Architect Anju Malla Pradhan, Going Beyond Expectations

Ten-year-old Astha studies in class four at Graded English Medium School (GEMS) in Dhapakhel, Laitpur. Nothing remarkable about that it must be said, but just a minute, this little girl has something special to be proud of – her mother, Architect Anju Malla Pradhan, designed this particular school. And it is no ordinary school. ‘Grand and Eye Catching’ – these were the catchwords used by the school’s founder-director Rajesh Khadga when assigning the design work to Anju Malla and her firm, Design Studio.

Undoubtedly, the finished product has come up to its director’s high expectations. Spread over plentiful land (70 ropanies), and located amongst verdant scenery, the school’s grandeur is very much evident in the majestic conical columns holding up the porticoes of the three main buildings. Equally grand is the expansiveness in the corridors, the terraces and the playing fields which impart an atmosphere of opulent spaciousness to the premises. Certainly, a school where thousands of children like Asha will enjoy days, months and years of youthful academic life.

Anju Malla Pradhan, who herself was educated in another elite school, St. Mary’s in Jawalakhel (batch of ’84), chose GEMS to educate her only daughter although she admits that it was not that her Alma Mater was lacking in any way, but because she wanted a coeducational environment for Astha.  “Maybe it was only me, but I did have a hard time relating to boys because of studying in an all-girls school,” she says. The shyness remains even today, but at the same time it endows Anju Malla with an air of demureness that is quite charming.

Married to Matindra Pradhan, an Executive Engineer with Kantipur Television, and with only the one daughter, Astha, happily spending fruitful time at school, Anju Malla thankfully has enough productive time of her own as a professional architect good at her job. And it is not only GEMS among her works that is so conspicuously outstanding. Others like Himalayan International Model School in Jorpati as well as the ongoing Learning Realm International Boarding School in Kalanki are equally well designed and almost as large projects as GEMS. The Little Flower School in Jhapa and Small Heaven School in Chitwan might not be as large, but these projects are also close to the architect’s heart. As are scores of residential buildings she has worked on in the past and is working on today.

For an unassuming professional who prefers to work from a small office in a comparatively secluded part of the city, near Dhobhighat in Patan, and for an office which does not even have a signboard outside, one must say that Anju Malla Pradhan and Design Studio prove the cliché right : ‘their works speak for themselves’. The architect agrees, “I am lucky that I did not have to search high and low for work. And I must admit that after completing GEMS, a couple of big school projects have come my way: presumably their promoters liked what I had achieved in the making of a modern school.”

Perhaps Anju Malla’s four year stint with Dr. S.B Mathe & Associates (1995-1999) developed her abilities towards excellence in this sector. She believes Dr. Sriram Bhakta Mathema to have undertaken special studies in designing schools. “While working with him I had the chance to be involved in the designs of various schools such as Bhanubhakta Memorial extension, Mary Ward at Lubhu, Little Angels in Hattiban, St. Xavier’s Campus (2^nd academic block) and Brookfield College extension as well as on design proposals for Vrihaspati Vidyasadan and St. Xavier’s School extension.” However, it must be emphasized here that Anju Malla is as good in other sectors including private residences and commercial complexes as she is in designing schools. Just the fact that at present her ongoing works include, besides others, eight residences, extension work at GEMS, a commercial complex at Kalanki, and a rest house at Gangalal Hospital, should establish the point.

Anju Malla received her B.Arch degree (First Class Honours) from Jadavpur University in Kolkata. Nevertheless, after doing her I.Sc from Amrit Science College in 1987, she had won a scholarship to study in Bangladesh. She recollects, “Everything had been finalized, including the visa, but at the last moment there was a big strike in that country and so, fearing loss of time, I applied to Jadavpur.” At Jadvapur, she remembers being specially proud to see Arun Dev Pant, a fellow Nepali, attend an intercollegiate seminar as the designated speaker from Nagpur University. Anju can also smile wryly today when she recalls that she missed a chance to get the gold medal during her I.Sc. “As a student fresh out of school, I didn’t take things too seriously during the first year and got just above average marks. Thus, even after I became the topper in the 2^nd year, the combined results were not enough for me to be awarded the gold medal.”  Even during SLC, Anju Malla missed a chance to be on the board. “Although my percentage was higher than the highest received by anyone the previous year in our school, others from our school got higher marks and two girls from St. Mary’s were on the board for the first time in our school’s history.”

