Learning to Build by Learning to See: Kishori Dalwadi’s Design Story

“Determination to go on is the key to excellence and success.”

An experienced academic and architect, with over 25 years in interior design and architecture Kishori Dalwadi has led numerous initiatives in design education, blending innovative teaching approaches with practical industry expertise to shape the next generation of design professionals. Kishori started her career working with architect BalkrishnaDoshi. world-renowned Indian architect, urban planner, and educator, considered a pioneer of modernist architecture in India. She was associated as a research associate for the book authored by architect Yatin Pandya, who is an author, activist, academician, researcher, and practicing architect. & published a book titled “Elements of Space Making”. She has been an associate architect for the "interior renovation" work at the IIM campus in Ahmedabad during her professional career. She had been in the core team monitoring technical drawings for site execution for projects under Gujarat Tourism. She has taken part in projects at all levels, from large to small, using a holistic approach to design and its current evolution towards sustainability. 

Inclined towards academia, Dr. Kishori has always in touch with academia as a visiting faculty at many architectural institutes. She settled into academia with her current institute at UID(United world Institute of Design, Karnavati University), where she heads the Interior Design Department. 

Personal Insight: Learning to See Before Learning to Build

Experiences that shaped her early in her professional life, while working with the legendary architect Balkrishna Doshi, whose work demonstrated how architecture could be (to be) modern yet deeply human. These experiences shaped her understanding that design is not merely about aesthetics, but about ethics, context, and responsibility.

Kishori has worked across scales while creating landmark projects under Gujarat Tourism, from small, detail-driven interiors. Across all these experiences, sustainability, material consciousness, and human comfort remained at the centre of her design thinking, long before these ideas became mainstream.

Choosing Academia as a Space for Growth

While professional practice shaped her technical and conceptual grounding, academia offered Kishori something deeper: continuity, reflection, and purpose. She remained connected to teaching as a visiting faculty at several architectural institutes before committing fully to academia at Unitedworld Institute of Design, Karnavati University, where she now heads the Interior Design Department.

She has presented research papers at national and international conferences on material usability and well-being, authored articles for newspapers and design magazines, and mentored graduation projects across institutions. Motivating all students to participate in competitions, workshops, and interdisciplinary approaches has been a constant part of her teaching philosophy.

“I approach every role as a learner,” she says. Working simultaneously in practice and academia requires constant updating and not just of skills, but of perspectives. That openness to learning keeps her work relevant and alive.

Challenges: Rebuilding Through Education

One of the most challenging times of Kishori’s life was the loss of her husband. Grief arrived alongside responsibility, and she found reinforcing with hope personally and professionally, while raising two daughters. It was a period marked by emotional strain, uncertainty, and the need to re-evaluate priorities.

Rather than stepping down, she leaned into education. Learning, reflection, and academic inquiry became tools for rebuilding the process that reshaped her understanding and strengthened her belief that education is not just a profession, but a means of renewal. 

Later found expression in one of her most personal achievements of completing her Ph.D. at the age of fifty. She often shares this achievement with quiet humour “I could do my PhD at 50!” but beneath the laughter lies a powerful reminder that growth has no fixed timeline.

Achievements Rooted in Sensitivity

Among her many professional milestones, the IIM Ahmedabad renovation remains especially close to her heart. Working within an architectural iconic marvel required humility, with a lot of pause and understanding that sometimes good design means protecting what already exists rather than leaving a visible signature.

Her work has been recognised across academic and professional platforms. She has been invited as an expert speaker on Akashvani Gujarat (All India Radio), honoured with a Plaque of Honour at Indus University, and featured in The Times of India and Interior Exterior Magazine. 

Values That Guide Her Work

“One needs to ignore some existing facts to seek new ways of doing things,” she reflects, because innovation often requires questioning accepted truths. This philosophy informs her teaching and research, encouraging students to look beyond conventions and imagine solutions grounded in context, sustainability, and human needs.

In any situation her family stood by her and remains her emotional support. Their support allows her to manage multiple roles.

Impact and Vision: Rethinking Design Education

Currently, Kishori is a professor at Karnavati University. Also, engaged in interior architecture projects for a semi-government institute while actively conducting seminars and workshops on material awareness. These initiatives focus on environmentally responsible material choices, encouraging designers to consider long-term sustainability beyond short-term aesthetics.

She is also guiding research scholars exploring sustainability across urban and interior design scales. Her long-term vision advocates for a new model of design pedagogy one that integrates universal standards with sociocultural realities, supported by technology rather than dominated by it.

Words to Carry Forward

“Determination to go on is the key to excellence and success,” she says, a belief shaped by lived experience rather than theory.

To young women, her advice is simple yet grounded: keep your motivation high and continue exploring. Trust that unseen forces often guide you at the right moment toward the right path.

Kishori Dalwadi’s journey reminds us that “Design” is not only about creating spaces it is about shaping thought, resilience, and the courage to begin again.