A short note about Jyothi Pillay who was only 27 years old when her
brilliant future was cut short by her tragic death.  From Singapore
University she made a lot of new friends and traveled with them
throughout nearby regional countries. One that sticks in my mind is
the school building project she was involved within a district of
Limpopo South Africa with Nottingham University students.

Jyothi was born and bred in England and lived in Bristol home. Both her
parents are from Fiji. Dad, Krish Pillay is originally from Tavua,
and her mum Ranjana was from Suva. Her mum, Ranjana, who also did
architectural studies at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji,
moved to England after marriage.

Her mum sadly passed away at a young age from cancer when Jyothi was just
11 years old. It was quite a challenge to raise her and her older
brother, Deepak, single-handedly. Encouraging them to push ahead with
their education after such a tragic event.

The following article is a message from her Tutor/Mentor, Dr. Melanie
Dodd, at Saint Martins University which she delivered on 23^rd
June 2018, when they announced the Jyothi Pillay Memorial Prize as a
lasting legacy.

Jyothi was curious, independent, and a talented young architect. In her
work, she took the study of the built environment seriously and
beyond the walls of the university, which is both brave and
necessary. What shone through all her projects was a deep curiosity
and willingness to engage with other people in the community, often
those marginalized or
under-represented, and to use her architectural knowledge
and expertise as a force for assisting people. 

Her Talents
were clear in all that she did, and in acknowledgment of this she
was awarded the Jane Rapley Scholarship in 2016 – a merit-based
award to support student’s in their second year of postgraduate
study. In her second year, she was also short-listed for the
prestigious Mead Fellowship. This Fellowship is to support onward
practice for graduating postgraduate students and acknowledges and
supports the ambitious engagement in ‘live’ project and future
practice by students. During the study, Jyothi also undertook an embedded
Placement with the Greater London Authority Regeneration Unit, and
following this formative experience, she completed her Thesis
The project, exhibited at her Degree Show in June 2017. This project was
a vibrant illustration of a student’s conscientious and generous
engagement with a community housing and regeneration project, StART
(St Annes Redevelopment Trust) – and was one of the highlights of
the Show. 

In memory of Jyothi, the Programme is
establishing a Memorial Prize to be awarded annually to a graduating
M. ARCH Architecture student who demonstrates a talent, compassion and
sensitivity for community engagement.”

With Vimalah Westwood help we decided to raise funds for Reaching the
Unreached in Southern India is probably two-fold:

1.  
Her deep-rooted interest in engaging and assisting marginalized or
under-represented communities, and RTU through Brother James Kimpton
(who sadly passed away aged 92, last year) did exactly that.

2. 
To raise enough funds to build at least one house for a needy family in
one of the villages that Brother James worked and supported. For the
family and friends, this will be a lasting memory of Jyothi.

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