On October 10th, 2019 we had a cool and interesting conversation with Sameep Padora.

Sameep Padora is the principal architect and founder of sP+a, a Mumbai based architecture studio engaged in projects of multiple scales, all framed within a larger interest in history and typological research. Sameep completed his undergraduate studies in Mumbai in 1996 followed by post-graduate studies at Cambridge, where he received a Master’s Degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in 2005. Sameep lectures at various forums and was one of 6 international design firms invited to speak at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 2011. He also is a member of the Academic Council at the School of Environment and Architecture (SEA). In the recent past, his practice was selected to receive The World Architecture News, WAN 21 for 21 Award for 21 Emerging International Practices for the 21st century and has been a Nominee for the BSI Swiss Architecture Award 2014.

The Lattice House project was a winner of Wallpaper Magazine’s house of the year in 2016. In 2015 the studio’s projects were a basis for a travelling solo exhibition entitled Projective Histories shown at the Somaiya Center for Lifelong Learning in the historic Fort precinct in Mumbai. He also heads sPare a research arm of his practice that currently has a traveling exhibition entitled ‘In the Name of Housing’ featuring a documentation and analysis of historic housing types within the city of Mumbai. This exhibition has culminated in an eponymous book which is published by UDRI.

In this episode, we talk about his school years, among them, his experience going to SciArc and Harvard GSD. We then talk about what he did after graduation, working in small projects and trying to stay active within India’s community. We also talk a little bit about his most favorite project he has ever done up to date, and how he started his own studio. He tells me about what his office is mainly about, context, research, and looking at proposals for affordable housing. We talk a lot about housing in general, how getting to the root of the problem, to governmental policies, is his main focus and how he aims to bring better understanding and knowledge to this topic in his home country, India. Finally, he opens up about some of his struggles and disappointments throughout the career, letting everyone know that struggles or failures are merely just notices that you’re going in the right direction.

Questions:

Why do you think it was important to attend Harvard GSD? How did your architecture education shape you into the person you are today?
Asides from architecture, what are your other interests? And have you connected with them at an architectural level?
Who were your role models when you were studying?
How did you start your own office?
What challenges did you face when beginning to work as an architect?
What is your design process? How do you go from idea, to concept, to creation?
In your practice, you mention the idea of context a lot. Be it to look within the communities’ resources or to approach design differently, why do you believe that looking at context is so important for any designer?
Why do you think that research is so important for the architectural field and community? Your office has a branch called sPare that looks only at research. Why did you think this was necessary?
Do you believe your office is site-specific to India? Would it have other aims and visions if it was situated somewhere else?
What challenges have you found within the society in India?
You are currently very interested in affordable housing, do you believe that the statement “housing for all” is a potential lure to the poor or does it mean to build a city?
How does affordable housing redesign the idea of public and private space?
Which has been your favorite project up to date and why?
For you, what is the role of the architect, what is the role of an engineer, what is the role of a contractor, the role of a builder. Can an architect be all those?
A piece of advice you want to give an architecture student or recent graduate?