The Woman who Designed World's Largest Office Building Her approach towards creativity is inspired by the evolutionary processes in nature and her belief in sustainability shapes all her projects.
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Coming from a family of architects, Sonali spent a significant part of her childhood in a house where the living room was a studio. "I also cultivated a serious interest in reading, model making, and observing buildings while travelling. This experience laid my foundations in design and informed my career choice," states Sonali Rastogi, Founding Partner, Morphogenesis.
Surat Diamond Bourse
Sonali and Manit (her partner) pursued their masters at the Architectural Association, London which was an interactive environment that frequently hosted lectures and discourse. It was during this period that they noticed the lack of architectural works that emerged from the Indian subcontinent. Apart from the works of the great regionalist Charles Correa, there weren't many projects from India, a country with a rich architectural legacy of almost 5000 years. "We wanted to bridge this gap and reinterpret our global learnings in the Indian context. We came back to India and set up our practice—a two-person studio that consisted of my partner and I," shares Sonali.
Her approach towards creativity is inspired by the evolutionary processes in nature and her belief in sustainability shapes all her projects. "India's design history has always revolved around principles of sustainable architecture that are sensitive to both context and climate. It was not initiated with the notion of saving the planet but as a response to reducing the consumption of water and energy resources. This repository of strategies can be referenced even in modern times to develop a truly Indian model of sustainable urbanism, architecture, and design," says Sonali. The most effective approach to discovering your customers' needs is through communication and direct inquiries regarding the data underlying the information set. Therefore, on more extensive projects such as residential or commercial ones, she involves a market analyst and gathers data points from the client to fully grasp their requirements. "We first visualize the spaces from the user's perspective and use our architectural expertise to get a good insight into what the customer needs," adds Sonali.
Sonali spearheaded the rise of Surat Diamond Bourse, the world's largest office building at over 6.5 million sq. ft, a futuristic one-stop destination for international diamond trade in India. The building is the centerpiece of Surat's ambitious Dream City development and a catalyst for unprecedented socio-economic development in the region.
While the profession of an architect or interior designer is driven by creativity, it's also essential to focus on the business side of things to ensure stability, shares Sonali. Morphogenesis has established its presence in numerous cities across India and is gradually expanding into the international market.
FACTSHEET
No. Of People Employed - Varies From About 160 To 200 From Time To Time.
Year Of Inception - 1996
Key Customers – Ambuja Neotia Group, Infosys Ltd., Itc Ltd, Godrej Properties, Emaar India, Mahindra Lifespaces, Zydus Lifesciences, Apollo Tyres, Taj, Marriot, Ambuja Neotia Group, Harley Davidson, Amazon India, Micromax, British Council
