Our Founder

“Nature is low energy and cyclic: Everything comes from nature; Man only processes it- Nothing is originally manmade. Man processes and processes and…and …and.. processes to get the finest product possible! The more processed a product (more difficult to recycle), the more valuable it is for humans today !

So anything natural according to man is of no value ! Useless!? Nature doesn’t know processing ? In this scenario what could be low energy and cyclic ? Least processing!”

-Ar. Prof. Neelam Manjunath

An older woman with gray hair, wearing a beige shawl and dark clothing, is sitting at a desk signing a book with a pen. She has jewelry including a necklace, earrings, and a gold bracelet. There are cabinets with glass doors and trophies in the background.

Hello, I’m Ar. Prof.(Adjunct) Neelam Manjunath

‍ From the Founder’s desk

From my desk at Manasaram Architects, I often return to the memories that first drew me to building—watching how people actually live in their homes, how they improvise with what is available, how climate quietly shapes daily life. Manasaram grew out of a stubborn feeling that architecture in India could be both deeply modern and deeply local, and that materials like bamboo, earth, and stone are not relics of the past but companions for our future.

Over the years, this studio has become an extension of my own learning journey. I have been shaped as much by conversations with craftspeople on dusty sites as by meetings in boardrooms and classrooms. As Founder and Principal, I see my role as holding these worlds together: listening carefully, asking difficult questions about impact and fairness, and insisting that our projects support local skills, reduce environmental harm, and feel honest to the people who use them. If you are reading this as a client, collaborator, or curious visitor, I hope you will see in our work a thread of care for materials, for places, and for the many hands and stories that make architecture possible.

Positions and Committees

  • Proprietress and Principal, Manasaram Architects,1991-

  • CEO, Founder and Chairperson, CGBMT-School of Simple Living, 2004-;

  • Advisor, Sustainability and Bamboo Affairs, Adjunct Professor, DEI (Deemed Univ), Dayalbagh, Agra, 2013- ;

  • World Bamboo Ambassador, WBO, 2018-;

  • Advisor, Karnataka State Bamboo Mission, 2019-.

  • Key Expert, Bamboo Construction Task Force, INBAR, 2019-

  • Member, Sub-Working Group on Bamboo Construction, Niti Ayog,

  • 2022 C40 Women4Climate Bengaluru COHORT, 2022

  • Member, BIS-CED, GOI 2023

  • Expert Member, WBO Construction Working Group Member, 2025

  • Governing Council Member, WICCI Karnataka Architecture Council, 2025

  • on Jury panels Design competions for COA, Glitz, WADE, CGBMT etc

  • WBO Internation Technical Committee member since 2015

My Approach

My approach to architecture is to design “a human within nature”: simple, climate‑responsive buildings made from intelligent natural materials and systems that serve both people and ecology. I approach architecture as a balance of people, place, and material. My work begins with the climate, the site, and the life that the space needs to support, and then grows into something that is both practical and quietly beautiful.

Warm, Natural, Economic, and Resilient

My buildings are often experienced as warm, natural, economic, and resilient. I like materials such as bamboo, mud, stone, and wood to remain visible in the structure, ceilings, and furniture, so spaces feel tactile and alive rather than polished and distant. At the same time, every project is carefully detailed for efficiency, using climate-responsive design and tested construction systems to reduce costs over the life of the building. Resilience, for me, means these environments stay comfortable, durable, and adaptable as climate and needs change, without losing their quiet sense of calm.

Experimental, contextual forms-Realtime labs

I conceive each building as a prototype or “laboratory”: for various functions and scale- that test new materials, joinery and structural systems, etc. My forms are often fluid and organic, inspired by natural forms, structural logic, and services as cyclic systems in nature, responding to site, functionality, material, services, vegetation, and use, while remaining modest in scale and rooted in local craft and practices.  I believe in “Research for active use for society” rather than academic theses and lab experiments.

Earthy materials, climate‑responsive envelopes

My buildings typically are a medley of local natural materials like stone, bamboo, mud, lime plasters, fibers, wood, and large ventilated openings to create naturally cool, day-lit interiors with minimal mechanical dependence. They are compulsorily airy, daylit, and naturally ventilated, with verandahs, courts, and shaded transitions that make the spaces thermally comfortable and pleasant to use most of the year and reduce dependence on air‑conditioning and artificial lighting, thereby reducing recurring energy requirements.