Designing buildings with a soul is this architect's passion

Namita Singh believes the design must blend with the local climate, topography and availability of raw material

When, as a freshly-minted young architect of 21, Namita Singh entered the competitive world of designing buildings in the 1970s (when it was much more of a male bastion), she had dreams of leaving a mark with her creative acumen. That dream came true in 1989 when she was selected to design the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala, Kerala, though the complex was completed only in 2009.

Singh pipped a whole lot of celebrated architects from across the country to win the contract to design Asia's largest defence academy - constructed at a cost of Rs 900 crore - sailing through the two-tier screening process.

Says Singh: "Spread over 2,500 acres and having a built-up area of 30 lakh square feet, the academy is one of my most prized accomplishments. The scale of designing gave me the opportunity to mobilise all my energies and showcase the best of my creativity."

The project was awarded to her in 1989. Construction commenced in the year 2000, and was completed in nine years. Her firm, Satnam Namita and Associates, hired over 100 architects and engineers for the project, she adds.

The veteran architect's portfolio of prestigious projects includes Chandigarh's Congress Bhawan; VST Industries' corporate office in Hyderabad; the rebuilt Kasauli Club (in Kasauli, near Shimla) after it was destroyed in a fire; the Cardiac Centre and Nursing Institute at Chandigarh's Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research; the auditorium as well as judges' conference room at the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh; the Nehru Centre for Performing Arts (under construction), Chandigarh; and the 825-bed hospital ship, INHS Asvini in Mumbai.

Singh is also a member of a committee appointed by the government of the Union Territory of Chandigarh to devise a Master Plan for the city until 2030. "The designer of Chandigarh, Le Corbusier, wanted to have a green buffer in and around the town. Our urban planners could not anticipate the changing requirements due to demographic changes. The cemented growth in and around Chandigarh has ruined the beauty envisaged in the original master plan," she says.

An advocate of eco-friendly development, Singh keeps in mind the local climate, topography and availability of raw material before designing a building. This is reflected in the architecture of the naval academy, where the 900-seater dining hall has no air-conditioners. The use of natural air and natural light makes her architectural designs environment-friendly.

The proposed development of brick and mortar structures in the eco-friendly zone of Chandigarh behind Sukhna Lake by private developers and corporates, Singh warns, will not only mar the beauty of the Capitol Complex (which houses the High Court, the Assembly and the Secretariat) but also disturb the natural habitat of birds and animals.

The repercussions of hasty decisions to develop satellite townships in the periphery of Chandigarh will ruin the city's infrastructure, she cautions.

The daughter of a civil engineer who was part of the team that constructed the Bhakra Nangal Dam, Singh very early on developed a passion to create buildings that would have a soul. This can happen if the ingredients of nature are incorporated at the conceptualisation stage, she says.

Having completed the restoration work at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Singh is involved in revitalising the campus of Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh. After it became a deemed university, its requirements have changed, she says.