MINDSCAPE
Avanish Dham
Tutors : Muhammed Shameel & Kannoth, Vineeth Thappalli
Student ID : H00390040
Space as an element
Open exploration and Visual Communication
Space is envisioned as a dynamic environment of elevated platforms and open areas, designed to offer varied perspectives and interactive experiences. Each platform creates a unique vantage point, encouraging exploration and movement across multiple levels. The open layout fosters communication and interaction, ensuring the architecture feels unrestricted and inviting. This approach transforms space into a journey, where height, openness, and perspective shape how users perceive and engage with the environment.
Digital Illustration
Interactivity
VaryingPerspectives
02. Scaling Space
Beyond Boundaries
Among the five elements, I have chosen Space for further exploration due to its inherently dynamic and multifaceted nature. Space holds the potential to transform perception, interaction, and experience, making it a powerful medium in architectural design. Its qualities are both tangible and intangible, shaping how people connect with their surroundings and with one another.
Speaking through Space
Initial Studies Elevated Platforms
Connection and Interaction
Spatial Configuration and Circulation
The initial model studies focused on understanding the spatial language of space—connection, interaction, configuration, circulation, psychological impact, and dynamic distortion. These explorations emphasized how space influences emotions and interactions, with scale and proportion as key drivers.
Building on this, further exploration centered on keywords like platforms, spatial awareness, grid, floating in space, incline, scale, and journey. Through these studies, the models aim to refine how spatial elements shape user experiences and interactions.
and Emotional Impact Dynamic Interaction through Distortion
Digital Recreation of Different Typologies
In this exploration, I focused on three distinct typologies: office spaces, open atrium plazas, and residential environments. The open atrium plaza is designed to foster a sense of community and fluid movement, encouraging an open, unrestricted flow that prevents users from feeling confined by walls. In contrast, the office space typology seeks to balance collaboration with controlled privacy, ensuring spaces are adaptable for both teamwork and individual focus. The residential typology emphasizes comfort, privacy, and personal expression, creating environments where individuals can feel at ease while expressing their identity.
Office
Residential
Rules in creating Space
After studying the digital recreation of different typologies, I developed a set of rules and hierarchy to guide the spatial program. This ensures better control and establishes a consistent spatial language that can be applied across any typology or program.
Establishing a Grid - Section view
Structural Characteristics Across Typologies
Residential Typology
The residential design emphasizes privacy through high vertical and horizontal planes. Vertical planes are positioned 0.3 meters from the frames, ensuring privacy while maintaining openness. The alignment of these planes follows a grid to ensure structural integrity, with no cantilevers. This configuration offers comfort and security, allowing personal expression within a defined space ensuring that privacy is maintained in the home environment, offering residents a comfortable and secure space to live and express themselves.
Office Typology
In the office typology, horizontal planes dominate to encourage openness and collaboration, while vertical planes are more minimal. These planes are set 0.6 meters from the frames to provide privacy while maintaining connection. The grid alignment ensures stability, with no cantilevers, supporting a balanced, natural office environment. This layout fosters a natural, dynamic work environment where collaboration can flourish without sacrificing privacy.
Plaza (Open Attrium) Typology
The plaza is designed for open circulation and community interaction, using minimal vertical and horizontal planes. The vertical planes are set 0.9 meters from the frames to promote openness. The planes do not strictly follow the grid and are allowed to cantilever outward, creating a fluid, dynamic space that fosters connection and movement. The plaza becomes a place where people can move freely, socialize, and create a dynamic, collective experience.
Section
Floor Plan
03. Visionary Behind
the Brief
This section introduces my client, Mindvalley, a transformative education platform that merges personal growth with cutting-edge innovation. Here, I will explore why Mindvalley was chosen as the ideal client for this project, delving into their vision, values, and the relevance of their philosophy to the chosen site and studio theme.
Through this brief, I aim to connect Mindvalley’s forward-thinking approach to education and community-building with the project’s goals, showcasing how their vision aligns with the spatial and thematic aspirations of the site.
MINDVALLEY
Mindvalley is a global personal growth platform focused on wellness, spirituality, and self-improvement. A dedicated center would offer workshops, classes, and experiential spaces dedicated to mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Well-rounded focus combining mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual development. Mindvalley emphasizes supportive communities, and few brands prioritize community-building on such a large scale. Mindvalley is a one-stop information hub across various disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience, and mindfulness. They integrate “virtual” quests and gamified programs into wellbeing and learning, to make progression more interactive and lifelong.
