studio
Founded in 2003 by partners Christine Mueller and Pankaj Vir Gupta, the office of vir.mueller architects combines architectural research, education, and practice.
Prior to establishing the firm, both partners worked for renowned architectural offices in the United States, Europe, and India. vir.mueller architects strives to create timeless aesthetic relationships, evoking the spirit of contemporary culture, ecology, and technology. According primacy to the process of design, our work evolves as a response to the particular character of each program, site, and budget. At every scale, the firm emphasizes the integrity of material and craftsmanship, establishing a fundamental relationship between the physical environment, and the art of making architecture. The professional work of vir.mueller architects has been widely published and awarded – in North America, in Europe, and in India.
Pankaj Vir Gupta
founding partner & director
Co-Director of the Yamuna River Project
Katz Professor of Architecture and Urbanism, Tulane University
Pankaj Vir Gupta is a licensed architect in the United States, and a registered member of the Council of Indian Architects. As founding partner of vir.mueller architects, he has led the office in the design projects encompassing a range of typologies and scales. The work of vir. mueller architects has been published and awarded internationally, and the firm continues to advance design thinking in significant built works of architecture. Recent projects include the Healthy Planet School, the University of Chicago Center in India, and the Humayun’s Tomb Museum – the first contemporary museum in India to be built on a World Heritage Site.
Pankaj is the Katz Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at Tulane University. As Co-Director of the Yamuna River Project, he teaches a Research Design Studio each year focused on the predicaments of megacities. He has previously taught at the University of Virginia (2012-2026), at University of Texas at Austin, the Arizona State University, and the University of New Mexico – where he received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, as well as the J.B. Jackson grant award for research. Pankaj Vir Gupta received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia (1993), and a Master of Architecture from the Graduate School of Architecture at Yale University (1997).
Christine Mueller Gupta
founding partner & director
Christine Mueller received a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture (Magna Cum Laude) from Washington University in St. Louis (1995), and a Master of Architecture from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University (2000). She has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Boston Architectural Center. As a founding partner of vir.mueller architects, she leads the design teams in concept development, as well as in the design evolution of all projects. Based on her research of India’s first concrete building in Pondicherry, Christine co-authored golconde: the introduction of modernism in india– a seminal book on the principals that led to the advent of modern architecture in the Indian sub-continent.
Kapil Shokeen
partner & studio director
Kapil Shokeen has worked at vir.mueller architects for over a decade, leading the Design Teams as the Studio Director. He has led the team of architects and consultants on projects of varying scales and typologies. He was the Project Architect on the Humayun’s Tomb Site Museum – India’s first contemporary museum to be built on a World Heritage Site. Kapil received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University School of Architecture and Planning in New Delhi.