know. Yeah. It's there for you. You can, it's there for you. So, try and decide that it's completely fine to do that. Brilliant. Yeah.
Malavika: One mistake to avoid for people in this field.
Aditi: It's very easy to lose interest. It's very easy to lose focus and become disheartened, you know. Yeah. But it's an art, ultimately. And if the artist is not interested, the product will not be spectacular. So, you need to be engaged. You need to keep yourself motivated.
And again, you need to find that little bit of thing that will be like, you know what, let me just, let me just give that push. Let me just do it. Yeah. Right. Let me just reach that finishing. And it's very important to stay motivated. Yeah.
Otherwise, it can become a drag, to be quite honest.
Malavika: Absolutely. Absolutely. And my last question. Yeah. What is one book or video or podcast that you love listening to or you've read and you want to recommend to everyone else?
Aditi: I think one book that everyone should read is Form, Space and Order by Francis D.K. Ching.
It's like a Bible. It talks about basics of architecture, almost like a dictionary, you know, like what this word means, what's a point, what's a line. It starts with that basic. It's a very simple book. So, anybody can pick it up and read.
The other thing I would recommend is to go through work of architects that inspire you. So, something that inspired me was a book called SML XL. So, basically, it's a book that talks about all the projects that has been done by this firm called OMA, Rem Koolhaas. So, it's a 20-year compilation of their work.
A lot of architects do put out these compilations of their work. So, it's very nice to see their journey, how they started, what they think inspire you and inspire them, sorry. And, you know, so there are a lot of architects. You can find the design that speaks to you. Right. And start going through their work. That, I think, is very helpful.
I'm somebody who likes eccentricities also. So, there's Livius Wood that there's a book by him called War and Architecture. Okay. So, that's just out there. And it's very important to be a little bit out there also.
So, some of the books. In terms of podcast, there's a YouTube channel. There is a YouTube channel by Demi Lee. She talks about, again, these same concepts. It's very inspiring, you know. You can discover new architects in that space. So, yeah, some of the few things you can do.
Malavika: Yeah. Amazing. Thank you. This was so insightful and inspiring, Aditi. Thank you so much for taking out the time to talk to us about architecture and design.
I'm sure all our viewers, listeners are going to gain multiple insights. I'm going to find so much inspiration from your experiences.
And with that, we've come to the end of the podcast. So, thank you so much, everyone, for tuning in and listening to us. Until the next podcast, stay curious and grow WiZR every day.
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