AOA Niche Newsletter 2020_21 Q2

VOL 2

AOA IN A

2020-21

NICHE

Quarter II

STUDENT BODY 2020—21 ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE

CONTENTS

I. WEBINARS AND DESIGN DIALOGUES Architectural Writing and Journalism

07

Design Dialogues

11

II. ACADEMICS Aspects of Form

19

Rain-Water Harvesting

21

Space-Time Blog

23

Space for Engagement

25

Testing High-rise structures

27

Understanding and Analysing Residential Spaces

29

Preach-Project-Practice

31

Context-specific Architecture

33

Thesis Jury

35

Design Architecture Committee

37

III. ACADEMY OUTSIDE ARCHITECTURE Teachers’ Day

41

Talent Appreciation

45

Games Night

46

Navratri 2020

47

Credits

57

SOCIAL MEDIA FRONTS

Academy of Architecture DAC Design-Architecture-Committee

@aoamumbai @aoa_niche @aoa_cultures @aoa_dac

Academy of Architecture DAC dac

aoa_mumbai

NICHE CORE Tanaya Nadkarni Anushka Satpalkar Varada Avachat Shrutee Patil Sukriti Sharma

THE TEAM

STUDENT COUNCIL Devansh Maru General Secretary A Nimish Pardeshi General Secretary B Neha Karwa Editorial Head Atherva Kelkar Cultural Head Manas Patil Sports Head Sushant Nikharge DAC Head

COUNCIL COORDINATORS General

Yagnika Bhatija, Shripad Bhalerao Ronak Savla, Amey Ghosalkar

Editorial

Neha Panchal, Juhi Prasad Ronak Savla, Shripad Bhalerao

Cultural

Richa Raut, Amey Ghosalkar

Sports

Rohit Karekar, Nitesh Avhad

DAC

Shekoba Sanap, Saurabh Mhatre

CLUB COORDINATORS PR & Marketing

Varada Avachat Parth Bhutalia

Literary

Devika Biyani Chaitanyaa Agrawal

Shruti Yelane Editorial Co-Head A

Social

Sumit Gavali Ayush Kapse

Iqra Sheikh Editorial Co-Head B

Dance

Zayan Gulzar Aashi Jain

Vinay Ekkaldevi Cultural Co-Head A

Music

Riddhi Gunaji Sukriti Sharma

Movie

Manav Sharma Laxaree Sawant

Sketching

Aastha Sinha Dhruvi Jain

Photography

Prathmesh Nimbalkar Shivanjay Bhagat

Vedant Baheti Joint Secretary A Krish Mewawala Joint Secretary B

Priyanshi Vora Cultural Co-Head B Siddharth Dak Sports Co-Head Wipra Gada DAC Co-Head A Shrideep Kshirsagar DAC Co-Head B Urvi Mathkar Outreach Head A Manasi Petkar Outreach Head B

Cinematography Anushri Shetty Software

Girish Gondhali Pragati Dighe

Food

Shreya Tengle Sharvari Joshi

NOTE FROM THE EDITORS

Greetings, A great thanks to our principals, Ar. Suresh Singh sir and Ar. Rohit Shinkre sir, our faculty members and all the students to give us an opportunity to curate this quarter’s Newsletter.

The transition from hands on mode to Digital mode of Architectural studies was the highlight of 2020’s academic session for both the Teachers as well the Students, it served as a challenge rather than a hindrance in the college culture. Despite the drawbacks of “not being audible“ and “network connectivity issues” that have now turned into a well known dialogue amidst the students and faculty in these Gizmo-Operated-Classes , we have skillfully adapted to the new language of academics.

The Quarter was commenced with zealous cultural events and club activities, which were followed by unified participation of the college in celebrating festivities, although we all were physically apart. Academites have dwelled with the new medium not only in organizing intra college events but also Competitions, Webinars and Workshops to bridge the gap of extra curricular knowledge. Adding on to the list, Academy proudly concluded the online Thesis Jury with successful efforts of the Jurors and the Students.

This has been possible by active involvement of all the students, Faculties, Class representatives, Editorial representatives, Cultural representatives, Social Media team and the Student Council and the AOA faculty as one collective body. Let us thrive our way towards the upcoming Challenges and resonate with ‘ACADEMITES DYNAMITES’.

This is the quarterly newsletter comprising of students’ initiative in Academic and Co-curricular spheres ! Hope you enjoy reading it.

Thank you!

Editors, Niche Core Team,

Academy of Architecture, Mumbai

Picture Credits Muskan Ranwaka

I Understanding the meaning of architecture through vocabulary coming from all spheres of life, we shared a platform to help bridge the gap between a design and its written narrative which sparked a discussion for the writer within us.

II Keeping the soul of Academy thriving even in these times, focusing around collaborations on broader spectrums and discussions around styles and techniques prevalent in architecture brought us to Design Dialogues.

WEBINARS & DIALOGUES

ARCHITECTURAL WRITING AN

ABOUT From promoting a comprehensive understanding to decoding the details of the otherwise unpopular niche of “architectural writing” , The Literary Club undertook the responsibility of launching discussions about the same within the student community. Through these series of webinars on 'Architectural Writing and Journalism', the intent is to engage students with a fresh outlook on the sphere of Architectural Writing, familiarize them with the flourishing opportunities, and spur their interest towards Exploring, Experimenting, Engaging in the same, for their future goals.

These Webinar events were successfully held and they reached out to students and writing enthusiasts beyond Academy. Academy received a formal invitation by WAC (World Architecture Committee) to broadcast these webinars on the WAC platform. Thereby, gathering writers of all ages in architecture to be a part of them.

