WORKSHOPS / RESEARCH​
​
​
VARIOUS PROJECTS THROUGH THE YEARS, DONE AS PART OF WORKSHOPS/ AS RESEARCH/ FOR FUN
IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
Inversion​
​
Sen Kapadia Workshop
​
​
Discussing ways in which design and art practitioners have broken the mould, how architecture can be influenced by other disciplines and apply it to a small project with two parameters: it's a personal space on an inclined surface.
The first six weeks are spent discussing ideas from diverse fields of knowledge and culture. The theory of inversion is about rethinking or reconstructing worlds and experiences. At the end of the sixth week, you are asked to build our own house. It is said without being told to relate to the theory of inversion.
What is a house for you?
At this point you are tired of the comfort of the house, you feel it makes you a lazy bum. Hours pass by without knowing what constructive has happened.
That summer you had been to a trek to Jalori Pass on cycle. It was exhilarating. You remember it so vividly, that it seems like you were there for a month, going up and downs, through the villages and towns, discovering flowers you still don't know the names of and reflecting in front of the immense landscape.
So, it was better when you were out. Even though, it pulled all your strings, you enjoyed the exploration. Is there a house that can allow that.
​
The site is supposed to be a sloping ground, to be taken anywhere in the world and an image was all that was required.
You tried various diagrams and felt that the kind of home you wanted couldn't be a semi-open house. It would be too easy to build an abode or sorts in the luscious hills and with trees around for shade.
An inverted house would be one which doesn't let you get too comfortable although when inside, the scale of built and the form of the spaces makes it a memorable experience. There are no windows in the subterranean house. I could sit at a window all day everyday, but the real fun is being out there! The house literally pushes you out of it to be able to see the environs outside. The closest it gets to a semi-open space is in the form of the entrance courtyard, a long, tapering cylinder open-to-sky that brings in a diffused light and frames the night sky. No more air-conditioning and television. The house is a space where one rests and reflects in. Keeping that in mind, the scale is restrained to the dimensions of my body, making it nearly impossible for two people to be inside the subterranean house together at the same time.
Community Centre​
​
Peter Rich Workshop
​
​
This was part of a five-day workshop in which we were to visit the fishing village of Moragaon to look at architectural and urban patterns. We visited homes, interviewed residents and stakeholders to get an idea of their lifestyles.
Group credits: Dishant Manik, Sachi Mavinkurve
​
Houses here were about 10 sqm to 20 sqm footprints, going up to three levels and loft spaces within. It made us wonder how social lives were lived in the neighbourhood and we visited the open spaces around to get a sense of activity. One such "clearing" was particularly busy, with benches delineating the edges, kids playing cricket, some people chatting on plastic chairs or sitting in the shade of buildings and semi-open spaces. We noticed a distinct dominance of men in such open areas, which lead us to inquiring about spaces for women or girls. Although they did have occasional gatherings in the open space, it wasn't as democratic on most days, where they chose to meet in each other's homes for shared work or socialising.
The open space has a single-storey administrative office for the village, so we proposed an extension on the floor above and in space on its side that would become a women's community and welfare centre. We imagined it to be used for forming social groups, which could further allow for interactions with various NGOs or small industries to help conduct workshops and vocational courses. The connection from the ground floor to the first would create an open urban gesture, allowing for seating, while creating a certain threshold and a sense of privacy. There was also a play area at the ground level, open to the courtyard, creating a safe space for girls to play, while their mothers were at the centre or at other times.
​
Cycle Route​
​
Sustainability Workshop
​
​
Finding ways of creating micro-interventions in lifestyles through architectural design.
I often cycled to college from my home, which was always enjoyable int the mornings, but I wouldn't vouch for it being pleasant for friends around because it can get sweaty in the summer. I thought, let me analyse this route for the kind of possibilities it provides to create a cycling route!
