The Journey of SJK Architects, Mumbai From Colleagues to Partners - Shimul Javeri Kadri | Vaishali Shankar | Sarika Shetty | Roshni Kshirsagar

| 5 Min Read

| SURFACES REPORTER | 08 Feb 2022

Passion and ideas have many takers, if there is commitment and communication. This is not a lone journey—find mentors and collaborators, and learn to delegate. -Shimul Javeri Kadri

SJK has always given me abundant freedom and opportunities to grow. Partnership is a big extension of the same - Vaishali Shankar

I have witnessed my entire journey at SJK Architects from being a young woman to becoming a mother. While working together for years, we have developed certain ways of bonding with each other.- Sarika Shetty

My attitude towards so many things in life, outside of work, has changed due to everything that I have learned here and the way I have grown here. - Roshni Kshirsagar

Shimul Javeri Kadri

Thirty two years ago, when Shimul Javeri Kadri founded SJK Architects, she started out as a one-woman army. Now, as three of her long-time colleagues join her at the helm as partners, the renowned architect demonstrates how power, when shared, can only grow more incandescent as a guiding light. Vertica Dvivedi meets the four women torchbearers of SJK to understand their individual journeys that led to this remarkable evolution, and how they intend to support and inspire each other at the intersection of authority and partnership.

Shimul Javeri Kadri has long been in the habit of questioning norms—be it as an architect in a maledominated building industry in India, or as a woman refusing to shrink her dreams in a patriarchal world. In the late 80s, fresh after her marriage to architect Rahul Kadri, most people expected her to join the family enterprise headed by her father-in-law, I M Kadri, the stalwart who drew the blueprint for numerous landmark institutions in India and around the world. Shimul, though, decided to rough it out by starting her own firm, SJK Architects. At a time when it was easier to take on interior designing projects for residences, she sought architectural assignments. Long before sustainability became a fashionable word, she worked on a building ethic that was rooted in an uncommon environment consciousness and a deep love for the earth.

Now, with a prolific career behind her filled with prestigious accolades and an enviable roster of top-league projects—just when one would expect her to bask in that sunlit space of hard-earned glory and prominence— the 59-year old architect has nudged her crown aside by forging a partnership with three of her long-time colleagues: Vaishali Shankar, Sarika Shetty, and Roshni Kshirsagar.

When you ask her the reason behind this unexpected move, her answer is steeped in minimalism just like her signature designs: “I have great faith in the power of the collective. Architecture is all about team work—which is what we have been doing at SJK. This is a way to formalise the structure, and reward people who show commitment, talent and responsibility. Over the years, all these three individuals have shown tremendous initiative. They are part of the reason the firm is where it is today.”

Though Shimul refrains from glorifying her decision, over several online meetings SURFACES REPORTER delved into the many moments of empathy and team spirit that eventually paved the way for the new story of SJK Architects.

The Dasavatara Hotel

Hospitality I Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh

Client: Marasa Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.

Area: 1.15 Lakh Sq. ft

Photographer: Rajesh Vora, Himanshu Sheth

Team: ShimulJaveri Kadri, Sarika Shetty, Michelle Pereira

Boat Club Apartments

Residential I Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Area: 16,500 Sq.ft

Status: Completed 2020

Photographer: Niveditaa Gupta

Team: Shimul Javeri Kadri, Sarika Shetty, Nikita Shahadadpuri, Priyata Bosamia

What were the early challenges that you faced? How different was the real action from what was taught in architecture school?

Shimul: There is so much that you don’t learn in architecture school! I recall a project to transform a burnt-down shed in Kala Chowki into an office. It was the first-of-its-kind prototype of an industrial shed that was converted into a designed commercial office space. New details and innovations were required at every turn. A product manufacturer—of a watch or a handle—makes endless prototypes before the product is launched. In architecture, where are the prototypes? You build an entire building incorporating millions of products and services without any prototypes. And the building must withstand all the forces of nature over several decades.

Though you married into a family of architects, you started your own firm and did not join IMK Architects.

Shimul: I have had no role in that firm, whatsoever. I considered myself fortunate that I didn’t inherit a practice—that can be difficult. Personality-wise, my husband Rahul is able to handle that better. When we talk about somebody who is larger than life—a father-son practice like that—it can get difficult to create your own identity and establish your voice within that. Rahul has been able to do that in his own gentle way. For me, being part of a family practice was not even an option.

