I believe, Architecture- in itself contains all the philosophy of an individual at it’s core. It is a thing about being present and responding to the stimuli around. Addressing the requirements consciously, and curating the experience, is a blissful process for me. I adore story-telling, and the narrativity in architecture, that evolves over time.
I believe in the beauty and fragility of this world and all life. I am an eager learner, I like to explore new subjects in each project. I look forward to working and learning under new and diverse environments to expand my knowledge along the way.
College of Architecture, Trivandrum Bachelore of Architecture-2022
NASA India, Mohd Shaheer Landscape Trophy Participant, cat 2020
Peter Zumthor x Bejoy Ramachandran Swissnext, Bangalore, India
English, Hindi, Malayalam
2. Academic project (S3) NESH.
1. Academic thesis (S10) A SUBTLE NUANCE.
3. Internship project A ROOF STORY.
project (S7) STORY.
5. Installation design (S6) ALTERNATE POTENTIALS
A subtle nuance...
Recollecting history of a place through Architectural Narratives at Chaliyam
A blissful moment in time, like a slow progression, the gradual understanding of reality, the patience to believe in beyond what you see, a slow revelation. thirst quenched in warm sunlight in the company of sweet people, everything is quiet, but joy prevails. there are layers, subtle layers. Nuances, in the grand scheme of things.
A subtle nuance: Recollecting history of a place through architectural narratives at Chaliyam
BROKEN SHARDS, VOIDS AND STORIES IN BETWEEN.
MEGALITHS FROM IRON AGE
NORTHERN BALLADS
MATERIAL
WALL
VOLUME
Volume
AXIS/PATHWAYS FRAMES
OPENINGS
Concentrated
SOUND
THEYYAM ARCHIVES
MAMANKAM ARCHIVES 5th CENTURY ACE
Finding the nuance
WALLS
THE SHARED MEMORY ARE MASSIVE, HOMOGENEOUS AND MONOLITHIC;
The design language and spatial construct of the museum was derived from the illustrations that were made after the literature study of “Space, Place and Memory” by Juhani Pallasma. The memory of a place, hence, is not only the remnants of architecture, which is an obvious expression, but the collective memory of a culture. So the museum is only complete when it is celebrated by the people of the place. The tangible reality of the past has been shoveled down, rewritten many times and has obviously aged over time. The people must come to this plaza not just for viewing history, but to enrich and practice their way of life, which in turn evokes their memory of a place. The memory of a place are retrieved through our haptic senses. It is in how we perceive the volume, textures, the groundedness, lighting, security, and the warmth one feels.
the entry frame, revealing subtle nuances and the direct axes to the beach. it is heavily landscaped on either sides with huge, tall trees, and bushes. the people walking through gets a sense of seeking something in between .
OF
The museum is a public plaza, a road to the beach, with many active spaces, yet hiding beneath it, the mystery of Malabar, multiple storylines running across the site at the same time, opening
1. ADMIN BLOCK
RECEPTION , AMENITIES
STONE
GALLERY
KALARI
WOOD WORKSHOP
CONOLLY ARCHIVES
BASHEER
MUSEUM SHOP/ ENTRY TO
MEMORIAL 9. LIBRARY
CAFETERIA
PAZHASSI ARCHIVES
RESTAURANT MEMORIAL
FILM SCREENING
PORT GALLERY/ EXHIBITION
MATERIAL GALLERY
GALLERY
Spatial constructs of the museum programme
The Umbrella Stones are found in the midlands of Kerala from Kasargod in north to Trissur in south covering Kannur, Kozhikode, Malapuram and Palakkad districts. In majority of the sites, the best quality primary laterite was preferred in building Umbrella Stones. UMBRELLA STONES, ROCK CUT CAVES, CIST BURIALS, URN BURIALS, and STONE CIRCLES etc. excavated from in and around Calicut are exhibited in this gallery. It is a laterite floored 600m tall gallery with a narrow bridge running along the middle making the pathway for circulation, underneath which the exhibits are displayed in dim lighting. It symbolizes a forgotten past under the rich landscape of Malabar.
A subtle nuance: Recollecting history of a place through architectural narratives at Chaliyam
section AA, through gallery of Megaliths from Iron age, 1000BC- 200 ACE
site section horizontal through Basheer’s extended landscape, the Gallery of Uru, it’s open courtyard , Gallery of Northern ballads, Open courtyard, pathway and the Gallery of Port history
Plan of GALLERY OF MEGALITHS, AT -550 CM.