I looked at urban design case studies for simple techniques, like collared paths and details at crossroads. I often found that cyclists like me would be amphibious as pedestrians and vehicalists. So, in order to minimise stops, crossings were thought of. As a way of pitching this as a "green" idea, the paths were to be fitted with piezoelectric motors (that would use the mechanical pressure from the cycle path and motorway to generate electricity for lights at cycle stands that would dot the path.
​
Cycling in Mumbai isn't highly encouraged, unlike counterparts in other metropolitan cities. A workshop I was a part of tried to create an interesting cycling experience in Thane, making a map that would be cycle-friendly. I see that to be an interesting idea for other parts of the city, which could be a precursor for actual cycle paths.
Game Of Life​
​
Visual Studies Workshop
​
​
Creating a game that works 'in space'. A game in three dimensions.
Group credits: Justin Thomas, Suha Khopatkar, Aditi Desai​
​
We thought we could make a game based on the chance and (mis)adventures from a day in the life of a member of the group. Interpreting every situation that needs to be dealt with in the form of a game, we create a course of puzzles and riddles and traps and tunnels until the participant could reach back home, safely. It was a lot of fun, especially taking over our design studio and making the elements that everyone was conversant with, come alive in life-sized game pieces.
Makkah Masjid​
​
Architectural History Studio
​
​
Analysing a historic building
I picked a building that I had chanced upon when I roamed for half a day in the old city of Hyderabad. The old city is knit with narrow lanes, low-rise houses and towering monuments. I have enough time to go to Charminar, wait in a queue that starts right in the centre of the road and go up and down the minaret in a mechanical fashion, which had a sense of going to the class 'in a straight file' during school days. The Makkah Masjid is situated at a stone's throw distance from the minar itself. A tight entrance pulls you into the massive stone-tiled courtyard of the mosque complex. There's not much time, but I gape, amazed, at the silent charm of this place. The stone floors are made using the same stone that the buildings are built with and are a delight to walk on! When I have to analyse this building for the assignment, I try to source drawings and read up on its history. It all makes the experience of being there much more gratifying.
As the sky turns a coy pink, an unstable energy stirs the air. A flurry of birds returned to their evening roost and I was sure the city outside had also quickened its pace. But inside, I, along with a few others, didn't care to ask the names of, sit on a cool, granite slab and in abandon of our worldly lives and worries till the sun sets, only to move on to the beautifully restored Chowmohalla Mahal and Golconda Fort.
​
​
Who Noes​
​
Visual Studies Studio
​
​
Creating a mutated object/form
This design exercise asked us to bring any object from home. Then, we were asked to write a part of the human body on a piece of paper. And then, we were told to merge these two, studying the forms. The point wasn't to make anything of use. I poked fun at what I ended up making by creating a narrative about a Khatar-naak. You're welcome.
Perversion
​
Visual Studies Studio
​
​
Creating an installation that studies "reality"
Is reality infinite? We are always worlds within orgs within worlds away from reality. How deep is the universe? How big is a star?
The truth or the perception of truth makes reality a one-point perspective.
​
The installation tried to create a dark space, lit up with shadows of an alternate space, as a way of saying our eyes and minds are the first screens to perceive truths. A person sitting inside sees a distorted shadow of another human, who appears to not have volume, a human scale, connection to the viewer. The installation looks like a singular layer from the outside, which helps create the deception.
Spatial Archetypes​
​
Architectural History Study
​
​
Find instances of spatial archetypes, as identified in a paper, in the physical realm
Mimi Lobell's essay Spatial Archetypes was read as a matrix in which to understand the deepest structure of all that is built and experienced. I looked at the the manifestation of these archetypal structure in sociology, graphic design, urban planning and architecture.
Excavation​
​
Renu Sawant Workshop​
​
Studying film-making and writing
The workshop includes varied modules including reading and writing, photography, film-making and site-visits. It comprised of a series of exercises that focused on sensitising one’s relationship to various spaces in the city. every exercise asked us to dig into recesses of our brain; discussions of memories, dreams, reality, etc. ensued, creating an increased awareness. Renu referred to these exercises done in class as an excavation; we were being trained, as it were, to be more aware of ourselves before going to the site.