Shilpa Ranade is a practicing architect and researcher. She trained in Architecture at CEPT, Ahmedabad and did her graduate degree in Cultural Studies at the University of Arizona, Tucson. She is the founding partner of the Mumbai based design firm DCOOP where her portfolio includes urban design, architecture, interior and product design projects. In addition to her practice, Shilpa is part-time faculty at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture, Mumbai.

Shilpa has been part of the seminal research on women and public space in PUKAR, Mumbai and has co-authored the book, “Why Loiter? Women and Risk on Mumbai streets” (Penguin India, 2011). The idea that women's right to public space should go beyond safety and include the right to pleasure in the city, was radical when first made in the book; today this right to loiter has become common currency in the women's movement. Shilpa’s writing on architecture and on gendered spaces has been published in various books, academic journals and professional magazines. She has taught both design and humanities courses and has been on review panels at colleges across the country.