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| Identifying strengths and working around them to benefit the project is the key. |
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
From my early days in the historical town of Vizianagaram where I was
born and spent the formative years of my life, I have been surrounded by rich
cultural influences that have had a profound impact on my thoughts and actions.
I was born into a Zamindari family that had multiple generations living
together under one roof. At the center of the large home where we resided, was
a beautiful courtyard surrounded by multifoil arches. A focal point of the
house, this courtyard was a bustling hub of activity for all the family
members, who lived in warm harmony. The home provided a balance of personal
space for when a family member needed quiet solitude, and also great gathering
spaces for daily activities that were done together, in a structured manner. I
had the unique privilege of being my grandparents’ only granddaughter, among their many grandsons. As a result, the proverbial glass ceiling never existed,
and I knew no conventional boundaries.
The other houses on our street also belonged to families that had
settled in the town many generations ago, and the easy familiarity between all
the families practically turned these homes into extensions of my own. The
streets were our playgrounds, and the ‘arugu’ or raised platform at the front
of every home, in turn, took the form of viewing galleries, staged our huddles,
and witnessed all forms of life and activity shared between family members,
neighbors, and friends.
Every day, I would wake up to the mellifluous music of my mother’s
veena, and eagerly look forward to a day filled with activity. Music practice
and mathematics sessions in the morning were followed by joyful bike rides to
school with my friends. The school, where I spent twelve years of my life,
proved to be a great shaping influence on my future. My teachers represented
the true spirit of education – eager to pass on knowledge, they strived hard to
shape every student into the best possible version of themselves.
Evenings and holidays were reserved for site visits with my father, who
was a building expert and built homes for many. His dedication to the
profession he had chosen, and the manner in which he had touched so many lives
invariably led me to pursue an education and career in the same field. Vivid
memories of my childhood evenings include building sandcastles on construction
sites with the children of the laborers.
Weekends saw my father and me at the officers’ club, where I would see
him deeply involved in intellectual conversations, with the sounds of billiards
playing in the background. This experience was certainly a ‘cue’ into the life
of the wealthy and elite. The natural manner in which I was exposed to various
economic strata of society allowed me to grow up to develop a deep
understanding of people and their aspirations, which in turn shaped me as a
versatile designer.
The end of my high school life saw me moving to
my aunt’s home, fifty km away from my ancestral home and my parents. The two
years I spent there flew by in no time. The highly competitive environment of
my senior school there taught me the value of hard work, focus, and dedication.
At the end of two years, I gained entry into a college of architecture with
no formal training, giving me a foothold in the industry I aspired to build my
career in. Suddenly, I was in the bustling city of Hyderabad, an astounding
five hundred kilometers away from my parents and the comfort of the life I had
known in the quaint town of Vizianagaram.
Life in the busy, almost foreign city was
intimidating at first, though the novelty of it kept me from losing heart. I
soon learned to appreciate the distinct culture that was the heartbeat of
Hyderabad, and immersed myself in campus life, making the best of my new
environment and creating bonds for life. The first three semesters of college
life each brought something new and interesting.
The sudden news of my mother’s death towards the
end of my second year came as a shock that pulled the rug out from under my
feet. Regaining my mental fortitude and balance seemed like an impossible
ordeal after this blow, but the life lessons imparted by my mother gave me the
strength to persevere.
During this time, the emotional comfort I
received from my younger brother, extended family, and my friends opened my eyes
to the quiet strength that good relationships possess, and the value of a
strong support system. This has bettered my empathy towards the people I work
with, clients, colleagues, and all. The intangible yet ever-present aspects of
emotional well-being and positive social relationships are a must for any task
to be completed to perfection. Regular one-on-one chats with my employees are
thus a very logical and natural consequence of this learning.
