Bhavin Shukla, Assistant Professor, Academic Affairs, is an architect, design researcher and the co-founder of an interdisciplinary design practice called The Design Toolbox. His research interests lie at the intersection of material culture, everyday design and the socio-aesthetic dimensions of the built environment. He is particularly drawn to how culture, history and local practices shape the design and spaces. His methodological approach combines ethnographic observation and archival research.

Pedagogically, Bhavin adopts a studio-seminar hybrid model, encouraging students to engage critically and creatively through hands-on exploration, reflective writing and cross-cultural comparison. His teaching practice emphasises the importance of contextual sensitivity, interdisciplinary thinking and the ability to decode the visual and material language of the world around us.

At Anant, Bhavin is part of Academic Affairs, where he works with first-year students across architecture and design, introducing them to ways of seeing, making and thinking critically about the built and designed world. His approach emphasises observational methods, contextual analysis and hands-on engagement. His ongoing work explores how design reflects and shapes local identities, often drawing from museum visits and field travel to spark inquiry in the classroom.

Before joining Anant, Bhavin taught the Global Design Programme at UID Gandhinagar. As part of the social innovation design lab, he collaborated with the Blind School in Gandhinagar to develop STEM education tools for the visually impaired. As a recipient of the Archival and Museum Fellowship offered by the India Foundation for the Arts, Bengaluru, he has designed and curated exhibitions that involve public engagement. He has also taught architectural design studios, history and theory courses and electives at the Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University and NID Ahmedabad.

Bhavin holds an MSc in Design Research from the Hochschule Anhalt and Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and a BArch from CEPT University. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Architecture from CEPT University.

Beyond academia, Bhavin is an avid collector of everyday objects, from postage stamps to vintage kitchen tools, fascinated by the hidden stories in the ordinary. When not developing courses or decoding design, he can be found wandering through museums or planning his next cultural escape. Over the years, he has journeyed through cities and small towns alike, always with a keen eye for local aesthetics.