Plan of GALLERY OF MEGALITHS, AT -300 LVL
The narrative of the context
From the relic gallery, one enters an open courtyard that turns into the gallery of Northern Ballads, 16th century ACE, treasuring the artefacts of Kalari, paired with an audio rendition of Vadakkan Pattukal, a collection of Malayalam ballads from the medieval period, presenting stories of heroes such as Aromal Chekavar, Thacholi Othenan, and Unniyarcha.
As shown in the context diagram, to the Northeast of our site, lies an island that one can access in a local wooden boat which takes you to the dhow making island of Beypore. The place has produced the finest wooden ships that has traversed the length and breadth of the globe. From 14th century onwards, along with arab & jewish ships, around 10 indian ships were in the sea. Malabar coast homed Kerala’s native teak plantation along the river chaliyar providing the wood necessary for construction of URU’s. Craftsmen of beypore constructed them without iron nails using wood and coconut husk, inventing a binding technique unique to this land. This gallery pays homage to the craftsmanship of Khalisis.
A subtle nuance: Recollecting history of a place through architectural narratives at Chaliyam
Section BB through the Gallery of Uru, 15th century, ACE
The gallery of Uru, and wood workshop, seen from the main circulation path.
Facade detail of the gallery
Culture,from a landscape
The warmth and welcomeness shown by the people of Malabar, compared to the rest of our state, is a fact known to everyone around the ers of the past, they found this particular port, a very hospitable and warm one. It is something that continues to exist, till date, that I’ve experienced quent visits to the site. The culture of the people, their happiness in welcoming a guest, and making great food for them, has been transcended tions. Their love for food is celebrated and known all over the world. More research into the history of the place took me to eminent personalities Calicut was selected as the first “city of literature” in India, by UNESCO. The reason being it’s literary culture and eminent personalities from this region. Vaikom sheer is one of the prominent authors from the region and he has an adorable nickname, “BEYPORE SULTAN”. Basheer’s literature in Malayalam, is one of a kind culture and people he portrays through his works. Beautiful landscapes, hibiscus, rose and mangosteen trees are part of his gorgeous story backdrops, even ters in the narrative. His eye for capturing and describing beauty , even through new words that he comes up with, is hilarious too. His ideas on love, life and people, ture of this region visible to all keralites in a way that has been never done before. As part of the study, a translation of Basheer’s movie into literature, MATHILUKAL, ied, along with many of his literature works. The above shown gallery is a tribute to Basheer and his books, amidst two gardens, under a long wall. A homage to
Basheer Memorial, 19th century ACE corridor to Cafeteria for the generic user
extended landscape and reading space from the memorial garden
The project took it’s form from the extended site study that revealed many historical remnants in and around the site location. The site was chosen due to the significance of it’s place in the forgotten era of Malabar. All the remnants were slowly fading away with time. And the glory of the place, nothing but a story . The people of the place pass it down through generations. They shared their memories of going around these locations in a much more colorful time. All these events lead to the understanding that, history although gone, must be conserved. Being a certain way and not knowing how it is the way it is, is a tormenting place to be. And that doesn’t indicate creating a complete replica of the past.
globe. Even voyagexperienced during my fretranscended down generapersonalities from this region. Vaikom Muhammad Bakind for it’s language, the even important characpeople, has made the culMATHILUKAL, was also studto one of my favorites.
the corridor towards cafeteria. On one side of the corridor is the Basheer memorial where the museum user has access to, and a large window framing the extended reading spaces and large garden of trees. On the other side is the secluded garden of smaller indigenous flowers between the ezhuthacchan library, cafeteria and film screening space. This corridor is a circulatory path of both the museum user and generic user, making the biotopic narrative work.
history corridor documentation.
From the Basheer memorial one climbs up into the Cafeteria, a small pause amidst a long journey, accompanied by multiple public programs adjacent to it. There’s a film uted to M.T Vasudevan Nair, a prominent scriptwriter from Malabar who has produced the finest period movies in the 90’s, programmed for the museum user and the by Ezhuthacchan library, also a public platform to encourage the literary culture, debates, discussions etc.
