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<\/p>\nArchitect and interior designer Aparna Kaushik is the woman that billionaires turn to when they want to come home.<\/p>\n
In every creative\u2019s life, there is that moment of recognition. Of understanding that theirs will be a more unconventional path, and instinct interrupts expectation. When something deep and intuitive whispers a truth that logic has not yet caught up to. For Indian architect and interior designer Aparna Kaushik, that moment arrived in a quiet clinic one morning as she prepared for what she thought would be her future in medicine. \u201cI went to my aunt\u2019s clinic\u2026 she opened it for me especially early in the morning to give me a medical certificate,\u201d she recalls. But when Kaushik stepped inside and faced \u201ca whole bunch of patients already waiting\u201d, something inside her snapped into focus. \u201cI decided to myself, look, this is not my life\u2026 I\u2019ll die before I do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Top and Jewellery: Aparna\u2019s Own, Skirt: Zimmermann<\/p>\n
It was an unexpected pivot, from medicine to the world of architecture, but Kaushik insists she didn\u2019t yet understand the significance of what she was stepping into. It\u2019s true she had grown up with a love for history, storytelling, and the romance of ancient worlds. And as a child, she was mesmerised by \u201cthe excavation sites in Egypt and archaeology. One of my favourite, favourite subjects.\u201d She would binge-watch BBC specials on the topic. But she also knew that such a nomadic career path would be hard for her parents to get their heads around. \u201cIt was never really on the cards for me. So the next thing that lined up with archaeology was architecture, but I didn\u2019t really have much information or knowledge about what it was.\u201d Archi-tecture, she says, became the only acceptable bridge between her scientific upbringing and her artistic curiosity. It was \u201cthe right mix of art and science.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, it was not love at first sight. \u201cBy the end of my first year, I thought that I had made a mistake,\u201d she admits. What kept her hooked was not the academic work, but the world beyond the classroom. The university encouraged travel and field study, and took students to Old Delhi, Hyderabad, Rajasthan, places where architecture lived, breathed, and aged with poetic grace. \u201cWhen you see that architecture in real life, take measurements and do drawings of the old monuments\u2026 that actually made me interested,\u201d she shares.<\/p>\n
It was in these streets, and later in summer internships, where she found her footing. \u201cEvery summer vacation, I would join an office \u2013 that used to be the happiest part of my student years.\u201d There, she wasn\u2019t sheltered from reality, she was thrown into the thick of it. Kaushik was dealing with the day-to-day grind of what it takes to bring a project to life \u2013 like speaking with authorities for permits, negotiating with vendors, learning to read by-laws, taking minutes at client meetings \u2013 basically handling the gritty, unglamorous underbelly of the building world. \u201cThat taught me so much\u2026 so today I\u2019m very confident in my knowledge across all aspects of this business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her hands-on education would eventually become the foundation of her booming company: an architectural practice that is fully holistic, vertically integrated, and fiercely independent. \u201cWe do in-house architecture, right from excavation\u2026 interiors, fixed interior, soft interiors\u2026 in-house art curators, decor. So we really are not dependent on any outside agency.\u201d She has learned, through experience, that too many voices can dilute a vision. \u201cToo many cooks spoil the broth, which means the outcome is always a surprise.\u201d Her clients, meanwhile, want homes that feel like complete worlds, where architecture, interiors, landscaping, art, and objects speak the same language. She obliges them by controlling, through her company, the narrative from start to finish.<\/p>\n
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Blazer, Trousers, and Jewellery: Aparna\u2019s Own<\/p>\n
This creative autonomy and total ownership appear to suit her temperament beautifully. When asked how she navigates being one of the only women at her level in her field, often the only one on massive construction sites, she shrugs. \u201c80% of the time I\u2019m the only woman in the room.\u201d But Kaushik doesn\u2019t allow gender dynamics to shape her confidence. \u201cI\u2019ve never felt that I\u2019m in a male-dominated world\u2026 I don\u2019t want to play the woman card at all.\u201d In fact, she says, it may have even worked in her favour: \u201cIf at all, being a woman has helped me. When I made a mistake when I was first starting, I was not really shouted down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her ease in these environments is rooted partly in personality. She has always been, by her own admission, abundant in energy. \u201cMy parents always used to say that I have so much energy.\u201d But it also comes from a deeper clarity about who she is and how she wants to live. For years, she operated as what she describes as \u201ca happy-go-lucky person,\u201d someone who did four projects a year, ran a small team of seven or eight, and escaped often into the fantasy of fashion. \u201cI love fashion\u2026 I would just go and sit in the tailor\u2019s boutique, cut patterns.\u201d Her world was charming, full, but contained.<\/p>\n
