AKHILA ARAKKAL
Portrait courtesy of Akhila Arakkal
Akhila’s work prior to her Master’s at Cornell has revolved around studying the distortion caused by the cultural and political systems in cities. Through her research of informal settlements, affordable housing projects and urban renewal programs, she analyzes the indelible imprint left behind by the spatial patterns of exclusion. After witnessing the effects of failed urban environments on society, she believes that the production of architecture needs to be democratized and the discipline needs to be reclaimed from agendas of the wealthy and powerful to serve civic needs.
Having worked on several conservation projects post her Bachelor’s program in Architecture, she has gained an understanding of power conflicts between history, politics, and ideologies that are critical to place-making. She received the Mellon Urbanism Fellowship in Spring ‘20 to explore topics of cultural theory, urbanism and media studies. She is currently a teaching associate at Cornell for the M.S.AAD program.
Akhila with Cornell Graduate students from Departments of City and Regional Planning, and Landscape Architecture for the Advanced Urban Design Workshop. - Courtesy of Akhila Arakkal
What motivated you to study Architecture?
I was a creative individual and always had an affinity towards art, but Architecture was never a lifelong dream or aspiration. I entered the field hesitantly, and my true passion for architecture only developed through the course of my studies and practice. Having lived in cities in India where ramshackle slums and dilapidated structures sat shoulder to shoulder with modern infrastructure, my interest gravitated towards understanding the complexities and contradictions of neighborhoods. I began to perceive the implications of architecture on communities and the agency of the architect through my research on adaptable public spaces and affordable housing in highly contested environments. I realized that Architecture was valued only by a very small fragment of the population- its role in impacting the well being of the society highly ignored.
My work soon tried to challenge this adversity and actively tried to address issues of community development, social equity and sustainability.
Akhila with teammates and professor Mitch Glass, after presenting their designs to the village trustees and planning board members in Lansing as a part of the Urban Design Workshop, Fall ‘19. - Courtesy of Akhila Arakkal.
Pursuing your Bachelor of Architecture degree in India, was there a moment where you felt out of place as a woman in the field?
Female students constituted a majority in Indian schools of Architecture, and now they are almost equally present in architectural practice. However, I do not think our voices were heard equally in the professional sphere. Having worked as a project architect, I spent equal time at construction sites, supervising teams, and contributing to responsibilities as much as my male counterparts. Yet it was difficult to be acknowledged as a women architect in a leadership role. Frequent occurrences of disparity were disheartening to witness, but the inspiration from the immense body of work by many fiercely passionate female architects helped me persevere in the field.
Biases in the workplace have certainly been normalized for way too long and this has restricted the formation of a more diverse, inclusive profession.
Akhila’s Project titled ‘Productive Commons’, Fall ‘19. Professor Tao Dufour. - Courtesy of Akhila Arakkal.
Akhila’s collaborative project titled ‘Que Cera’ in Summer ‘19 with team members Olivia C, Dora Lo, Krishna P at Cornell University. - Courtesy of Akhila Arakkal.
Transitioning from India to gain your Masters in Architecture from Cornell University, inequalities between different class neighborhoods are easily identifiable. How do you think a change in the architectural curriculum can lessen these inequalities?
A valid question needs to be raised in architectural education to analyze if our designs are responsive and accessible to diverse groups of people. Engagement with communities that we design for should be an integral part of design courses. Events and activities within college campuses, voices of students from underrepresented societal groups, it all matters as the problem of injustice and discrimination is ingrained into the system. The pedagogy should certainly work towards recognizing the history of issues of race, ethnicity, and environmental justice so that students are better equipped to understand and address these problems when they graduate. As a teaching associate now at Cornell I certainly aim to help instill in students the capability to analyze the impact of their design on underrepresented minorities.
It is important that matters of existing and newly emerging national, religious, and ethnic conflicts and their relation to urban space are the focus of courses in the curriculum. Minority communities need better access to public spaces, affordable housing, and education, and as designers, we need to facilitate this need from the scale of individual buildings to the scale of urban developments.
Akhila with team members Olivia C, Dora Lo, Krishna P presenting their project ‘Que Cera’ at Cornell AAP NYC.
How do you plan on addressing injustices regarding ethnic conflicts and economic disparities within the built environment?
The built environment, designed and constructed by Architects can go beyond the intention of betterment of communities, it has the potential to challenge existing power and social structures. While capitalism and real estate have exploited architecture, I believe that an egalitarian approach is needed to change the system from the core.
As an immigrant who just graduated in this bearish economy, I have certainly struggled in finding opportunities in firms that align with my vision of doing good. So finding platforms to create change and address these issues is certainly a challenge. We need to join the conversation with developers and policymakers, and influence decisions of zoning, land development, and land-use, to create opportunities to address social injustice. Policies at the Urban scale have only furthered disparities and it is time that we, as faculty, students, and practitioners understand our responsibility in shaping the future of cities.
Our training transfers skills of mapping, presentation, communication and we need to use this to turn information into action. With the rising affordable housing crisis in cities, architects now more than ever need to work with the state to provide solutions. I believe that political awareness is as important as professional awareness and we need to tie in social concerns into architecture to create equitable spaces.
Akhila’s undergraduate Thesis Project titled ‘Interventions at a Train Station. - Courtesy of Akhila Arakkal.