7

ND JOURNALISM WEBINAR 1.0 -

Introduction to Architectural Writing

-Devika Biyani

The first session, designed to introduce the content of the series, helped us launch subject curiosity within the students. The speaker of the first Webinar was one of the coordinators of the Literary Club and final year student of our college, Devika Biyani.

Having an inclination towards writing through internships and undertakings in creative, content, and architectural writing, her motive through the session was to deliver an overview of the field and talk about the relevant importance of writing in architecture. A QnA session at the end struck a discussion ranging on issues like starting early on, internships and paying more attention to the text that students generate for their design studios. The crisp introductory presentation preceded the more detailed webinars and sub-topics of the niche to follow.

Devika Biyani, Academy of Architecture

WEBINAR 2.0 -

Critical Thinking and Architectural Journalism

-Meghna Mehta

Meghna Mehta, an architect, educator by profession and journalist by passion, is an Alumni of the Academy of Architecture, and CEPT University. She currently works as a writer for the STIR world. She walked us through her journey as a writer and journalist, mentioning the intriguing quirks that led her in pursuit of her interest as a profession. Her works included curated content on a variety of topics, and through her summarized work depictions from STIR, she subsequently put forth the importance of critical thinking and how it forms the backbone of architectural writing. She shared with us a visual clip of STIR's interview with Ar. BV Doshi Sir, which was quite insightful and further elaborated on the dire necessity of writing critically.

Ar. Meghna Mehta,STIR World

8

Krishnapriya Rajshekhar

WEBINAR 3.0-

On Approaches Writing

in

Architectural

-Krishnapriya Rajshekhar In the third webinar, an academic and architect Krishnapriya Rajshekar introduced the students to several activities that can help one experiment and explore with architectural writing. Krishnapriya ma'am's chief interests lie in the overlaps between architecture, literature, visual culture and the city, which she explores through her own academic work, teaching & writing. She shared with us her various academic conducts at WCFA, Mysore, where she works as an assistant professor and leads the Architectural Writing Elective. The creatively designed exercises that not only presented an opportunity for ďŹ nessing writing skills but also branched out and explored other mediums of expressions in visual culture opened student horizons to the minuscule aspects of writing that hold the most importance. It was very exciting to get familiar with a realistic approach towards strengthening and exploring one's individualistic style of writing. Krishnapriya ma'am also emphasized on the importance of conversing with books and making reading an immersive and necessary endeavour. The highlight of the webinar was the ability to grasp the value , art and beauty of writing and reading at a micro level.

The QnA session was one of the most comprehensive ones, where Krishnapriya ma'am addressed a diverse set of questions ranging from writing for podcasts to simplistic techniques for note-making.

9

Shriti Das, Biltrax Media

WEBINAR 4.0-

Beyond Architectural Journalism and Writing - Shriti Das

For the final session of the ‘Architectural Journalism and Writing’ series’, we had Shriti Das to guide us about launching a career in architectural media. An architect, writer, strategist, editor, and consultant, her work explores various ways of writing, observing, and communicating through books, academia, and media. A Sub-Editor with “People Place Project”, an Indian Architect & Builder, and a contributing writer at Fish Do It, Consultants, she is also currently leading Biltrax Media as the Associate Editor to create an online publication for a data analysis platform pertaining to construction. Along with conceptualizing and executing buildings, her non-architectural work includes consulting as a brand strategist for a leading ad agency, writing for Its Worthwhile, and some ghost-writing in the field of healthcare. Shriti talks about furthering a career in architectural media - identifying and creating work opportunities. Through her work trajectory, she illustrates how writing is a tool for exploring ideas, documentation, and even pursuing diverse vocations like branding, media strategy, communications, etc. The talk shall offer honest insights into aspects like the commercials of writing, how to charge, should one work for free, ghost-writing, etc. The engagement empowers students with tools and ideas to learn, evolve, and grow as a professional in architectural media and push the boundaries and expand beyond architectural journalism.

10

DESIGN DIALOGUES

DESIGN DIALOGUES

Collaborations get people with varied skill sets and contribute their expertise for the beneďŹ t of a shared objective, project or mission.In the ďŹ eld of design, Collaboration has always been an ingrained approach, with great potential to make the future.

The Collaboration X Design is a series of events, where we try to understand and experiment with collaboration, in the world of designers, by calling in professionals and student bodies in the process.

Collaboration x Design Collaboration between Firms Collaboration of Ideas Collaboration of Design Fields 11

DIALOGUE 1 20th SEPTEMBER

They spoke about how they first began their collaboration, and how the firm came to be.

After that they gave a detailed look at their collections, right from the very first one up until the one they were currently working on. There was an elaborate curation highlighting the inspiration, materials specifics, sourcing and it collection done by the firm.

These questions included their process of dividing work amongst themselves, their educational backgrounds and how that affects their design process/ method of working, their use of concrete as a material, the difficulties they faced being a new startup etc.

The session ended with them sharing personal experiences and insights each for young designers who are looking to enter the field.

Studio Wood Sahej Bhatia, Architect

Vrinda Mathur, Product Designer

Navya Aggarwal, Interior Designer

The dialogue was based on the collaboration that led to the formation of Studio Wood which is a boutique agency designing furniture for the young (at heart) and the restless. The collective is best known for its in the moment' aesthetic and ingenious quirks.

“Collaborations give a neat twist to improvisations and ideas.”

12

DIALOGUE 2 1st OCTOBER

Design ni Dukaan

leading to unique collections with innovative product and working styles. Ar. Veeram broadly spoke about his experiences and shared his learnings being a co-founder of two companies named P.O.D and Dotto-Objects of Curiosity. The process of designing to its completion at the site and not just on the drawing board were interestingly covered. Ar. Veeram talked about their work and the ideation behind “The Naari Collection”, the swinging seatings, the daybeds and the design game.

