Society Interiors & Design Awards 2025 Honours India’s Top Architecture & Interior Design Talent

Society Interiors and Design, India’s leading architecture and interior design magazine returned with the 22nd edition of its marquee property, Society Interiors & Design Competition & Awards, on Saturday 22nd February 2025 at Taj Santacruz, Mumbai.

Award winners including students from all corners of the nation poured into the venue and found themselves immersed in a sea of motivation, surrounded by like-minded individuals all striving for personal and professional growth.

Hosted by the iconic Society Interiors & Design magazine and supported by Free Press Journal newspaper as Media Partner, this event wasn’t just a competition; it was a celebration of innovation and imagination in the world of architecture and design. This year’s competition was like a launch pad for young talent, propelling them into the stratosphere of creativity.

Ashok Dhamankar, the dynamic force behind Magnate Publishing which publishes ‘Society Interiors & Design’ & Society Achievers’ magazines, started off the evening with a warm speech. He fondly remembered his mentor, media magnate Nari Hira, whose legacy he is committed to taking forward.

Dhamankar thanked the Chief Guest, Minister of Transport, Maharashtra, Pratap Sarnaik who consented to be present at the mega event. Dhamankar also thanked Guest Of Honour, BMC Commissioner Dr Bhushan Gagrani, IPS Officer Brijesh Singh, the Principal Secretary in Directorate General of Information & PR and Jitendra Mehta, Chairman, JVM Spaces and the President of CREDAI MCHI Thane, for their presence to support and graced the event with their esteemed presence.

Together, along with the magazine’s Consulting Editor Swati Balgi, and like most Indian events the evening kick-started with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp on stage and the much awaited awards took off. And what a night it was.

Politician and fashion designer Shaina NC, singer Shibani Kashyap, along with a host of topnotch professionals gathered to celebrate excellence in design and innovation among the students of India’s biggest and best colleges of architecture and interior design at #SIDCA25.

The country’s much-acclaimed leading lights from the architecture, design and realty industries showed their support by attending the event. It was truly an honour to felicitate the Architects, Interior Designers, Realtors, Mentors & Jury members, College Head of Departments (HODs), and the enthusiastic students for their immense contribution in their respective domains.

The first set of awards was bestowed on architects and design stalwarts for their path-breaking contribution in redefining the architecture and design industry, followed by an interactive powerpoint presentation by architect Alhad Gore on ‘Understanding HVAC for students and professionals’.

The highly anticipated student’s awards segment, the real heroes of the evening who with their innovative ideas and approaches gave the jury a tough time to decide on the final list.

Some with parents in tow, you could see the smiles and joy on their faces as each one came on stage to receive the reward of their hard work. Young college boys and girls dressed for the occasion in their best attire, walked on stage to collect their trophy, medals and certificate representing their college. A whirlwind of excitement was in place, as students from every corner of India converged in Mumbai, armed with sketches, models, and dreams.

The students were graded on the product, residential and commercial categories from four zones across India – North, South, East and West.

LS Raheja School of Architecture, Bandra East, won many awards. Archi Mav from the college, was all smiles as she spoke on the winning spree of her college (see list). Mav feels that these are the milestones and not the achievements. “We are really grateful to the SIDCA team for providing us this stage and this platform so that we get encouragement and we work towards it for the betterment of ourselves. This shows that hard work really pays off”.

So what was the brief given for the competition, we quiz the 21 year old? “We got 4 to 5 months to prepare. The brief was sent to us in September or October and we started preparing from the day we received the brief. We received the plans, the civil layout, the whole pointers which they had mentioned about the requirements, and the slides in which we had to press them. For example, first slide is your plan, the second slide is your case study. So, we had to put in all the effort. Our team has really worked hard towards it”.

The Mumbai based Mav has done a part-time diploma course from the L.S Raheja School of Architecture. “Right now I am in my third year. I was not this person at all when I used to be in my first year, I used to remain absent on my presentations day, I used to not speak at all, but now I am speaking so confidently in front of you all. Becoming an interior designer and coming over to this stage is a really great opportunity”.

