Bimal Patel

In 1997, Bimal Patel founded Environmental Planning Collaborative. EPC, a not-for-profit company to work with local governments on city planning and continues to head the company today. EPC was one of the very first non-government organizations in India to successfully work with government on statutory planning and one that has participated in the rejuvenation of city planning in a variety of ways. Its projects include organizing workshops and seminars, preparing statutory urban and regional plans, developing coursework for planners, managing development projects, undertaking research and advocating causes. Some of EPC’s significant projects are the Development Plan for Ahmedabad (2002), Development Plan and Town Planning Schemes for the reconstruction of Bhuj, Kachchh after the earthquake of 2001 and Reformulating Planning Legislation for Delhi. In 1998, UNCHS Global 100 Best Practices Award commended EPC for its revitalization plan for Surat’s inner city. In 2003 EPC’s work on the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project won the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Urban Design and Planning.

While still working on his Ph.D. dissertation, Bimal Patel returned to India in 1990 and joined his father’s architectural practice. One of his first building design projects, a campus for The Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Ahmedabad, won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1992. In 2000 he was selected to build the New Campus for the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Over the years he has built up a significant body of architectural and urban design work ranging from single family homes, to institutions, industrial buildings and urban redevelopment projects. HCPDPM the firm that he heads has won numerous awards for its projects. Urban design projects, like the Kankaria Lake Development, are the first of their kind in the country.

He obtained a Diploma in Architecture from the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad in 1984, followed by a dual Masters and a Doctorate in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley in 1995. Dr. Patel’s practice has focused on transforming urban design and planning practice to make them more effective in improving Indian cities. His research interests are in Land Use Planning, Real Estate Markets, Building Regulations, Land Management and Urban Planning History. He received the Padma Shri Award for his contributions in the fields of Architecture and Planning in 2019.

After receiving his first professional degree in architecture from CEPT in 1984 and a year of work in Ahmedabad, Bimal Patel moved to Berkeley to study at the College of Environmental Design, CED. He graduated with M.Arch. and M.C.P. degrees in 1988 and a Ph.D. from the Department of City and Regional Planning in 1995. He worked closely with Prof. Allan Jacobs, Prof. Donlyn Lyndon, Prof. Manuel Castells and Prof. Mike Teitz at the CED and Prof. Richard Walker of the Geography Department. UC Berkeley and the openness of CED provided him with the opportunity and freedom for intellectual exploration beyond the confines of Architecture and City Planning.

Bimal Patel lives and practices architecture and city planning in Ahmedabad, India. Ahmedabad is also the city that he grew up in and its architectural history and planning culture have influenced and informed his work. He studied at the School of Architecture, Center for Environmental Planning and Technology, CEPT, from 1978 to 1984. In 1981, he apprenticed with Frei Otto at the Institute for Lightweight Structures, Stuttgart, Germany. Living and working in Stuttgart also gave him the opportunity to travel through much of Western Europe at a young age.

Dr. Bimal Patel (born (1961-08-31 ) 31 August 1961) is an architect from Gujarat, India, with over 30 years of professional, research and teaching experience in architecture, urban design and urban planning. He is the President of CEPT University in Ahmedabad. Dr. Patel is also Chairman of the Board of Governors of the School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal. He leads HCP Design Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd., an architecture, planning and project management firm. Dr. Patel also founded Environmental Planning Collaborative, a not-for-profit, planning research and advocacy organization.