(“Text as submitted by architect”)
Manit Rastogi
Sonali Rastogi
Ar. Aarushi Juneja
Practice Ideology
Morphogenesis is India’s leading architecture and urban design practice, with offices in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and New Delhi. The firm was set up by Sonali and Manit Rastogi in 1996 with a vision of defining sustainable architecture for contemporary India.
Morphogenesis has been consistently ranked among the Top 100 Architectural Design Firms Worldwide by Building Design Magazine, UK, in WA100. The practice is the recipient of over 120 awards and has been featured in over 850 publications, both international and national. Sonali and Manit Rastogi have also been awarded Laureates of the Singapore Institute of Architects Getz Award for Emergent Architecture in Asia, Singapore, which seeks to bring recognition to Asian architects, who through their vision and commitment have made a significant contribution to shaping the changing landscape of Asia. The firm’s work has also been published in a monograph by Images Publishing, Australia, under their world-renowned Master Architect Series—a first for an Indian firm.
Their design approach has often been inspired by the vast repository of historical building knowledge and the strong arts and crafts traditions of the region. They understand that they are often working in an environment with limited resources, and therefore, they deploy passive strategies by responding to the local climate and ecology while addressing comfort, safety, and liveability parameters. This has conservatively resulted in:
Over 9 million sq. m. of built environment benefiting over 5,60,000 inhabitants
Freshwater saved: 22 billion litres
Energy saved: 4.1 million kW/hr
Reduction in CO2 emissions: 4.2 billion kg
Gross area of sustainable buildings completed: 50,000,000 sq. ft.
They believe that each project must establish itself as a benchmark for innovative design by thinking systemically about sustainability. Architecturally, they celebrate identity and diversity versus visual homogeneity. Their belief in environmental design has resulted in the formulation of Morphogenesis’ copyrighted design process, S.O.U.L.©2019, an acronym for:
Sustainable: net zero energy, water, and waste to landfills
Optimised: carbon neutrality and use of local resources
Unique: tradition, heritage, and culture
Liveable: resilient communities
These parameters define the inquiry process that shapes their architecture. They measure the success of their projects by using design metrics before, during, and after a project’s completion. They believe it is this inclusive nature of design, focusing on passive and low-energy architecture, that will define emergent architecture in India.