The dialogue was followed by a short interactive session wherein questions were asked based on the design philosophy of Design ni Dukaan.

Ar. Veeram Shah

The dialogue with Design ni Dukaan was part 2 of the Collaboration x Design series where the concept of design in totality encompassing scale from architecture to interior to furniture projects were presented

by Ar. Veeram Shah. Design ni Dukaan is one such example where like-minded people and thoughts converge to evolve a singularity in design making their collaboration a successful one. The engagement with local materials and craftsmen broadened their scope of design.

“Achieving a design singularity helps mould it to cater and optimise for a lot of perspectives.”

13

“Amalgamation of working with local materials with locally skilled craftsmen and their insights make the site a makeshift studio in itself.”

The dialogue revolved around designing in collaboration, where the speakers explained how they go about their design process..

The team comprises of people that have their expertise in different fields who in turn come together to form case design and case goods. They spoke in depth about their design process and how they see each project from impetus to culmination. They are known for sourcing and working around local materials as it greatly helps the economy and environment and they get to work with locally skilled craftsmen. They elaborated more on this amalgamation and how insights makes the site a makeshift studio in itself. Their process of physically modulating with step-wise improvisations has proven to be very fruitful.

14

They discussed about the built-up for Avasara Academy of Pune.The design’s bold colours and uniquely devised construction help it stand out.The campus architecture responds well with the site while heavily catering to the climate. This Dialogue was concluded with a small yet insightful question-answer session.

DIALOGUE 3 17th OCTOBER

Case Design

Ar. Samuel Barclay Ar. Saleem Bhatri Ar. Dhwani Mehta

DIALOGUE 4 27th SEPTEMBER

Sketch keeda

He started off the session by delivering his take on the need and relevance about have a good skill set for sketching. He showed us his own sketching process, highlighting the five main steps to be followed while making any architectural drawing. This covered all the aspects right from making lines to adding colours and playing with lights and shadows.

Following was a presentation that showed us all of his best work till date, and included several stories that went in depth regarding his experience working on the piece. A question answer session concluded the dialogue.

Ar. Ashwin Tahilani In this age of AutoCAD, Ashwin Tahiliani focused on the importance of sketching.

He is an architect, who now works in creating graphics for various companies, and also has a passion for travelling. He documents a lot of his travels through sketches which can be seen on his social media. This brief, interactive and fun webinar dissected the understanding of sketching.

“It is critical to not get carried away with digital mediums but fall in love with sketching!”

15

“Planning of whole new cities during industrialization forged a relatively short-living spark of creativity, which spread new ideas all over the world�

The international dialogue by Dr Nikolai Vassiliev talked about the Constructivist movement and VKhUTEMAS architecture, art and design school developed by the early Soviet architects as a new modern style including new innovative typology for public buildings and housing. Dr. Nikolai threw light on the new tasks as introduction of modern building materials, planning of whole new cities during industrialization that quickly forged a relatively short-living spark of creativity, which spread new ideas all over the world in 1920s and 1930s. The lecture covered work by Dr . Nikolai in leading to an

emergence of a new international style with principal architects and projects as well as connections were acquainted with the International masters as Le Corbusier.

The talk was attended by Ar. Sergey Fandeev, Ar. Rajeev Sathe, Ar. Rohit Shinkre and the students making it an insightful session.

DIALOGUE 5 20th OCTOBER

Russian Avant Garde Architecture Dr Nikolai Vassiliev

16

Picture Credits Amey Ghosalkar

I Showcasing the journeys and paths carried out by Academy and it’s students over all subjects, with each having its unique viewpoint, it is critical to provide the many processes and approaches undertaken and exhibit them.

II Reflecting over the adaptation of the Thesis Jury for 2020 and it’s Transition from Panel to Online.

DAC giving a platform to academites for displaying their interventions as a part of the Lockdown Laurels series.

ACADEMICS

ASPECTS OF FORM Semester III Architectural Theory Neha Panchal, Yagnik Bhathija Initiation

: Introduction, Reading, and Discussion

Conclusion : Debate, Pitch and Defence

Brief : The Form Follows...Debate is a speculative exercise that involves analysis of various factors (technology, creativity, climatic conditions, fantasy, regulations, social condition, profit, etc.) that predominantly take lead in shaping a building. Groups of students are assigned one factor each (form follows profit / form follows social condition/ form follows fantasy / etc.) and must defend it with the help of a contemporary architectural project as an illustration to discuss the dominant role the specific factor has played, to lend the building its shape and character.

The Process

Form Follows Social Condi

Key Information

We started out by reading a paper on Form by Phoebe Crisman. We read upon the different aspects that a form follows. The groups continued discussions about their given aspects while searching for one structure that without question falls under their form follows aspect. This introduced us to so many possibilities and so many invigorating discussions. We gave our pitch to the class and in turn we also had to question three other groups. For the following class we had to answer the questions asked to us and defend our structure while also building up an offence for the questions asked by us. This preparation for the debate opened our eyes to numerous other structures and truly educated us about the aspects of Form.

The final debate managed to energize and engage each and everyone of us to defend our structure.

● Succeeding exploration of cub larger-scale grid. ● Residential development. ● Tilted over by 45 degrees. ● Resembles an conceptual fore triangular roof representing a tr ● Concrete pillars with wooden ● Walls are slanted.

