At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and inspiring stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited the Founder and Principal Architect of Space Design Atelier for an exclusive interview with us.
With over nine years of experience across architecture, interior design, computational design, entrepreneurship, education, and leadership, the architect has built a distinctive professional journey at the intersection of design, technology, experimentation, and human experience.
As the Founder and Principal Architect of Space Design Atelier, they lead multidisciplinary teams across residential, hospitality, commercial, and interior-design projects. Through House of Flux, they also explore parametric and computational design, helping architects, designers, and businesses leverage technology for geometry, visualization, fabrication, and innovative design systems.
Their academic journey includes a B.Arch from BMS College of Engineering, an M.Arch from BNCA Pune, and international exposure at Politecnico di Milano through an ERASMUS exchange programme with a full tuition-fee waiver. Alongside professional practice, they contribute to design education as a Guest Professor at NIFT Varanasi and have participated as a tutor, jury member, speaker, and mentor.
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Ar. Suvarna :
Your journey spans architecture, entrepreneurship, leadership, and education. What inspired you to establish Space Design Atelier, and what vision continues to drive your work today?
Space Design Atelier was born from my desire to create a practice where design, technology, experimentation, and human experience could come together without being confined by a particular style or scale.
My journey through architecture exposed me to different ways of thinking academically, professionally, internationally, and eventually as an entrepreneur. Over time, I realised that I did not simply want to design buildings; I wanted to build a practice that could question conventional solutions and continuously evolve.
When I established Space Design Atelier, the idea was to create a multidisciplinary studio capable of working across architecture, interiors, computational design, furniture, and larger spatial interventions while retaining a strong design identity.
Today, that vision continues to evolve. I want SDA to become a practice where computational intelligence works alongside human intuition, where technology does not replace creativity but expands what architects are capable of imagining, analysing, and building.
Ultimately, I want our work to be recognised not merely for how it looks, but for the thinking behind it and the experience it creates.
Having studied in India and at Politecnico di Milano through the ERASMUS Exchange Program, how have these global experiences influenced your design philosophy and approach to architecture?
Studying architecture in India gave me a strong understanding of context, climate, culture, materiality, and the complexity of designing within rapidly evolving cities.
My experience at Politecnico di Milano through the ERASMUS Exchange Program added another dimension to that understanding. Europe exposed me to cities where contemporary architecture exists alongside centuries of architectural history. Milan, in particular, demonstrated how design can operate at multiple scales, from architecture and urbanism to furniture, fashion, graphics, and product design, while still maintaining a coherent design culture.
It made me understand that architecture cannot exist in isolation.
Today, my approach combines these two perspectives. I strongly believe in designing for the realities of the Indian context, but I also believe our work should participate in a global design conversation.
Travel and international exposure have also taught me to observe more carefully. Every city becomes a classroom: the streets, public spaces, buildings, materials, hospitality experiences, retail environments, and even the way people occupy spaces contribute to how I think as a designer.
The result is a philosophy that is globally informed but contextually rooted.
Parametric design is redefining the future of architecture. How do you see computational design shaping the industry over the next decade, and how is your firm embracing this transformation?
I believe we are moving from an era where architects primarily draw solutions to one where we increasingly design systems capable of generating and evaluating solutions. That is a fundamental shift.
Parametric and computational design allow us to establish relationships between geometry, structure, environmental performance, fabrication, material behaviour, cost, and user requirements.
Instead of designing a single static outcome, we can explore multiple possibilities and identify solutions that respond more intelligently to specific constraints.
Over the next decade, I expect the convergence of parametric design, artificial intelligence, simulation, robotics, digital fabrication, and advanced manufacturing to significantly transform architectural practice.
But technology alone does not create good architecture. The architect’s role will increasingly be to define the right parameters, ask the right questions, interpret data, and ultimately make informed design decisions.
At Space Design Atelier, we are exploring computational thinking not simply as a tool for creating complex forms, but as a design methodology.
Through our work and explorations in parametric architecture, and through House of Flux, I am particularly interested in taking computational geometries beyond the screen and translating them into objects, furniture, installations, façades, and eventually larger architectural systems.
For me, the exciting question is no longer simply, “What can we draw?” It is:
“What can we compute, optimise, fabricate, and actually build?”
Building and leading multidisciplinary teams requires both creativity and strong leadership. What principles have helped you create a culture of innovation and excellence at Space Design Atelier?
One principle I strongly believe in is that good ideas should not depend on hierarchy.
Architecture is inherently collaborative. A young designer can sometimes identify something that a senior architect has overlooked, and creating an environment where people are comfortable questioning, experimenting, and contributing is extremely important.
At the same time, creative freedom has to coexist with discipline.
Design excellence is not only about having an exciting concept. It is equally about drawings being coordinated, dimensions being correct, details being buildable, communication being clear, and commitments being honoured.
Within the studio, I therefore try to encourage three things: curiosity, ownership, and accountability.
I want designers to understand why they are making a decision rather than simply executing instructions. When people begin taking intellectual ownership of their work, the quality of the entire practice improves.
I also see the studio as a continuous learning environment. Architecture changes too quickly for any of us to stop being students.
