Draft:Minakshi Jain

Minakshi Jain (née Minakshi Shah; 23 March 1943 – 14 June 2023) was an Indian architect and educator, known for her contributions to the field of architectural conservancy in India.

Early life and education
Minakshi Jain was born March 23, 1943 in Baroda to liberal parents, her father a lawyer and her mother the holder of a BA degree as well as a freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement. Jain along with her four sisters were encouraged to pursue careers, and in addition to architecture she showed an early interest in sports, ceramics, mathematics, home science and flying (receiving a pilot's license and single-engine aircraft flying scholarship in the 1960s). She was introduced to the concept of architecture through her childhood friend Hema Patel's brother, Hasmukh Patel, who worked as an architect in Ahmedabad. She enrolled in the bachelor of architecture program at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 1959 along with Hema, and graduated in 1964. Upon graduation she became a research assistant at the National Institute of Design's Ahmedabad campus, attending the lectures of Louis Kahn and working with him on a design project for the Indian Institute of Management. During this time she also became acquainted with Charles and Ray Eames. This exposure to Western design inspired her to study abroad, and Louis Kahn recommended her to the University of Pennsylvania for her master's degree in architecture. During this time she was a teaching assistant and eventually graduated from the program in 1966. After graduation Jain remained in Philadelphia for four years to work. She then returned to India in 1970, marrying a colleague from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Kulbhushan Jain, in 1971.

Architectural career
Upon marrying, Minakshi Jain and her husband began their own architectural practice in 1972 called Jain Associates which focuses on architecture and documentation work. In 2000 an additional firm was created entitled M/s. Minakshi Jain Architects, of which Minakshi Jain was a partner along with Kulbhushan Jain, Vijay Arya and Meghal Arya. This firm undertakes work in the fields of architecture, urban design, and building conservation.

Notable architectural projects

 * Conservation and adaptive reuse of the Fort of Bambora (Udaipur, 1992)
 * Fort of Nagaur (Jodhpur, 2002)

Academic career
Jain was a visiting faculty at the Centre for Environment Planning and Technology University (CEPT University) for several decades. Her teaching centered on the topics of housing, urban design, interior design and architectural conservation at the graduate and post-graduate levels. She was one of few women to instruct at CEPT's School of Architecture in it's early years of operation. She conducted research for the school on the housing typologies of Gujarat. Additionally, Minakshi Jain and her husband founded the non-profit AADI Centre in Ahmedabad which published their research on Indian architecture and conservation studies.

Published works

 * Mud architecture of the Indian desert, by Kulbhushan Jain and Minakshi Jain (AADI Centre, 1992)
 * Indian cities in the arid west, by by Kulbhushan Jain, Meghal Arya, Carl Pruscha and Institut für Planungsgrundlagen (AADI Centre, 1994)
 * Architecture of the Indian desert, by Kulbhushan Jain and Minakshi Jain (AADI Centre, 2000)
 * Thematic space in Indian architecture, by by Kulbhushan Jain, Minakshi Jain and Art Architecture and Design India Centre (AADI Centre, 2002)
 * Mehrangarh: an ensemble of poetic spaces, by Kulbhushan Jain, Meghal Arya, Minakshi Jain and Mehrangarh Museum Trust (Mehrangarh Museum Trust & Maharaja Man Singh Pustak Prakash Research Center, 2022)