Form Follows Creative Imagination: :

19

Carving out the form from a large cuboid

Addition and subtraction in cc units

dition: Atharva Girme, Mansi Bhatia, Prajakta Gosavi, Karishma Hooda, Neha Jayasanker, Prachi Khobragade, Ameya Thanawala

ube on a

rest, treetop n framing

: Bhoomika Chaudhari, Rashmita Dake, Vaishnavi Gurnalkar, Soham Dhanaokar, Vaibhavi KHedekar, Nidhi Khot, Shweta Utekar

20

RAIN WATER HARVESTING Semester III Technical Design Studio Sulakshana Bhanushali, Juhi Prasad, Prerna Thacker Initiation

: Introduction, Case study analysis

Analysis

: Individual calculations, Methodologies and technical interventions

Conclusion : Final discussion and Submission presentation

Brief:

It is critical to highlight the role of an architect in achieving sustainability throughout their designs with respect to current times. The idea of this exercise is to bring out the understanding of concepts in hydrology, site drainage and rainwater as a resource through an innovative efficient design. The exercise dealt with mapping out a comparison with pre existing systems and extracting a creative design element which in turn caters to prevalent RWH protocols and helps reduce the load on traditional water supply system.

The Process :

The exercise began with a discussion on a few known methodologies followed throughout rainwater collection.This discussion then transitioned to addressing the technical elements and details that come into picture thereby introducing the students to the ground rules and regulations.This was followed by identifying and calculating the catchments areas on a pre-existing site context .To best help with this task the students tried it out on their own house and these results were documented. Groups of 3 were formed and on the basis of the initial data collection the exercise was followed up with utilising creative designs that fit into the house context and each intervention was backed up with presentations which explained the proposed systems,their working and the final data obtained through calculations.

21

BHAVYA MEWADA, RUCHI PATHAK, SUKRITI SHARMA

Bhavya Mewada, Ruchi Pathak, Sukriti Sharma

Jayraj Mistry, Mahir Modi, Aditya Shanbagh

22

SPACE-TIME BLOG

an fo to lift

Semester V Architectural Theory Neha Panchal, Yagnik Bhathija Initiation

: Introduction to space and place , reading of Schumacher / Till / Kant / Harries / Wittman

Analysis

: Individual writing of 300 works blog

Conclusion : Overview and Submission

to th th in co m of ,th wh th in

Brief : The exercise is an extension to write About 300 words blog discussing the understanding of how space and time exist, their perception and relation as explained by Schumacher / Till / Kant / Harries / Wittman or any other with illustration through examples from everyday architecture or ďŹ lms or literature or any other medium with necessary photograph / drawing / painting / diagram / etc

The Process

The start of the exercise was about the understanding of terms space,time,and place with the daily example that were interlinked with given some reading of Kant ,jeremy and karsten harries.After going through the writing and blogs students were asked to put there response to the terms time ,space and place and there understanding through a small blog with graphics and illustrations. Students were free to choose examples ,methods of writing and simply put the students' view on these 3 terms .

23

TU De Ih te da sm FR De W no se Ab ch co wa ch an se of tim de

In the moments when we become aware that time is fleeting ,is when importance of time nd our consciousness towards it become most profound. Minutes before a deadline waiting or the elevator or climbing down the stairs to reach the platform just when your train is about o leave, are the moments in which you can actually sense every second spent waiting for the ft and experience every step of the staircase.

In the movie, ‘Before Sunrise’, the two lovers know that they only have these 24 hours ogether and they spend every minute consciously, creating memories in different spots in he city of Vienna and for them these locations will always be associated with the moments hat they created and the time that they spent there .In the end the same locations are shown n the movie without the characters present in the scene but now these places feel ompletely lifeless. Thus, experience of time in a space depends on how alive we feel at that moment and our state of consciousness always varies with different situations.Our experience f space is conditioned through time and memory.When they meet again after several years hey feel that those 24 hours that they spent together lasted much longer than all these years when they were apart because they were fully alive and aware in those hours and could feel he space around them and sense the importance of every passing second to the maximum ntensity.Thus,emotional regulation is related to slower passage of subjective time.

Aastha Sinha

UESDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND, 1986, SUNNY ear Diary, have recently shifted to this small house which I have built with my own gains. There is this emple of Ganesh near our house which is pleasing me from the first day I came. I spend my ay in fields, and evenings at the temple with people. Life is better here than that previous mall hut.

RIDAY, JULY 22ND, 2006, RAINY ear diary, With this amount of rain and, it’s becoming difficult to live here. Even Nihaal has his own family ow. Kids don’t like this place because of the chaos which the temple is causing. The future eems blur and uncertain. bove are some of the lines from an old man’s dairy which depicts how everything has hanged with time. Changing thinking and thoughts, change in their perception, spreading ommunity and hence landspread, these are things which are inseparable from the time. The way he used to spend his evenings at temple, the overall atmosphere created by sunset, people hanting mantras, many people coming together and filling the voids of spaces; it was creating n enclosure for him. A space, whose phases varied with number of people, time of the day, easons which are again aspects of time. With changing time, the space also changes because f these various aspects leading to different human interpretations and experiences .It is the me which changes the function of a fort from a place of ruling and living to a tourist estination. It is the time which shows us phases of spaces.

Utkarsha Mali

24

SPACE FOR ENGAGEMENT

ASIATIC LIBRARY

Semester V Architectural Theory Harshada Shintre, Nachiket Kalle Initiation

: Introduction, reading

Analysis

: Individual presentation of all the lenses, class discussion

Conclusion : Overview, class discussion

Brief : The exercise is an extension to the previous semester works of conceptualizing “place” in terms of space, time, scale, organization.Following up, Himanshu Burte’s book “space for engagement” is taken as a moderator to look at various aspects of architectural spaces. The possibility of people's engagement is at the center of the multifaceted interaction between places and people that we know as the process of habitation.The various lenses provided in the book help students critically analyze the spaces which they have experienced in terms of the quality of people's association with it.