But then everything changed. She met a mentor with an almost monastic view of life, who shook her awake. \u201cHe\u2019s a very simple person\u2026 with zero, absolutely zero attachment.\u201d During long conversations about life, purpose, and potential, she realised that ease had become a limitation. \u201cI was wasting my potential\u2026 something needed to be done.\u201d She learned, she says, that \u201cyou have to explore the last ounce of your potential\u2026 You can\u2019t understand spirituality before exploring yourself completely.\u201d<\/p>\n
What followed was a creative and professional rebirth. Her company grew from a handful to nearly 100 people. Her clientele expanded from Delhi to 15 cities across India and into London and Dubai. Her projects evolved from conventional luxury to deeply bespoke, emotionally resonant, meticulously crafted homes.<\/p>\n
And she chose, very intentionally, to do fewer projects, but at an unparalleled level. \u201cIf you want to do less work, the only way is that you do exclusive work\u2026 according to my own inherent personality, I don\u2019t want to fight myself by doing volume I\u2019m not cut out for.\u201d Today, she takes on only seven to eight projects at a time for her 100-person team. This hyper-selectivity is what allows her to go all in: \u201cI like to be involved in every aspect. I\u2019m very detail-oriented.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Jacket and Trousers: Zimmermann, Jewellery: Aparna\u2019s Own<\/p>\n
Her style, which she describes as \u201ccountryside chic\u2026 contemporary, classic and chic\u201d, and her love of natural and organic materials reflect her passion for process and craft. If she needs a specific marble, she goes straight to the quarries. If she imagines a tapestry, she boards a flight to Chennai to spend three days in a workshop surrounded by artisans, golden threads, and embroidery frames. \u201cWorkshops are my heaven\u2026 I\u2019m like a kid in the candy shop.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of her most memorable recent commissions for a client involved creating elaborate hand-embroidered banners representing exotic rescued animals. The piece required \u201c10,000 hours of hand embroidery\u2026 200 people working on it,\u201d she shares. And she documented every step of the intricate process for posterity. Her delight in this world is palpable; it\u2019s where she is most herself.<\/p>\n
But beyond craft and aesthetics, Kaushik\u2019s work is also shaped by the evolving psychology of what the home is meant to represent, particularly post-pandemic. \u201cCovid unlocked something in people,\u201d the architect confirms. She has seen Indian home-owners shift from a culture of saving to one of living, of prioritising wellness, experiential spaces, and private sanctuaries. \u201cYou can go to Morocco or Mexico\u2026 but why not create your own experience at home?\u201d And increasingly, they do. Her sensitivity to cultural nuance allows her to adapt across geographies. Middle Eastern clients, she notes, value privacy and clear spatial distinctions; Indian families embrace openness and interconnection; London clients favour restraint, subtlety, and refined curation. But beneath it all, she insists: \u201cFundamentally, human beings all over the world are the same. It\u2019s about family and being connected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps it is this insight, this ability to read people, not just spaces, that makes Kaushik such a powerful collaborator. She approaches each project with empathy, curiosity, and the quiet confidence of someone who has spent years listening deeply to the needs of others and to her own inner voice and creative instincts.<\/p>\n
She is also profoundly curious, a seeker in the truest sense. Creativity, she believes, requires stepping away from the familiar. \u201cThe key for me is to change my environment. To go somewhere new and stay there for an extended time, meet people, and get to know the area on a more profound level.\u201d To that end, she doesn\u2019t take quick trips; she often relocates temporarily to different cities around the world, immersing herself in the sensory fabric of a place. This year, she spent 20 days in a coastal village near Bordeaux \u2013 \u201cliterally a cabin on the beach, surrounded by oyster farmers. Next, she wants to spend two to three years slowly absorbing Africa, starting in the north. \u201cI think I\u2019ll keep travelling,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause until you have fully found yourself, you need to continue to explore the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, what sets Kaushik apart is the same instinct that pulled her away from medicine and toward design all those years ago: an unwavering commitment to listening to the truth within herself. She builds homes, but she also builds worlds, identities, and emotional landscapes. She builds with intention, with devotion, and with the courage to follow her curiosity wherever it leads. And she builds, most of all, from a place of clarity. \u201cUltimately, I have nothing to prove to anyone\u2026 You have to be content with yourself first.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a powerful philosophy that has helped her create not only extraordinary spaces, but an extraordinary life.<\/p>\n
Photography: \u017diga Mihel\u010di\u010d
Styling: Camille Macawili<\/p>\n
Location With Thanks to Delano Dubai<\/p>\n
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