Built in 1930s, Elisabeth Morrow School occupies the site of her childhood home in northern New Jersey. Although the school remains a niche institution with a humble beginning, it has undergone several alterations and extensions to accommodate a growing enrollment. The School’s mission to help students develop academically, socially and ethically within a supportive environment is embodied in the building and its campus.
The restoration project for the school involved careful documentation of the exterior elements including walls, windows, roofing, pillars, pilaster as well as services like drainage pipes, gutters, HVAC units and connections.
A high fidelity documentation and meticulous coordination ensured the timely delivery of this project despite it incredibly tight turnaround time.
James Rose Center: Preservation Plan
New Jersey
In 2019, I concluded writing a preservation plan for the James Rose Center, the historic residence of the modernist landscape architect in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Unconventional use of materials and years of neglect made the house fragile and in dire need of preservation. Therefore, interpreting the late architect’s philosophy was critical to the house’s longevity. To address this, the preservation plan included not only a detailed survey and a conditional assessment of the site but also a thorough analysis of his literature and archival materials. Presently, the landmark house is being converted to an institutional facility and the preservation plan provides the vision for its future.
Ridgewood,
Stevens
Institute of Technology: Roof Restoration
Hoboken, New Jersey
809 Castle Point Terrace is the home of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology. The structure was built in early 1900 and it comprises the Castle Point Historic District.
The roof of the structure, which is covered with Spanish Green-colored Ludowici closed tiles, required complete replacement as the original tiling had significant damage causing water leakage in multiple locations. Roofing failure ranged from missing and displaced tiles to failed underlayment. The strict timeline of the project presented an additional challenge.
Nizamuddin: Urban Revitalization Initiative
Sundar Nursery is a heritage park developed around 16thCentury UNESCO World Heritage Site of Humayun’s Tomb in New Delhi. Lying on the Mughal-era Grand Trunk Road, Sunder Nursery is spread over 90 acres (36 hectares), and it has 15 structures of historic significance. It contains over 300 types of trees, making it New Delhi’s first arboretum. Future plans aim to link nearby areas to develop it into India’s largest urban park covering 900 acres - often dubbed as New Delhi’s Central Park
It is part of the larger Nizamuddin Urban Revitalization Initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Since 2007, over 50 monuments ranging from tombs, shrines, gardens, water structures, and ramparts have been conserved under the aegis of this initiative.
I reviewed the landscape and services design, construction management and supervised its implementation. I liaised with the project’s public - private partners and donors, coordinated public interactions, and designed outreach material. My interdisciplinary team included historians, craftspersons, conservators, landscape architects, GIS professionals, ornithologists, horticulturist, civil engineers, gardeners, and private contractors.
DEVELOPMENT-BASED APPROACH TO PRESERVATION
Aga Khan Development Network
CULTURE
Project Architect Role:
Proposed Master Plan
Over 100 acres of land in Central Delhi, reclaimed from dilapidation, and illegal occupation, is being revived by arguably India’s biggest craftbased conservation and integrated socioeconomic initiative.
Areas I oversaw the development of.
Nizamuddin: Urban Revitalization Initiative
the Sundar Nursery - Batashewala Complex. Documenting and damage-assessment of the pavilion was my first commission for the Aga Khan Development Network. The derelict structure stood hidden behind tall grass and vegetation which reflected years of neglect. Sandstone sunshades and brackets along with pieces of decorative plasterwork were recovered from the excavations around the structure. My team’s task was to analyze these components and subsequently work out a strategy to restore the structure with the help of trained stone craftspersons.
Buildings serve as primary units for the revitalization and every monument needed to be documented with a detail that was sensitive to the historical as well as the contemporary cultural context.
The process involved sketching the visual details, documenting the material characteristics, creating digital renderings to the sketches and creating a work flow to drive the restoration process, down to the mason level.
My first assignment with the AKDN was to document this building. It was followed by assessing the extent of damage, piecing together archaeological remains found in the excavation, and working out a strategy to restore the pavilion.
Nizamuddin: Humayun’s Tomb Interpretation Centre
The Humayun’s Tomb Interpretation Centre is located at the physical and cultural intersection of three historically linked sites of (i) 14th-Century Nizamuddin Shrine, (ii) 16th-Century
Humayun’s Tomb, and (iii) Sunder Nursery-Batashewala
Complex with structures from early to late Mughal-era. Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) prepared a proposal for a sunken site museum and allied facilities at the behest of the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India. Nieto Sobejano Architects of Spain, winners of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2010, prepared the initial scheme. The project was eventually commissioned to Vir Mueller Architects, India and is currently under construction.