ADALAJ STEPWELL

The Process :

The initial start of the exercise included discussions of how we perceived space and our understanding of the lenses mentioned in the book. After reading of the chapters, students were asked to apply these lenses into a structure of their choice in order to critique them. It was important for the students to choose a structure they had personally been to, so as to give an unbiased response to their observations.

The best part of the studio was that students were free to form their own opinions about a structure on how they fit or don't fit in the given lenses. Each presentation had a follow up class discussion where fellow classmates could pitch in their views about it and reach a concluding line. In all 4 lenses i.e. legibility, penetrability, sociability and occupiability were used to analyze the structures.

25

Since the stepwell has a little presenc encounter with the interiors with intrica one doesn’t expect the scale to be so hu shaded roof held up by columns. Each with an open structure in the form of p until one reaches the well at the very b supported by columns and becomes the the well are adorned with brackets ornamentation. One doesn’t expect th unfolds as we go down. As we keep d guided by the the framing created by inside, towering pavilions, the powerful the structure is underground guides o sudden surprises.

Legibility and Occupiability: Krish Mewawala

ce above the surface, a sudden tely carved pillars is surprising as uge. The top most landing has a ight of stairs leads to a landing pavilions, colonnades or porches bottom. Each landing pavilion is e roof of the pavilion. The walls of s, niches and other sculpted his intricacy at the beginning. It descending the sight of vision is y the columns and slabs. Once l play of light and shadow since one to resting spots and causes

Penetrability and Sociability: Varada Avachat

26

TESTING HIGH RISE STRUCTURES AGAINS Semester VII Architectural Building Construction K. V. Parmeshwar, Hardik Dedhia Initiation

: Ideation and Designing of floor plates for a building

Analysis

: Material Exploration , Testing the practicality of model through Shake Tables and artificial wind actions

Conclusion : Observed forces were chalked down for final presentation

Brief : The intent of the project was to understand how lateral forces affect the strength and stability of a high rise structure. The effect of lateral forces against the structure was to be analysed through earthquake simulation and wind load testing.

The Process : The students were given a floor plate area and were asked to design the floor plate which would be replicated on all floors of the building. After the ideation of the form of the structure, students went ahead to make the structure using materials like watchmakers and rubber adhesives and clay, so that the joints wouldn’t be rigid and they could test the effect of the lateral forces on the joints. The second stage involved creating shake tables or vibrating tables in order to create an earthquake stimulation. After, The students had to place their structures on the shake table and understand the movement caused by the vibration. The students chalked out diagrams of the forces after observation. For wind testing, the students explored ways to create a facade on the skeleton of their structure and exposed it to wind speeds with the availability of hair dryers and table fans. The movement was again observed and the students understood the effect of the form they had chosen.

27

ST EARTHQUAKES AND WIND LOADS

Falguni Sakpal

28

UNDERSTANDING & ANALYSING INDIVIDU Semester VII Architectural Theory Harshada Shintre, Nachiket Kalle Initiation

: Understanding varied Aspects of Residential Space and its response Towards the same

Analysis

: Elaborative study of Aspects on different scales in a progressive pattern

Conclusion : Final presentation , Submission

Brief : The main aim is to understand how the residential society is fitting in the given area with respect to various aspects and how it is responding to it and how the larger context is affecting the given society and vice versa. The study had to start from analysing the interior layout of individual’s apartment w.r.t how different spaces are created inside the house and how one responds to it and thereby increasing the scale of the analysis from there to floor level, from floor to single residential society, from society to whole building area/ building complex, from building complex to immediate site context and from there to larger site context.

The Process :

The whole structure was divided into 5-6 weeks. The first week began with the faculty explaining us the aspects which were to be studied w.r.t to individual apartment layout and then students analysing their apartments on the aspects and presenting their work in the next week. The same format was carried on through all the weeks just the scale of the analysis increased week by week from individual apartment layout to larger site context level. In every stage students figured out various ways how their individual residence is functioning in terms of spaces which the students weren’t aware of before this exercise. The entire process was very smooth and was well planned. The students were able to know various aspects of how any structure could be analysed and how it affects the context and vice versa.

LAYERIN

29

UAL RESIDENTIAL SPACES

Aspects- efficiency, Social Interaction, defensible spaces: Pradyumna Vikharankar

Layering accentuates differences of each floor

Free dimensions and floor plans on top floor

Higher ceiling increases flexibility on ground floor

Potentially useful basement

STACKING

Deeper dimension possible on ground floor

NG

Aspects- Levels of Privacy, Building edge: Jayesh Sharma

30

PREACH - PROJECT - PRACTICE Semester IX Architectural Design Rajratna Jadhav, Rishi Vora, Mythili Shetty, Yagnik Bhatija, Hardik Dedhia, K. V. Parmeshwar, Venkat Ashok Initiation

: Preach, understanding your discourse

Analysis

: Project, understanding the site

Conclusion : Practice, focussed on the actualization of design

Brief: The core idea of this studio was to inculcate how to formulate an approach to design via an objective lens of selected architectural discourses prevalent in today’s times (Object oriented ontology, Parametricism, and phenomenology). The approach then leads to an architectural argument which not only will evolve into the design but also try, test and critique the relevance of such discourses in the context it sets itself in.

The Process : Initially understanding of discourses was developed which were unique in their own ways. The abstractness of triple o, the sensitivity of phenomenology or the uidity of parametricism, all were discovered through theoretical as well as verbose forms, through interactive lectures with the studio conductors and textual references. This was a new experience since usually the lens of architecture and practicality takes greater importance than the discourse itself. So the understanding was a lot more pure and unaffected by the practicalities of site. Following to the process site, Byculla was analysed with its rich ethnic and economic diversity, though the online research presented itself as a unique challenge.

