Show Them How To Catch The Fish
In this picture, Brinda Somaya stands, dressed in traditional Indian clothing and surrounded by like-minded women, on a construction site. With her eyes on the future, she is guiding her companions towards transforming the male-dominated architectural world into a gender-neutral profession. ‘I think it is not easy for anyone, be it a man or a woman. If it comes to challenges of being a woman in a fairly male-dominated profession in the present day, I feel that women are not isolated anymore, at least not in the way my contemporaries and I were.’ [1] She is part of this transformation, and forms her agency by paving the way for those who follow, less by walking it herself. She creates a network woven from empathy and the desire to sustainably change the occupational world of women.
For Somaya, ‘life is not a straight line, it moves up and down. With every difficulty comes an opportunity.’[2] This approach to life is part of her success. In 2000, she helped to rebuild an entire village after an earthquake in Mumbai. She describes the role of the architect as a connector, stating: ‘You have to show them how to catch the fish, not give them the fish.’ [8] She listens to local residents, understanding their needs and showing how to implement them on their own. Her father raised her with this philosophy; for Somaya, it is important to listen to the environment and to hear the surrounding people, not only in terms of architecture, but life in general.
The Indian architect was nine months pregnant, still carrying around concrete bags on a construction site, when she realised that countless women around her suffered with her. Together they had to change something, not only for themselves, but for future generations. Growing up without a role model, she became one herself.
An emphatic, selfless woman with an architecture career; a daughter; a wife; a mother and a grandmother. In the late 1970s, it was revolutionary for a 20-year-old woman to be an architect, given that neither her father, brother nor husband practiced it. She acquired the profession on her own, without the help of her male relatives. Somaya contradicts the mindset of a woman dependent on a man.
She founded her first architecture studio with her sister, a fellow architect, in a small hut in her garden, and later had an architecture practice with her daughter. When working, she was always surrounded by women. While on the board of the International Archive of Women in Architecture, she chaired a conference, and organised a seminal exhibition in Mumbai with a focus on South Asia, intending to bring female artists visibility and audibility.
Born to a large family in India in 1949, her well-educated parents offered Somaya the opportunity to travel to rural parts of India. Later, she integrated this learned knowledge into her work, using the locally available resources and techniques while reflecting the Indian ethos. Somaya’s designs are considered both traditional and sustainable. In 1966, she won a prestigious American Field Service International Scholarship to study in the United States, becoming one of the first non-white students ever admitted to the North Carolina school. Somaya is aware that she grew up privileged, yet she clarifies that origin alone does not guarantee a world-changing career: it is one’s attitude towards life that decides whether one succeeds. Architects are part of society: they work for society, and so they have to work with society, as it is a people-centred profession. Brinda Somaya has created a voice that is heard, not only for herself but for generations to follow.
Image Credits: Ruturaj Parikh and Nadini Somaya Sampat (Eds.) Brinda Somaya: Works & Continuities, An Architectural Monograph, Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing, 2018.
1. Somaya, Brinda. Interview. “FutureArc Interview: 2nd Quarter 2019.” By Bhawna Jaimini. FuturArc. 15 May 2019. (Accessed 20 July 2022) Link.
2. Havells India. Pioneers of the Smart World – with Lipika Sud | Brinda Somaya. YouTube. (Accessed 20 July 2022) Link.
3. Havells India. Pioneers of the Smart World – with Lipika Sud | Brinda Somaya. YouTube. (Accessed 20 July 2022) Link.
