Design and the Lens

After having graduated with a Thomason Gold medal for B. Arch from IIT Roorkee, India, Sriram Ganapathi began his architectural career with BV Doshi at Sangath, Ahmedabad in 1989. Subsequently, he did an M. Arch from McGill University, Montreal, Canada and was selected to the Dean’s Honour List. Sriram has been an integral part of KSM Consultants and KSM Architecture since its inception. Having been cited as one of the Young Designers of India by IA&B in 2002, Sriram has been working towards energy efficient and climatically relevant architecture through their firm KSM. Their climatically relevant projects have won National and International acclaim. As a part of ongoing research, he has been one of the select contributors to the Encyclopaedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World, Oxford Polytechnic, Oxford, UK and has also written a series on sustainable Urban Issues in the India Today design magazine, Design Today. As one of the Founding Trustee of Chennai Architecture Foundation (CAF), he has been organising Architectural Talks and events in Chennai for the betterment of the Architectural Profession, Architectural education and for the betterment of the City of Chennai.

In May 2016, KSM moved into their new studio, designed, and built with the simple use of available material, with abundant natural light and ventilation, thus embodying all the facets of sustainability that KSM Architecture stands for.

The firm KSM was voted one among the top 50 architectural practices in the country in 2011 and in 2016 KSM was invited as one among 30 top Architectural practices in the country to participate in “Dialogues”, an exclusive Architectural meet in 2016 and 2024. The firm’s projects have been regularly featured in Architectural books, International Architectural web sites and many leading Architectural magazines and newspapers. KSM has also received various awards and commendations. In April 2013, KSM won an International Design competition for Master Planning and redevelopment of The Bangalore Club. For two consecutive years in 2013 and 2014, two projects of KSM – “Murugan House” and “Vishranthi Office” were shortlisted for the prestigious World Architectural Festival held in Singapore. In December 2015, one of the residential projects, “Srikanth and Gita house” was selected as one of the “50 Amazing Homes in India”, a book curated by Architect Christopher Beninger for Buildofy, published by Skyboard media. In July 2016, Archiworld (AW) and international magazine based out of Seoul, published the “Vidya Mandir School” at Estancia, GST road, Chennai and carried a feature on KSM Architecture. The acclaimed Architectural online site Archdaily has featured nine KSM projects till date.

The KSM Studio was awarded an Honourable mention in the “Best Office” category of the World Architecture Festival held in Berlin, in November 2017. It was also chosen as one of the 11 select projects of The Merit List – 2018. In the recent World Architecture Festival held in Singapore in 2023, KSM was nominated in two categories – “Quest – The learning centre” in the school category and “Office for Metallic Bellows” in the Office category. The latter won an Honourable mention in the Best Office category at the WAF 2023. ‘Quest – The learning centre won the Best project in the Architecture + Learning category in the American online publication Architizer in 2024. In the India Design ID Honours awards held in New Delhi in February 2025, KSM Architecture was awarded the Best Architectural Practice of the year. In June 2026 at an event in Vienna, Austria, “Office for Metallic Bellows” was selected and published as one of the best 50 projects in the world for Weinerberger’s Brick Awards 26.

Biju Kuriakose co-founded architectureRED, an architecture and urban design firm based out of Chennai, India. Having studied architecture in Mumbai, Biju received his Master’s Degree in Architecture and Urban design from Pratt Institute, New York.

architectureRED is positioned as a practice that approaches design as an exercise in place- making, strengthening communities and facilitating the expression of identities. The act of building is viewed as an inquiry into creating places for people – a spatial manifestation of movement, memories and life patterns. architectureRED is currently involved in designing public spaces for the corporation of Chennai, masterplansfor townshipsin Panvel, Navi Mumbai as well as master plansfor mixed use developments in Tamil Nadu and Salalah, oman. These projects emphasize on a socio- ecological approach to facilitating new cities, creating a strong people-oriented structure that responds to the ecological context it is situated in. architectureRED is also actively designing housing projects of varying scales in Chennai, Bangalore and Trivandrum, predominantly focussing on creating a placemaking framework as the organiser in high dense buildings, creating a strong sense of community and belonging. arcihtectureRED is also designing multiple institutional buildings within the Crescent and Hindustan Universities, Chennai, focusing on creating active and transformative learning environments. In 2022, architectureRED won the national design competition organized by council of architecture to design the new Center of Excellence within Bangalore University for the community of architects. The proposal is envisioned as a place that is inclusive, porous, open and democratic, facilitated and modulated by the built mass.

architectureRED has won several national as well as international design awards including the World Architecture News Award for the “Best Urban design project” in 2009 for the masterplan of Nordhavnen in Copenhagen in collaboration with FXFOWLE Architects, NY as well as IIA National Award in 2023 for the Crescent School of Architecture in Chennai and masterplan of “Airport city” in Oman in 2016. aRED also won the IIA TN state award for the Best institutional Project in 2021 for the “S” School project in Bangalore. Biju is also the recipient of 34th JK Architect of the year Commendation award in Housing category.

Prior to founding architectureRED, Biju was an Associate at FXFOWLE Architects, a leading architectural, planning and urban design firm based out of New York.

Biju has been invited to several prestigious forums including Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance- New York, Pratt Institute and Columbia University, NY, as a speaker and studio critic. He was also invited to be part of the Goethe Institute’s Visitors Program 2017 in Germany, looking at water issues and studying the relationship of water to communities. He has been a member of the Board of Review at CEPT University, Ahmedabad since 2018. He currently teaches at KRVIA, Mumbai and CEPT, Ahmedabad as an External studio critic.

Deepa Suriyaprakash is an architect, academician, and sustainability enthusiast. A founding partner at BETWEENLINES since 2010, she has been active in the profession since 2003.

With a deep interest in textiles, patterns, materiality, and the lifecycle of things, Deepa considers herself a contemplative generalist. Her contemplation revolves around matter, material and the necessity to build, just enough. She holds an undergraduate degree in Architecture (NIT Trichy) and a Master’s in Theory and Design (OSU, Ohio). Her travel across global North, combined with a critical thinking pedagogy and a strong disposition towards placemaking, has transformed her queries into diverse project opportunities. Her portfolio ranges from eco-sensitive residences, requiring local and systemic thinking, to Handloom showrooms, demanding a nuanced understanding of user psychology, stock flow, stake holders through Culture-economy. Each project has been a journey of collaboration, learning, and discovery.

Deepa possesses excellent interpersonal skills and a profound care for the Earth, its flora, and fauna. She recently completed The Executive Corporate Sustainability program from IIM Calcutta, aiming to integrate sustainable business practices into her areas of interest. When not at work, She is working with her Kettlebells/ Violin/ Garden and Waste segregation with equal zest.

Sreenag’s journey into photography began at an early age; he is the third generation in his family to make a living with a camera, having established the basics in childhood as a career in the field was always the goal. A lifelong passion for design and architecture led him to found Sreenag Pictures in 2005, becoming one of India’s few architectural photographers at a time before the practice was mainstream and social media didn’t exist. He remains committed to evolving his style and knowledge-sharing through teaching.