An Architect With A Different Instinct

Archiipedia-Arti Sudhir Nair

As commerce in the digital media space is diversifying, more and more markets are developing social media space to create an atmosphere of more creativity, choice, and competition. Arti Sudhir Nair, a young and passionate architect, has made that space by establishing the social network – cum – online market space called Archiipedia.

Starting her professional career taking up turn-key interior designing projects, she soon began facing a number of issues with respect to networking in her industry, and with regular potential clients, all of which she saw would leave her scraping for time to devote to purely architectural ventures. Further, it seemed clear to her that there wasn’t any viable medium through which she could showcase her work and get clients by pure skill. Consequently, her frustrations led her to establish Archiipedia, where architects and interior designers can now put up content around their own professional work, advertise their services, and connect with other professionals and customers for collaborations and projects.

She Says, “My understanding was that customers today would like to be well informed and make informed decisions about where they spent their valuable money. Unfortunately, there were not enough resources to demystify their (the customers’) questions and help them make informed decisions.”

The transformative impact that her platform has had on the power dynamics of the industry, and the way the industry functions, has been clearly visible. That is even more visible; however, it is how her own passions and personality inevitably led her to establish Archiipedia. She grew up a passionate and bold person, with all the female role models in her life, from her mother to her teachers, instilling in her the idea that her being a girl should never have to come in the way of her achieving all that she wants. She hasn’t led the roadblocks inherent in her life to hinder her progress, either. This perhaps reflects her inclination to referring to Sudha Murty as her mentor; Arti has inherited the value of being humble and having a grounded sense of self from her.

She Says, “My father always taught me to believe in myself and my abilities. He always felt that I could do whatever I set my heart to. My mother, at the same time, took pride in her independence and creativity.”

Establishing and running this platform has been no piece of cake either. Even when her husband was always actively supportive of her ambitions, she still found repeatedly, that her life would often get in the way. Managing her profession with the duties of the household was always a challenge. Along her way, however, she met a number of professionals who would ubiquitously echo professional frustrations identical to hers, and that affirmation of her purpose kept her going.

She Says, “In my observation, the successful vendors spent a lot of valuable time networking to find customers instead of focusing on creativity and design. Most vendors also had the same problem. A lot of businesses failed to thrive for lack of time and resources to promote their services and products.”

Her endeavors seem to have definitely paid off. Her consistently enthusiastic perseverance has earned her the admiration of various professionals in the field. Additionally, she has also won the India excellence award for “Best online platform for architects, interior designers, professionals and vendors of building construction industry.”