Architecture is something that has been a critical part of my life and as someone who is highly influenced by the creative field, with a father who’s an architect, I was also anticipated to follow the same career choice. and arts was something that has always been appreciated for.
This is a subject I have avoided my entire life but one that I’ve only recently come to be drawn to. For a long time I refused to imagine this scenario, as it was not something I saw myself doing. I was lucky enough to be able to do something that I’m was interested. Hence I wanted to explore the journey of an architectural student. However, I wanted to look into a different perspective and interview someone who’s went through a different journey than I did. With this I decided to interview one of my colleagues, who’s fought his way to study architecture.
Rajvardhan Thorat comes from a big city in India with a family background tied to politics. In a country like India, its quite common that the son of a politician often takes over the role of their parent. However, ever since Raj was a young boy he’s always been driven and influenced by the arts. His journey to fight to do what he loves opens ones eyes to unknown battles that some of us are blinded too.
I started this journey by document photographs of architectural spaces and structures.
Steven Holl is a New York-based American architect and watercolorist. His projects explores new ways to integrate an organizing idea with the programmatic and functional essence of a building. Rather than imposing a style upon different sites and climates.
He believes that architecture should have an experiential connection, metaphysical link and a poetic link.We can see how this reflected in his work The Cité de l’Océan et du Surf, located in Biarritz, France a collaboration with Brazilian artist and architect Solange Fabião. The structure is a museum that is aimed in raising awareness of oceanic issues and scientific aspects of surf and sea. The structure follows two critical spatial themes; “Under the Sky” & “Under the Sea” made up of a concave exterior and a convex interior that showcase dramatic design elements.
Quick brainstorm in identifying how the structural design was inspired
In order to identify and find my guiding path in recognising a conceptual and analytical theme of focus, I began the project through drawing a section cut through the structure. The sectional cut as seen in the image below acted as an analytical tool, that helped in identifying dramatic curvilinear movements that establish the themes “Under the sky & Under the ocean” adapted by the architect Steven Holl.
East West Sectional cut
Through the drawing there were two structural movements that really stood out to me, the first one was the assembly between the two cubical like glass structure and the ground, as it is interesting to see how these contrasting materials join together at the plane ground smoothly without any disturbance. The second movement that stood out to me is the structural movement where theres a small concave dip on theft side of the structure.
Looking into more dramatic curved movements of the structure. With further research, what drew me in was the skateboard pool.
Top of the skateboard poolBottom part of the skateboard pool
For the process of constructing the skateboard pool they used a complex a large wooden structure that represented the shape of the skateboard pool (As seen in the images below)
The wooden structures were placed after the shape and the reinforcement for the skateboard pool was constructed. This to me seemed pretty unusual, as quite often the finally layer of concrete usually follows the spraying cement system. Hence, in order to under the structure better for my next step I started sketching out the plan to se if this would help understand the structural design and assembly system of the skateboard pool.
Plan Drawing: Level +28.7Plan Drawing: Level 20.70Plan of the construction site that further proves my hypothesis of the skateboard pool, as we can recognise a double outline. The plan also showcases vertical beams used to create the concave structure.
Detail Drawing.1Detail Drawing.2
Inference Sketch of the glass assembly of the facade
Through further research on other structures by Steven Holl, I was able to unravel that he leaves, in a way his signature by representing a key feature of the structure on the door knob. I was then able to find an image of the door knob. As you can see in the image below the skateboard pool happened to be an important element of the structure.
At first I assumed that the shape was probably derived from a an oceanic microorganism, since it was after all the oceanographic museum. However, I couldn’t find any specific microorganism that fit this exact shape. Hence, I then just started drawing random circles and tried to figure out the right size and placement that created the kidney like shape. Finally, I was able to identify that the structure was made up of three different circles. This led me to broaden my exploration as the architect also focused on creating a metamorphic link between the site environment and the structure. Through the above exploration, I was able to puzzle out the three circles used to create the shape of the skateboard pool were scaled down circles put together from major roundabouts around the site.