My responsibilities included, but were not limited to:
a. Preparing the design brief for both the proposals
b. Review of designs and implementation of AKDN’s vision
c. Representing the foundation in government meetings, public events, donor interactions
d. Construction management and coordination with consultants e.g. impact assessment, revenue modeling, MEP
e. Grant writing
f. Preparing DPRs
g. Designing outreach material e.g. signage, fliers, relevant sections of organization’s annual report
to 17th Century
Interpretation Centre Site Museum
Interpretation Centre - Site Museum at the intersection of three historically linked sites
Project Architect
Aga Khan Development Network
Nizamuddin Shrine 14th-Century
Sunder Nursery - Batashewala Complex 15th
Humayun’s Tomb 16th-Century
Recursive operations to generate the scheme
Stepped-wells (Baoli) of North India as a model for public spaces
Geometric evolution of the roofscape
Intricate stone lattice
Exploded Axonometric View
A sequence of abstracted sunken courts and gardens.
Pedestrian connection to Sunder Nursery
Souvenir Shop + Cafeteria
Skylights
Entrance Plaza
Amphitheater
Bus parking
Nizamuddin: Urban Revitalization Project
Designing outreach for the Aga Khan Development Network required creating a visual identity for the project.
“Creating green spaces in urban areas constitutes a significant improvement in the quality of the environment and people’s living conditions. They are leisure spaces and meeting places for people for all ages and all social categories, encouraging different sectors of the population to mix and integrate. And they have proved to be catalyst for economic activity and a source of employment, both directly and indirectly, particularly through the services provided for visitors.”
- His Highness the Aga Khan
Transformations:
Aga Khan Development Network
Hyderabad: Quli Qutb Shahi Tombs
3D Modeling Site Analytics
The Quli Qutb Shah Archaeological Park includes 70 structures, encompassing 40 mausoleums, 23 mosques, 5 stepwells/water structures, a hamam (mortuary bath), pavilions, garden structures and enclosure walls built during the reign of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty that ruled the Hyderabad region for 170 years in the 16th and 17th centuries. The archaeological park is being in the process of being nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Aga Khan Development Network
Play School: Dreaming Child
Architectural Design Practice
Instantly popular with the community, Dreaming Child is a Montessori school which focuses on creating spaces and experiences rather than rooms. We achieved a diversity of spaces by placing an ‘exploration hut’ in the middle of the room. It divided as well as organised the main hall into four sections to stimulate language, visual creativity, mathematics, and practical skills.
The flexible layout of the space lends itself to be used by people of different age groups. This, in turn, helps the school to diversify its stakeholders and activities, all the while ensuring an optimal use of the space.
General Arrangement Plan.
Associate Architect
Role:
Villas: The Infiniti Bay, Dabolim
5.5 acres of site with 24 villas, 20 townhouses, clubhouse, and spa.
Set on a contoured site and located by Goa’s most scenic bay in the Arabian Sea, The Infiniti Bay is a luxury housing project in Goa. Efficient planning allowed the villas and townhouses to be expansive and robust.
I did design development, construction detailing, sanction and tender drawings, market research, coordination with MEP consultants, 3D modeling and visualization, preparation of bill of quantities, estimation, and specifications of materials and finishes.
Master Plan
Ashwin Alva Associates
Project Architect
Villas: The Grange, Chennai
acres
and
The Grange is located in a busy urban area and siting 28 expansive luxury homes on a tight site provided a challenging brief to work with. An interlocking structure of these villas tooks months to workout espcially because of the minor variations in a few of the villas. A series of robust spaces, decks, gardens, pools, and courts finished with warm and earthy materials place The Grange in a niche in Chennai’s luxury housing market.
I did design development, construction detailing, sanction and tender drawings, market research, coordination with MEP consultants, 3D modeling and visualization, preparation of bill of quantities, estimation, and specifications of materials and finishes.
I conducted a number of climate responsive analyses for Passive Design Consultants, Delhi. This project was demonstrative because it required multiple types of such analyses conducted on the same site.
01. Solar radiation analysis (Ecotect)
02. Shadow analysis (Ecotect)
03. Wind CFD (IES Virtual Environment)
04. Energy modeling (EQUEST)
05. Glare analysis (Ecotect)
06. Physiological Equivalent Temperature
radiation and shadow range analyses.
Courtyard
Death by History: The Embalming of Ahmedabad
Qualifying Research Paper
Research paper examining social and urban implications of UNESCO designations in a dual society.
