Dr. Ponni M. Concessao

Dr Ponni M Concessao is an architect and urban design engineer based in Chennai. She is considered to be the first woman architect to design a Secretariat Building in Asia.

She has been bestowed with a large number of Awards.  Some of them being- the International Inspiring Women’s Award, Bangkok on Women’s Empowerment March 2020,   The Golden Brick Awards, Architecture and Interiors, Dubai 2019,  the Berg Women Icon of Asia, Singapore, May 2019, Won Two Icons of Spaces Awards 2016 Architecture – Commercial Project – Laurel Shopping Mall, Interior Design – Leisure Project Apollo Wellness Centre at Singapore in 2016 and the “Most Promising Architect in India” by Merit Architect & Design Awards 2017 at New Delhi.

The firm OPR Architects is owned by her along with her spouse, Architect Dr Oscar G. Concessao, who has won more than two hundred awards at the national and international level. Dr Ponni has also been honored by Cornell University for her unique accomplishments. She has been invited by various agencies of builders, architects, and academic institutions of repute as a keynote speaker.  She has been featured on TV Asia, New York, apart from other such accomplishments.

She had her early education at Church Park Convent in Chennai. Thereafter, she pursued her Bachelor of Architecture at NIT in Thiruchirapalli. For her higher studies, she went to Cornell and Harvard universities.  She was awarded the J N D Tata Endowment Scholarship for Higher Studies Abroad. She was awarded a PhD in Modern Architecture in 2008 and an honorary doctorate in Architectural Science from Universita Milano, and a diploma in Designing in Stone from Verona, Italy. She has worked for Edward Larabbee Barnes Architect, New York City; Yonkers Planning Department, New York; and National Trust of Historic Preservation, Washington D.C.

She has been recognised as one of the leading Women Architects in Asia.

* Updated on 13/04/2025.

Email: [email protected]
Webpage: www.ponniconcessao.com