I was staying in Parul's house with her
architect husband Nimish Patel. I visited Parul in their architectural office
where they were working on a large competition. Parul outlined the general rise
of the role of women in various professions beginning with health. Her own career
has focused on working with communities and crafts people to harness their skills.
She designed a new hotel in Udairpur that employed 300 craftspeople for 3
years. In Jaipur she developed a heritage plan for the small city of Amber and
developed the role of culture with festivals that led to the well-known Jaipur
Writers Festival.
The Sarabhai family in Ahmedabad has
encouraged the use of traditional skills and Parul is close friends with Malika
Sarabhai. This led to Parul's interest in the use of stone and other natural
materials. She and Nimish now design buildings that reflect the continuity of India’s
traditions often with many designers so the end product is not the vision of
only one person. She says "It is the anonymous architects that are the
strength of India."
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