MALAVIKA MADHURAJ
P R O F I L E
Malavika Madhuraj is an Advanced Architectural Design student at Columbia GSAPP. She graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Architecture from VIT University, Vellore. At university, she was awarded Merit Scholarship for Best Academic Performance during all 5 years. Her thesis on the Rohingya Refugee crisis won her the Honourable Mention award in the ‘Architecture Thesis of the Year competition conducted across 104 nations. She is always on the lookout for opportunities to move beyond the curriculum and implement the skills that she has gathered over the past years in real-world contexts. In 2020 she was selected to attend the ‘Architecture for Exhibition’ course organised by the young architects' competitions. She has always understood design as the core in finding new and creative solutions for tackling practical issues and believes in a multidisciplinary approach for creating a new and alternative paradigm for addressing the unique urban issues prevalent.
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (May 2022)
Columbia University, New York
M.S. Advanced Architectural Design
VIT School of Planning and Architecture, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India (2015 - 2020)
Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.)
Second Rank Holder
YACademy HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE 2020
Architecture for Exhibition
Education
Achievements & Academic Role
Board member at rAADio (investigative podcast at GSAPP), 2021-2022
Merit Scholarship for Best Academic Performance (Dean’s List)- in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, VIT University.
Elected VIT B.Arch Program Representative during 2015-16 and 2017-18 academic years.
Board member (2015-2020) of VIT Film, Creativity and Architecture Clubs.
Runner-up in Ideathon competition conducted in VIT in relation to water conservation week, 2015.
First-runner up in VIT green ideation contest, March 2016.
Third place in the event ‘Best out of waste’ at Saarang 2016, IIT Madras.
Student Delegate at the Indian Institute of Architects Award- September 2017.
Event coordinator for the VIT Art festival 2017, which comprised of exhibition, workshops and talks with eminent artists and architects from India.
2019 G.D. Naidu Young Scientist Award- First place for research that culminated in the paper ‘Effect of Logo Design on Consumers and their Affective Response Towards Brands.’
Content creator of the school newsletter ‘BLAB’ since 2019.
Honourable award in the 2020 ‘Architecture Thesis of the Year competition’ conducted across 104 nations.
First-runner up in the Humanitarian Unbuilt Project of the ‘2020 Gaudi Architecture Prize.’
Shortlisted for ‘Sustainability first steppers’ competition organised by Chorus architecture, 2020.
Top 15 Finalist and Special mention award at ‘Mango thesis award’, 2020.
2021 Winners of WA Awards 10+5+X 36th Cycle in Architecture, Student Category.