Hands that claim
To me, architecture has always been about stories, people, and places not just buildings. I’ve always seen it as an opportunity to make a difference, no matter how small. From the beginning, I knew my thesis had to reflect this belief. While I enjoy working across a range of projects, I wanted my thesis to be rooted in something deeply personal a response to the changes I wish to see in the city I come from and belong to.
My thesis is rooted in the everyday lives and labour of women in Kannagi Nagar, Chennai. It began with forming Nalam, a women-led collective that mapped routines, spaces of care, and informal economies across the neighbourhood. Through dialogue, drawing, and co-imagining, the project evolved into a design that brings together a kitchen, market, and gathering space not as isolated programs, but as interconnected systems of survival, expression, and economic resilience. The built form responds to context shaped by local materials, construction know-how, and decisions made collectively. Women are not just users, but builders reclaiming agency in the construction process and reasserting their role in shaping public space. This work reframes cooking and selling as public, political acts, transforming neglected land into shared commons. More than a building, it is a practice one that values care as infrastructure, centres marginalized communities, and redefines architecture as a tool for dignity, exchange, and self-determination.
This thesis has been a deeply personal and political journey. It taught me to be braver in my architectural voice, to see value in the everyday, and to hold space for ethical and inclusive practice. While the journey was filled with uncertainty, exhaustion, and at times doubt, it was equally filled with insight, connection, and purpose.
