Nishant Vasant Pai 

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Design Manager | Architect | Social Entrepreneur | Graphic Artist | Social Designer | Polymath

 

 

 

W :   slicesofpai.in

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E  :   pai.nishant@gmail.com

        nishant@slicesofpai.in

       

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Ph:   +91 9673465428

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Ln :   Nishant Pai 

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D.O.B :  27th November 1993​

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Graduate with a Bachelors in Architecture (2016) from the University of Pune. Architect and Graphic Designer from Pune, India. Working
professionally as a social impact designer for the last 6 years. Believes in the power of good design and that it should be accessible to all. The client’s needs always come first, and a perfect design product is one that all stakeholders are satisfied with. Radical self learner who is quick to pick up new skills and flexibly adapt to a new work environment.

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Professional Goals 

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I strive to hone my skills as a design manager, architect, innovator, researcher and artist to solve the most pressing problems that our society faces. I consider myself a polymath and aim to apply my skills to design various bottom up solutions with people that actually are most in need of good design. To accomplish this, I attempt to draw from a varied knowledge base, ranging from design theory, sustainable building technology, material science, and network analysis to education theory, urban informatics and big data studies, and contextualize them in an easily understandable way, to build consensus with communities around applying these solutions in a sensitive way.

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Summary of Credentials 

 

Independent and opinionated, humble and able to change beliefs based on new knowledge, well read, self-aware, acute observational and analytical skills, good project management skills, passionate about work, look at things with an unconditionally fresh perspective, quick learning curve, eloquent, good public speaker, handy with software, model making and sketching, good photographer, and a passion for applying these skills to leave the world a little better than I found it.

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Work Experience

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Download my CV here

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Design Lead and Business Development Executive, RUR Greenlife Pvt Ltd
March 2022 - present

• Design management for an environmental solutions company based in Mumbai. The role includes managing graphic design, website design, product design, social media strategy, business development, spatial design, CSR fundraising and client relations, and experience design. Leading multiple high profile projects with teams of peers.

 

Freelance Architect, find my online portfolio here
May 2020 - present

• Working as a freelance architect on various architecture and interior projects. Roles include concept design, client relations, design detailing, drawing production, 3D rendering, project management and site execution.

 

Graphic designer, Elevar Equity
July 2021 - present(part time)

• Designing presentation templates based on given brand guidelines, while also preparing presentations on google slides for the company’s clients. Preparing posters/fliers for the company’s internal use. Also designing annual reports for sharing with stakeholders.

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Website Designer, E[co]work, JAN Design Studio
April - June 2021

• Redesigned the E[co]work and JAN Design Stuido websites to best display their company USP’s and raise funds for their onground work. Conceptualized a narrative for conveying key points, and translated that into copy text and relevant graphics. Built the website pages and set up the donation system and other interactive elements on Wix and Squarespace, website building tools.

 

Graphic design consultant, Sofies Group

February 2021 - present (part time)

• Working as a graphic design consultant at Sofies, an international sustainability management and consulting company.

• Visualizing and implementing a company wide aesthetic that best reflects the company's values. This includes templates for all collaterals like presentations, reports, resumes, letterheads and invoices. This will ensure uniformity across all Sofies branches for internal consumption.

• Preparing project based publications and presentations for Sofies' high-profile clients.

• Designing inter company publications such as memos and infographics.

• Website design and social media strategy.

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Co-founder, Community Natural Building Programme
November 2019 - Present

• CNBP is a collective of architects and designers that researches, practices and disseminates knowledge about sustainable building practices. Designed an earth-bag house, and documented the process of building it. Designed and conducted workshops with professionals and students, sharing information about the technology. Designed social media posts on the same to gain traction and attract opportunities. Currently designing a publication to detail out the process of building with earth bags.

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Junior Research Associate, Curry Stone Design Collaborative

September 2018-May 2020

• Working closely with residents of Natwar Parekh Compound, a Slum Rehabilitation Colony in Govandi, Mumbai. Part of the team in organizing street vendors facing eviction by forming a Street Vendors Association, conducting participatory design workshops, and creating design drawings and visualizations for the same. Conducted studies on space and material usage of vending carts and helped in designing alternatives for the vendors.

• Using accessible technology as an awareness and capacity building tool for the members of the community on various scales. This includes conducting participatory demographic surveys of the colony using app-based methodologies like Nestforms, and a city-wide GIS survey of Slum Rehabilitation Schemes in Mumbai.

• Conducting participatory mapping exercises with the community based on built form and social infrastructure, to generate awareness and build ownership of their spaces.

• Conducting research on SRA policy, composting, waste management, urban forestry and facilities management with respect to Public Housing Schemes in Mumbai

• Designed and implemented a building administration office space for the members of a co-operative Housing Society within Natwar Parekh Compound.

• Part of the team conducting a waste management drive with the residents of individual buildings. Designed stencils for easy use by the children in the buildings to paint on the walls and dustbins.

• Executed a social space between two buildings that was previously filled with waste (cleaned after the waste management drive). It is currently being used as a play area for the the kids and a leisure area by the elders of the community. 

