Bimal Patel (architect)


Bimal Hasmukh Patel is an Indian architect, urban planner, and academic, based in Ahmedabad, India. With a career spanning over 35 years, he has made significant contributions to the fields of architecture, urban design, and urban planning through professional practice, academic leadership, and research in India. He served as the President of CEPT University, Ahmedabad, from July 2012 to January 2024, where he played a pivotal role in shaping architectural and planning education in India.
He is the Principal Architect and Managing Director of HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd., a multidisciplinary design, planning, and project management firm known for its work on major urban and institutional projects across India.
He is also the founder of the Environmental Planning Collaborative, a non-profit organization engaged in urban planning research and advocacy, with a focus on sustainable and inclusive urban development.
His research is focused on Land Use Planning, Real Estate Markets, Building Regulations, Land Management and Urban Planning History. He received the Padma Shri award for his contributions in the fields of Architecture and Planning in 2019.

Early life and education

Bimal Patel lives and practices architecture and city planning in Ahmedabad, India. He was educated at the St. Xavier's High School, Loyola Hall, Ahmedabad. Later he studied at School of Architecture, Center for Environmental Planning and Technology, CEPT, from 1978 to 1984. In 1981, he apprenticed with Frei Otto at the Institute for Lightweight Structures, Stuttgart, Germany.
After receiving his first professional degree in architecture from CEPT in 1984 and a year of work in Ahmedabad, Patel moved to Berkeley to study at the College of Environmental Design, CED. He graduated with M.Arch. and M.C.P. degrees in 1988 and a Ph.D. from the Department of City and Regional Planning in 1995. He worked closely with Prof. Allan Jacobs, Prof. Donlyn Lyndon, Prof. Manuel Castells and Prof. Mike Teitz at the CED and Prof. Richard Walker of the Geography Department. UC Berkeley and the openness of CED provided him with the opportunity and freedom for intellectual exploration beyond the confines of Architecture and City Planning.

Career

In 1990, Patel joined his father's practice in Ahmedabad. One of his first building design projects, a campus for The Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Ahmedabad, won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1992. Over the years he has built up a significant body of work ranging from single-family homes, to institutions, industrial buildings and urban redevelopment projects. Urban design projects, like the Kankaria Lake Development and the Sabarmati Riverfront, are the first of their kind in the country.
His significant and award-winning projects include the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, Ahmedabad Management Association, Bhuj Development Plan and Town Planning Schemes, C G Road Redevelopment, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Gujarat High Court, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad New Campus, Kankaria Lake, Sabarmati Riverfront and the Swarnim Sankul at Gandhinagar.
His work and his projects have been conferred with numerous awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements' Award of Excellence, World Architecture Award and the Prime Minister’s National Award for Excellence in Urban Planning and Design. He was bestowed with the Padma Shri award in 2019.
Patel has been the President of CEPT University in Ahmedabad from July 2012 to January 2024. CEPT University focuses on understanding, designing, planning, constructing, and managing human habitats. His work there involved academics as well as institutional leadership and development.

Significant projects

Architecture and Urban Design

  • Parliament House and Central Vista Transformation, Government of India, New Delhi, 2019 - Ongoing
  • Vishwanath Dham, Sri Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, Varanasi, 2018 - ongoing
  • Ministers’ Blocks and Secretariat Campus Development, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, 2014
  • Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, 2014
  • Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar, 2006 - ongoing
  • Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project, Detailed Design – 1998 - ongoing
  • Tata CGPL Township, Mundra, 2009
  • New Campus, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, 2000
  • Re-development of C.G. Road, Ahmedabad, 1995
  • The Gujarat High Court Building, Ahmedabad, 1992
  • The Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad, 1985

    Planning

  • Transformational Vision Plan for Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar - 2041
  • Redevelopment of Mumbai Eastern Waterfront, MbPT, 2017 – ongoing
  • Planned Densification of Ahmedabad’s CBD, AUDA, 2015
  • Town Planning Schemes, Ahmedabad – Statutory, 2012
  • Streamlining Urban Planning and Land Management World Bank - 2007
  • Bhuj Development and Town Planning Schemes – Statutory, 2004
  • Building Byelaws and Planning Legislation for Delhi – Statutory, 2004
  • Development Plan for the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority – Statutory, 2002
  • Walled City Revitalization Plan, Ahmedabad, 1997

