Gopalan Nair Shankar, known as G. Shankar, is an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He advocates the use of locally available materials, sustainability, eco-friendliness and cost effectiveness. He founded the Habitat Technology Group, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1987 and , serves on a number of boards. He did his architecture studies (B.Arch) from College of Engineering, Trivandrum (1982 batch) and later did M.S. from Birmingham School of Architecture, UK and postgraduate diploma in journalism. He has also won 3 national awards for green architecture, slum resettlement and eco city design.. His attitude to "green architecture" has gained him a reputation as the "people's architect". Shankar was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

by the Government of India in 2011.Padma Awards Announced
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* * * 1960 births Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Businesspeople from Thiruvananthapuram 20th-century Indian architects Artists from Thiruvananthapuram {{India-architect-stub