Architecture is "a tool that should respond and adapt to its context... (It is) an adaptable component of society and has represented it for centuries... It has the capacity to influence it,” fresh architecture graduate and winner of the gold medal for overall academic performance, Surat-based Yohan Wadia told Parsiana on March 4, 2020. He said that architecture is a means of expressing the aspirations of people. "It is like a puzzle you are solving... what will the people inhabiting your built spaces want?... You have to constantly keep that in mind.” An alumnus of the Delhi Public School, Surat, and Faculty of Architecture, Sarvajanik College of Engineering and Technology of the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Wadia was conferred the medal at the University’s 51st convocation ceremony held on February 26.
Yohan Wadia, inset and above, center: receiving a gold medal from
the office bearers of Veer Narmad South Gujarat University
The 23-year-old underwent his internship as part of his curriculum at Design Worldwide Partnerships, Vietnam in 2018. "I wanted to work on hospitality projects and theirs is among the more well known international firms,” he stated. Currently working in the firm his architect parents Sarosh and Azmi established in 1991, Yohan informed us that they are implementing two projects for the Surat Parsi Panchayat: an upcoming community hall on the grounds of the Enti ni Dharamshalla and a block of 16 one bedroom-kitchen flats in Shahpore opposite the Nariman Home (infirmary). "He has a keen interest in data driven design principles and a concern for the social and emotional effects of design on society,” wrote Azmi in a note to Parsiana.
"There is lack of awareness among people about how the diamond (cutting and polishing) industry has been operating since the past six decades in Surat,” said Yohan. To this end, he has suo motu submitted his designs for Anantya, a "diamond interpretation center,” as part of Surat’s upcoming Diamond Bourse, to the Surat Municipal Corporation. His designs were published in the October 2019 issue of the Journal of The Indian Institute of Architects.
Yohan intends to pursue a master’s degree in architecture later this year. "Probably in USA or Germany... I will know soon,” he mentioned.