In regards to the wooden structure discussed earlier, I was able to recognise that skateboard pool are usually built by first placing the reinforcement and then spraying on the cement. However, due to the location of this site where there’s excess moisture and salt in the air spraying cement was not only hazardous but the structure itself would not sustain. Therefor, came the need of the wooden structure that creates the perfect shape of the interior walls without any inconsistency. The interior also consists of a crisscross pattern, this pattern as seen in the image below is created to hold tension from the heavy cement to avoid any dents or deformation of the wooden structure.
The structure also uses a special type of glass called Okalux glass.
Drawing the indicates how the rooftop cafe is perfectly aligned to the ocean horizon, to enhance the view.
The images below illustrate the use of Spider fitting system used at the Whitney Museum. The system acts as a force that holds the glass and also protects the glass from heavy wind load.
The long wires as seen in the sketch below arise from the ground and move all the way up to the ceiling. There’s also an apparent rhythm present in the front facade of the structure, where horizontal and vertical lines meet to create a linear pattern.
The open book project focused on the concept of “Printed Matter as it corresponds to the digital age and is a reflection of how communication has changed overtime. The project deals with questions like how does printed matter form a particular era encapsulate a moment in History or act as a nostalgic “artifact”?Or if the information presented in the print of your object still relevant or accurate?
Materials:
Wood
Cotton
Glue
Gold chain
Hoops
Craft paper
Concept:
I focused on the only book Ive known and read; The Hobbit. Through my object I wanted illustrate how the series of books through time showcase and exemplify various moral values. Hence I designed a box that unravels the basic moral story of each book, through small blurbl and an illustration based on the story of each series.
In this assignment we examined how personal, physical or an historic concepts of time, are intricately connected to our surrounding environment through creating a book. The book would also exemplify how time connects to a public or private space.
Materials:
Mount board
Paper
Ink
gold tape
wrapping paper
Adobe photoshop
Adhesive spray
Process:
Part.1
We started by selecting a specific place that exists within a larger architectural environment for which I decided to focus on a church back in my hometown. Built in the 1880’s St. Aloysius Church is a catholic church located in the central part of the city of Mangalore. The structure represents that of the sistine chapel and illustrates beautiful paintings on the wall of the church. The church is a sacred place for all citizens in Mangalore and is no site a tourist to the city misses.
I then began by writing out my story, where I focused on the transition of the mood in the atmosphere that one senses, with time as different events take place in the church. The simple story revolves around one family and a childs experience within the church on the meaning of life over time.
I then began collecting images and drawing out sketches based on the images for example, this is evident as seen in the images below.
Part.2
In order to help developing our concept we were then required to create a mood board that shows our visual concepts in relation to our story. This process helped in identifying how we could merge each image to the text. Hence, in this step I decided to create my mood board in the form a rough draft book. The book showcased rough sketches, how many pages I would like and side notes.
I then started sketching out the final drawings. The sketches were made in black ink on paper and were then scanned in order to printed on the final paper.
Once I had my images and texts ready, I began formatting my layout using InDesign a software application that helped in placing my images and texts wherever required and work on the spacing.
The next critical step was creating a prototype of our final project. Here I first created a small scaled version of the final book. This process helped in identifying if the text were aligned in the right spaces, the prototype also helped in recognising an unexpected error where the scanned images were printed in dark blue hue rather than in black.
The above image illustrates the different types of prototypes that we created before the final book was made.
As portrayed in the above images some of the sketches in the book were created in such a way that images appeared to pop out. This was done by having another cut out print out of the same sketch that was placed on top using double sided tape.
The pages were also taped together in order to help having it being layed out as seen in the image below. This format helped in providing more than one reader to look through the book at a time.
Reflection:
This project really helped in understanding the basics of using InDesign as I had never worked with this software. It also helped in learning about the fundamentals of making a book from creating a bounded exterior to something as simple as choosing the right font.
Clearly depicting a transition in a story is a critical element in comic illustrations, as this helps the reader connect the meaning behind the two frames. With this said, for this project we focused on creating two transitional comic like panels that represent two different types of transitions that encompasses the topic of Time.