In an attempt to keep myself busy, I took up a
part-time job at an architect’s office, where I worked post-college hours. I
also got involved with the SPIC MACAY, whose events brought me closer to music,
and therefore to my mother as well. My exposure to the myriad facets of Indian
cultural heritage at a turning point in my life gave me both strength and
sensitivity to the nuances of various Indian cultural contexts. As a result,
every project I’m involved in has a strong thread of influence derived from local
culture that makes it unique.
My passion for Indian art forms, especially
classical music, brought me a wonderful opportunity to begin my career in
architecture while I was still a student - a paid project with the Department
of Culture, where my thesis would be realized as a live project in Vijayawada.
While bureaucratic glitches prevented the project from being undertaken, this
offer was the start of a promising journey and a boost to my confidence in my
abilities.
The next milestone in my life and indeed, my
career, was my marriage to Ravi, a Defence Scientist from Bangalore. Bangalore
has always been known as a place of opportunities, and this held true for me as
well.
Though there was definitely a need for
architects in Bangalore, the recent IT boom and the relatively poor pay that
architects received prompted me to contemplate a career in software. I decided
to pursue this line of thought and completed a few courses offered by
organizations such as VB and Oracle. Despite the good money, my passion still
lay in the field of architecture. Going by my instinct, I quit my cushy
software job to focus on building a career in architecture, where my heart
belonged.
Incidentally, it was around this time that I started reconnecting with friends from my hometown. This brought with it an
opportunity to work with a friend who was employed at a large construction
firm. While they had great capabilities in construction, interior design was
not their forte. The firm I was working for at the time also had very little
experience with interiors. My brief stint with interior design in the earlier
phase of my career gave me the basic knowledge and confidence to pursue this
project and thus we decided to collaborate with the construction firm. Positive
feedback from the clients and end-users marked the start of a great partnership
between us and the larger firm.
One successful team led to another, and soon, my colleague Arnab proposed the idea of starting our own design firm. Ostraca was thus created and built on the firm foundation of transparency, dedication, and integrity. We let our work speak for itself - and in just over a decade, we had designed twenty-two million square feet of corporate interior spaces. Nearly every major Indian IT company and a few leading MNCs have given us opportunities to design their spaces and facilities. Every award and accolade that came our way served to motivate and inspire further - to do better and give back to people in a meaningful way. It is in this manner that our irreplaceable bonds with employees, associates, and everyone we work with have only grown stronger over the span of two decades.
2. Can you share more about your role as a Partner and Co-Founder at Ostraca? What inspired you to start the company, and what are your primary responsibilities?
I co-founded Ostraca with Arnab Ghosh. While Arnab takes care of the
Core design, My role involves BD, Design development, Logistics, Employee
engagement, Finance and Business growth plans, etc. Starting the company was not
a planned decision. Arnab and I were working for a prestigious design firm
based out of Delhi who were into Urban planning and Large-scale Architecture.
When we started getting assignments in interior design we had to start a
new entity to focus on workplace design as this design vertical did not align
with the expertise of the firm that we were working for.
3. With your background in
architecture, how do you incorporate sustainable design principles into your
projects at Ostraca? Could you share an example of a project where
sustainability played a significant role?
Almost all the projects we work on are LEED-certified.
Over the years, our design philosophy has
evolved to place an even greater emphasis on harmonizing with nature.
Initially, we focused on incorporating natural materials and energy-efficient
systems, but soon we realized that true harmony meant understanding the
local ecosystem, climate, and culture intimately. Our designs now aim to
seamlessly blend with the natural surroundings, minimizing environmental impact
and enhancing the well-being of occupants. We are very excited about an ongoing
residential project where we focus on adaptive reuse.
4. As a partner in a business,
what leadership principles do you consider crucial for fostering a
collaborative and innovative work environment?
Our work is all about team collaboration. Identifying strengths and working around them to benefit the project is the key. Every team member is a key stakeholder in our Firm. We work on a profit share model which keeps the employees motivated. Before every project, we have an ideating session where every designer in the studio irrespective of their experience gets involved. This helps us get ideas which are fresh. Most often these ideas have great potential. The team is exposed to latest trends through lunch and learn sessions. Our studio fosters innovation through collaboration.