In the sumerian records of 3000 BCE, the Malabar region was called GARDEN OF SPICES. During 4th century BCE, Arabs exported spices from India and sold at Eden. In ARABS, BABYLONIANS, ASSYRIANS, EGYPTIANS, SUMERIANS continued the spice hunt. As dynasties changed and empires rose and declined, the spice hunt never stopped. man trade during 2nd century BCE- 2nd century ACE, recognised the ports of MUZIRIS and TYNDIS, they traded GOLD & SILVER for spices like pepper, cinnamon. They From 6th century onwards the entire coast began to be known as Malabar, which originated from ‘male’. The spices of Malabar, made it’s food culture unique to this region. Clove, Sandalwood, and Indigo were resources that the west and east both fought over to own.
The aroma gallery, hence represents the spice hunt that began since 2nd century, that gradually lead to the colonisation of an entire nation. Pepper, also called as in the museum as a precious treasure. The gallery is located below the Cafeteria. As the biotopic narrative functions, even generic cafe users are drawn to the existence right beneath them. Their smells, gradually rising and enriching the whole cafe with more aroma. The garden in the backdrop, amplifies the notion that Malabar was chased To the east of the site is HORTUS MALABARICUS, a plantation preserving all the species mentioned in the book called HORTUS MALABARICUS, known as “Garden of Malabar of 12 volumes that features about 742 medicinal plants seen in Malabar. This work was done by Dutch Governor Henric van rheede with the help of native plant expert E T Achuthan. The book was published in 1678.
Aroma Gallery, 2nd century ACE below, CAFETERIA 2nd century ACE, Film Screening 19th century ACE(MT Vasudevan Nair), above
film screening space tribgeneric user. Followed
the following centuries, stopped. The Greco-RoThey called pepper “male”. region. Pepper, Cinnamon, ‘black gold’ is identified existence of a treasure sitting chased for it’s rich landscape. Malabar” which consists and health advisor Mr. axonometric
From the shards, voids and nothings
As the context study revealed scattered remnants of history, capsuled as built form, stories, perished land, craft, or even the landscape, there felt a need to address these. A deeper research was carried out, on these same aspects all over the region of Malabar, across different time periods. This combined with research on shared memory helped come up with a few guidelines that can be followed for the spatial construct and skin of the built. The museum holds history just like how the place holds history, it is subtle, but it is clearly evident that there is more story to beyond the majestic everyday presence of the tile factory, or the beypore port. But beautifully, they have become a part of the people’s lives. It is grounded, just like the volumes that has stood strong and surpassed time. The materials are monolithic, and are rooted. The wear and tear, niches, and voids, reminds us that these are places once occupied by people. That the buildings does have a memory of being used, manipulated to the need of the people. Hence came the monolithic walls and grounded, semi submersed, and submersed built forms of the museum. They are huge volumes, timelines, people places that carry something, that should impart a certain feeling onto the user. A glimpse of a forgotten time, a gist of how one would feel inside the ruined vaulted arch of Tipu sultan, which is currently abandoned by the archeology department due to land ownership issues. These were the core moments that became the driving force of the design. The black oxide rammed earth wall reflects the completely perished elements of the timeline. We can only form narratives, from the available data, the limitation hence becomes the ground, the backdrop to which the rest of the elements can play, create something, even impose something. From the screening space, one knows what is up next, the path leads to a huge 35m tower, with a semi porous skin of Mangalore roof tile, stacked into steel sections. Being the only vertical in the site, and considering the sceneries, it has multiple purposes.
view to the tower block from screening space.
Malabar riot memorial, 19th century ACE
Of sunsets and beaches
Different textured laterite, clay tiles, teak, and husk are the materials that narrate human association with space from time immemorial. The red laterite of Malabar is native to the region. The Nilambur teak, employed for the construction of Uru, coconut husk, clay tiles, red bricks, red and brown laterites, are all the many resources from this place. Foreseeing the potential, the British during their colonial era, that is, in the 18th century, they established tile factories in Malabar, especially calicut. The Commonwealth tile factory in feroke, it’s massive scale and pride posture on the banks of Chaliyar, is an image that would make anyone curious. It is located in close proximity to the site as shown in the introductory site plan. They continue to produce clay roof tile, red laterite brick,and red brick. The buildings that were taken for study had one thing in common, they were all raw textured, and the lighting was peculiar. Only 30% light entered the built, as if just to make the way for one. The rest of the spaces were dimly lit, or not lit at all. Light was merely a way maker, navigating a traverser. The scales were intimate in the inside, they looked grounded from the outside, something that has made it’s place, something that has grown out of the soil. The tower is an ode to the tile factories, whose towers are inaccessible to humans, they are smoke vents of the kilns that ripens the laterites. The first two floors of the tower exhibit the laterite produces from Malabar in it’s steel sections. The 2nd and third floors pays homage to Moinkutty Vaidyar’s Collection Of Classical Maappila Songs from the 19th century ACE, the sea view getting clearer as the laterites bricks reduce in number, slowly taking one to the entirety of sea, hiding behind the landscape. The fourth and fifth levels are reserved for merely viewing the sea.Who doesn’t need a pretty sunset?
tower for viewing the site context, sea and the sunset.
