Tipnis grew up in New Delhi and is an alumna of Birla Vidya Niketan, she studied at School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi for her bachelor's degree. She was then awarded the Scottish International Scholarship to pursue a master's degree in European Urban Conservation at the University of Dundee, Scotland.[9] She is recipient of the Commonwealth Professional Fellowship in 2011.[1] Tipnis holds a PhD in Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Heritage in India from the School of Planning and Architecture New Delhi in 2022.
Career
Professional
While studying at the School of Planning and Architecture, new Delhi, Tipnis interned at the Ranjit Sabikhi Architects, known for their urban design projects, education buildings, and housing communities.[10] She later worked as an associate with noted conservation architects in India and the UK[11] In 2007, she founded her eponymous practice Aishwarya Tipnis Architects, focusing on architectural conservation and sustainable development.
Since January 2010, she has been a Visiting Faculty in the Department of Urban Design at her alma mater, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.[18][19] and has also lectured at leading universities including CEPT University, Sir J.J. College of Architecture in India as well as at the Reinwardt Academy, University of Amsterdam,[20] Netherlands Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand and University of Dundee Scotland, UK and University of Edinburgh Scotland.[21]
She has been appointed as an expert member on the Academic Council of Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture & Environmental Studies Mumbai India.[22]
Social design and activism
Her work has involved students and youth in most of the projects. The Haveli Project was the first to allow students to come and learn from the ongoing restoration work through the Lime Workshop. Community engagement workshops were conducted as part of the Dutch in Chinsurah and Heritage & People of Chandernagore project. As part of Bonjour India 2018, a 7-day co-creation workshop with multi-disciplinary students from India and France was conducted at Chandernagore.
Aishwarya co-founded Jugaadopolis a platform that brings together students and community through innovative workshops to explore the tangible and intangible heritage of India. She has advocated the use of open-source digital technologies for making heritage conservation accessible to all through her projects.[23]
In January 2024, Aishwarya Tipnis was nominated as an expert member on the Heritage Conservation Committee of Delhi by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Government of India.[24]
The Restoration Toolbox
Aishwarya has spearheaded a project The Restoration Toolbox which is an open source digital platform that empowers communities in restoring their own heritage.[25][26] The project has been selected as the 8 most innovative ideas for international cultural relations by EUNIC Global under the Spaces of Culture programme for 2023.[27][28][29] The project has been recognised as a unique bottom up initiative that is unique in its conception and demystifies the process of heritage conservation for everyday heritage. As part of the project several workshops were conducted with stakeholders in public policy, community enthusiasts as well as students.[30][31]
Restoration Clinic
In the mission to make heritage advice accessible to owners of everyday heritage, Aishwarya and her team have launched the Restoration Clinic to guide and empower heritage owners in the process of repair and restoration.[32]