Viewing the site through the lens of the discourse allowed us to reimagine space and form. Finally, the next 2 months were spent in actualization of the design. The design was to integrate the structural as well as services along with the form. A very realistic output was expected. The module system came through, allowing us to communicate with the CTS faculty in conjunction with our AD mentors. The unusual challenge of working with partners through online platforms, exploring the site purely through data available online.

31

Anushree Shetty, Vaishnavi Iyer

Neha Karwa, Devansh Maru

32

CONTEXT SPECIFIC ARCHITECTURE Semester IX Environmental Science Shrikar Bhave, Prerna Thacker, Sagar Valia Initiation

: Understanding the site context, environment and culture

Analysis

: Using the above gathered information formulate an effective design for Low / High rise structures

Conclusion : Final presentation.

Brief:

Designing in response to the local climate isn't an add-on, it has to be ingrained into the process of design right from the inception. The idea of this exercise is to thoughtfully respond to the context, the environment, and culture to ensure occupant comfort and resource efficiency through analytical methods and informed decision-making at every stage of the design process.

The Process : Climate responsive design is not just about technical efficiency - it is a conscious approach to design that analyses and deliberates an array of variables that influence the building design .

A basic core and shell of the building will be provided at the outset, to save time on design of basic layout. A Low rise building layout for 4 groups and high rise layout for 4 groups across 4 locations having different climate zones will be given. Throughout the progression of the course, participants are expected to re-design the overall building form including the building envelope and demonstrate basic understanding of building systems related to energy supply, thermal comfort, water and waste management. The design exercise will be performed in groups, with four participants in each group.

By the end of the exercise one will be able to look at and compare design approaches and outcomes for both low-rise and high-rise buildings across different climate zones.

33

Dehradun Lowrise : Priyal Parekh, Jainee Shah, Simran Gupta, Aneri Shah, Devansh Goshar

Chennai Lowrise: Shruti Bhagwat, Hrutuja Kapse, Bhavika Chaudhari, Shrushti Mhaske, Vaibhavi Raut, Vinay Yapuram

34

THESIS JURY 4th OCTOBER

Online Thesis Jury: A journey from Panel to Online Student’s POV Batch of 2015-2020

Dear Junior, Hello, from the other side!

The sudden covid-19 gap of a couple months allowed me to look at my thesis from a new perspective, free from all baggage of what others had to say about my thesis or how I would be able to finish all work in time. Importantly, it helped me connect to my topic of research truly and deeply without any burden of submission, marks, presentation or thinking about which junior to call for help!

A big takeaway that I would like to share with upcoming batches is that "Look at your thesis intent and inquiry purely independent of any other thesis paraphernalia like representation. Put all attention to letting the seed of your inquiry bloom into a healthy plant rather than thinking about what colour its fruits or flowers will bear."

A shift from offline to online jury, other than saving printing cost and expelling waste of paper, gave rise to a time limit of presentation. Stripping of all attention from quantity of work, we could better focus on simplifying the presentation to convey the essence of our project.

Remember that the result is not in your hands, so it is wiser to not worry about that and rather focus on how consistently you are dedicating energy to your project. It's high time we all get rid of erratic schedules, messy desks and sleepless nights and march towards a healthier way of living and working. It is possible to do all this and still remember that life is much more!

See you all soon, on the other side!

Love, Your senior, -Preksha Chedda 35

We were informed about the jury-date 3 weeks before, and I had very few things in place. When the dates came out I first assessed whatever I had, and began resolving my design & deliverables towards completion.

To present online made things fairly easier because there were no hassles of composing panels, testing colors of plots, or making mammoth design models. The delivery was much better. I invested time in trying out new features on Powerpoint to make the transitions/ presentation smoother.

What helped particularly in my case was to first figure out the flow of explanation, from the research dissertation to final design, and make a rough PPT with place-holders. As soon as I started getting done with deliverables, I replaced them, and eventually the presentation took shape.

We were asked to submit a 15-min. explanation video of our project and that really helped us present it cohesively, than getting interrupted by the juror. Presenting online was new and unexpected, but definitely a more convenient option for quite a few of us!

- Soham Deshmukh

Have you ever waited for 8 hours with palms dripping with sweat and a dysfunctional delirious state of mind? Yes, this was my experience of a long wait in front of a blank laptop screen waiting for the jurors.

Right from the very outset of architecture college, we had all dreamt, rather dreaded the time we would stand in front of our final year project speaking those last few words to validate ourselves to be an architect.

Yes, we were robbed of this one and only feeling of trying to gasp for breath and choking on words of giving a live thesis jury.

Yes, we worked tirelessly giving every ounce of sweat and blood to culminate this capstone project of our academic life. But defending a dissertation online was a unique experience of itself! Few moments of awkward silence and minor internet lags but in all the best closure 2020 could offer.

My juror congratulated me for being patient as I was the last person to give the jury that day. I was the last seat that was filled during admissions in 2015 and privileged one to pass the baton in 2020 to the next batch which made this a wholesome closing of my academic life.

-Anisha Mehta 36

DESIGN ARCHITECTURE COMM Lockdown Laurels series

gave a well-acknowledged platform to the participants to articulate their creative minds using a digital skillset Remote working and social distancing may have been the 'new normal' for this lockdown , but that didn't stop AOA from exing those creativity muscles.

Creativity is free from all barriers, proving this right we have tackled various competition briefs creating innovative designs and graphics . Lockdown Laurels aims to feature these competition entries done during this lockdown!

