Meet 7 Iconic Women Architects of Modern India & their Most Impactful Work

By: WE staff

Sheila Sri Prakash - Shilpa Architects

Born in 1955 Sheila Sri Prakash is touted as India's first independent woman architect. She founded Shilpa Architects in 1979. Sheila has an impressive record for designing over 1,200 projects covering low-cost housing to cultural icons and has, along the way, inculcated sustainability, cultural relevance, and social responsibility as a given.

Sheila was educated in Bharatanatyam and brings art, movement, and spatial awareness to her design, a philosophy she has termed as "Spaciology," which is the study of space and human behavior. She also developed the Reciprocal Design Index, initially while working at the World Economic Forum, to quantify sustainability from an environmental, social, and economic perspective.

She has several awards to her name, from the WADE ASIA Lifetime Achievement Award to rankings on the world's Top 100 Architects.

Impactful Designs

Some of Sheila’s most notable designs are the Cholamandal Artists' Village in Chennai; the Silver Falls Resort in Kodaikanal, blending with the hillside; the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Complex in Chennai, with sacred geometry and Agama-Shastra principles of design; and the MMA Management Centre, merging Madras heritage with modern functionality.

Sheila is also renowned for her successful conservation endeavors, such as the restoration of UNESCO-designated Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur.