The protagonist and Founder of the Festival of Places is a Conservation architect from School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi (1999). The Festival is her dream to motivate and empower people to reimagine, reclaim, revitalize and reconnect with public spaces around them. She successfully directed the widely appreciated first Festival of Places organized in 2017 which received patronage from UNESCO New Delhi Office, UN-Habitat, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Global Infrastructure Basel (GIB) Foundation, World Resources Institute (WRI) India and Centre for Community Knowledge (CCK) Ambedkar University Delhi. Urvashi has a keen interest in interdisciplinary approaches towards study of the built environment and community engagement. As an architect and heritage conservation expert, she has 21 years of experience working extensively across several historic cities and towns in specialized areas of heritage conservation and management. She heads her practice Srijan Sanrakshan and is the founder of Centre for Advancement of Traditional Building Technology and Skills (CATTS), a not-for-profit organization, working in the heritage domain for the last 19 years. She carries forward her passion for promoting people led heritage conservation at the grassroots as part of CATTS.

Is a strategic urban planner with a strong focus on sustainability, integrated planning, policy and governance. Her experience spans over 20 years in consulting, research, coordination, and management of government and private sector projects, including urban strategies, holistic master plans, residential and mixed-use township developments, placemaking strategies, multidimensional research and technical feasibility studies. She holds PhD in the field of sustainable principles and practices in master planning and has worked across India, Singapore, and the Middle East. As a core team member of the Festival of Places, she endeavors to bring forth cognizance of human experiences of places for co-creation of a more resilient and sustainable urban realm

Is our on board Graphic Designer and Social Media Strategist for the Festival of Places 2020. She is a learner, an architect and a heritage enthusiast. After having completed Bachelor’s in Architecture from Sushant School of Art and Architecture Gurgaon, she was often intrigued by the narratives in exploring the unexplored heritage and culture. Conserving and protecting the same, and sharing it with others, gives her immense satisfaction and strength.

Currently pursuing her Masters in Architectural History and Theory from CEPT, Ahmedabad is the on-board Researcher and Content Writer for the Festival of Places 2020. Her interest lies in writing about the built environment, to bring it closer to its users and make them aware of its history. As a keen traveller, she aspires to bridge the gap between the on-ground reality and the written theory in architectural history education by promoting interdisciplinary approaches.

Is an architect and an urban regeneration expert having over 20 years of experience both as a practitioner and as an academician. As a core team member of Festival of Places, she brings to the table her skills and expertise in the fields of Urban Ecology, Urban conservation, Urban Renewal and Regeneration.

Is a conservation Architect and an architectural academician by profession. Her area of interest lies in documenting unprotected built tangible heritage and endangered intangible heritage, preservation and conservation of the historic structures as well as exploring new methods to bridge the gap between community and built heritage through community participatory approach.