All I ever dreamed was to build beautiful buildings and be a leader in architecture. My professors in NIT Trichy and later on in Cornell University USA encouraged me to think out of the box, respect nature and the planet, as well as conquer gender bias. I had the privilege of working directly with Architect Edward Larrabee Barnes in New York, USA and got a fantastic insight into international architecture which spurred me to return to India and be a nation builder.
I moved back to India in 1996 and founded Oscar & Ponni Architects along with Architect Oscar Concessao and started practice in Chennai in 1996. I spearhead projects right from inception which involves absorbing the brief from the client, visiting sites that influences concept generation, design presentation that leads onto design development and ultimately monitor the building(s) built under a specific timeframe.
My professional work experience in India has spanned more than two decades and we have built projects all over the country as well as abroad. I draw inspiration from nature, my client's brief, site conditions as well as contextual factors. I strongly believe in contextual architecture.
Our footprint of projects are in 99 cities of India and abroad and we have also been involved in PMAY project, have built noon-meal centers, toilets for underprivileged girl students, maintaining facilities for the Spastic Society of India, as well as schools for leprosy afflicted patients' children.
My proudest moments were receiving The Women Icons of Asia 2019 in Singapore along with 11 women from Asian nations and receiving a national award from Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India.
I have been a pioneer in women's technical education right from being the first woman student at the undergraduate level in National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi. After founding my own firm I have been mentoring women students for the past 25 years to be successful professionals.
