Chitralekha Ranawat – Redefining Design with Roots, Resilience, and Vision
“Afterall, tomorrow is another day – Gone with the wind”, a quote that inspires artist Chitralekha Ranawat. She is an Architect and Urban Designer, the Founder and principal designer of Chitralekha Ranawat Studio, with experience of 5 years. Chitralekha believes that art defines life, she added “It is something that inspires and resonates within us through sensory experiences. My affinity towards art and culture has shaped my design philosophy. In turn, respect towards art accorded with natural and cultural dimensions has manifested in the design processes. Just like art, the spaces are open to interpretations.” This article tells about her artistic journey, her vision for the future, and her advice.
Introduction:
Chitralekha Ranawat is an architect and urban designer. She owns an architecture, interior, and urban design practice in Udaipur, which is an interdisciplinary studio that tends to do a little bit of everything. She also creates artwork based on Rajasthan’s tangible heritage, inspired by her travels, in the form of art prints and postcards.
She is also the design head of a lifestyle and furnitue brand called Lavern which is a startup that intends to promote local art and crafts but with a modern tweak in designs.
Chitraleka is also an art and design enthusiast. She says, "I believe growing up near a city as picturesque as Udaipur has turned me into an aesthete." Apart from its art, heritage, culture, and glorious history, the way it is situated amidst nature inspires her to see built forms by nature. As a farmgirl who has spent her entire childhood amidst forest and Aravalis, she has grown to appreciate the beauty of nature and in turn, it has inspired her design philosophy.
As a master of urban design, her work initially was to focus on the city’s public spaces and resolve the issues through design interventions. She has worked for the Bangalore Development Authority and has assisted in the drafting of the Bangalore Master Plan 2021. Hence, her domain was mostly public space design. However, her inclination towards art and design landed her a job at Siddhartha Das Studio, Delhi which mainly focuses on art-based projects. It presented her with a good opportunity to still work with art centers, museums, and galleries. Chitralekha's focus shifted more towards experience-based designs. She added, “It made me realize how a parameter as simple as color, lighting, or texture can stimulate sensory experiences and affect our moods.” During her time at the studio, she assisted in the design of Interpretation centers for Lingaraj and Puri temples. She was also a part of the JD Centre of Art, which was an initiative by Mr. Siddhartha Das, Nandita Das, and Padma Bhushan Awardee Mr. Jatin Das to promote local art and crafts of Odisha. It was her time in Bhubaneswar, with Mr. Siddhartha and Jatin Das that made her realise the significance of local art and crafts. She says “It was a beautiful process of witnessing the journey of local artisans and craftsmen, of creating masterpieces in the most dexterous and skillful manner. It made me realize the importance of going back to our roots, understanding the local art, craft, and culture, and taking pride in it”.
After gaining and learning from such prominent figures, she goes back to her hometown and starts her practice. She moved back to her childhood home, an ancestral property called Haveli Zorawar which shares its boundary with a reserved forest. Chitralekha added “My husband and I started our very first forest homestay in 2024. Through this, we intend to encourage co-living with nature and local tribesmen in turn learning and continuing the local practices in an effort towards sustainability.”
Challenges and Achievements:
To be in a field that is generally male-dominated Chitralekha faced challenges, she says “As the architecture and construction industry is mainly male-dominated, it is sometimes difficult to be assertive and authoritative without offending colleagues or sounding arrogant”. Generally, in small cities, men are often not used to taking orders from a woman, and this makes her work more difficult. However, due to Chitralekha’s optimistic nature and her values, she adds "It is also important to be true to your work as a designer and an artist and sometimes defend it if need be. One must always be respectful towards their environment be it natural or built. And to always appreciate the beauty in the smallest of wonders of nature. I realized this more after meeting my husband who is a wildlife and nature enthusiast". These values help her overcome the hurdles in her career path and move forward, and she added: “Good teamwork can be surely achieved by being firm, decisive and comprehensive at all times, with a polite manner.”
Chitralekha's achievements would be working at JD Center of Arts, where she met different professionals, she says “Working with the most talented group of people from different backgrounds at JD Centre of Art. Working with such well-experienced and traveled colleagues provided a wider perspective and made me understand the nuances of different design practices.” She strives to incorporate all her experiences to further her practice of design, art, and hospitality.
Personal Insights:
Chitralekha’s motivation to keep going is her family, her parents have taught her to be resilient and optimistic in the hardest of times. She added, “We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward.” Her parents and her husband are her major source of motivation for whom she wants to be always a better version of herself. She says “Their immense faith in me encourages me to always move forward.”
Chitralekha has been immensely blessed with the most caring and loving family and in-laws. She added “Being a woman professional, there are times when we need to prioritize one thing over the other, but I believe communication is the most important key to having a successful life on both professional and personal fronts. Also, with work stress and responsibilities, it is crucial to take some time off for yourself in some way or the other.”
Impact and Vision:
Currently, Chitralekha is working on the ‘Casa de Lago’, the design of a boutique stay, with a Mediterranean theme but seeking inspiration from Rajasthan’s vernacular architecture. As Udaipur is a tourist place, she often gets hospitality projects. Talking about her latest project she says “It is a beautiful site with natural contours where I intend to conserve the topography of the land and develop the resort in steps and levels. I further plan to curate the spaces based on alluring colors found in the cities of Rajasthan. For instance pink from Jaipur, blue from Jodhpur, off-white from Udaipur, and many more for different spaces.”
As the design head of Lavern, she intends to engage more with local artisans of Rajasthan to showcase their skills through the final products with a modern tweak and further promote them on a national and global scale.
As the comanager of her ancestral property which includes farm and forest land, and homestay. She feels responsible for preserving the topography and wilderness of the place to further retain its character. Also encouraging the employment of local tribesmen and continuing the local practices.
Chitralekha aims to get more projects where she could showcase local art and crafts of Rajasthan. Not just design, but through her work in hospitality it would be great to promote local practices and skills.
Conclusion:
Chitralekha advises young women to be hopeful and keep the faith, she added “I see a lot of young women these days who are immensely talented, creative, and confident. It is great to see them inclining towards entrepreneurship. I would highly advise them to be always hopeful and keep faith in their dreams. It is the possibility of dreams coming true that inspires us to live, hope, and work harder.”