Plan of Sunken laterite block, AT -300 CM LVL
Plan of tower, AT +15 CM LVL
From the tower, one ascends down to the depths of history. Theyyam originated from Kaliyattam. The indigenous tribal communities were handed over the responsibility to perform festival of Malabar and it continues to be in practice till date. This gallery is followed by a contrasting construct for Pazhassi raja. Being an eminent ruler and freedom fighter,
occupation. This gallery takes an exit to the ground level that would give one another break from the history trail. It opens up to a restaurant, souvenir store and performance to it, nor was it’s best potential utilized. The museum is also merely a plaza for the food and beach loving crowd of calicut. Across the chaliyar river lies the
Pazhassi
historic port of Beypore.
A subtle nuance: Recollecting history of a place through architectural narratives at Chaliyam
open courtyard to exit to ground level
Pazhassi archives, 18th century ACE
museum maintenance rooms at the basement, Material galleries 14th century ACE, at ground and first floors, Mappilapaattu audio gallery,19th century ACE, in second and third floor, Sea viewing gallery in fourth and fifth floors respectively.
perform the Theyyam. It is believed to have originated in the 15th century CE. Theyyam archives makes space for it’s colors, ornaments, garments and masks. Theyyam is a Pazhassi also threw light onto the caste system that has divided us from within for decades. He united the masses for a common goal and vigorously fought against the British space programmed for the beach enthusiastic crowd of Calicut. The beypore beach is one of the crowded beaches in Calicut, meanwhile, the one parallel to it had no access Beypore. The port history gallery facing this landmark is also open to all the visitors. It is also a mere seating device, to simply sit and enjoy the chaliyar passing by, in front.
Theyyam archives, 5th century ACE
On the other side of Theyyam archives of the sunken laterite block is the vaulted gallery of fort history. It is easy to understand why the British India established over 9 forts just in the Malabar region, and they’re all super strong and stands tall till date. This is the highest number they’ve employed anywhere in south India. The glory of a place was maybe, it’s resources, people and power. This last gallery takes the user straight out to the ruins of Tippu’s for from 16th century ACE, mere laterite ruins on the ground, partly in the sea, that is located in the site outskirts. It is also a way out to the beach, if that is what one needs after this long informative walk. The sea after all, is where it all began.
nuance: Recollecting history of a place through architectural narratives at Chaliyam
Nesh
“The bul buls splashed elegant reds here and there”
About birds,its the songs,the flapping of their wings,the surprising colors hidden amidst the vast greens and certainly the attention they demand. The chase,the barefoot walks,the soundless breaths,the joy when i finally find myself amongst them.
The birdwatcher
introducing an activity , and the lantana landscape, study sketches
introducing an activity , and the lantana landscape, study sketches
The site location being my own campus situated at a higher altitude from the rest of the valley meant there are spill over edges held by a retaining wall that has overtime became densely vegetated, but also slightly became dump yards. One of these locations had really old native trees and some local bird species have been spotted. For a minor project asking to track activities in the campus, this was where i was drawn to. I realized more people liked the idea of having a pretty landscape, because the campus lacked any, at that point. A lantana camara landscape was introduced at this edge, on the contours, after research, as it is an invasive species, which in turn attracts red whiskered bulbuls, a bird species locally found in the place. This activity had two three users, the bird watcher, the non-birdwatcher and the bulbuls. The chicken mesh structure was introduced into the landscape considering all three users, even zoning the non-birdwatcher out, or merely restricting their interactivity by choreographing the built. The bird enthusiast knows the difficulty and thrill of bird watching, the form starts there.
Roof story
The internship at STUDIO COMMUNE allowed me the opportunity to actually design and execute the roof of Ajay’s residence situated at Thirumala,Trivandrum. The project was at a state where the two floors were being completed, but the entire roof needed a design solution due to major changes made on the site. Under the guidance of design head Ar. Vishnu, i worked o the model and this form was approved. The tilt in the roof planes had to be made such that it won’t let the sunlight in too much,because it acted as a truss, with common spaces that are double height, and the roof tile can’t stay put while we tilt. After a detailed sun study, the angles were decided. The execution phase had more challenges but it turned out exactly as designed. The drawings were also made under the guidance of Ar.Vishnu.