YAC Tree House Module Harshvardhan Jhaveri Aishwarya Balsekar

Upcoming Competitions

Metals in Construction Magazine 2021 design Challenge: Metals in Construction Org Play- Interactive kids furniture: Archasm Container City: Uni.xyz Floating House : Concursos ag Bridge : Ideas forward Pittsburgh Platform Student Ideas Competition 2020 : Pittsburgh Platform Tiny House 2020: Volume Zero 37

#ACADEMITESDYNAMITES

Node-The Pavilion Design Challenge:IDHA Labs

Sai Baba Temple design Ridhima Mahadik Ritika Redkar Shivani Pisat

The Pandemic Dwelling Jayesh Sharma Prathamesh Patil

MITTEE

e i r

The Little Big Loo Mohit Harisangam Saumya Baheti

n k r t

Jurassic Camp House Aastha Sinha Ishant Arora Zeel Desai

g a l

Urban Chair Vaishnavi Siddhapara Shrutee Patil Jigisha Soni 38

.

Oct.

.

Sept.

Teachers’ Day

Pg No

An online celebration for our dear mentors and pillars of The Academy

41

45

Navaratri From Home An Artistic way of bringing the academy together across homes

47

Talent Appreciation The Ultimate Student-Class initiatives given recognition

51

Mu

Tran and

Sen Ch

One One

A C A D E MY O UT S I D

51

Food Photography Competition Capturing the various spices of the plate

Food Craving Webinar Tips and discussions on Healthier options for a foodie

Ravioli Cooking Class Channelling the inner chef out in an online master class

53

usic As Emotions

nscending words and notes d infusing soul with vocals

nior Vs Junior hallenge

e stage-All years e program-All styles

It is critical to not get carried away with digital mediums but fall in love with sketching!Social

55

poster Release Celebrating signiďŹ cant days and occasions in an online fashion

Movie Recommendations Relishing a rich, relevant and powerful collection of movies and stories

DE ARCHITECTURE

TEACHERS’ DAY

The Literary Club in collaboration with the The Sketching

saying thank you for all the wonderful things they have taught us so far. These literary club had written from their hearts.

GAMES NIGHT Faculty Edition The games night felicitated a night of fun and amusement for all the faculty to wind up an extremely stressful week, as a token of appreciation for their contribution through the entire year, especially in times like these. There were four games related to Bollywood movies, and a general round of online pictionary that was played among four teams of teachers. The session was light, fun and a stress buster for the creative brains. The council arranged the games night on an online medium. Being away from college’s auditorium couldn’t stop the council to continue the age old tradition of saying thanks in this jolly way.

41

g Club presented the faculties with digital cards and poster as a way of

se Wallpapers were given as lovely surprises with thoughtful quotes that the

If at all you could teach me how to express unending gratitude , I would first present my work to you.

Your knowledge and presence fills us like colours of different hues.

Despite all the virtualness of the new ordinary, thank you for somehow still keeping it real with your ever-same extraordinary spirit .

Some people preach, some teach and then there are some like you, who simply “BE” and Inspire.

42

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION Teacher’s Day

Shreya Tengle

43

Akanksha Patankar

Bhavya Mewada Premansh Shinde

Rohit Chopade

The Photography Club conducted a Muskan Ranwaka

44

competition on the occasion of Teacher's Day. The theme for the competition was 'Learning'.

Muskan Ranwaka

#TALENT THURSDAY

TALENT APPRECIATION

To promote all varied talents our Academites possess, an open ended programme was organized to keep this spirit maintained. An open call was given to all the Academites to send in videos, photos of their talents which were then posted on every thursday on the aoa cultures instagram page. The programme showcased a great variety of talents that the Academy houses and is open throughout the year so everyone can keep sending entries to cultural mail id or dm on aoa_cultures instagram page.

3 WEEKS 6 TALENTS Hinal Solanki

Srushti Mumbarkar

Vedika Shirapure

Iqra Shaikh

Abhishek Dhepse

45

GAMES NIGHT

BIGBOSS

SHRI LAXMI CHIT FUNDS

LAZY LAKKADBAGGE

MAAFIYAS

MATT MAAN

After a hectic week full of submissions and work deadlines, all we need is a stressbuster. The cultural team came to the rescue with the Games Night conducted on every Friday night. Classes from 2nd to 4th year competed against each other to test their Fandom and Bollywood wit.

The evenings turned out to be super fun for everyone singing the Bollywood hits and revisiting the world of superheroes and the villains. The end of each night was witnessed by an online performance by each class where an online classroom was conducted with all the students being some of the famous Bollywood and Fandom characters.

“

A much needed stressbuster amidst the packed schedule for all of us!

GUNDA BOYS

46

NAVRATRI NAVRATRI

47

#NAVRATRIFROMHOME 48

NAVRATRI IN RGB 17TH OCTOBER TO 25TH OCTOBER

Navratri has always been a special event for Academy.

The pandemic paved way for this one to be made unique.

All classes gathered to celebrate Navratri online and captured a few moments of the same. Clubs presented the colours as photographs, renders, writings and sketches and these were featured on instagram handles.

The enthusiasm of the academites made this Navratri a memorable one.

The Sketching Club, The Photography Club an

that highlighted the colours of Navratri through works done by the members w

The preface of love, ďŹ re, desire, and anger, Orange is the short-lived home of the subtle and tender.

-Devika Biyani

Roses, wine and hearts, I guess I read the signs wrong, Maybe all that red was for caution, and not love, after all?

-Chaitanyaa Agrawal

49

nd The Literary Club

had sketches, photographs and writings which was featured on instagram handles. @aoa_cultures and @aoa_niche.

And at the end of the day, I bleed black on white, Trying to make sense of all the Grey.

-Chaitanyaa Agrawal

I wish I'd forgotten you But Alas wishes never come true Just like your white lies Never become truths.

- Gurusha Sood

50

The Music Club arranged a melodious event which provided a

platform for music enthusiasts to experiment their skills and express myriad emotions. This event was featured on the instagram page @aoa_cultures

MUSIC FOR THE SOUL !