Materials Used:
Mount Board
Glue
Water colour
Ink
Paper
Process:
In order to understand the basic concepts of transitional panels, we began by reading “Understanding Comics” by Scott McCloud. The reading unraveled for this projects the six different types of transitional panels and how they are illustrated. For the next step, we then had to select two types of transition panels and discussing possible ideas that we could illustrate based on the type of panels we would like to illustrate.
Once I was certain on what I wanted to illustrate I began sketching out the drawings in a frames. I decided to work around “Moment to Moment Transition” & “Scene to Scene Transition.” Using a micro inked pen I outlined the sketches and erased of the pencil lines. I then began painting the background using water colours and slowly working my way towards the central figures.
For the final step we scanned and drawings and had them laser print. The print was then carefully mounted on to a board.
The above panel illustrates a women gazing out a balcony door as she appreciates the little things in life. She is shown holding a glass of wine as the drink is often associated to celebration.The above panel is an illustration that signifies that sometimes you have to let go of the things you love but are toxic in order to make yourself stronger. The panels also suggest that with time all wounds heal
The basic context of this piece was exploring a new spiritual endeavour after an unforeseen event.
On October 2016, I met in a car accident, fortunately for me I had no life threatening injuries. However, passed several days lead to an unraveling of unfortunate events. Events that took a tole on my well being. There were days that were really rough and there days that were just quite. The event encompassed me I questioned myself who am I? Why am I here? With all these questions in my mind I didn’t know what to do or why I felt what I was feeling. It was then one day, when I got back to walking normally that I caught the smell of something I recognised, back from home. The scent was an incense stick from a shop close by it reminded of something my grandmother told as I child – “When all hope is lost try and talk to god.”
Now I was raised Hindu and have lived around different religious practices but I never really believed in any of it due to the fact that religion has been tied to politics where I’m from. However, I wanted to see if I could build a connection between the religious beliefs that I was brought up with, and the course topic Avatar. The concept of avatar is rooted in the secular practices of Hinduism. In the philosophical or theological context an avatar means a manifestation of God upon earth in corporeal form, which can be that of any living being. As an incarnation, God lives upon earth, goes through the same lifecycle as other living beings to resolve some fundamental problems of existence. It is always to set things right, to resolve some problem, or destroy evil. In a way you may consider it an intervention or micromanagement when we collectively fail or when gods fail us to put our world in order.
Buddhism for me was one of the the religions that I always found quite interesting and it was one particular quote by Gautam Buddha that made create avatars of him specifically i.e “In the end these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you let go?”
In an ideal situation I would like to recreate this piece in an enclosed public space in order to bring about the sense of serenity. I would also like the light in the middle as seen in image above to be lit and apparent all day. Hence, this would require an enclosed dark space.
Foam Board: This material was used to create a raised platform in which the final figure would be placed.
Hand crafted paper: This material was used to create a flower like object. It was also used to control extensive lighting and create a sense of delicacy by having it wrapped around the top most platform.
Gold Paint: This material was used in order to create flow like movement that comes out from the red hand crafted paper onto the black platform. Here, I used a sharpie to create the outlines and then filled them in.
Plexi Glass: With the helps a laser cutter I created cut outs from plexi glass of the figures to create 2D figure.
Torch: This material was used as symbol of spiritual enlightenment where I placed a torch in the middle of the structure .
Glue: I used special acrylic glue in order to place stick plexiglass surfaces and normal glue to wrap the foam board.
I knew that for this project I was deeply influenced by my culture and ethnicity. The work reminded me a lot about several Buddhist Monasteries and temples that I visited in my early childhood, due to the fact that most of the temples had several engravings and sculptures. I also walked around the city and documented the way buddha was represented in different avatars around stores in NYC.
Over the course of the spring semester we worked on two journals where we explored different topics in relation to sustainability and climate change.
The first one was feild action journal, consisting of research and reflection based notes through feild trips that took place during class. Attached below are the links to the following documents.
The second one that we focused one was the Studio Journal, in this journal we documented all the models and work that we made over the course of this class.
Attached below are the links to the following documents.
