CON TE N TS
S5 ANIMATING THE INVISIBLE CIT Y
S3 MOULD
S6 factory as an apparatus
DIGITAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND ARCHITECTURAL WRITING
A NIMATING THE IN V ISIBL E CIT Y The project aims to understand the multiple and complex layers of the urban realm while desig ning ‘public buildings’, to comprehend the hierarchy of spaces or domains of functions and accessibility and how architecture is a response made in dialogue with the specific cultural context and community through desig ning a Cultural Interpretation Centre for the city of Kozhikode ,Kerala.
NARRATIVE The streets of Calicut are storytellers. They inevitably reflect the stories of today but also have sedimented layers of forgotten and distant stories from the past in them. There are streets in calicut that have lived long but bear no sign of their past. Like the silk street, which now has restaurants old and new, residences, carpet and antique shops but no reason to believe there was ever silk brought here. Then there are streets that grant trivia. Those that speak of its maritime glory and commercial significance in British times like customs road. Streets that have stayed the same in character, even after over 500 years - like the Gunny Street, where to this day the narrow road is flanked by gowdons largely in white and blue and one can still spot gunny bags lying in piles on the street.
DESIGN INTENT Through the design I want to abstract the ability of the streets of Calicut to tell stories like this of a past and maybe by doing so I can make the citizens and visitors coming to the interpretation center more conscious of the hidden histories of the streets they walk everyday.
PROGRAM
A MATRIX OF DIAGRAMS - AS A TOOL FOR DESIGN
INITAL IDEATION AND PLANNING The interpretation center has three anchors - the performance space , the rainwater harvesting step well and the activity park. The performance space acts as a public front along with the collonaded entry to make a flexible public space open to everyone allowing different kinds of activities. The activity park connects the future generation to our histories through active education from the learning center and library adjacent to it.
MOUL D to form (an object) out of malleable material. The project aims to mould a home - a permanent place of rest and relaxation and a workspace - a place to allow uninterrupted flow of creativity for the artist. It also aims to provide the people of Tali with opportunities to be engaged and educated through the arts by bringing a new program of an art community into the context. By enriching people’s lives and establishing new social cultures, this colourfully envisioned engagement space could act as a new mould for society.
SITE AND CONTEXT The site located near Tali Shiva Temple, Calicut is a corner plot adjoining the Tali pond outside of the temple premises. The site is presently occupied by a hotel with commercial establishments on the ground floor. Flanked by the 15-storied Galaxy Apartment on the adjoining side and Tali Sree Maha Ganapathi temple on the northern edge, the site is located at a prominent juncture with primary access from the Tali road. The southern frontage of the site faces the Ootupura built along the temple boundary wall and the eastern edge abuts the water tank. Due to its location, the site is visually prominent from the approach roads, commands a view of the major landmarks around and is also well connected.
TALI TEMPLE Prominent landmark of the area
SREE MAHA GANAPATHI TEMPLE Used by tamil brahmins living around Tali
BANAYAN TREE There’s a microclimate created by the banyan tree that provides shade and comfort, thereby making a good gathering space.
guest rest area community engagement space library and entertainment
clay modelling space
washroom artist living space clay preparation space
The design creates a communal space for the people of Tali or anyone interested in art. The aim was to bring the people outside into the art community created inside through a direct linear slow path. The path allows the public to view the process of creation of art as they move through the sculptor’s workspaces. At the end of the journey the exhibition and engagement spaces provide a place where the public can discuss, learn and enjoy art.
fac t ory as an ap pa r at us Institutions like factories and schools are instruments used to control and condition people to the economic system. Although this resulted in efficiency and standard quality of product, the hierarchy of power cause a division between people and was the start of economic disparity in the modern world. How can this factory typology be subverted in the context of Cherrakara, Wayanad to create a new reality?
