Sidheshwar Gopalrao Pardy was born in India in 1932, attending secondary school in Nagpur before graduating with a Diploma in engineering and architecture from Nagpur University in 1956. Whilst studying he gained experience with the Nagpur-based practice of G.S. Karandikar (1954-1956) and in the years immediately following graduation also worked for other local firms including the Kaushal Tameer Company (1956), the G.K Brothers (1956-1957), N.P. Chandavarkar (1957-1958), followed by S.K. Karekar, in Bangalore (1957-1958). In September 1959 Pardy enrolled at the Architectural Association (AA), London, entering the Third Year of the AA Diploma course. As part of his final year’s studies in 1961-62, he took the option of studying in the AA’s Department of Tropical Studies. His final thesis project was a proposal for ‘Middle Income Housing at Nagpur’, the final jury being attended by Alison Smithson. Upon graduating from the AA Pardhy returned to India and by 1964 had taken up a position as an Associate for S.K. Karekar, in Bangalore. He appears to also have entered academia and when the Visvesvaraya College of Engineering began a degree course in architecture in 1967 Pardhy was appointed the first Head of Department. He is remembered fondly by one of his students as ‘an ever-smiling man’ introducing students to modern architecture and subjects including sciagraphy and climatology’. Details of Pardhy’s subsequent career are not known to us.

 Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register, 1961-62. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Student Record, 1959-62. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Council Minutes, 19th February, 1962. AA Archives
• Deccan Herald, ‘The Perfect Foundation’, 15th July, 2015. Accessed 24th June, 2025: https://www.deccanherald.com/content/489428/perfect-foundation.html
• ‘Department of Architecture: University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering’, University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering website. Accessed 24th June, 2025: https://uvce.ac.in/architecture_dept.php