Sonali Bhagwati

Sonali Bhagwati is the Co-Founder of international design firm Spazzio Design. After the merger with DPA, she is now the President of DPA or DesignPlus Architecture. Sonali completed her graduation in Architecture in 1986 from CEPT, Ahmedabad. At CEPT, she gained the opportunity to explore architecture and all forms of art and design, which allowed her to shift her imagination beyond the existing parameters. She is an ardent admirer of the works of BV Doshi. She attained a scholarship form L’Institute Francaise D’Architecture where she entered into the world of architecture and moved to work in Paris. Sonali began practising with her partner Sohrab Dalal, now her husband and Khushroo Kalyanwala. She and Dalal restructured their firm, as partners with the beginning of the design firm, Spazzio Design, in 1993. Later in 2010, Spazzio merged with DesignPlus, Mohit Gujral’s architecture firm, of which Bhagwati is the President.

The unique design work and detailing in every project taken up by the firm is commendable. Their project list is comprehensive and includes city-level projects undertaken by the Delhi Urban Art Commission and the reframing of Unified bye-laws for Delhi. In the book ‘Reflections’, she has been named as one of the 20 best architects in India. Hecar Foundation has referred to her in the list of prominent Women Architects and among 20 powerful women by the Smile Studios. She has featured in the publication of Elle Décor’s 75^th celebration.

She was felicitated with numerous awards, which include the 11^th IID MK Awards (2016). In 2008, Zee Business gave her the Architect of the Year Award. In 2012, she was given the Architecture of the Year Award again by Indi Home Awards, the Design Excellence Award (2015) and Leadership Award (2015) by CE Worldwide.

Sonali aspires to fix the cities and contribute further to nation-building. She is working to create abandoned lands for use by the larger section of people using small-scale design interventions. She is one of those people trying to bridge the gap between different socio-economic level groups and to build a sense of unity. Her upcoming projects include the Double Tree Jaipur, Thappar University, which is in partnership with MCM, and the headquarters of Renew Power, Concor and Hero.