Meet esteemed jurors

Prof. Durganand Balsavar grew up in Goa and graduated from SA-CEPT Ahmedabad with an exchange Studio at ETH Zurich. After working in Zurich and Paris, Balsavar was invited as visiting faculty at CEPT and the atelier of B V Doshi. Balsavar has been faculty for India Studios of Bartlett, Helsinki School of Architecture and involved in diverse cultural contexts - the Chandigarh Lab, IUAV Venice, Auckland, Indonesia, Nepal.

Henri Comrie is a minimalist architect and urban designer who enjoys working through complex problems to arrive at simple and logical solutions that hold wide appeal. This skill has been demonstrated in a series of awarded and internationally published projects that range from modest individual houses to city precincts. He was listed in Taschen’s 40 architects under 40 and Wallpaper Magazine’s design directory, both representing reputable and independently vetted international shortlists of recognizable design talent.

Sachin Agshikar studied Architecture from Sir J.J. College of Architecture, University of Bombay and was awarded Gold Medal in 1991 for his final year design thesis. Before setting up his own practice in 1999, he worked with Ar. Charles Correa for eight years.He further worked as an associate to Charles Correa on Cancer Research Centre in Lisbon, R&D Centre for Mahindra & Mahindra, and Extension to Kala Academy and IUCAA

After having practiced in Nairobi, Kenya, from 1975-82, Neelkanth Chhaya moved base from Africa to India. He started Mandala Design Services in Vadodara, with partners Kallol Joshi and Sohan Neelkanth. He retired in 2013 as the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad after a 24-year teaching sojourn at the School.

An Australian architect, well known for his innovative approach to sustainability and design and works across educational, industrial and residential projects. His architectural expression has been described as "lyrical technologist". In 2015, Stutchbury was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal.

Rupali Gupte is an architect, urbanist and artist based in Mumbai and also an Associate Professor at the School of Environment and Architecture (SEA). Much of her work involves extensive research on contemporary Indian urbanism with a focus on architecture and the built environment; tactical practices; housing; and urban form. In 2003, she co-founded an urban research network, Collective Research Initiatives Trust (crit.org.in). In 2013, she co-founded the School of Environment and Architecture (sea.edu.in). She is also a partner at BARD studio.

Bijoy Jain (born 1965) is an Indian architect and Norman R. Foster Visiting Professor of architecture at Yale University. He received his M. Arch from Washington University in St Louis, USA in 1990. He then worked in Richard Meier office at Los Angeles and London between 1989 and 1995. He returned to India in 1995 and founded his own firm Studio Mumbai. His works have been presented in many venues including the Alvar Aalto Symposium, the Architectural League of New York and the Canadian Centre for Architecture, which holds several of his project archives. He was also a finalist in the Agha Khan Awards 2010 Cycle. In 2015, Jain's work was featured alongside Umberto Riva's in the exhibition Rooms You May Have Missed at the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

Rahul Gore, with a Bachelors degree from the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) in Ahmedabad and a Masters in Urban Design from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), has gained valuable professional experience; working with renowned architects, Rahul Mehrotra in Mumbai, India and later with Fumihiko Maki in Tokyo, Japan. In January 2001, he set up Opolis; along with Sonal Sancheti. Opolis is an award-winning firm, with a number of prestigious architectural, interior and urban projects in India and abroad. OPOLIS is a multidisciplinary design practice, started by Rahul Gore and Sonal Sancheti in January 2001. The firm prides itself in having stayed away from a signature style but believes that most complex and beautiful solutions are often the simplest.

Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1964, Takaharu Tezuka studied architecture at Musashi Institute of Technology and at the University of Pennsylvania. He then went to London where spent four years with the Richard Rogers Partnership. In 1994, together with his wife, Yui Tezuka, he established Tezuka Architects in Tokyo. The couple's work emphasizes human activity and connectivity as can be seen in their schools, office buildings and hospitals. Takaharu Tezuka ( Tezuka Takaharu, born 23 February 1964) is a Japanese architect. In 1994, he and his wife Yui Tezuka founded the Tokyo-based firm Tezuka Architects.Projects by Tezuka Architects include the Roof House, Echigo-Matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science, Fuji Kindergarten and Woods of Net. Their recent awards include Japan Institute of Architects Prize (2009), Association for Children's Environment Design Award (2011), OECD/CELE 4th Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities (2011) and a Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2017).

Ernesto Bedmar Architects is a Singapore based architectural practice established in 2015, specialising in a wide range of architectural, conservation, landscape and interior designs.

Since its inception, it has always maintained a compact staff of multicultural personalities from various parts of the world, designers with a singular desire to explore the relationships of buildings to nature with a particular emphasis on quality design and execution of its diversified portfolio.

Ar. Sanjay Mohe is an Architect and Partner at Mindspace Architects.

Ar. Marina Tabassum is a Bangladeshi architect.She is the principal architect of Marina Tabassum Architects. In 2016, she won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the design of Bait-ur-Rouf Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh.In 2020, Tabassum was listed by Prospect as the third-greatest thinker for the COVID-19 era, with the magazine writing, “At the forefront of creating buildings in tune with their natural environments, this Bangladeshi architect is also embracing the design challenges posed by what we are collectively doing to the planet.”

Ar. Naresh Medappa is an Architect and Partner at Mindspace Architects, Bengaluru.

Ar. Rahul Kadri is the Partner & Principal Architect at IMK Architects, an architecture and urban design practice founded in 1957 with offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru. Kadri took over the reins of the practice from his father I. M. Kadri in the 1990s after completing a graduate diploma in architecture from the Academy of Architecture, Mumbai, and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan, USA. As the Principal and Partner at IMK Architects, I have led several architecture and town planning projects. Some of our notable projects are for Tata’s, JSW and the Reliance group, Hotels & Resorts for Taj & Club Mahindra, College Campuses for Symbiosis and The Supreme Court Of India, and more.

Ar. Soumitro Ghosh, based in Bangalore, is emerging as one of the most influential architects in contemporary India. His practice of Mathew & Ghosh Architects has won many acclaims and awards... Educated at CEPT Ahmedabad, the principal architects / partners Nisha Mathew Ghosh and Soumitro Ghosh set up Mathew and Ghosh Architects partnership in 1995. Having designed and realized the most important public space / design projects and many of the best designed private projects in the city of Bangalore, Soumitro has been recognized for the talent and work extensively through numerous awards, publications, has been invited to speak at public and institutional forums in Indi and abroad. Soumitro has been teaching architectural design and there has been a lot of writing about the professional work. The practice bridges the real world of projects and the practice flows into the realm of teaching as an extended space of teaching, learning & vice versa including the environment at the design studio.