BIO
I was born in Toronto and raised in Brampton, Ontario by hard working parents. My mother, Mira Gandhi, is a nurse, born in Navsari, Gujarat, India and raised in Dollard Des Ormeaux, Quebec, Canada – a suburb on the West Island of Montreal. My father is a microbiologist, and like my mother left India at a very young age. He spent most of his young life in Wembley, England until he eventually moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The most important career related decision that I ever made was to go to Mayfield Secondary School, a Regional Arts school in Caledon, Ontario. It was imperative that I was at that school at that time because I would run into several people who would alter the way that I looked at myself. Ms. Jane Marshall was probably the best teacher that I ever had. She was the kind of teacher that inspired you to take it to the next level.
My first three years of post-secondary education was spent at the University of Toronto where I studied architecture, the visual arts and art history. After the third year I moved to the east coast of Canada to Halifax, Nova Scotia where I studied architecture at Dalhousie University. Dalhousie is different from the other schools of architecture in Canada. You learn how to draw with a pencil and model with care. You learn how to build things with a hammer, nail and lumber. It’s old school and we all knew it was of a dying breed and felt lucky to be there. The school also offered a co-op program where students gained practical experience in the field. I was fortunate enough to have worked for some of the largest and most recognized firms in the country. My former employers include: Dr. Rod Robbie and Jamie Wright (Young + Wright Architects), Bruce Kuwabara and Marianne McKenna (Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects) and Brian MacKay-Lyons (MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects).
In 2010, after working for Brian MacKay-Lyons for a year and a half and having the opportunity to work on a large modern cottage in Port Mouton, Nova Scotia, I left to start my own practice.
OG Portrait Courtesy – Greg Richardson Photography 2011.