ALUMINIUM/CHECKERED SHEET FORM RIDGE WITH 60CM SHEET FOLDED TO 30CM,30CM SHEET FIXED TO STEEL MEMBERS AS SHOWN IN DRAWING.
20X10 BOX SECTION THE 10X10 BOX SECTION AND 10X20 BOX SECTION FORMS A TRUSS WORK,AT AN INTERVAL OF 1.1 M C/C VERTICAL 10X5 BOX SECTION FIXED TO TOILET WALL AND 20X20 COLUMN BELOW AS PER DRAWING
S.S/ALUMINIUM PLATE (3MM THK) FIXED TO BOX SECTION
10 MM OR 5 MM THK MILKY WHITE ACRYLIC FIXED TO STEEL
10X5 BOX SECTION FIXED TO WALL/LINTEL AS PER DRAWING
10X5 BOX SECTION FIXED TO WALL PLATE AS PER DRAWING
(10X5) BOX SECTION AS WALL PLATE FIXED TO LINTEL VIA 10X10 STEEL PLATE
LINTEL (150X200)
FIXING
ALUMINIUM/CHECKERED SHEET TO WALL PLATE AND 1''X1'' BOX SECTION AS SHOWN IN DRAWING.
ROOFTILE WALL
Design Process, Climate analysis diagrams above, Site execution phases below.
ALUMINIUM/CHECKERED SHEET FORM RIDGE WITH 60CM SHEET FOLDED TO 30CM,30CM SHEET FIXED TO STEEL MEMBERS AS SHOWN IN DRAWING.
20X10 BOX SECTION THE 10X10 BOX SECTION AND 10X20 BOX SECTION FORMS A TRUSS WORK,AT AN INTERVAL OF 1.1 M C/C VERTICAL 10X5 BOX SECTION FIXED TO TOILET WALL AND 20X20 COLUMN BELOW AS PER DRAWING
EDGES COVERED IN ALUMINIUM/SS CHECKERED SHEET REINFORCED WITH 1''X1'' BOX SECTION AT CORNERS TO KEEP IT STRAIGHT.
S.S/ALUMINIUM PLATE (3MM THK) FIXED TO BOX SECTION
FIXING ALUMINIUM/CHECKERED SHEET TO WALL PLATE AND 1''X1'' BOX SECTION AS SHOWN IN DRAWING.
10X5 BOX SECTION FIXED TO WALL PLATE AS PER DRAWING
(10X5) BOX SECTION AS WALL PLATE FIXED TO LINTEL VIA 10X10 STEEL PLATE
LINTEL (150X200)
ROOFTILE WALL
S.S/ALUMINIUM PLATE (3MM THK) FIXED TO BOX SECTION
S.S/ALUMINIUM CHECKER SHEET
10X5 BOX SECTION FIXED TO WALL PLATE AS PER DRAWING
(10X5) BOX SECTION AS WALL PLATE FIXED TO LINTEL VIA 10X10 STEEL PLATE
ROOFTILE WALL
LINTEL (150X200)
Encumber
The NASA landscape trophy brief was to introduce a pocket park in an urban context in a forgotten space of the city. The human less spaces in a city are always thriving with life. Taking this point forth, we designed a boundary condition by reviving an abandoned pond . Role: Design Narrative, Graphics, Film.
Alternate potentials
The Alternate Potentials was an installation set up at the College of Architecture for a gathering in memory of a beloved alumni.
“To explore every potential a human can be, To explore every expectation we have of people around us”.
The location assigned was a stairwell spanning across three floors. The installation was a subtle intervention, nylon threads weaved across the verticality of the volume meta-morphing from a plane to a fluid, while bands of light shimmered through it, all the way up. From the design to the execution, mentoring the whole process was beautiful. Alternate Potentials gives us the idea that things have changed at the top, when viewed from the ground floor, the threads when combined with light, looks like a fluid, but from every level on closer inspection, we witness the same single threads, the parts of the whole, as it was before. With our position changes the potential of a human. “Every potential” is an idea imposed by others. The whole is Our idea, an image, a fantasy, a human construct. Only the parts and how they interact with each other is the actual reality. This binding gives us the illusion of a whole, that is the alternate potential here.
Role: Design, Ideation, Execution.
Installation images after execution, not edited. Images captured by Aromal.
