It’s not common for recent architecture graduates in India to set up shop outside major metropolitan areas. Yet it’s exactly what Nipun Prabhakar did in 2021 when he founded Dhammada Collective in the quiet city of Bhopal; Nilesh Suman and Simran Channa joined him over the next two years to complete the core team of this small design and research group. ‘Access to design is lacking in Tier-2 and -3 cities and rural areas,’ explains Prabhakar. ‘We wanted to focus on these regions with the aim of providing an alternative to rapid, often unsustainable growth.’