• Conducted research and prepared a guidebook for redesigning the windows in Natwar Parekh Compound, to allow for maximum light penetration and cross ventilation. The lack of these has made the colony a hotspot for Tuberculosis and presently, the Covid -19 virus.

• Prepared budget projections and organized topographic and infrastructural surveys of the Colony. 

• Engaged with e-waste dismantlers in North East Delhi, with the purpose of helping them to formalize their presently informal workspaces. This project is done for E[co]work, a company aimed at formalizing the informal e-waste sector through a co-working dismantling space. 

• Conducted a participatory workshop with local e-waste experts in Delhi, to understand the informal e-waste sector and its networks. 

• Conducted door to door qualitative surveys with the dismantlers in their current workspaces to understand their needs, aspirations and challenges. 

• Conducted a study on the efficacy of the potential sites selected for the E[co]work space. 

• Prepared maps and other collaterals for engagement with the e-waste dismantlers. 

• Prepared a series of budget projections for the E[co]work industrial space and prepared a moodboard and design drawings for client interaction.

• Prepared presentations for pitching to funding agencies.

 

 

Assistant Professor at Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture

October 2016 – August 2018

Worked as an assistant professor for 2nd year Construction technology at the KRVIA. Engaged with the students with respect to traditional building materials in North India and guided the design and implementation of contemporary uses for the same.

 

 

Researcher for BInUCom, at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture

October 2016 – August 2018

Employed as a researcher working on the paper titled 'The Production of Informality' which aims to understand the causes, processes and catalysts of Informal housing production in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The paper is for an EU and Erasmus funded international programme called BInUCom, which aims to design a pedagogy for students and professionals alike.

 

 

Marketing Associate, and Accounting Assistant at Baked Magic, Pune

January 2014 - present (Part time)

Work at a home-based baking business specializing in vegan cakes based in Pune. Worked on marketing, logistics, accounting and brand designing

 

 

Product designer at Social Seva, Pune

May 2016 – present (Part time)

Work for a social enterprise called Social Seva, aimed at empowering waste pickers in Pune. Worked toward re-skilling waste pickers to make and sell products made from recycled plastic designed by me.

 

 

Intern at Atto Atelier, Bangalore

May 2015 to November 2016

Worked on concept design, design development, presentation drawings, working drawings, client meetings, site supervision and site checking for the projects:

1. Jaison’s house, Kerala, India

2. Hatch bar and maker’s asylum, Bangalore, India.

 

 

Intern at the Akanksha Foundation, Pune

April 2014 to June 2014

Summer internship spent teaching art to children from lower income families and assisting in the sale of said art at exhibitions and charities.

 

 

Selected Freelance Work

• Renders for the ‘Smart City’ project for the Pune Municipal Corporation.

• Map making and data overlaying for Tata Institute for Social Sciences, Mumbai.

• Map making and data analyzing for a Binucom paper on health risks in Deonar settlements.

• Graphic design work for Swachh, a Pune based waste picker collective.

• Mapping disabled friendly railway stations in Mumbai for PUCL.

• Designing a 1:1 scale model of an SRA house for the ‘My livable city’ magazine

• Design and making working drawings for a cardboard maze for Serendipity Arts Festival,Goa - 2019. 

• Designing and preparing a promotional video for Petromoney, a holistic petrol pump service company. 

• Designing a promotional pamphlet and materials for Alpha Air Systems, specializing in Air Sterilizers. 

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Education

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Bachelors of Architecture: VIT's Padmabhushan Vasantdada Patil College of Architecture, Pune

 

Higher Secondary Certificate: St Vincent's Junior College, Pune

 

Secondary School Certificate: St Vincent's High school, Pune

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Workshops and Competitions 

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Conducted Local Dissemination Workshop at KRVIA

September 2017

A two-day workshop organized by the KRVIA under the purview of BInUCom, aimed at disseminating the research findings of the programme to local stakeholders, design professionals and academicians. My role included organizing the event, scheduling, auditorium design and layout, and newsletter publication. I also presented my research findings to eminent academicians such as Prof Ashok Lall, Prof. Neeelkanth Chhaya, and Prof. Himanshu Burte.  

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Participated in A Social Design Festival, Goa

February 2020

Organised by Kokum Design and the City Corporation of Panaji, the festival was a coming together of social design practitioners from around the world to share insights and learnings from their social design practices. I participated in the Design + Waste Recovery Stream, wherein we had to design interventions for the City Corporation of Panajis' Waste Management System. We also presented our group's design interventions to the attendees of the Social Design Conference.

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Attended ‘Fragmented Spaces: The grammar and politics of Urban Housing in India’ 

June 2019

Organized by the Sambhaavna Institute, Himachal Pradesh, investigating the causes and terminologies of informal housing in India. Mentored by Amita Bhide and Lalita Kamath (TISS), Gautam Bahn (IIHS), Anant Maringatti (HUL), Karen Coelho (MIDS), and Prasad Shetty (SEA). The workshop explored the definitions and policy history around urban housing in India. Participants had to design a policy framework, which was peer reviewed as an exercise to conclude the 5 day workshop.

