Balvinder Saini

Beginning with her childhood, Balvinder Saini describes how that period markedly made her feel protected and happy while admitting how a lack of exposure and over-protection could have dimmed her confidence levels at a younger age. She was the youngest of five siblings. Deciding early, factors that led her to choose architecture include her pursuit of a professional degree, nurturing her interest in sketching, and familiarity provided by her architect brother-in-law. Knowing her parents were apprehensive about her studying outside Chandigarh, the Chandigarh College of Architecture (CCA) became her obvious preference. She graduated in 1977 with honors, and was among seven girls in a class of twenty-four. Subsequently, as soon as she got a job, her marriage was fixed to an Army official. She describes the following five years as traumatic, with having to simultaneously adjust to her new job, her new marriage, and as a new daughter-in-law. She was made to resign by her in-laws, after being selected through the competitive Punjab Public Service Commission open examination. After having a child, she took a break for the next two years. 
Luckily, with the support of her parents and her husband, she continued to work till she retired as Chief Architect in 2012, putting in 31 years of service. She explains the hierarchy in her department and the roles involved across structures. She also notes the various advantages the government role provided her including how it offered her projects of varying magnitude. In a specific incident, she recalls how for a time-bound project commissioned by the Chief Minister, they were given only two days to provide a new concept. After having visited many sites across the width of Punjab on a hectic schedule, she reached her team’s location the final night and made the presentation the next morning. She remembers how they celebrated their positive results and how she distinctly misses such career moments. In connection to a slum rehabilitation project, she pursued a postgraduate diploma in land management and formal settlement regularisation in 2011. She had also participated in an archival project since. In her retirement years, she refrains from active practice and only participates as a subject expert in colleges. She much rather prefers to catch up on her reading and travelling. 

While focusing on her early impressions of architecture, she recalls how Chandigarh was an open, clean and safe space in her growing years. She remembers sleeping in the courtyard of her house and playing in the streets as a routine. She studied at the Carmel Convent School, a school run by nuns, and recalls how as little unconfident girls, they were terrified of the strict teachers. She was acquainted with the concept of architecture through her various friend’s relatives and brothers-in-law, noting how relatively unknown it was at the time. When she finalised her career decision, her parents’ primary concern was whether the degree would secure her a job. Her brother-in-law provided the introduction to the field she and her parents sought. 
When the family moved to Chandigarh, she notes how the green city grew on her. She loved visiting the avenues, and the lake and felt at peace with the place. Until the age of 11, she grew up in many places due to her father’s frequent work postings as a civil services employee. She notes how it was rather the environment and not the buildings that she could relate to as a child.  She and her family grew up with necessary possessions only, and she played with the dolls that her sister used to make for them, which she still treasures. She would assist in the crafts activities at home with self-sourced resources. This habit has stuck to her till this day as she loves making architectural models. She also recalls how  she would go on rides with her brother-in-law to various places as she was interested in travelling and sketching anything available to her.

Going through her college years, she remembers learning from great artists and being taken for practical experiences. She mocks how some of the theory lessons may have been lost on her, but how she  enjoyed a particular project for which they had to design a milk bar. She made a hyperbolic-parabolic model structure and finished it by knitting with wool. She fondly recalls  how the principal enquired about  who had made it, having previously underestimated her capabilities. For her thesis, she modelled a public library with green landscape interiors. Furthermore, in her undergraduate class discussions, she rarely stood out to participate, which she blames on her then submissive personality. In contrast, during her postgraduate diploma classes discussions, all perspectives were encouraged and none were dismissed which was an eye-opener for her. When such opportunities allowed her to explore alternative solutions to a problem, she became more vocal. She carried this ideal forward when she assumed a senior role at work, ensuring that she uplifted and credited her team’s efforts. 
Speaking of the women in her architecture classes, she recalls how they were always known to be sincere and hardworking. On their involvement in her department, she notes how she was only the second woman ever to become Chief Architect. She talks of the unfair view in which the women employees were held, as they were never involved on-site. It was only when she took the initiative to work on-site herself that she was allowed to participate more on that aspect,  which invariably added to the awkward (if few) interactions with her seniors. Talking about her college campus, she shares fond memories of how she loved the courtyard, canteen, and studio due to its environment and less because of its space. She notes how its human-scale size and good detailing  added more value to it. She goes on to realise how the space has transformed since then, and expanded on her fondest project interactions.

Speaking of her work at the Chandigarh Administration, she mentions how she joined the office in 1981 and went on deputation in 1989, explaining what it meant to be deputised. She goes on to explain her posting and the kind of work she was involved in. She also notes how it was only later when the Chandigarh Capitol Complex was given the UNESCO heritage status that architects were taken seriously. She goes on to explain the work ethic, hierarchical interactions, and projects she was engaged in while on deputation. On the rapport she shared with her team, she admits that she was lucky, unlike in her department where her gender made people conscious. She goes on to explain the various roles, the environment, and the career growth each role provided her . She notes how the then Chief Minister was instrumental in bringing and implementing a multitude of infrastructure projects and their social impact. 
Expanding on the many lived experiences in her work and design, she points to specific examples. She goes into depth about the basic workflow, ethics, and approach, including the many collaborations (including with architect Renu Saigal), and insights she and her team adopted in working through the projects. In explaining how she approached a project, she also brings attention to how the bureaucracy system affected her work, with specific instances from her experiences. Specifically taking into account the projects initiated in the Chandigarh administration, , she describes the process, design thought, functionality, and material choices she made and why.. In acknowledging the changes that needed to be brought into the system – she details how she negotiated those changes with stakeholders in particular connection to the judicial complex and college projects. 

