Saturday, 8 June 2013
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
361° Conference - Architecture of Purpose
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Nehru Center, Auditorium |
Dishant Bhatia, a Final Year student of
School of Architecture and Landscape Design, recently attended the Sixth
Edition of the 361°
Conference in Mumbai – a yearly Rendezvous on Architecture - with the title Architecture of Purpose, shares his
experience and tells why it is called “the one degree of difference”. In
conversation with the College Magazine Vous,
he describes the episode.
V: First of all, what is 361° and how you managed to enter it?
DB: Well, I was introduced to the 361° Conference when one of my seniors, Ar.
Premith Satish, became the 361 Degree Scholar last year. It is an endeavor where masters
of our field interact and share their ideas with the professionals as well as
students. His participation in the event opened the gates to the same for me.
He shared and discussed the ideas of speakers like Ar. Richard Meir and Ar.
Yatin Pandya which, eventually, motivated and inspired me to participate this
year. The selection was based on academic portfolio and mine was selected among
top 15 – that’s it!
V: Wow, congrats on that. So, how was it this year? What was the theme and who were the speakers?
V: Wow, congrats on that. So, how was it this year? What was the theme and who were the speakers?
DB: Thanks! This year’s theme was Architecture of Purpose. Scheduled for
three days, it was a hectic and jam-packed session with lectures and seminars
by eminent Architects, engineers and others related to the field of
Architecture and Design. The quest was to find the answer to the question - “Does contemporary architecture and by extension design manage to provoke?”,
and to understand the ‘architecture of purpose’. The speakers included Ar. Charles Correa, Ar. Peter
Rich (South Africa), Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, Ar. Christopher Benninger, Ar. Kevin Mark
Low (Malaysia) and many others who have been practicing keeping the ‘purpose
of architecture’ in mind.
Also, there was an Exhibition showcasing 44 architectural projects from
all over the country which could be related to the theme aptly. Moreover, the
Venue – Nehru Center, Mumbai – in itself was an inspiration.
V: Ok. You mentioned Ar.
Charles Correa, Ar. Benninger, etc. How was it to be around such Masters? Share
some of their words and what inspired you?
DB: Ah, it was an awesome experience especially as I was there as a student,
I feel. We know, Architects have their own egos, and each architect is a critic
to the other but I was sitting there as a student – willing to learn – that is
what actually helped me. Mentioning all the projects is not possible as there
were eighteen speakers, but I would like to share those who inspired me.
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Ar. Charles Correa |
Watching Correa Sir, explaining his own
projects, the ideas, the concepts he applies, personal experiences during the
projects and all, was an eye-opener actually. His theories based on Cosmic
architecture and ideas of developing design out of ‘basic’ needs showed how
important is to keep in mind the ‘people’ for whom we are designing. He
showcased a short film – Vistara – which could be called
as summary of Indian architecture and techniques followed by local people.
There he mentioned, “The builder is the user himself”, which shows the
importance of the relationship between the design and the architect. His one
and a half our lecture and then, dialogue with Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, spell-bounded the audience, especially his latest venture – Champalimaud Center in Lisbon. His
concepts and the play of spaces is simply been inspired by the ‘needs’ and thus
have the ‘spirit’ in the space.
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Ar. Kevin Low with Students |
Another speaker, who was crowned by the audience as the “rockstar”, was Ar. Kevin Mark Low from Malaysia. His practice name itself was catchy and interesting – small projects. His presentation was a ‘magnet’ and his emphasis was on the content. With his unique style and
designs he inspired all present there. Icing on the cake was his conversation
with the students where he mentioned the importance of time and context in
practice. He shared how he manages to work the way he does by extracting the things
which are responsible for wastage of time, like meetings, printing, etc.
Ar. Peter Rich, is based in South Africa and has been working as an Activist as he
mentioned that an Architect needs to deal with the local ‘people’ and thus one
has to break down the barriers. Others were Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya with his remarkable research and work in the regions like Bhuj in Gujarat. Ar. Ambrish Arora, with his practice based in Delhi, showcased some modern-contemporary
works with unconventional thinking. His tag line was ‘context is decisive’. On
the same lines was Bangaluru based architect, Ar. Sandeep Khosla. There were many many more.
