The Crafters Of Sustainable Spaces

Morphogenesis infuses new architectural forms with the legacy of the past and the spirit of the location to conceptualise some of India's best hotels.

- Nisha Shukla

Founding-partner, Manit Rastogi’s architectural journey, spanning over two decades, is replete with exemplars of sustainable and passive design approach. His innovative design not only reinterprets India’s architectural roots and traditional wisdom in a contextual vocabulary but also places Indian architecture on a world stage.

The architecture firm Morphogenesis, which he co-founded with his wife, Sonali Rastogi, is globally recognised for its diverse work that encompass a range of specialised practice areas. These include master planning, residential, commercial, workplaces, institutional, hospitality and houses, backed by in-house integrated project delivery practices in sustainability, interiors, landscape, digital technologies and design management. The practice operates in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Afghanistan and the UAE.

As a Founding Partner of India’s leading and award-winning firm, Rastogi believes that climatic specifications and socio-cultural contexts are imperative to be taken into consideration before designing any building. Every design undertaken by his firm says Rastogi, is conceived through the lens of “sustainability, optimisation, uniqueness and livability, in order to meet certain aesthetics and experiential standards to fit into ‘the Indian perspective and the global context," which also serves as a core principal to his design philosophy.

While working across diverse repertoire of design segments and complexities, Rastogi seeks inspiration from the evolutionary processes in nature, to create a built form that is both optimised for the built environment and the community. He believes that “sustainability is a core creative value and is practiced in the evolution of any design.” He also draws inspiration from his environment, whether it is historic, vernacular or from the changing paradigm of what India is today.