About our Founder Architect
Yashaswini Sharma
Architect, Academician, Urban Historian, Conservationist, Author and Researcher
Founder Architect, Esthétique Architects
She completed B.Arch from B.M.S.C.E., Bengaluru, and her M.Phil in Architectural Research from the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University (PRASADA-AHTG,W.S.A.), U.K.
Her practice spans a varied range from contemporary, Indian temple, heritage architecture and restoration projects to smaller scale urban interventions to conserve tangible heritage of Bengaluru, Mysuru, Magadi and Ramanagara.
Yashaswini is collaborating with Prof. Adam Hardy of Cardiff University, through her practice, on a unique temple project which is being built in the manner of the ornate eleventh century 'Hoysaḷa' style at Venkatapura, Kolar. The temple is dedicated to the deity Lord Venkateshwara, and the architectural design is based on research perspectives of the rich repertoire of building traditions of the time and region. Her foray into Indian temple architecture was through field-work assistance and generation of measured drawings of Chalukya and Hoysala temples for the ‘Indian Temple project’ funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK.
She has also been at the forefront of community driven initiatives to secure tangible heritage of Bengaluru city through EA Samrakshaney, a conservation programme initiated by Esthétique Architects. Notable among these initiatives is the pro-bono Design of a Mantapa in Ganga style of Architecture to house 8th century inscription discovered in recent years in Hebbala, and Heritage documentation of the 17th century Kote Venkataramana Swamy temple in Bengaluru. This Heritage Documentation Report was released during India Heritage week in 2018. Through this programme, she has also been able to raise awareness and support for conservation of historic buildings such as Devaraja Market, Lansdowne Bazaar, Janata Bazaar, Vani Vilas Institute, restoration of Venkoji’s 17th century inscription at Malleshwaram, and the redesign of World War 1 Memorial in R T Nagar. A detailed documentation of the University Union building of BCU and of Manne (Manyapura) , capital of Ganga dynasty were also undertaken as part of this programme. Her firm led the restoration of the H. V. Nanjundayya Heritage Bungalow in Malleshwaram, Proposal for the Marthanda Madham Palace in the Palace-Fort complex, Thiruvananthapuram for the German Consulate besides other conservation projects. EA also successfully prepared the Concept Proposal for the Shree Chamundeshwari Hills under PRASHAD National Mission Project, and the DPR for the Magadi Fort Conservation and Adaptive Re-Use project , and Concept Proposal for the Ramagiri Shree Rama temple Conservation and Adaptive Re-Use project for the State Government of Karnataka. A project where new methodology is being developed for the successful execution of Hoysala Architecture vocabulary by Yashaswini Sharma is the Shree Anantapadmanabha Swamy temple project in Mysuru for ISKCON.
Yashaswini is the author of the book 'Bangalore: The Early City, AD 1537 - 1799,' which traces the development of Bangalore/ Bengaḷūru city, focusing on the architecture and settlement pattern of its earliest urban area, the Pētē, and the oval Fort. She was a Former Visiting Faculty with the B.M.S. College of Architecture and formerly Associate Professor at the Dayananda Sagar College of Architecture in Bengaluru. She has been an Examiner, Juror, and Guest Lecturer in various architectural engineering colleges. She has been also associated with the IISc for the Smart City Workshop that was held in 2018 amongst other initiatives. She was part of the Visitor Programme for the Protection and Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Germany and around the world as a guest of the Federal Government of Germany in 2023.
Yashaswini is the recipient of many awards including the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Foundation State Award 2026 for Cultural Heritage Revival, BBMP Nadaprabhu KempeGowda Award of 2020 for Heritage Conservation, and the Best Intellectual Award for Young Woman Entrepreneur from Global Achievers Foundation in 2012. She has penned many research papers, written articles for leading newspapers, given guest lectures at reputed colleges in the city and been part of many panel discussions.