Abstract
I am looking at the UNESCO designation of Ahmedabad, India as a World Heritage City because of its sordid history of communal pogroms in order to present an alternative narrative. I illustrate in this paper that different areas of the city will be affected differently by the designation. It will act as a power tool to restore the cultural hegemony of the dominant class with conspicuous detrimental social outcomes to the other. The neoliberal branding of Ahmedabad masks the violence against the religious minorities. It obscures the differential treatment of Muslims and in reality it is a monument to what is described as Hindu liberalism. This paper serves few key objectives. It illustrates that the uncritical application of the historic preservation discourse especially by international agencies like UNESCO preserves social segregation, masks the violence in the state as well as gives the state more tools to purge the city of the supposed others. I construct a diagrammatic projection of the old city of Ahmedabad to show the structural biases which the designation will preserve and foster. The transition in the international debate from decolonization to development and, in the last few decades, towards globalization is a self-imposed acculturation. The vanguard willingly adopts a self-inflicting and self-contradictory stance. Instead, I construct the identity of Ahmedabad through its historical connections and in contrast to what the other Ahmedabad is. Drawing from Kristeva’s formulation of abjection, I assert that Ahmedabad’s identity is intrinsically linked with its supposed other. Finally, I assert that the objective of reclaiming authenticity is the retrieval of an imagined, uncorrupted origin. I elucidate through the dialectic of purity and corruption - Hindu and the other - that the search for purity is the ultimate excuse for purgative actions.
BODY POLITICS TERRITORY HINDU-MUSLIM DIVIDE
SOCIAL JUSTICE
CONSERVATIVE CASTE POLITICS
Keywords: Ahmedabad * UNESCO World Heritage City* historic preservation * religious minorities in India * displacement * Hindu nationalism *
NATIONALISM
NATION-STATE
UNESCO DESIGNATION OF AHMEDABAD
CONTROL OF RESOURCES BY THE 1%
NEO-COLONIALISM HOMOGENIZATION
NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES
Miami: The Magic City of Displacement
Short Film + Research Paper
This project analyzes social vulnerability to climate change for the communities living along the Miami River living in the neighbourhoods between Hialeah and Little Havana. The choice of area of study is guided by a digital simulation prepared by Climate Central according to which these neighbourhoods lie at an immediate risk of flooding caused by climate change. Access to economic and infrastructural resources are understood to be key determinants in assessing a community’s climate resilience. A concurrence of multiple unfavourable conditions will imply a low capacity to combat climatic anomalies that are fast becoming a norm. Access to resources is further subdivided to highlight the nature of vulnerability that gets compounded with the extra burden of combating climate change. Social vulnerability to climate change can be analysed by many macro-level factors such as global developmental politics, government policies and regulations and many micro factors like age, employment, public health, size of a household and cost of utilities.
Examining the correlation of social vulnerability to climate change in the context of Miami.
Nandu: The Soul of Haikou
Ethnography + Almanac + Strategy
Nandu is one of the main rivers on the Hainan Province of China and is considered a lifeline for the City of Haikou. I conducted ethnographic studies with local residents as well as migrants who moved to Haikou in search of a better life. By conducting ethnographic surveys we realized that a large section of the population in Hianan has moved there because of economic opportunities which were intrinsically linked to the river and the sea. Despite that, there’s a general apathy towards the river and its fast deteriorating state. This is reflected in the murky and stinking water of the river which is being used mostly to transport city’s refuse into the sea. Despite its appalling state, there’s heavy monetization of the land facing the river further limiting the access to the river, thus, creating a physical and emotional barrier between the river and its people.
My strategy to reinvigorate this connection involves a two-pronged approach - (a) Creating cultural avenues to encourage a tangible and intangible exchange with the river and (b) reorganizing the economy around water-management.
• Han
• Li
• Miao
• Yi
• Monsoon
• Harvest
• Summer
• Spring
Existing Festivals like Hot Spring Festival, The Legend of Dragon Water, Boat Racing, Torch Festivals reprogrammed to have an active interface with the river.
• Fisherman
• Tourism
• Retail/Shopping
• Rubber Plantation
• Coconut Plantation
• Shipping Sector
• Academic/Didactic
Identifying the different stakeholder groups and events in the course of the river.