    Publications

  • The Realm of the Public – A Conversation with Bimal Patel. Matter. Inside Publication, Volume 3, Issue 1, 88-111.  
  • Bimal Patel. Central Vista Redevelopment Project. NIC, Yojana, Architect’s Reflections, 11-16.
  • Bimal Patel. Balkrishna Doshi’s Architectural Practice. Architecture Time, Space and People. Remembering Doshi: Special Edition, 44-46.
  • Bimal Patel.. Improving Indian Urban Planning. In Mumbai Reader 20/21. Urban Design Research Institute.
  • Sweta Byahut, Bimal Patel, & Jignesh Mehta.. Emergence of sub-optimal land utilization patterns in Indian cities. Journal of Urban Design, Routledge, 25, 758–777.
  • Bimal Patel.. Unfolding the architecture of Hasmukh Patel. STIR.
  • Bimal Patel.. The Architects Regulations of 1989 must evolve to match present realities. IFJ.
  • Bimal Patel, Sweta Byahut, & Brijesh Bhatha.. Building regulations are a barrier to affordable housing in Indian cities: The case of Ahmedabad. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, Springer Netherlands, 33, 175–195.
  • Bimal Patel.. Stepwells to skyscrapers: Building Identity. Ahmedabad Mirror.
  • Patricia Clarke Annez, Bijal Bhatt, & Bimal Patel.. What Getting Legal Land Title Really Means: An ‘Anti-commons’ in Ahmedabad, India? Review of Market Integration, SAGE, 9, 1–26.
  • Bimal Patel.. ULTIMATE DESIGN HERO. Elle Decor, 208.
  • Bimal Patel & Catherine Desai.. The Architecture of Hasmukh C. Patel, Selected Projects 1963 – 2003. Mapin Publishing.
  • Bimal Patel.. Preservation vs a clean break. Indian Express.
  • Bimal Patel.. City Planning – ‘Vertical growth: Do not limit floor space index to limit congestion’. Indian Express.
  • Bimal Patel.. On land, a new way. Indian Express.
  • Bimal Patel.. Managing politics of urban planning. Mint.
  • Bimal Patel.. An Ethical Education for Urban Professionals. In Richard Mahapatra, Archana Yadav, Vibha Varshney, Sunita Narain, Aruna P. Sharma, Kaushik Das Gupta, & Snigdha Das, State of India’s Environment 2015. Centre For Science And Environment.
  • Bimal Patel & VK Phatak.. Integrating redevelopment of slums in city planning. In Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Ravi Kabur, & P.K. Mohanty, Urbanisation in India- Challenges, Opportunities and the Way Forward. SAGE India.
  • Ballaney, S., Marie-Agnes Bertaud, Patricia Clarke Annez, CK Koshy, Bindu Nair, Bimal Patel, Vidyadhar Phatak, & Vasudha Thawakar.. Inventory of public land in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 6664.
  • Bimal Patel.. Bimal Patel: We Have to Free Our Cities from the State’s Clutches. India Forbes.
  • Patricia Clarke Annez, Alain Bertaud, Marie-Agnes Bertaud, Bijal Bhatt, Chirayu Bhatt, Vidyadhar Phatak, & Bimal Patel.. Ahmedabad More but Different Government for “Slum Free” and Livable Cities. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 6267.
  • Bimal Patel, Rajendra Joshi, Shirley Ballaney, & Matthias Nohn.. Slum Planning Schemes: A Statutory Framework for Establishing Secure Tenure and Improving Living Conditions in Indian Slums. Environment and Urbanization ASIA, 2, 45–75.
  • Bimal Patel.. Riverfront Redevelopment. In Chris Johnson, Indian Cities: Managing Urban Growth. METROPOLIS and National Institute of Urban Affairs.
  • Patricia Clarke Annez, Alain Bertaud, Bimal Patel, & V. K. Phatak.. Working with the Market: Approach to Reducing Urban Slums in India. World Bank.
  • Bimal Patel, Shirley Ballaney, CK Koshy, & Matthias Nohn.. Reforming urban land management in Gujarat. Oxford University Press.
  • Shirley Ballaney & Bimal Patel.. Using the ‘Development Plan—Town planning scheme’ mechanism to appropriate land and build urban infrastructure. India Infrastructure Report, 190–204.
  • Bimal Patel.. Gujarat High Court, Ahmedabad. Architecture+ Design, 12, 65–76.
  • Bimal Patel.. The space of property capital: Property development and architecture in Ahmedabad - ProQuest .
  • Bimal Patel.. Form, space and order: Learning from formal structure in Indian Islamic architecture. University of California, Berkeley.

    Research Areas

  • Land Use Planning
  • Real Estate Markets
  • Building Regulations
  • Land Management
  • Architecture and Urban Planning History

    Teaching

  • Visiting Faculty at School of Architecture and School of Planning, CEPT, Ahmedabad, India
  • Guest Lectures: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; LBSNAA, Mussoorie

    Awards and honors

  • Padma Shri, 2019
  • Distinguished Alumnus Award, College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley, 2008
  • Prime Ministerʼs National Award for Excellence in Urban Planning and Design, awarded to the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project, 2006
  • Emerging Architect Commendation Award, AR+D, 2001
  • World Architecture Award, 2001
  • Salzburg Seminar Fellowship, 2000
  • UNCHS, Best Practices Award, 1998
  • The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 1992
  • Research Fellowship, American Institute of Indian Studies, 1990–91
  • Newhouse Foundation Grant, 1988–89
  • Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, 1987
  • College of Environmental Design Council Scholarship, 1985–86