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FEATURE
Brick by brick
Chandralekha Kayastha, Architect  IMAGE: ANUP PRAKASH | Being the first woman architect in Nepal is no small feat, but Chandralekha Kayastha takes the recognition with a humble heart. In 1975, a time when most women in Nepal didn't work outside of the house, Chandralekha was returning from studies in India to embark on a career journey that would pave the way for future women architects in Nepal. Because architecture is a job requiring a great deal of math skills, until the last ten or so years, it has often been categorised as a "man's field", but that didn't seem to bother Chandralekha. "Even though people used to say men are better at maths, I never even really thought about it as a struggle," Kayastha explains, "I just saw architecture and math as something I enjoyed, so I did it. I find women are equally capable." She not only does it, she does it well. Under the banner of their private firm, Chandralekha and her husband have helped erect some of the most notable buildings not only in Kathmandu, but in Nepal as a whole. Projects include, but are definitely not limited to, the Nepal Tourism Board, the Department of Irrigation, the Nabil Bank House, and Kathmandu Plaza. The list goes on and on and the locations sprawl across a number of districts throughout the country. The longest project the duo worked on took four years to complete, but it remains an iconic landmark: Kathmandu Mall. "It can be a highly stressful job, because unlike a lot of careers, in architecture, every inch really does count," Kayastha tells, "but it's something I enjoy–otherwise I wouldn't do it. That's what I always told my own kids; you should do a job that you won't think of as work, but that you think of as a hobby." It turned out, the hobby ran in the family; all three of those children grew up to be architects in their own right. With one in Singapore, another in China and yet another in United States, Kayastha says the family still enjoys their hobby whenever they reconvene in Nepal. "When the kids are here, they help us out with our projects," she smiles, "they enjoy it." For Chandralekha Kayastha, the secret to success sounds simple: enjoy what you do and you can always go far. *Emma Sciantarelli
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