Alok Shetty: From Hospital to Modular Schools

Architect Alok Shetty designed a hospital at 20. He is now building modular schools

Alok Shetty | 27
Principal architect and founder, Bhumiputra Architecture
CATEGORY: DESIGN

Alok Shetty designed a multi-specialty hospital at just 20, even while studying architecture in RV College, Bangalore. He is also the youngest recipient of the Lucille Smyser award for Design Excellence at Columbia University for his design of the Black Box Theatre -an idea that transforms shipping containers into auditoriums.

Raghava KK, artist-thinker-technologist based in New York, says, “The amazing thing about Alok’s work is his ability to hide the tremendous thought, engineering and design effort he has put into something to make it look magically simple. This complex-simplicity is also reflected in his personality. For me, that is a sign of mastery and maturity.”

In 2011, Shetty founded his design firm Bhumiputra. He is currently working on the design and construction of low-cost modular schools and hospitals in Uttarakhand. Shetty has also been chosen to design a state-of-the-art Olympic Training Academy for the Jindal group in Vijayanagar. He has been featured in National Geographic magazine as “one of India’s future leaders”.