An architect with an eye for extremely innovative details! | Ar. Pooja Joshi

Ar. Pooja Hrushikesh Joshi
Gulnar Architects
Architecture I Interior Design

By her own admission, if there’s something that distinguishes her from others in the field, it’s her uncanny ability to spot details which routinely are missed by others. Like fault lines on a folding table at home, she helped erase! And that’s just one aspect of her!
Ar. Pooja Hrushikesh Joshi.

Architecture came to her on the back of travel. And for the longest time, an architect was what she wanted to be!

At a tender 12, her passion for travel piqued her interest in “built forms. The personification of her ideas into built form was the most fascinating thing for her besides the curiosity of understanding the ideas behind structures with the obvious ” Why is this building this way and not that way?” While travelling as a passion continues, its experiences with buildings and forms led to the B Arch from Bharati Vidyapeeth’s (Deemed to be University) College of Architecture, Pune, in 2015.

What’s special about her being an architect is that there’s none in her immediate family besides her or who motivated her. Self-motivated and ever curious, her travel and interest drove her into the field she thoroughly enjoys being in today. Bluntly she says that anything else would have been staid and boring for her. What she wanted (and got!) was a certain freedom to question and find answers to. Architecture did (and still does) that to the T!

Employment followed formal education with a stint with Ahmedabad-based architect Snehal Shah. The experience honed her skills at using design principles to transform the ordinary into things extraordinary.

Back in Pune in the year 2016, she joined Abhikalpan Architects and Planners and worked on varied projects in the residential genre, and more so, high-rise structures. The experience added to her portfolio.

She joined her alma mater, Bharati Vidyapeeth’s (Deemed to be University) College of Architecture, in 2018 and is today an Assistant Professor. Life coming full circle, there’s that one thing she carries to the job that’s come to her from childhood. She tells her students to question and remain curious about everything and develop multiple perceptions!

With confidence came assurance, and with that came Gulnar Architects, her firm, in 2019. Despite being relatively new, the firm has accomplished over 25 projects, of varied scale, in interiors and architecture. Going by the principal, ‘Architecture with a Purpose; responding to the essence of a Place,’ they remain a highly focused collaborative studio committed to building sustainable architecture that’s a mix of art and conscience. While designing aesthetically innovative projects that suit both time and place, their forte is the constant search for elemental solutions to complex architectural and urban challenges that sees them use common means to achieve uncommon results.

In a comfortable space with growth abounding, Ar. Joshi credits success to her family. In her own words, a family that works together as a team invariably endeavours and achieves a healthy way of living. In her case, their family include her husband, her 18-month-old son, mother-in-law besides other members who remain an inspiration and beacon for each other. They inspire each other to conduct themselves while taking care of others’ feelings and situations. She credits her mother and father-in-law with teaching her the value of patience, her husband for instilling the value of freedom and self-confidence, and her son for underestimating no one (including himself; that’s clear to her with each passing day!).

Her parents too, have a part to play in who she is today. They have always been her self-confidence boosters. Of particular interest is her teacher, Prof. Ashwini Pethe, her idol, and guru, who went beyond the professional to help her with matters personal.

While the present seems rosy and bright, an ever-optimistic Ar. Joshi, who lists among her driving force trust in her abilities, self-evaluation, and value for work, says of the future that it would be devoted to establishing herself as an inspiration in the architecture fraternity. Besides, she plans to use her skills, knowledge, and experience for the benefit of society at large and its poorer constituents.
Clients, she says, are like relations. You don’t choose them. They happen. That said, and given her mindset and independent streak, her most ideal clientele would be those who encourage avant-garde design proposals and remain open to ideas that reflect the existence of deep thoughts.

Her work in the short span of a few years has brought with it its share of accolades that include:

• Awarded the Most Promising Architect and Interior Designer of the Year 2021, at Architecture and Interior Design Excellence awards and conference 2021-Global Edition, and
• Awarded the Women of Substance in Education Category in the year 2022

Quiz on her success mantra and pat comes the reply. Proactivity with an urge to learn and adapt things in a short time. Incidentally, she says, it also defines her as a person taking decisions during project execution when most needed instead of hanging it endlessly. Experience has taught her that “darr ke baad jeet hai” and the best way to kill “darr” is to remain proactive.

Email: poojat14@gmail.com I gulnararchitects@gmail.com
Phone: +91 9921200508