vaishnavi chandra kumar
At Columbia GSAPP, she developed the concept of Spatial Alter Egos—spaces understood not as singular entities but as repositories of overlapping personalities. Alongside this theoretical inquiry, her work is deeply invested in the material life of architecture and its climate impact, exploring how construction practices, material innovation, and design decisions shape collective futures.
Her research extends across writing, drawing, and teaching. In spring 2025, she co-taught a design studio at GSAPP with Markus Miessen, exploring social and spatial assembly through urban micro-infrastructures. She was a co-creator of rAADio Season 4: a speculative audio project that explores
Her undergraduate thesis, Set in Stone, was exhibited at the Kurula Varkey Design Forum 2021, hosted by the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from R V College of Architecture in Bangalore, India, and a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia GSAPP.
Her practice remains deliberately in flux, open to new negotiations, as she continues to refine a body of work attentive to cultural memory, material with a core focus on addressing the carbon crisis through material innovation and frame-working sustainable practices.
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning & Preservation, New York, USMaster of Science in Advanced Architectural Design | May 2023 - May 2024
R.V. College of Architecture, Bangalore, IndiaBachelor of Architecture | August 2015 - August 2020
Email cvaishnavi.work@gmail.com
Instagram @vaishnaviccc
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/vaishnavi-chandra-kumar
Studio Fierro Architecture PLLC , New York, USA
Researcher and Architectural Designer | September 2024 - Present
CANY Architecture & Engineering DPC, New York, USAAssistant Project Manager | April 2025 - Present
Studio A+M Architects, New Jersey, USAArchitectural Designer | October 2024 - April 2025
Columbia GSAPP, New York, USAAdjunct Assistant Professor | Jan 2025 - May 2025
Columbia GSAPP, New York, USAAssociate Faculty II | June 2024 - August 2024
CollectiveProject, Bangalore, IndiaProject Architect | March 2021 - April 2023
LA, Bangalore, IndiaGraphic Designer | September 2020 - February 2021
Mindspace Architects, Bangalore, IndiaArchitectural Intern | July 2019 - December 2019
Invited Jury at NJIT Hillier College of Architecture and Design (2025)
Architecture II Final Review
GSAPP Merit Based Scholarship (2023)Highest level of academic achievements in the summer semester
Kurula Varkey Design Forum — Shortlisted Dissertation Project (2021)Student panelist, “To Build or Not to Build,” hosted by CEPT University
Mango Thesis Awards — Top 20 Special Mention (2021)
Short-listed dissertation project for the international architectural thesis award
100 Untold Stories — Publication & Curation Contributor (2020)
Curation of the works of street photographers from across the world
Digital publication : Street Photography India
RTF Photography Competition — Winner (2020)
Sub Category: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication