Deepak and Harsha strongly believe that “Just because you are breathing right now, does not mean that you are living. But your true life begins when you are pursuing your passion and enjoying every moment of it. They follow this motto in all aspects of their life including their career.
This forceful, proactive, and outcome-driven duo participated in the architectural design competition held by the Ayodhya Development Authority from June 4th, 2022 to June 20th, 2022. Not only did they participate, but they stood second in the competition and won a cash prize of Rs. 1,50,000 and a certificate.
This design competition was about creating an architectural design structure of “Late Su. Shri. Lata Mangeshkar Chowk.” Their design concept was focused on creating an active public realm and providing free space in Ayodhya city’s densely constructed neighbourhoods. Hence, they attempted to create a more pedestrian and environmentally sensitive space. Moreover, since Ayodhya is a religious city with strong traditional values, they created three Deep Stambhs and rangoli patterns, to maintain the religious sentiments of the locals and add a little bit of drama to the chowk during festivals like Deepawali.
Some of their design interventions were also inspired by the life of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. They designed a white sculpture of ‘Veena’ at the heart of the Chowk, dedicated to Lata Mangeshkar. Moreover, the lamp posts and the pillars played “bhajans” and other devotional songs by Lata Mangeshkar, so that the visitors could listen to her songs while relaxing in the park. Besides, they also engraved the great achievements of Lata Ji in stone to inspire children and young adults.
After winning the competition, this dynamic duo shared, “Working on this project as an urban designer and architect was a great experience.” We are grateful for the opportunity and look forward to contributing to the design of cities that we admire”.
Now let us walk you through the achievements of this dynamic duo, who are all set to transform the designing rules of architecture and make Udaipur more proud.
Deepak Khandelwal
The 27-year-old, decisive and action-oriented Deepak Khandelwal completed his Bachelor of Architecture from the Aayojan School of Architecture, Jaipur, in 2018. Thereafter, he finished his Master’s Degree in Architectural Design from CEPT University, Ahmedabad in 2022, where he scored an India 2nd rank.
During his career, Deepak Khandelwal has worked with the late Revathi S. Kamath (known as the Pioneer of Mud Architecture in India). Moreover, he is also running a global online platform called “Amazing World of Architecture” to promote all elements of architecture and interior design, with 28,000 followers on Facebook. Click here to learn more about his work. Here is the list of his achievements so far:
- His “Graduation Thesis” was selected from the college to participate in the Archiprix 2019 event organized by Archiprix International 2019, Santiago, Chile.
- He was rewarded with the “A3F Sustainable Design Award” at the A3 Foundation award ceremony 2018-19, Chandigarh, India.
- His graduation thesis was selected as one of the best thesis of the year 2018 in the Aayojan School of Architecture, Jaipur, and he was awarded a gold medal.
- His thesis was shortlisted among the top 10 thesis across India for the COA National Award for Excellence in Architectural Thesis 2018, at MBS SPA, Delhi, India.
- He was a zonal winner of the COA National Award for Excellence in Architectural Thesis 2018, at Lovely School of Architecture & Design, Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
- He was also rewarded with the EDITOPIA Best Thesis Trophy 2018, at IET, Bhaddal, Haryana, India.
Harsha Garg
Moving on to Harsha Garg, another young talent who teamed up with Deepak Khandelwal to participate in an architectural design competition organized by the Ayodhya Development Authority from 4 June to 20 June 2022.
She completed her Bachelor of Architecture degree in 2013- 2018 from Aayojan school of architecture, Rajasthan Technical University. After that, she completed her Master of Urban Design from the year 2021 to 2023. Presently, she is pursuing her education at CEPT University. Let us walk you through her other achievements
Other achievements
- Achieved one of the top 10 positions in the HUDCO Trophy 2014 for affordable housing for all.
- Achieved one of the Top 50 in ANDC Trophy 2015 for the proposal and designing of “A place for Transgender” in Jaipur.
People like Deepak Khandelwal and Harsha Garg have emerged to be the first architects who made the Rajsathan proud by winning the 2nd position at the architectural design competition held by the Ayodhya Development Authority.