Mav plans to get the experience of how people work in this field soon after she graduates. “I have done the internship for three months after my second year. I would really like to experience more of what happens in the outside world”. Mav, who is in her third year, says mid March is the last working day in college after which they have the juries and the final year exams.

Speaking on the occasion, singer Shibani Kashyap who has performed all over the world, said that had she not been a singer she would’ve surely been an interior designer.“If I wasn’t into music, I would’ve surely been an interior designer. My very first article when I was literally in my teens, was done by Society. I was called the Wandering Minstrel, Songstress, names I was given by many Editors. They were the ones that exposed my music to the media through their articles. So my association with them goes a long way. I was also written about and on the cover of Savvy magazine twice”.

A special surprise at the event was the unveiling of the ‘Society Achievers Realty Special’ magazine. Several of the Super Heroes of India’s Realty Industry joined Ashok Dhamankar, Editor – Andrea Costabir, Dr Bhushan Gagrani, and Brijesh Singh to unveil this inspirational magazine that traces the noteworthy journey and tracks the achievements of India’s best-known Realtors. Others were Jitendra Mehta of JVM Spaces, Manju Yagnik from Nahar Group, Vivek Bhise and Vishal Walke from Austin Realty, CJ Mathew from Ashar Group, Dr Harshul Savla from Suvidha Lifespaces, and Anil Kondoth, CEO, Techno Paints.

Renowned architect Prem Nath, Neeti Goel, restaurateur and philanthropist, Architects Mihir and Rinki Kotak, Bhavya and Neilesh Kenkare, Chand and Madhavi Bhise, Alhad Gore, Ruchi Sharma, Lalita and Mujib Tharani, Mandar Parab, Isha Narayan, Khusboo and Kunal Khandelwal, Ojas Chaudhari, Reza Kabul, Kanhai Gandhi, Neemesh Shah and Shresht Kashyap, Prakash Gore, Ketan Chavan, Aaishna Pradhan, Deepa Ghule, Kaushik Mukherjee, Koyeli Dasgupta and Ambrish Mangle, were some of celebrated guests who attended the event.

Dhamankar expressed his thanks to Yogesh Lakhani of Bright Outdoors and Pooja Misal, Captain Indira Vashishta Carena, Alpa of FCB Ulka, Chanda Patil and Ekta Dang too for bringing a dash of light and joy to the proceedings.

Speaking exclusively to Free Press Journal which was the Media Partner at the event, Dhamankar remarked, “The Society of Interior Design and Competition, was started 22 years ago. At that time, there was a magazine called Inside Outside. The Inside Outside story was very well known to everybody. But our Chairman, Nari Hira thought that we should have a platform for youngsters. A new talent. Today, if you see, everybody has a platform for youngsters, because the population of our country is almost 60-70% youth. So, everybody now thinks that they should have something for the youth. But we, as a magazine, launched this 22 years ago. It’s a platform where we are not just facilitating the students, but we are also giving them a platform. We are giving the opportunity to work with the architect firms also. There are various architects who have come forward and taken these students to work in their firm, as an intern. So, they have started offering facilities which nobody ever thought of. But we thought about this and we laid down this platform for them”.

Initially, starting in Mumbai, it has now grown nationwide, says Dhamankar, with students joining in from places like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai. “Most of the colleges taking the part are winning. They want to win” says Dhamankar joyfully, while adding. “Some of the colleges have laid down a subject called Society Interior and Design. So, they prepare their students at least 6 to 8 months prior to the competition. So, we feel that we are doing something for the youth of today which is very important. Youth is the future. They are the future of the country. We are very happy to see the joy and excitement which students were expressing. All are thanking Society Interior and design”.

Summing up the celebratory evening on a high note, Dhamankar made a special mention of his supporting team by thanking his colleagues Sunil Khavnekar, Shivendra Parihar, Swati Balgi, Andrea Costabir, Preeta Nair, Priya Prabhu, Mario Ferreira and Ravi Roushon who helped make #SIDCA25 a success.

Ably emceed by Simran Ahuja, the event witnessed a grand celebration of exceptional talent and creativity.. The attendees were treated to an evening filled with valuable insights and life-transformative experiences, taking home memories for a lifetime. Post the award ceremony a gala night awaited one and all with a lavish dinner.