The hybrid Collection is currently being processed at CEPT Archives to be made available for researchers, students, and anyone interested. The contribution process was finalized by the team at the CEPT Archives and Somaya Sampat in April 2023.
Brinda Somaya is an architect and urban conservationist. Upon completing her architectural graduation from Mumbai University and post-graduation in Arts from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.A, she started her firm Somaya Sampat formerly known as Somaya and Kalappa Consultants in 1974 in Mumbai, India. In May 2012, she received an Honorary Doctorate from her alma mater, Smith College.
Over five decades, she has merged architecture, conservation, and social equity in projects ranging from institutional campuses, rehabilitation of an earthquake-torn village to the restoration of an 18th-century Cathedral, showing that progress and history need not be at odds. Her philosophy: ’ The architect’s role is that of guardian, he or she is the conscience of the built and un-built environment. This belief underlines her work, which encompasses large corporate, industrial, and institutional campuses and extends to public spaces, which she has rebuilt and sometimes reinvented as pavements, parks, and plazas. Master planning and building design of multiple corporate and educational campuses has become one of her areas of expertise.
In 2008, she was a Member of the Editorial Board for MARG Architectural Books. As a former member of the Committee of ‘Environmental Impact Assessment of New Construction Projects & New Industrial Estate’ for ‘Ministry of Environment & Forests’ Government of India, the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee, and Mumbai’s Initiative for the Protection and Improvement of Streets and Public Spaces, Brinda Somaya has been actively involved in participating in her country’s and city’s development. She was also on the IAWA board of Advisors (International Archives of Women in Architecture), U.S.A., and Founder Trustee of the HECAR Foundation, which has brought out several publications on Heritage and Architecture.
In 2000, she chaired a conference & organized a seminal exhibition on the Work of Women Architects with a focus on South Asia in Mumbai. Over the years, she has won numerous international and national awards. In 2004, Brinda Somaya won the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage award of merit for the restoration of the St. Thomas’ Cathedral in Mumbai. She is also a Leading European Architects Forum award winner for the new Nalanda International School Campus in Vadodara in 2006. She was the first woman to have won the Wienerberger Golden Architect Award from The Architecture + Design and Spectrum Foundation Architecture Awards for lifetime achievement, a peer award, in 2007. In 2008 an Honorable mention was awarded to Brinda Somaya by the Union of International Architects (UIA) Vassilis Sgoutas Prize for alleviation of poverty for her Bhuj Village Project. Two of her projects were also nominated for the Aga Khan Award. In 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 Global Public-Interest Design for “working at the intersection of design and service” globally. In 2025, she has been inducted as an Honorary fellow of The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the first Indian woman receiving this recognition for her “exceptional work and contributions to architecture and society on an international level.”
Brinda has delivered analytical and critical talks as well as presented papers in India and abroad on her work and other connected subjects. She has given lectures in the USA, UK, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka & India and her work has been exhibited in the USA, UK & Japan. She has served as an Examiner & Jury Member in India & Abroad.
