Ar. Neera Adarkar Adarkar Associates, Mumbai

Awarded WADe India Special Category Award 2017 for Academics & Social Cause.

Neera Adarkar graduated from Sir J J College of Architecture, Mumbai and finished her post graduation from IIT Bombay. She has received Honorary Doctorate from University of Leuven, Belgium in 2014.

She runs a joint practice under Adarkar Associates in architecture, heritage and research. She has been a visiting faculty in various schools of architecture in Mumbai. She is at present one of the founder trustees and chairperson of School of Environment and Architecture (SEA), founded by eight architects who perceive architecture not as iconic buildings but comprehend it in a larger cultural and urban context.

Ms. Adarkar’s concern on social, urban and gender issues has resulted in her association with various civil society organizations in Mumbai. She is closely linked with the Textile Workers’ Union in the city of Mumbai. Her involvement in the urban struggles as an activist led her to participate in the process of formation of Mumbai People s’ Action Committee, a coalition of citizens’ groups active on various urban issues. She has been on a Government-appointed Committee of Experts on Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

She is also one of the founder members of Women Architects Forum, which in the early nineties initiated women architects to revisit their own profession and the built environment at large with a gender perspective. WAF also set up a refresher course for women architects who had left architecture due to family responsibilities/ pressures but wanted to return to the profession.