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Prof. Chhaya during Lecture |
V: Great. Must be inspiring,
actually! Based on your learning and having such an experience, being the part
of the senior-most batch, how would you bring all that down in few sentences
and what would be your advice to the batches to come?
DB: Well, this was my second such seminar and both had the same orientation –
‘sense of architecture’. Whatever you design, be it an urban project or a small
toilet, you have to stick to the context. You need to find the solutions and
for that you need to know the questions first. Find out the reasons, questions,
problems, requirements and basis to each and every line you draw or sketch. That
is how I work, now! Try it and you will see the difference.
Second, make sketches! It is the ‘most important’ tool for an architect.
The more you sketch, the more you’ll get into the details. I have been a
passionate photographer myself but I have learned that until you ‘sketch’
architecture you can never ‘capture’ and learn from it.
And last, prepare good portfolios and attend such seminars!
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
U.D. - Final year Jury
“Urban Design gives you an
opportunity to move ‘out’ of your studio and have the feel of the city”. The
School of Architecture and Landscape Design, for the first time, had a one-hand
experience of the statement when the Fifth year students took up the Urban
Redevelopment of Raghunath Bazar in Jammu as their Design Studio problem.
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Site chosen for redevelopment |
It all started in August with the
beginning of the 2012-13 Session, when the senior-most batch of the institute
was introduced to the Urban Design problem. The local site selected for the
same was the very famous, highly crowded and slowly degrading area of Raghunath
Bazar in Jammu. With a vague idea of Urban Design, as it is the first batch who
has worked on a redevelopment project, it was a huge task. Under the guidance
of Ar. Aditya K. Singh, faculty & Director, S.A.L.D. and with the support of
the visiting faculty, practicing architect, Ar. Harbinder Singh (S.P.A., Delhi), the studio turned up pretty well.
As in any other design studio,
the case studies and site visits were given preference during the semester. For
the better understanding of the Urban Design [UD] concepts and present scenario
in the cities, the students organized a 3-day study trip of the capital city
and conducted the live case studies in different areas. All important areas
like, India Gate, Karol Bagh, Saket, Janakpuri, Qutub Minar, etc. were studied
thoroughly which helped the students to grasp the UD concepts like Districts,
Landmarks, Nodes, etc. and other UD elements. Ahead of this, the students were
given a task to present their respective studies in term of S.W.O.T. analysis
in order to recognize the UD Survey processes and methods.
As mentioned earlier, the site
visits played an important role in the completion of the studio. “It seems like
Jammu city is now a part of our design studio”, a student shared her feelings
when asked about the design studio and its working. The class was divided into
groups on the basis of seven UD parameters –
Urban Morphology
Visual Analysis
Spatial Configuration
Urban Activity
Circulation
Open-Space structure
Urban Infrastructure
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Students preparing the Site model |
Students paid several visits to
the defined site in order to conduct their primary and secondary surveys. All
groups were then supposed to submit their analysis in proper UD graphics and
techniques in the form of overlays which includes data like Figure-ground plan,
movement plans, activity typology plans, etc. For all the basic studies
students referred several UD books like UD Handbook, UD Graphics, Time-Savers
standards for UD, etc. Apart from the group work the students also worked day
and night for preparing the live model of the one kilometer long site.
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Students explaining the model |
Several pre-juries were taken by
the faculty members and other architects from Jammu city itself, before the
final submission which was held recently in December. The jury was held by Ar.
Ashish Gupta, eminent Architect and Urban Designer, who has been contributing
to the field since last thirty years with his firm, First Principle Designs
Pvt. Ltd. in Delhi. With his remarkable experience and knowledge about the
topic of Urban Design, the architect left students amazed. Understanding to the
fact that it is the first batch who has attempted a problem of this level, he
let students explain their design solutions first and then provided them with
ample suggestions and advises while correcting their designs. Happy with the
way the batch displayed their works and the way students reached into the
depths of the problem, he decided to give a lecture and shared his view on the
problem according to the site. The jury went on for almost 12 hours.
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Ar. Ashish Gupta during Lecture |
The Jury was followed by a Lecture by Ar. Ashish Gupta. More than a lecture it
was a one-one discussion on how students feel about stepping into the
professional field, being this as their final year. There was an exchange of
several thoughts, ideas and doubts. The interaction ended with minds motivated
and wishes from the Architect’s side for the Thesis.
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Student's work at display in studio |
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