Three Decades of Nation Building through a People-First Approach
Design Forum International (DFI) is an architectural practice with an international presence based in New Delhi and Chennai, India. Established in 1995 by Anand Sharma, Anoj Tevatia, and Goonmeet Singh Chauhan, alums of IIT Kharagpur, DFI collaborates with clients to achieve their vision by maximising each project's potential with the necessary support. With a team of over 140 highly engaged individuals, we strive to explore how architecture can meet the needs of a radically and rapidly changing world.
DFI values context, conservation, innovation, and inclusivity in stewarding and shaping the built environment as custodians.
Extending beyond the Building’s Footprint
Transitioning beyond the building’s footprint on projects, we aim to contribute towards developing human-centric spaces in a collaborative work environment. With a diverse portfolio across multiple disciplines, our notable projects include Public developments such as Vanijya Bhawan (New Delhi), Kaushal Bhawan (New Delhi), The C and S Blocks at The Delhi High Court, ITO Skywalk (New Delhi), Select Citywalk Mall (New Delhi), the redevelopment of DLF Promenade and DLF Emporio (Delhi), and Housing interventions such as Navami Landmaark (Bengaluru), Casagrand Elysium, Microtek Greenburg (Gurugram), Adani Samsara Avasa (Gurugram), Chennai and GLS Affordable Housing (Gurugram). The commercial developments entail AIPL Joystreet (Gurugram), Amtron in Tech City, Guwahati (Assam), Eye of Noida (Noida) and GYGY Mentis (Noida), The Eldeco Centre (New Delhi); further, our transport infrastructure works include the Bihta Airport (Bihar), Redevelopment of Amritsar Railway Station (Punjab) and Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station (Kerala), among others have set benchmarks in the Indian built environment.
Architecture for a Better India
The practice has witnessed a perpetually evolving nation from being a third-world country to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Being agents of change, their efforts are rooted in principles of sustainable architecture and response to the local context while ensuring that inclusivity and positive societal impact remain central to design.
Laurels that Motivate us!
DFI has won many national and international accolades for their diverse oeuvre of work, including India’s Top 30 Architects, the Construction Week India Awards (2023), Forbes India (2021), and Index Excellence Award (2019).
Foster Innovation
3 Decades of DFI
Manifesto
DFI, an organisation that prioritises servitude with its ‘People-first’ ideology, is continually engaged in scouting and nurturing young talent. The approach is not bounded by any school of thought and centres on novelty in design. Processes inform the outcome –predetermined, pre-programmed workflow is followed with missionary zeal. At the heart of this thought is the belief that, while people may falter, processes never do.
As custodians of the built environment, which demands frequent interventions to facilitate capacity upgradation, DFI envisages the need to emphasise the context and conservation of the built environment in thought and practice. A profound belief that the built habitat shapes and influences all human lives resonates in all our endeavours. The DFI design values advocate:
- To be reverent to the substantive context, both Immediate and the Cosmic.
- To ideate and innovate with meaningful newness, combining a problem-solving approach with sensitive and delightful Urban Artistry.
- To practise universal inclusivity of thought and expression and shun social limitations.
- To embed thoughtful contemporary interventions that echo the aspirations of our times while discarding architectural vestiges.
Nation Building
Clients
