Shivani Pinapotu is a spatial thinker and designer interested in how space intersects with story, society and our sense of self.


Her earliest memory of a space was a pillowfort that her aunt had built when she was young. The experience of having a space that fit her and a place to call her own fascinated her beyond measure. She has since then been driven by the impact of empathy, wonder and a story well-told, and always finds herself reaching for these virtues to position herself within a project. Her practice is, therefore, an attempt to humanise the built environment.

She holds an MDes. in Interior Studies from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she concentrated in Exhibition and Narrative Environments, and has extensive experience in architecture, interiors, exhibitions and theatre design across India and the States.

She is presently working at Home Studios, Brooklyn.

Reach out to spinapot@gmail.com or find her on Linkedin, if you have anything in mind!

WORK ︎︎︎


Swipe to see how stakeholders are considered into the proposal




Based on the mapping and individual investigations, it was found that the overpass is 170m long and it has varying widths- 19.5m at the most. Therefore, a structure is needed to comply with this variation. Also, since it is a construction over a bridge, the material palette is limited.


The idea of having arched portal frames came into being, crossed to form a rigid network between members. The advantage of such a structure is that the same module can be arranged according to varying widths. It also creates a column-free space- An Open plan, which enables flexibility within the program, according to the Municipality, and according to use.



Explorations of possible arrangements of cross-arched columns with the same module to produce spaces with varying widths


urban analysis and design

The Road Not Taken: Activating Superblock Teg Centrum in Umeå, Sweden


As part of an urban studio at Umea School of Architecture, the future of Umeå, particularly the northern part of Teg on the southern bank of Ume river, was investigated in the context of the region of Norrland, and the relationship between urban and rural. Departing from a thorough analysis of Norrland as a territorial product of historical and contemporary geo-political, socio-cultural, economic, climatic and environmental conditions and processes, the site was looked at from a wider regional perspective to discover potential futures that can exist within its geographical context and local environment.

Additionally, the proposed Municipal plans of redevelopment and densification of the area were critically interrogated to understand the present drivers of changes to the built frabic.  The project, therefore, emerges from within these timelines, assessing the projections and implications of each, to envision alternative futures for the area of Teg.

The emergent design intervention is an attempt to weave and bridge the stories that were revealed during explorations into a built essay of time, movement and ecology.


program urban design - academic

professor Sara Thor

place Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå, Sweden


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