President and Chief Executive Officer
gkkworks
In 1991 Mr. Praful M. Kulkarni founded gkkworks to fulfill his dream of establishing a professional services firm with a new paradigm that is rooted in an old and proven “master builder” approach. The gkkworks philosophy stems from the reality that architecture and construction are inseparable and applying a thorough understanding of each is critical to the success of any project. In this regard, gkkworks is structured to provide customized solutions through a comprehensive and collaborative process, whereby architects and construction professionals work side-by-side to deliver superior building projects.
Prior to founding gkkworks, Mr. Kulkarni worked for premier AEC firms such as Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Karlsberger Architects, and URS Corporation. Since then he has grown gkkworks to one of the nation’s Top 100 construction management firms according to Engineering News Record and Top 100 architectural firms according to the Almanac of Architecture and Design. gkkworks has also been ranked among the Top 100 fastest growing design firms in the country for seven consecutive years according to Zweig White.
Mr. Kulkarni is a Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation and serves on the boards of numerous professional associations and organizations. He has been an active member of the DBIA for many years. He is a past president of the DBIA Western Pacific Region. He also serves as a board member with the Los Angeles Economic Development Agency, the Community College Facilities Coalition, the Pepperdine University Board of Visitors, and the Indian Institute of Technology Foundation.
Mr. Kulkarni studied architecture on a full scholarship at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India. In 1974 he received a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation to come to the United States, where he obtained a Masters of Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He later obtained a Masters of Business Administration from the executive program at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.