The Harvard graduated Indian architect, Sheila Sri Prakash is internationally acclaimed for her expertise in sustainable architecture. She is the first women architect to establish her firm in India called 'Shilpa Architects', in Chennai in 1979.
She is the founding practitioner-researcher who identified and defined the field of Spaciology—the impact of space design and planning on society. Her portfolio of architectural endeavors includes the low-cost Reciprocal House for the socio-economically underprivileged that she designed on invitation from the World Bank in 1987, first of its kind energy-efficient commercial buildings, custom bungalows, residential communities, integrated townships, industrial facilities, art museums, sports stadiums, centres of education, public infrastructure, and luxury hotels.
In 1993, Sheila Sri Prakash designed a home in Chennai with recycled materials and included a system of rainwater harvesting. This, in turn, inspired the government to make rainwater harvesting mandatory in Tamil Nadu later. Sheila Sri Prakash was recently honoured with the Lifetime Achievement in the field of Architecture Award in 2019 by the BAM (Builders, Architects, and Building Materials) in association with CII Real Estate & Building Technology Exhibition.