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Organizing Member of ‘Streets for the people, by the people’ 

November 2014 - May 2015

A summer workshop held at PVPCOA as an introduction to urban design. My role included organizing the workshop schedule, designing the studio outcomes, graphic design, public outreach, apart from participating in the workshop as a group member, design urban level solutions for Hinjewadi, a congested IT district in Pune.

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Participated in Microhousing 2019 

Organized by Volume Zero, it was an ideas competition to design a small scale housing complex to respond to today’s need for minimal carbon footprints and closed loop sustainability. Finished in 33rd place, out of an entry pool of 1800

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Participated in Big Loo 2020, a competition by Volume Zero 

Competition organized by Volume Zero. The brief was to design a model public toilet for an urban or rural setting. The toilet must have a community function as well. Finished in the 20th place out of an entry pool of 3000

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Qualified in the top 6 of the west zone of Archumen, the annual national level architecture quiz.

 

Attained 2nd place in Architectural Quotient, the city level architecture quiz, sponsored by the Ethos Foundation.

 

Selected within the top 10 of the West zone in NIASA, the national level thesis competition.

 

Participated in the MyGov competition aimed at redesigning a commercial street in Coimbatore.

 

Participated in a design workshop at the KRVIA aimed at using the ‘google sprint’ design concept to design accessible housing typologies.

 

Attended Z-axis 2016, a bi-annual design conference at the Kala Academy in Goa, organized by the Charles Correa foundation.

 

Study programmes through college duration: visits including Panhala, Madhya Pradesh and Varanasi

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Publications

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E[co]work Website

 

JAN Design Studio Website 

Keystone 1213 – The students’ annual magazine. (assistant editor)

Keystone 1314 – The students’ annual magazine. (Editor-in-chief)

Keystone 1415 - The students’ annual magazine ( Advising editor)

Swa-oorja – Envisioning a zero waste Pune. (Published in Hashtag Urbanism, a platform for showcasing new ideas on Indian urbanism )

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Extra - Curriculars

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Co-founding member of 'Community Natural Building Programme', a collective practice aimed at using and disseminating natural building techniques and practices. 

 

In the process of co-founding an NGO aimed at supplementing insufficient school syllabus with volunteer taught short courses for the children of migrant laborers in Maharashtra.

 

Deputy and secretary of the PVPCOA students forum magazine team (2014 and 2015)

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Editor in chief and co-founding member of Keystone, the students’ annual magazine (2013 – 2014)

Students’ forum advisor and mentor for the PVPCOA student form for the years 2015 and 2016.

Students’ forum advisor and mentor for the PVPCOA student form for the years 2015 and 2016.

 

Member of the organizing committee of various institutional and non-institutional events, PVPCOA, Pune for the years 2011 - 2015.

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Member and Head of the institute graphics team for the years 2012 to 2014

Head of the reporting team of Shearforce, an inter college sporting event held yearly.

Member of the college basketball team for the years 2012 to 2015.

Part of ‘The Kaustubh Project’ an open source collaborative of architects, film makers and designers.

Founder of an Instagram based artist collective @start.collective a curated page of personal and non-personal work aimed at making art more accessible.

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Languages

 

English ( written and spoken ) – Fluent

Hindi (Written and spoken) – Fluent

Marathi (Written and spoken) – Fluent

Konkani (Spoken) – Fluent

German (Written and spoken) – Basic

French (Spoken) – Basic

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Proficiencies

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Design management and leading teams of peers to meet deliverables in timely and high quality manner.

 

Full scale Graphic, Communication and Branding design.

 

Marketing strategies and Social Media Management.

 

Business Development and Client Relations.

 

Fundraising strategies for CSR project management and execution.

 

Full scale Architecture and Interior Design.

 

Website and UI/UX Development.

 

Community Management.

 

Video Production.

 

Product Design.

 

Research writing and report design.

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Technical Skills

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Formal writing (Research and articles) - Proficient 

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Hand Sketching - Proficient 

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Model Making - Proficient 

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Microsoft Office - Proficient

 

Microsoft Project - Proficient 

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Computer Aided Design - Proficient

 

Google Sketchup - Proficient 

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Vray and other rendering software - Proficient

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Adobe Photoshop - Proficient 

 

Adobe Illustrator - Proficient 

 

Adobe InDesign - Proficient 

 

Adobe Premiere Pro - Basic​

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Smartphone Photography - Proficient

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Public Speaking - Proficient 

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Soft Skills

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Ability to manage teams and be an effective leader to peers, with little oversight.

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Ability to pick up new skills quickly through self learning. 

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Ability to visualize and grasp complex subjects.

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Ability to break down complex subjects into easily understandable collaterals.

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Ability to find quick and easy solutions to design problems (or otherwise).

 

Ability to empathize with all stakeholders and take differing perspectives into consideration.

 

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I hereby declare that all of the aforementioned information is true.

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References available on request.

Thank you for your consideration

Nishant Vasant Pai
March 2023

Pune, India

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