Fishing Community Tourists
Hospitality
Tour Operators
Taxi Drivers Farmers
Traders, Corporate, Engineering
Big Retail Brands
Big Data
Researchers
Children & Young Adults
A fish out of water
Seasonal
Ethnic Communities
Nandu River
Occupational
Creating cultural nudges to restore Nandu at the center of Haikou life
4,259,214,832,230
The Primary Sector: Agriculture
Agriculture Forestry, Animal Husbandry Fishery
The Secondary Sector: Manufacturing
Mining Industry, Manufacturing, Electricity, Heat, Gas and Water production and Supply Industry, Construction Industry
The Tertiary Sector: The Service Industry
China’s GDP Composition
Wholesale and retail, Transportation, warehousing and postal services, Accommodation and Catering, Information Transmission, Software and Information Technology Services, Finance, Real Estate Leasing and Business Services, Scientific Research and Technical Services, Water Conservancy, Environmental and Public Facilities Management, Resident Services, Repairs and Other Services, Education, Health and Social Work, Culture , Sports and Entertainment, Public Administration, Social Security and Social Organization, International Organizations. GDP in USD Manufacturing Agriculture Services
The proposed long-term strategy to conserve Nandu River is to reorganize the economy of the island province in a manner which places jobs pertaining to water and water management at its core.
Sub sectors of the economy which either directly or indirectly interface with the river or the sea surrounding the island.
Nandu Transit Card
Nandu Water Taxi
The river personified as a mischievous young girl A river-based Almanac
Day for farmers Fishermans’ Festival A river-based Almanac
Day for locals & tourists
the romance of the river
Revitalization of Kashmere Gate
Undergraduate Architecture Thesis
Under the guise of protection, historic structures in India have become isolated islands of forgotten heritage. They are neglected and under constant threat of being encroached or demolished. The monuments rarely hold any importance for the public in the present scenario, being viewed more as a burden for the tax payer than as reserves of our history and cultural heritage. The Kashmere Gate monument complex has tremendous historical significance but is largely being neglected due to its disconnect with the current generation.
Re-Public attempts to integrate the architectural heritage with its immediate surroundings creating a well- knit urban environment. It explores the possibility of using our monuments to positively contribute to the urban environment, enhancing the urban experience and thus becoming an asset to the city. The area would be developed to stimulate the local economy, boost tourism and yet remain socially and culturally relevant.
To this effect, a mixed land use module was adopted. It provided community links by serving the needs of businesses, residents and commuters, with an emphasis on the importance of the quality of the urban space.
By opening up and inviting people into the site, they are coaxed to form new, personal connections, and the area starts acquiring relevance and meaning for them.The attempt is to create sensitive architecture which helps augment the importance of the monument and other layers of human history without resorting to imitation or caricature. The architecture and landscape language is subtle to keep the emphasis on the Kashmere Gate monument.
A dilapidated 17th Century city gate and crumpling walls provided the inspiration to explore cultural and urban continuity in the Kashmere Gate area of Delhi.
Revitalization of Kashmere Gate
Vermilion Curtains: Mapping Farmer Suicide Masked by Migration
Farmers suicide in India has reached pandemic proportions. It has also begun to acquire something of a notorious sensationalism. But still, over 40% of suicide remains unreported or misreported, both unintentionally and intentionally. Causes contributing to suicide finally get manifested in the form of small landholding sizes; the average landholding size in India is ~2 ha, a hundred times lower than the American counterpart. The land not being enough for sustenance, farmers have to migrate and for half the year, their status changes from “farmer” to “shortterm labourer” - a phenomena extremely difficult to document. This leads confounds the suicide data, coupled with the political agenda of suppressing the suicide reports by categorizing the cause of suicide as “Other”, “Poverty”, even “Unnatural Causes” including “ghost possession”. In fact, the number of suicides reported in some of the worst damaged states have officially gone down in the past two censuses.
In such a case, the first intuitive hypothesis was using the suicide data from the proximate cities, asserting that the agricultural suicide numbers are absorbed by the city’s numbers. The data on short term
migration had been hitherto uncollected; however a short-term labor dataset from National Sample Survey Office released in 2008 allowed scope for analysis. The next map juxtaposes the city suicide against the state-wise short term migration, giving an insight that the “zero-suicide”states like Bihar and Jharkhand, actually have a large migration. The next improvement in data came with the interstate migration mapping by (Bhagat, Mohanty 2009) which has been juxtaposed with state-wise agricultural suicide data to demonstrate the few metros that digest the realities of agricultural deploration from states far-off.
This mapping is an attempt to weave a narrative with the meagre nascent data. The relational mapping attempts to manifest in statistics what is obvious through subjective data. This project was a part of a larger research attempt at the Masters in Design Engineering Studio to create holistic agricultural systems and metrics to mitigate farmer suicides in the short run, and eventually strengthen farmer well-being and input in strategy and policy making.
Fisher Prize for excellence in GIS - Finalist
Digital Elevation Model: Mapping the hypothesized internal migration of the farmers who commit suicide from proximate districts to the metros.