digi ta l il l us tr ations a nd w ri ting
Architectural Adaptations of the Virtual Social Space A bstract for Ava n i A n nua l Resea rch Sym posi u m by A leesha A ntony a nd Vidya Aj ith Menon
With the pa ndem ic, pu bl ic socia l space has been replaced by vi rtua l socia l space as people a re forced to retreat to thei r homes. Even thoug h socia l med ia keeps con nections a l ive d u ri ng these ti mes, the a lgorith ms that a re ta i lored to each i nd ivid ua l a re on ly desig ned to profit from ou r ti me. I n th is pa per, we i nvestigate how d ig ita l tech nology uses hu ma n psychology i n desig n i n order to generate behaviora l cha nge a nd u ndersta nd how that i m pacts the average user a nd the physica l space they occu py a nd i nteract with. S hou ld we be desig n i ng these d ig ita l tech nolog ies more eth ica l ly to faci l itate the hea lthy physica l i nteraction of ou r vi rtua l users with one a nother? I n ma ny ways, ou r devices a re meta phorica l slot mach i nes, i ncentivizi ng us to conti nue com i ng back for the big payoff(Trista n, 2019). Accord i ng to psycholog ist BF S ki n ner, the va ria bi l ity of rewa rds that one may be com pel led to i mag i ne from a si ng le notification bel l ca l led ‘va ria ble ratio sched u le’ is what ca uses the h ig h ly add ictive natu re of socia l med ia (Bu rrhus, 1969). As work a nd socia l engagement become restricted to the vi rtua l space, sl i ppi ng over i nto each other becomes more com mon tha n ever. Com pu lsive checki ng a nd consta nt d istraction have now been l i n ked to feel i ngs of u n ha ppi ness a nd, off the m i nds, bei ng h ijacked (Ezez, 2021). Th is a lso ha ppens without a sufficient opportu n ity to a l low one to ta ke brea ks lead i ng to either less ti me to perform actua l work or mu ltitaski ng, both of wh ich ca n deg rade meeti ng q ua l ity a nd overa l l pa rtici pation. As a resu lt, the persona l a nd socia l spaces with i n ou r homes have merged sig n ifica ntly, bl u rri ng the d isti nctions between private, socia l, forma l, a nd casua l a reas.
A Feminist Perspective on Modernism and What It Means to Us Today The word ‘modern’ is used as a l i berator that a l lows a sh ift i n cu ltu re a nd trad ition after a period of frag mentation or foreig n occu pation. I n ma ny ways, modern ism l i berated women a nd a rch itectu re from what was to what cou ld be a new I nd ia n identity. Today, I nd ia is often seen as a la nd of contrasts where trad ition a nd modern ity coexist a nd where I nd ia n women a re often showcased as em blematic of th is. The h ig her ed ucation that women receive today for exa m ple, is ta ken as proof of th is. Ta ki ng a rch itectu ra l ed ucation i nstitutions themselves, we see how the past th ree decades have seen a sha rp i ncrease i n the nu m ber of women joi n i ng the cou rse. The cu rrent percentage of women a rch itectu re students is 50 percent to 80 percent. But, women’s representation i n professiona l practice d rops su bsta ntia l ly to 15 to 17 percent. The g rou nd rea l ity rema i ns that even thoug h h ig her ed ucation is socia l ly accepted a nd ta ken for g ra nted a mong the u pper a nd m idd le strata i n u rba n I nd ia, it is a lso viewed more as a n i nvestment i n the da ug hters’ d ista nt futu re rather tha n as a n i m med iate goa l. I n a society where ma rriage ”el ig i bi l ity” on a rra nged ma rriage websites fa l l a long the l i nes of : you ng woma n with professiona l ed ucation but trad itiona l va l ues, a rch itectu ra l ed ucation prod uces i nd ivid ua ls that often don’t su bd ue a nd ad here to societa l norms as it is i ntended as a form of socia l isation a i med at prod uci ng a very specific type of person. Despite prod uci ng such i ntel lectua l ly awa kened, socia l ly responsi ble ad u lts, why does the field not tra nsition to a more eq u ita ble workforce?
