Interview of Architect Shashank Ninawe,Mumbai

When did you start your practice? I started my practice under the name of Shashank Ninawe and Associates in 1987 and Shamank Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. was formed in 2005. I had passed out in 1982 with a First class Honours, which was a rare distinction in those times in the field of Architectural education. And when I started the visualisation of my own residential duplex, where I was myself going to work on designing, approvals, construction, execution and finance, I decided to form Shamank CSPL. Concurrently with designing and constructing my green bungalow, I also achieved my PhD in Architectural Education Communication in 2008. What according to you is the biggest challenge being faced in architectural education today? How do you think these challenges can be countered? The biggest challenge faced by the Architecture Education today is maintaining and augmenting the existing standards of Architectural education, which are increasingly getting diluted with the exponentially increasing number of Architectural colleges with no proper infrastructure and qualified experienced faculty. We can counter these challenges by setting new benchmarks to be achieved in future, in line with the strides made in technology and the innovative approaches in architectural practice. Tell us something about your approach to your projects? My approach to Architectural design is very simple and minimalist. I tend to be highly space conservative and create as much an open ended design as possible, creating or leaving possibilities of future absorption/ extension, maintainable, and above all aesthetically pleasing with new architectural expression and idiom every time... Source: Zingy Homes