As an entrepreneur, what have been the biggest challenges in building your architectural practice, and what lessons would you share with aspiring design founders?
One of the biggest transitions is understanding that being a good architect and building a good architectural practice are two different skill sets.
Architecture school teaches us how to design. Entrepreneurship forces us to learn finance, contracts, negotiation, client management, hiring, marketing, operations, networking, and business development often simultaneously.
Another challenge is learning when to say no.
In the beginning, there is a temptation to accept every project. Eventually, you realise that every project also defines your portfolio, consumes your team’s energy, and influences the direction of your practice.
My biggest lesson has been to build systems, relationships, and reputation not simply a portfolio.
For young architects starting their own practices, I would say: understand your numbers, document your scope clearly, value your professional time, build strong consultant and vendor networks, and never compromise your reputation for short-term business.
And perhaps most importantly, develop a point of view.
A successful design practice should eventually become recognisable not because every project looks identical, but because there is a consistent intelligence behind the decisions.
You’ve mentored entrepreneurs, led business communities through BNI, and impacted over 100 business owners. How has leadership beyond architecture influenced your professional journey and decision-making?
BNI and my experiences within business communities have fundamentally expanded the way I understand entrepreneurship.
Architecture can sometimes become an inward-looking profession we become deeply absorbed in drawings, details, materials, and design conversations. Interacting closely with entrepreneurs from completely different industries taught me to look at architecture from the perspective of business, relationships, communication, leadership, and value creation.
One of the most important lessons has been the power of relationships.
Opportunities rarely exist in isolation. They emerge through trust, consistency, collaboration, and the willingness to create value for other people.
Mentoring and interacting with hundreds of business owners has also strengthened my ability to communicate ideas. As architects, we may understand a concept visually, but clients, investors, contractors, and collaborators need to understand why that idea matters to them.
Leadership outside architecture has therefore made me a more decisive entrepreneur and, interestingly, a more empathetic architect.
It has taught me that leadership is less about being the person with all the answers and more about creating an environment where people can collectively arrive at better ones.
With exposure to projects and collaborations across 18+ countries, what are the biggest global trends in architecture and design that you believe professionals should prepare for today?
I see several transformations happening simultaneously, but three stand out.
The first is technology-led design. AI, computational design, BIM, digital twins, generative workflows, and automated fabrication will increasingly become part of mainstream practice rather than specialist disciplines.
The second is performance-driven sustainability. Sustainability can no longer remain a checklist added at the end of a project. Buildings will increasingly need to demonstrate measurable improvements in energy, water, materials, carbon, adaptability, and occupant wellbeing.
The third is a renewed interest in local identity and craftsmanship.
Interestingly, the more globalised the design industry becomes, the greater the appetite seems to be for spaces that feel authentic to their location.
I think the future will belong to practices capable of combining global technology with local intelligence.
We may use sophisticated computational tools to optimise a façade, for example, while simultaneously learning from vernacular climate strategies or working with regional craftspeople to fabricate it.
That intersection technology, sustainability, culture, and fabrication is where I believe some of the most meaningful architecture of the coming decade will emerge.
As an architect, educator, and innovator, what advice would you give to young architects looking to build meaningful careers while balancing creativity, technology, and entrepreneurship?
My first advice would be: do not rush to define yourself too early.
Architecture is an extraordinarily broad profession. Explore architecture, interiors, urbanism, computational design, fabrication, furniture, research, writing, technology, and business before deciding where your strongest interests lie.
Second, learn technology but do not become dependent on it.
Software will keep changing. AI tools will keep changing. What remains valuable is your ability to think critically, understand space, identify problems, ask intelligent questions, and make thoughtful decisions.
Third, understand how things are built.
Visit sites. Speak to craftspeople. Understand materials, structures, services, budgets, and construction processes. The gap between an impressive image and meaningful architecture is often the ability to translate an idea into reality.
And finally, build relationships and remain curious.
Some of the most important opportunities in my own journey have come from stepping beyond the conventional boundaries of architectural practice through entrepreneurship, teaching, international exposure, business leadership, computational design, and experimentation.
I believe the architects who will shape the future will not necessarily be those who know the most software or create the most dramatic forms.
They will be those who can connect creativity with technology, technology with human experience, and design with real-world impact.
That is the kind of architect I continue to aspire to become myself.
Finally, what does the future look like for Space Design Atelier and your work in computational design?
The future for me is about continuing to push the boundaries between architecture, technology, and human experience.
I see Space Design Atelier growing as a design practice that can work across different scales while maintaining a clear intellectual and creative identity. At the same time, House of Flux gives me an opportunity to explore computational and parametric design more deeply and to collaborate with architects, designers, businesses, and makers who are interested in new possibilities.
I am particularly excited about the point where digital thinking becomes physical reality where an algorithm, a computational system, or a digital experiment eventually becomes a building element, a piece of furniture, a façade, an installation, or an entirely new spatial experience.
For me, the goal is not to use technology simply because it is new. The goal is to use it when it enables us to think differently, solve better problems, and create experiences that would otherwise not be possible.
That is ultimately what I want my work to stand for: distinctive design grounded in thoughtful thinking, experimentation, and the realities of the world we build in.
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