In response to a question on public participation, Balvinder Saini talks about the system and process involved in such engagements. She talks about how she navigated stakeholder negotiations giving the example of when she convinced villagers to use sanitary bathrooms they hadn’t used their whole lives. Further dwelling on the project in the village, she talks about the projects she employed a change of aesthetics on. 
Moving on to the documentation work she undertook at the office in Chandigarh, she talks about the preservation efforts of archiving the original drawings and documents. She talks about interesting works she came across including sketches of Corbusier. Apart from being Chief Architect, she talks about other roles she occupied including being part of the Sexual Harassment Committee at the office. At the national level, she engaged in several  conferences as part of  departmental activities. Moving on to her post graduation, she lays out the story behind her selection at the time she was a senior architect after repeatedly applying. Moreover, she explains her journey in participating toward a fellowship in land management and informal settlement regularisation in 2011 at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. 
Moving on to her relationship and interaction with the Council of Architecture (COA), she expands on the  time she spent being in the committee as a member from 2009 – 2010, while explaining her role and how the interactions evolved. On the recognition  her projects received and how they were viewed in the media, she mentions the acclaim and awards she received and her impressions of them. She talks about how the department working on the media covers the projects they worked on. On documentation efforts, she talks about the only time an exhibition was held at the Chandigarh Administration when works were organised for public view. Concluding on the associations and collaborations, she explains the extent to which consultants and specialists were called on for external support on projects with the Administration. 

Balvinder Saini highlights the different aspects and context of a notable project she worked on end-to-end as an Assistant Architect, where she goes into detail about the decisions she took concerning the project’s form and space. On the activities and functionalities of the project, she details the factors she had to weigh in while formulating its design. On the commemorative cubes which are placed in parks in Chandigarh, she talks about her work on that project. She notes how this project was one of her early achievements. Moreover, around the late 1990s, she worked on  a school project that was built in an octagonal shape and she describes the design decisions that went behind its culmination. The Education Department was the client that laid out the detailed requirements that they had to formulate according to by-laws. She recalls the incessant High Court meetings with the Building Committee on the state of the dilapidated buildings, along with the department she worked with on-site to complete them according to their requirements. She recalls how  some of the requirements changed as the  process evolved and its effects, along with the other factors involved. She explains the reasons why public institutions often fall short on their work, roughly due to changes in policies. Moving on to the decision-making process of the department, she talks about the open dynamics the department had with the Building Committee which kept communications easy. She talks about what consists of the Building Committee and what went into material choices. In concluding on the evolution of her design approach and thinking, she talks about the influence that Chandigarh architecture has had on her.

Dwelling on her relationship with Ar. Eulie Chowdhury (the first woman Chief Architect in the Punjab Administration) and her work approach and detailing, she acknowledges she learned many lessons under her guidance since joining her as an Assistant Architect. She learned more from observing her drawings rather than from direct interactions as she was relatively unapproachable. In the few interactions she did have, including an interview she held, she describes the environment and the observations she made. She then expressed a desire for senior architects to be more approachable to their teams, as she later attempted to be during her tenure. She became more attentive to the needs of young women recruits due to a regrettable past experience she describes, from when she first joined. 
 
Talking about the many special projects she took up, she goes into detail about the competition, concept, and engagements involved. On adapting to the technological advancements, she remembers her first interactions with working with computers at the Punjab Administration. She lists how the efficiency of standardisation across time-bound government projects proved itself, and in the case of whether it was a standardisation of detail or of form/experience of spaces. Moreover, while  drawing from her observations as a child in the spaces she had lived and experienced,she details the alterations she has made to standard designs. She talks further about the details that make her projects more universally accessible. In conclusion, she speaks of how integral the by-laws are with government buildings, her approach to conservation, and the coordinated efforts of the sanctioning and making department.

By the time she became Chief Architect, she felt like all aspects (personal and professional) of her life had fallen into place. She took on a more managerial role in the “outside” affairs at home since their domestic worker fulfilled the family’s basic “inside” needs, and since her husband was constantly out of town due to work. As a working mother, she explains having felt guilty about leaving her children behind, making sure to compensate by involving herself in their after-school activities (highlighting Chandigarh’s sports facilities). She questions the source of these emotions she suffered, whether it was society or biologically innate, expanding a bit more on her relationship with her children growing up. On striking a work-life balance, she explains the childcare support available at work and how women employees’ personal needs were met, especially under changing leaderships. Expanding on it, she brings the example of an inconvenient experience at work. She talks about her relationship with women architects of the time and her engagements with the work they have put out, expanding on her time spent observing and interacting with fellow architects and seeing women practitioners’ plight. She believes that the architects from her time seemed to be unusually multi-talented while describing the various facets these practitioners involved themselves in. 
Going back to the significance of the much-awaited UNESCO world heritage status for the Capitol Complex designed by the architect Le Corbusier, she details negotiating preservation with indifferent stakeholders prior to receiving its status. Extending on her experience with conservation efforts, she points to the frugality of regional committees for policy-making. In the face of recent architectural developments, she extends her observations on the scenario in Punjab, and Haryana and their impact on Chandigarh. She believes that in times of exceeding consumerism, vernacular or traditional architects should be especially encouraged. Concluding on her involvements with educational institutions, consultancies, she recounts  experiences with the architecture students from her alma mater, CCA. She closes with her observations of the COVID-19 pandemic years and her perception of receiving recognition as a woman architect.