🎙️ EP 116: Walking 2500 KM to Redesign India: Gita Balakrishnan on Why Architecture Needs a Revolution
What drives someone to walk 1,700 kilometers across India — not for fame, not for fortune, but for architecture?
In this powerful episode of The CODE, host Rishabh Aggarwal sits down with Gita Balakrishnan, architect, educator, mentor, and founder of Ethos, ACEDGE, and the unforgettable movement Walk for Arcause. Together, they explore one of the boldest questions of our time:
Is Indian architecture broken — and can it be healed?
🔥 From her early days as a young architect to mentoring thousands of students and literally walking across India to reconnect design with people, Gita shares insights that will shake up everything you think you know about architecture, education, and social responsibility.
We cover:
The shocking disconnect between architects and the people they’re supposed to serve
Why our cities are turning into concrete chaos — and who’s really to blame
Whether architecture has become a playground for the privileged
Her wildest and most humbling moments on the road across India
Why every architecture student should live in a village
The biggest lie in architecture education today
The problem with starchitect culture, “glass buildings,” and why rural India may hold the answers to our future
🎯 Plus: Rapid fire, “This or That,” design confessions, controversial hot takes — and Gita’s unfiltered advice for young architects, civil engineers, and designers trying to find their way in a world full of noise.
🔚 And don’t miss her final mic-drop moment:
“The future of Indian architecture is ______.”
If you care about design, people, the planet — or just want to know how one person can create real change — this is the episode you cannot miss.