Still, and maybe on a smaller compensatory scale, Anju Malla did win the first prize in the National Design Competition for the central office building of Kathmandu Metropolis in 1995.  She does not forget to add, “Actually it was done jointly by me and Ngwang Karsang Sherpa who was then doing his diploma in Singapore. Since he didn’t yet have his degree, I got the credit.” But, as she says, there was much controversy about the event as well as the project itself. Which could be one reason for her not being too enthusiastic even today about participating in contests although the way she is going, one can assume that she really doesn’t need to.

Indeed, Anju Malla’s bigger problem today seems to be how to give more time to her daughter, now that she is so busy. Still, and all, her journey towards her professional success has been quite a long one – starting from the time she did her internship at M & S Consultants, Pulchowk (July 1991 - Dec 1991), her initial forays into the profession at Vastukala Paramharsha, Putalisadak (Nov 1993 – Aug 1994), as team leader for Ward 10 planning when working for Bagmati Corridor Development Project (Oct 1994 – Apr 1995), as Consulting Architect with Koladi associates, Pulchowk, a long period with Dr. S.B. Mathe & Associates (Apr 1995 – Aug 1999) as well as a short one with Arnico Designers in 1999. Since then, Anju Malla has been mostly working on her own through though her firm, Design Studio, which also includes her cousin, Architect Manish Munankami. “Initially another cousin, Mridyu, an interior designer, was with the firm, but now she is practicing in Los Angeles.”

Oh yes, Anju Malla has a lot of cousins. Credit for this goes to the fact that her father had six brothers and four sisters. And, oh yes, not only her cousins, but most of her uncles and aunts are either doctors or engineers. Her father, the late Dr. Y.K.Malla, was himself a professor of Zoology at Tribhuvan University. Of his six brothers, the eldest, Dr. Shanker K Malla, is a retired electrical engineer and was once the president of Nepal Engineers Association, another brother, Laxman K Malla, is a civil engineer, Dr. Om K Malla is a Consultant Ophthalmologist, Dr. Mahavir K Malla is a surgeon, while Narayan K Malla is also a civil engineer. Of the four sisters, Dr. June Thapa is a gynecologist as are Dr. Moon Shrestha and Dr. Sun Sil.

Anju admits to being influenced mostly by her uncle Engineer Narayan K Malla, who she believes was an engineer of uncommon abilities. “He died young, when he was about forty eight years old,” she says. “He worked with the Japanese on many of the bridges around the Capital. I think the country lost a very good engineer.” She adds, “He encouraged me to pursue engineering studies but I chose to do architecture, a related field in many ways.” About this, Anju Malla says that she is very satisfied with her choice of vocation and discloses that she likes to play with spaces. “Actually, I prefer to plan designs for smaller spaces which are obviously more challenging. In addition, I am quite committed to follow existing bylaws and building codes which make the task harder.” Further, she says that, as is the norm, she doesn’t charge a percentage of costs as fees which has sometimes led to criticisms being thrown her way.

Anju Malla has served as a board member of the Society of Nepalese Architects (SONA), and is happy that now the organization seems to be much more active. She admires the president, Architect Bibhuti Man Singh, for his enthusiasm as well as for his straightforwardness. It is obvious that Anju Malla Pradhan herself seems to be gaining a certain amount of added assertiveness although she admits to still not being as good at expressing herself as she would want to. Nonetheless, the demure architect expresses herself well enough through her many well designed works and perhaps, it is as good a way to express oneself as any. Maybe, at least professionally, even a better way.