5. When and why did you choose
this field?
My dad was into real estate and was into design and building projects. I
grew up seeing him and his work which touched many lives. Buildings and
construction sites always excited me.
So architecture was an obvious choice.
6. What does your typical workday look like?
While my schedule is very unpredictable we start our day in the studio
with a stand-up meeting with all employees. Our teams pan India join the teams
call. We discuss every single project. This helps us understand the project
status.Post that Most of the time is spent in the studio on design development. Client meetings and visits to the site are part of the everyday
schedule. My typical work day on average is a 14-hour day ( I guess it is the
same with every architect)
7. Can you share a challenging situation\project you faced & how you addressed it? What did you learn from that experience?
Every single project of ours has challenging
situations. Some are budget-centric. Some are tight on timelines. But here I
would like to mention about a school project which we are working with the wipro
foundation.
As part of their CSR initiative, they have
commissioned us to work on some design interventions on already existing govt
schools. The structures that we had to work on were constructed at
different stages and the construction did not follow any particular style or
planning principles. After a lot of thought and deliberation, we came up with a
scheme that can be deployed across the schools. When we see the completed
project it feels like a seamless design exercise that blends both the old
structures and new structures. Feedback from both the teachers and students
during our recent visit to the school was very gratifying. Learning from this
experience was that when there are challenges they open up new opportunities
and push you to think beyond.
7. Looking ahead, what are
your professional or personal aspirations and goals in this industry, and how
do you plan to achieve them?
We started with 5 designers. Now we are close to 45. We have also initiated many project-based complementary collaborations with like-minded designers. Our team is passionate about the work that we do. As a team, we are confident that we will achieve everything that we aspire for.
9. Given your experience, what advice would you give to aspiring architects or individuals looking to start their own design and architecture firm?
When passion drives your work, Rest everything
falls in place.
To start your own design firm understand every
aspect of design practice most importantly non-design aspects. Understand your
strengths . Partner with people who have complimentary skill sets. Never lose
focus on your purpose. Be a differentiator in whatever you take up.
Introspect and Reinvent yourself at every stage.
Bio-
Vijaya Bhargav co-founded OSTRACA , a niche architecture and interior design firm in Bangalore, with Arnab Ghosh. Vijaya’s career spanning 26 years includes working with a range of local and multinational clients pan India.
Vijaya started her career as an architect with Upal Ghosh Associates and helped create architectural designs for various Institutional, Industrial, Commercial, and hospitality projects.
She has successfully designed and delivered over 26 million Sft of corporate office space for IT majors such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture, Cognizant, LTI Mindtree as well as corporates such as VISA, CGI, Informatica, Bosch, UBER, L&T infotech, Sutherland, ASG, Mindtek, PMC Sierra, Arbitron, Tata Elxsi,CRED.
Vijaya has been associated with various charitable organisations like Infosys Foundation, Azim Premji Foundation, Abhyudaya Foundation (college for women), Sahasra Deepika Education (school for underprivileged girl children) in providing architectural services for their infrastructure requirements.
She helped Corporates set up Covid isolation centers as part of their CSR. She is a founder member of Sankalp Trust- an educational pursuit. She has a strong belief in the deep-rooted values of Indian culture and heritage and incorporates elements of the same where feasible, in her design. Her love for Indian handlooms inspires her to support weaver communities and help keep alive weaving and textile traditions and designs.
Vijaya is trying her hand at jewelry design and has held several boutique-style exhibitions. She has modeled for prominent Jewelry brands and handloom brands
Being the daughter of a Veena exponent, she has a keen interest in Indian classical music and has worked extensively with SPIC-MACAY during her college days. She has a coffee blog on Instagram - @watz_brewing and counts several International coffee houses amongst her followers.
Interviewed and Edited by - Arunangshu Chatterjee
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