Most Sought After Premier design institute in India

Maliha Sultan is an architect, researcher, and academic deeply invested in design education and practice. She is currently working towards her PhD, and was the recipient of the President’s Scholarship for her research. Her work and research reflect her belief in design as a tool for cultural inquiry, social impact, and continuous learning. She completed her Bachelor of Architecture from the TVB School of Habitat Studies, New Delhi. Her undergraduate thesis, Centre for Pilgrims – Redefining Architecture Based on Cultural Changes and New Meanings, was shortlisted for the prestigious Charles Correa Gold Medal. In 2008, she earned her Master’s degree in Computer-Aided Architectural Design from the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, with support from the Scottish Governors Scholarship. Her master’s thesis explored the intersections of design, creativity, and technology.

Maliha has worked with some of the most respected names in architecture and urban design, including KT Ravindran, Manit Rastogi, Reg Aulds, and Navin Piplani. She has contributed to diverse projects in India and the UK, spanning architectural conservation, social housing, institutional, hospitality, and urban regeneration. She also worked as a researcher with the Delhi Urban Arts Commission and with the York Civic Trust in the UK. Her transition into academia allowed her to bring practice-based knowledge into the classroom. She has taught at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi; Ambedkar University, Delhi; and has served as Associate Professor and Head of Department at Pearl Academy, where she led the undergraduate Interior Architecture programme for nearly a decade. Later, she joined GD Goenka University as Head of the Department of Interior Design and Fine Arts. She has been actively involved in curriculum development, faculty mentoring, and setting up new design programmes.

Beyond teaching, she has played a significant role in the wider design community. She served on the jury for the Indian Institute of Interior Designers (IIID) Excellence Awards in 2019 and 2020 and has been part of faculty development programmes with Ethos and IIID. She has spoken at platforms like WADe Asia, where she joined a panel on the crisis in architectural education. In recognition of her contributions to student mentoring, she was awarded the Best Mentor award at the Asia Young Designer Awards in 2021. Maliha is also the co-founder of Red Circle Studio, a multidisciplinary practice that engages with architecture, research, design, graphics, and documentary films. Her journey reflects a balance of academic leadership, professional practice, and research inquiry, driven by her conviction that design education must constantly evolve to meet cultural and societal shifts. Recently she worked as a Strategy Associate at The Design Village in Delhi and spearheaded the setting up of new campuses while heading the M.Des Programme. She is presently HOD of the Global Design Programme and Interior Design Department at UID NCR Campus at GD Goenka University.