Professional architect. Amateur anthropologist. I go places and develop opinions.
Hi, I’m Meghana.
I became interested in architecture because of buildings, but I stayed because of people.
Somewhere along the way, I realized I spend as much time watching what people do in places as I do looking at the places themselves. I notice who lingers and who leaves. I notice where people choose to sit when there are ten empty seats. I notice the line nobody uses and the one everyone joins. I notice what becomes routine and what becomes ritual. I think about why some places feel alive and others feel finished.
I have spent most of my life moving between worlds. I grew up in India, built my career in America, raised a family, practiced architecture, and accumulated more questions than answers along the way. Perhaps that is why I am fascinated by belonging. Not belonging as an idea, but belonging as a lived experience. How it feels. Where it happens. Why some places welcome us immediately while others take years to feel like home.
This website is where I keep those observations.
I write about architecture, but usually not in the way people expect. I am interested in infrastructure, retail, housing, public and private spaces that quietly become part of our lives. The places we stop noticing are often the ones doing the most work. They shape our routines, hold our memories, and witness our lives without asking for recognition.
Some essays begin with a building and end somewhere completely different. Some start with a shopping center and become stories about immigration. Some begin with a road trip and become reflections on motherhood. Some start with architecture and end with questions about culture, identity, or home. I have learned not to argue with these detours. They usually know where they are going before I do.
I don’t think placemaking is something architects do alone. I think people make places every day. Through habit. Through memory. Through gathering. Through returning. Long after the ribbon cutting, long after the architect has moved on, people continue the work of making a place matter.
ARCHICHATS is my attempt to pay attention.
Archichats 