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Sanjukta Jitendhar is an architect working at Mikhail Riches. Sanju (as she's known) started to develop an interest in sustainable and equitable living for all as she was growing up in Bangalore/Bengaluru, southern India.
As part of an extraordinary tech boom, highly skilled IT professionals, including Sanjay's computer scientist parents, moved to Bangalore/Bengaluru. Along with the tech professionals came other workers, servicing the needs of the city's rapidly expanding population and infrastructure.
When she was eight, Sanju's grandparents were among those to relocate to Bangalore/Bengaluru, offering after-school childcare for Sanju and support for her parents, who worked long hours, six days a week. Subsequently the family built a multi-generational home, with Sanju's grandparents in a ground-floor apartment, and Sanju and her parents in a two-bedroom duplex above. Sanju recalls the transformative effect the new arrangements had on her life at that time.
Creatively minded and encouraged by her parents, Sanju became increasingly aware of the inequitable housing situation in the city. It motivated her to study architecture in the UK at Sheffield University and drove her to find ways of living equitably and sustainably.
She took a bold approach to finding employment as she completed her masters. Sanju decided that she would rather not work than compromise her values. She targeted three specific firms and after making an appointment at each one, she physically handed over her portfolio, rather than emailing them. Award-winning firm Mikhail Riches offered her a first role there, and Sanju completed her RIBA Part 3 qualification, while expanding her professional experience.
In this episode of ProGRESS Sanju explains:
Mikhail Riches architects
RIBA Stirling Prize 2019 winner Goldsmith Street
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
Bangalore: India's high-growth tech hub
University of Sheffield School of Architecture
University of Westminster Master of Architecture
Season 1 Episode 2: Jamie Osborn of The MCS Foundation and the Green Party
Season 1 Episode 10: Duncan Goose, founder of Global Ethics and One Water
Season 1 Episode 1: Rae Wilkinson, sustainable garden and landscape designer
