Gaytri Chandramouleeswaran

Architect

E: gaytri.easwaran@gmail.com

Gaytri is an architect with particular interest in history, narratives, and how they impact space. Born in Chennai, brought up in Delhi and heavily conditioned by Ahmedabad during her Bachelor’s studies in CEPT university, she is fascinated by cultures and the varied perspectives they create.

While working with Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, she was part of revitalising the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad under the directorship of Tridip Suhrud. As part of the Sabarmati Ashram fellowship, Gaytri retraced the history of the Ashram through collective memories in order to build a physical architectural model of the Ashram at the time of its conception in 1917.

As a student in the IUSD programme in the University of Stuttgart, she took a narrative and ecological approach to her projects. These included an organic strategic plan revealing the urban layers in order to revitalise the neighbourhood of Leonhardvorstadt and working on the Kampungs at the edge of river Cikapundung in Bandung, Indonesia. She also worked on re-introducing Delhi to the river Yamuna through a walk towards the river, using stories involving topics like myth, biodiversity, livelihood etc. as an attempt to reshape people attitudes towards the polluted river.

Currently, she is working on her master’s thesis, exploring the occidental and oriental traditions of conceptualising urban public space. Trained as a singer in Carnatic classical music, she now hopes to find ways of expressing urban narratives through music and drawings.