Architecture has always been a practice that has been a search for meaning and a means of value creation.In the current position in history,we see our primary impetus as a search for wholeness and inclusiveness.Ecology,restoration and healing are critical imperatives that guide and shape our work.Our journey in design has been illuminated by reviving a 385 acre forest(as part of a citizens movement),restoring an 80 year old home into a historically charged space and the creation of a recycling station that seeks to transform the ways in which citizens harness waste.A journey that searches for the infinite potential in each architectural act:through mindfulness,collaborative synergies and ever-widening circles of responsibility.

Swanzal is a practising architect, civic activist, songstress and closet philosopher..

She is passionate about design, ecology, music and a humanistic approach to life that serves the collective good. A practising Buddhist, mindfulness,compassion and a deep inner joy guide her way of life.

She is the design principal and co-founder at Saka studio, based in Gurgaon. She has 22 years of experience of working in a diversity of contexts and scales 

At the heart of her design practice(and life)is a deep belief in thoughtfulness, sensitivity, innovation, playfulness and passion: the springboard for great ideas. Her architectural and interior work celebrates  cultural specificity,craft, embodied emotions, ecological consciousness and collaborative synergy.

Her interest in civic action and the environment led to her co-founding iamgurgaon in 2009, a platform to enable change through community participation.She has been an integral member of the team that has revived a forest at the 385 acre Aravali Biodiversity Park in Gurgaon.

She believes that each of us should ‘be the change we wish to see in the world’.