What if sexualit y could be our way out of climate change? a bstract - S7 Stud io Conceptua l ization
Monoga my was a n i nvention by ma n. H u ma n bei ngs have been wa l ki ng the ea rth for at least 300,000 yea rs a nd for more tha n 90 per cent of that ti me, we l ived as hu nters a nd gatherers, where one ch i ld was not a ma n’s or woma n’s but the whole pack’s. But a rou nd 12000 yea rs ago as ma n lea rnt how to fa rm, ca me the ideas of possession, property rig hts, l i neage. A nd for thousa nds of yea rs, ma rriage was a way to i ncrease you r fa m i ly la bou r force. Today ma rriage is a bout more tha n the u n ion of two fa m i l ies, it’s the fi nd i ng of one’s true love or sou l mate. But th is too is a recent i nvention. Western societies sta rted doi ng th is on ly a few hu nd red yea rs ago. As we tra nsitioned to the idea of ma rryi ng someone on the basis of love it sca red people beca use g ivi ng that ki nd of freedom to a woma n to choose who to be with a nd who not to ca n be da ngerous for patria rchy, not to mention the da nger of d ivorce as people ca n fa l l out of love j ust l i ke they fel l i n. So a new idea took hold. Men a nd women needed to fi nd love a nd ma rry beca use they were two pa rts of a whole. If ou r h istory has ta ug ht us a nyth i ng it’s that there is certa i n cond ition i ng that has slowly ta ken form si nce the beg i n n i ng of civi l ization that has created a strict concrete structu re for a fa m i ly - ma n, woma n, ch i ld ren. A nyth i ng that is not th is model is considered a deviation or a n a bnorma l ity i n ou r cu rrent rea l ity. But what if th is structu re was u nstructu red chaos, i n what world wou ld that lead to a positive futu re? One of the root problems i n ou r society is the g rowth of the world popu lation at a n u n precedented rate. A l lowi ng a fl u id fa m i ly structu re cou ld lead to ch i ld ren bei ng loved a nd ca red for by a col lective i nstead of two i nd ivid ua ls. Th is cou ld cha nge the way we see ou r blood or ou r hered ity. Th is rea l ity may be a n opportu n ity to forge new ki nds of ba la nces.
What if we moved our farms to the skies? a bstract - S7 Stud io Conceptua l ization
“The on ly way of d iscoveri ng the l i m its of the possi ble is to ventu re a l ittle way past them i nto the i m possi ble.” - A rthu r C. Cla rk The cu rrent world popu lation is esti mated to be 7.8 bi l l ion as of Septem ber 2020 esti mated by the U n ited Nations. The world cu rrently prod uces more tha n enoug h food to feed everyone, yet 815 m i ll ion people(roug h ly 11% of g loba l world popu lation) go hu ng ry or ma l nou rished, mostly d ue to poverty a nd u neq ua l d istri bution, accord i ng to the U N. By 2050, with the g loba l popu lation expected to reach 10 bi l l ion ou r food su ppl ies wi l l be u nder fa r g reater stress. Dema nd wi l l be 60% h ig her tha n it is today a nd cl i mate cha nge, u rba n ization a nd soi l deg radation wi l l have sh ru n k the ava i la bi l ity of a ra ble la nd. We need rad ica l ly i n novative sol utions that cou ld sensitively solve th is problem. Th is led to the q uestion, what ki nd of a positive futu re ca n we i mag i ne if we moved a l l ou r fa rms to the skies? Flyi ng Food Fa rms wou ld not on ly g ive the adva ntage of ava i la bi l ity of la nd for the g rowi ng popu lation but cou ld a lso store a nd d istri bute fresh food at afforda ble prices. Th is is necessa ry i n the futu re as hu nger is both a n ava i la bi l ity problem a nd a log istics problem.The afforda bi l ity a nd accessi bi l ity of food to a l l people is ach ieved by rewi ri ng the food network from a centra l ized system to a decentra lized one. A decentra l ized food network system wou ld el i m i nate the m idd lemen i n between a nd d istri bute food d i rectly from the food g rowers to the consu mers th roug h the flyi ng food fa rms. A certa i n deg ree of a utomation a nd accou nti ng of food prod uced, dema nded a nd consu med is req u i red to prod uce a n efficient food economy that m i n i m izes wastage. Maybe th is emergent futu re of prod uction cou ld be the sol ution to solvi ng world hu nger.
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