The Music club members chose one emotion each to experiment on. The key idea was to thoroughly explore the feeling and sing or play a song that best enhances it. They say where words fail, music speaks and the Music club successfully brought out a rainbow of emotions on the virtual platform. Getting together on meets, they used the online medium to their advantage and posted a variety of songs on the AOA culturals page. Each participant made a video and showcased their songs in their own unique tune.

“ Songs have a unique power of expression.

We associate songs to our memories and feelings.�

-

Music Club

51

Credits (From top left to right ) Ojas Basargekar, Diksha Shukla, Sukriti Sharma, Kedar Parmal, Devansh Maru, Sakshi Kambli, Palak Bhattad, Riddhi Gunaji

The Dance Club

arranged an energetic event to increase the vertical-interaction amongst the students where they shared their amazing moves.

CHALLENGE ME TO A DANCE !

Senior Protege

The dance club is always on their feet to try something new! This month we had a fun challenge session following the famous social media challenge pattern.

The senior dancers posed a dancing challenge to their juniors. The challenge was to imitate the fun dancing step as posted by their seniors. The session was successfully held over the social media platform and the juniors gave a tough fight towards their seniors’ dance moves. The win wasn’t so easy as certain restrictions were set by the dance team.

Credits (From top left to bottom) Tejashree Shinde, Vedang Naik Ankit Gaikwad, Kimaya Churi

Junior Champion

52

The Food Club

conducted interactive webinars, cooking cla

non-academites ! These endeavours were posted on the instagram account @

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION 22nd SEPTEMBER

The event was hosted to celebrate the inner foodies of the academites. The theme of the competition was ‘Spice’. The participants had to send in pictures of the dishes they cooked during the lockdown period.The competition was judged was renowned New Zealand Chef Dhiraj Bhoir.

The judging criteria was based on how presentable the dish was and how the ingredient spice was used in a unique way. The competition had 50 entries out of which 3 were chosen as winners

h

-D

RAVIOLI COOKING CLASS

“ Members enjoyed

31st OCTOBER

A 2 hour masterclass was conducted on making delicious ravioli. It was aimed to develop great cooking skills and savour the experience of Italian pasta at home. Around 10 participants on the meet were cooking along with the chef Desiree Emmanuel and treating themselves with tasty ravioli.

53

cooking, it was something new for the students and they are looking forward to more cooking meets in the future..”

- Food Club

asses, competitions which received a huge response from Academites and

aoa_niche as stories.

Devika Biyani

Falmai Chheda

Ishita Pathak

FOOD CRAVING - WEBINAR “A step further to healthy lifestyle… ”

Dt.Mansi Padechia

10th OCTOBER A webinar was conducted in which Dietician Mansi Padechia addressed on how we can curb and control our food cravings which arise due to the plethora of food available out in the market and promote healthy eating habits. Cravings are a major roadblock for students trying to maintain a healthy diet. Nutrition is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. The webinar gave insights on how students could work on the same.

54

The Social Club continues with the posting of the digi-post graphics on spreading awareness about significant days of the month. The posters are released on the instagram account @aoa_niche as a story and through messages as well.

5th SEPTEMBER

8th SEPTEMBER

Charity. A word that has multifarious meanings, yet the same essence of shared love in every aspect.

It’s not important for what reason or scale a person decides to help someone. The thing of the utmost importance, is that one decides to help someone.

Before we move on, discuss more social issues, let's build people to make them capable for it.

Literacy is not a privilege, it’s a fundamental right in a society that is as competitive, how about we make this competition fair by promoting literacy for all.

15th SEPTEMBER

31st OCTOBER

International Day of Charity

International Day of Democracy

Democracy, led to new perspective that revolutionized the history of mankind. Here's to constant reminders that we need not submit to anyone on a baseless note, here's to living our lives as free citizens of this beautiful world!

55

International Literacy Day

National Unity Day

Unity, a feeling of togetherness, a feeling of trust, of collaboration and commitment.

We come across various points where we need to be true to ourselves, we need to own up, to value others and to stand together, united, everyday!

The Movie club

posted a weekly series of a set of 3 movie /

short story recommendations based on the genre, story and relevance with respect to architecture and social subjects in order to provide a variety of good ďŹ lms which can be viewed by all.

SEVEN (1995)

ENOLA HOLMES (2020)

AANKHON DEKHI (2013)

A serial killer begins murdering people according to the seven deadly sins. Two detectives are tasked with apprehending the criminal.

The story is about the teenage sister of the already-famous Sherlock Holmes, who goes to London in search of her mother who has disappeared.

After a distressing incident, a Delhi man vows to believe only what he can see, but his new ideals soon take his life in extreme directions.

WHIPLASH (2014) A promising young drummer enrolls at a music conservatory where his dreams are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.

NEWTON (2017) A government clerk on election duty in the conict ridden jungle of Central India tries his best to conduct free and fair voting

56

PRETTY WOMAN (1990) A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.

TEAM BEHIND THE NICHE

Sukriti Sharma Editor of the Issue

Tanaya Nadkarni Niche Head

Varada Avachat Editor of the Issue

Aditya Shanbhag

Anushka Kalekar

Dhanashree Jadhav

Team Shrutee Patil Core Team Member

Anushka Satpalkar Core Team Member

Urvi Mathkar Outreach Head A

Manasi Petkar Outreach Head B

Special Thanks Nidhi Khot, ER Tanvi Pimple, ER

Ronak Gala, ER Urvi Khadakban, ER Manasa Ravikumar

Cover Credits Pradyumna Vikharankar

Priyal Parekh,ER Anushri Shetty, ER

STUDENT BODY 2020—21 ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE 278, Shankar Ghanekar Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai-400025