Tributes pour in for architect who died from bullet injury; family donates her kidneys

Friends, relatives and acquaintances of architect and author Archana Gupta recalled her as a warm person with a passion for academic pursuits, whose life and career was cut short as she died Thursday after sustaining a bullet injury at a New Year' Eve party here.

Archana, 42, was on life support at the Fortis hospital in Vasant Kunj where she was brought in an extremely critical condition on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1.

Friends and others who knew her expressed shock over the "bizarre incident".

She was cremated at the Nigambodh Ghat here in the evening.

"She was a remarkable person, very professional in all her ventures, from being an architect to a teacher; and from conservation to urban design. She was also a true friend. It feels terrible, as she had late December celebrated her birthday. I am shocked," Ratish Nanda, conservation architect and friend, told PTI.

Nanda, CEO, Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), India, said he was looking forward to meet her this weekend, but instead, "I am mourning her loss". "Her beautiful life cut short," he rued.

The architect was wounded in celebratory firing during the party at former Bihar MLA Raju Singh's farm house in Vasant Kunj.

The Delhi Police arrested former Bihar MLA Raju Singh, his wife and two others Thursday in connection with the incident during the New Year's Eve party at the ex-legislator's farmhouse here.

In an act of benevolence in the hour of grief, the family of Archana donated her kidneys, the hospital said.

Anshuman Gupta, her classmate from TVB School of Habitat Studies (now University School of Planning & Architecture at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University), said, "She was a brilliant academician, with a passion for architecture, and loved by her students".

Archana and Anshuman had co-authored a book -- 'Celebrating Public Spaces of India' in which she talked about "seeing Indian cities from an Indian perspective".

"The common notion, drawn from western perspective is that Indian cities are dirty, crowded and chaotic. But, her view point was that if one sees them with an Indian context, it's actually the vibrancy of our cities. Her loss has cut short her promising career in architecture," he told PTI.

Puneet Gupta, a relative of Archana, was in a state of shock after attending her funeral.

The grieving family member was inconsolable, saying, "Her memories are weighing on my mind and I feel very tormented".

Aishwarya Tipnis, another city-based conservation architect, recalled her as a very warm and congenial person.

"I had met her couple of times, on account of work. There was a workshop in which she had invited me as a speaker, and then she and her students had also visited havelis in old Delhi. Though my interaction was purely professional, she came off as a very warm human being," she said.

Anshuman said the Council of Architecture, Thursday also issued a condolence message in her memory.

"The Council pays its tributes to her and appreciates her immense contribution to the architecture profession," the message read.