I seek a lot of clarity at all times, and I hate clutter of any sorts— whether it’s visual, emotional or mental. I think those aspects are also reflected in the work that we do at SJK Architects

Automobile Design Studio

Workspaces I Mumbai, Maharashtra

Client: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd

Area: 25,000 Sqft

Status: Completed 2015

Photographer: Rajesh Vora

Team: Shimul Javeri Kadri, Vaishali Shankar, Roshni Kshirsagar, Nidhi Shah, Riddhi Shah, Amal Roowala, Vrinda Khaitan

Actually, I cannot tell you how glad Rahul and I are that we practise separately. We have very different things to talk about at the end of the day. We don’t get in each other’s way. I continued my work through those difficult years of bringing up my two children. I had started a practice and intended to keep it going and make it work. Had I been a part of the family practice, it would have been really easy to step back a little at that time. I never stepped back. It was mostly ‘go, go, go’ through it all.

You have said ‘no’ to many clients when the equation wasn’t working. What is your advice for young firms that may not find it easy to turn down projects when they run into friction with a client?

Shimul: In the early years, it is difficult to reject a client. However, over time, one learns that it is an important decision. Whenever I sensed that I would not be able to work with a client or there was an incompatibility, I always chose to make an exit.

I think that’s a very important lesson for anybody to follow—to listen to your instincts. The client is the person who hires you but also society at a larger level, because the building will remain in the public realm well beyond the lifetime of the client.

If the triangle that includes society, your client’s aspirations, and your aspirations isn’t a fairly equilateral one, the pulls and pushes can become difficult to maneuver. So, the patronage and the nature of the client, as well as their ability to absorb and understand, coupled with your ability to enjoy their aspirations, can come together to become the most precious part of a project.

If the triangle that includes society, your client’s aspirations, and your aspirations isn’t a fairly equilateral one, the pulls and pushes can become difficult to maneuver.

When we look at our most successful projects, it is that meeting of aspirations that has ultimately shaped our best work.

That said, even at this stage of my life, I make mistakes. It is a difficult one, Vertica, and I am glad you questioned it because even though intuition does play a big role, sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs to get that handsome prince. Maybe those mistakes are meant to be, and are a big part of one’s growth.Don’t try to be superwomen!

I see you as a strong and clear-headed person. How do you see yourself?

Shimul: Clear-headed sounds fairly appropriate. I seek a lot of clarity at all times, and I hate clutter of any sorts—whether it’s visual, emotional or mental. I am always looking to de-clutter my head and my emotions. That is one reason I journal a lot. But I don’t see myself as the rock that most people see me as. I can be very vulnerable and sensitive, and I think those aspects are also reflected in the work that we do at SJK Architects. I see myself as being very open and collaborative. SJK Architects does not represent a single typology that gets repeated across places and projects. Even the approach to problem-solving or design varies so much with each project.

You have a women-dominated office. Is that a direct outcome of your ardent belief in feminism?

Shimul: From a very young age, I have been headstrong and opinionated. My views often clashed with those held by my father. My first eye-opener to feminism was when I landed a job as a teaching assistant for Women’s Studies at University in the USA. I studied Urban Planning but took classes in theories of feminism, race, class and gender in Latin America, and other issues related to development in the third world. Even when I came back to India, I was fortunate to work with many strong women and feminist groups.

Having said that, I never consciously pursued any objectives of having a women-dominated team. But I am proud and glad anyway to have nurtured a workspace full of strong women.

What is your advice for young women architects?

Shimul: Low pay and long working hours are detrimental aspects of the profession. Let’s just say there are two magnets at work here. One, you have to work your way up to earn a significant amount as pay. During that phase of working your way up, the other magnet comes into play. This involves the demands of your personal life—childbearing and childrearing. When the first magnet of income is not good enough, the second magnet can just take over and pull women out of their professions. Unless that changes, architecture will continue to be a difficult profession for women to practice. But then I also wonder why should a woman subjugate her life and her fantastic brain and capabilities for two years of child-rearing? Why is it her sole responsibility?

Young women can communicate their ambitions, their joys and their ideas to friends, family and other potential collaborators. Passion and ideas have many takers, if there is commitment and communication. This is not a lone journey—find mentors and collaborators, and learn to delegate. This is true of childcare, homecare and of the power of professional teams. We have to create these bridges with husbands, fathers, clients, consultants and & contractors. Don’t try to be superwomen!