With a focus on space as a living, transformative experience, Mindvalley could use architecture to support wellness journeys. My manifesto is designed to evoke theraputic emotions through language of space architecture.
Open to GROWTH Whats Unique MIND
ATTRIBUTES
Area Program & Brief
Mind:
Clear focus with quiet zones and sensory elements.
Body:
Wellness through movement and relaxation.
Soul:
Peace via natural textures and meditation spaces.
Career:
Growth in flexible, productive work zones.
Relationships:
Community in lounges and shared spaces.
Entrepreneurship:
Innovation through creative hubs.
A
Mind valley envisions its Dubai location as a sanctuary of wellness, innovation, and community. This space will be a hub for transformation, inviting people to reimagine their connection to mind, body, and spirit. The project will unite aspects of career, entrepreneurship, relationships, and personal growth, fostering a harmonious balance between professional and personal life.
“What if our spaces—whether for quiet work or vibrant gathering— could do more than serve a single purpose? Imagine a place where work doesn’t drain us but instead heals, rejuvenates, and strengthens us. At Mind valley Dubai, we believe that both private and public spaces should spark ideas, deepen connections, and support wellness at every step.
Site reflection
and potential
This journey delves into the influence of the five elements—Water, Air, Earth, Fire, and Space— on architectural design, each inspiring unique narratives. Water embodies fluidity and light, Air fosters openness and connection, Earth provides stability and texture, Fire radiates energy and intensity, and Space invites exploration through dynamic perspectives.
A multidisciplinary approach captures each element’s essence. Digital illustrations visualize core characteristics, sketches refine concepts, AI-generated images provide immersive interpretations, and physical models explore materiality, scale, and structure.
Demographics Groups
Schools
This section analyzes key environmental factors, including the summer and winter sun, prevailing wind patterns, and movement dynamics across the site in Oud Metha. It also examines the area’s demographics, focusing on the diverse age groups and user profiles expected to engage with the site.
Opportunities and Constraints
Pros:
- Central location with easy access to key city areas
Proximity to major roads (Sheikh Zayed Road) and Dubai -
- Metro stations for convenient commuting
- Presence of cultural and religious centers, including temples and churches
- Variety of eateries and small shops, fostering an inclusive environment
Cons:
- Limited community spaces such as parks and gathering areas
- Scarcity of modern amenities like updated gyms, coworking spaces, and larger supermarkets
Indian High School and Pakistan Education Academy maintain a 1:12 teacher-student ratio, catering primarily to Indian, Pakistani, and other nationalities.
church congregation primarily consists of Indian and Filipino attendees, with a balanced representation of both genders.
Offices
Citizen Age Group: 64+ yrs
Site Opportunities and interventions
This section will explore the site opportunities by analyzing the site and its surroundings, focusing on how to integrate a landscape buffer to improve movement, visual separation, and user experience.
Section
In this iteration, the blocks are placed to enhance the connection between the community and Mindvalley’s staff. Private offices are positioned on the ground floor to foster a sense of belonging and inclusivity, while public-controlled programs occupy the upper floors, offering facilities that users can enjoy in a more elevated and secure setting. The public realm block incorporates a strategic cut aligned with the site’s grid, creating an inviting gesture toward the road while maintaining a subtle yet effective approach to attracting users.
Top View
Section Front
Section Right
Section Left
Section Back
users might lack immediacy.
integration of public-controlled spaces with other programs, reducing potential synergy.
This iteration builds on the initial layout but introduces circulation beneath the public-controlled spaces by splitting them into smaller structures. The rotation of the public realm block establishes a direct and visually compelling connection to the road, making the site’s entry more approachable and dynamic. By placing private offices on top, the design creates a layered spatial experience that combines openness with a clear programmatic hierarchy.
Top View
Section Front
Section Right
Section Left
Section Back
Cons:
- Rotating the public realm block might limit alignment with the site’s existing grid. - Requires careful management of privacy for the private offices atop public-controlled spaces.
Massing Iteration 3
This iteration aims for a streamlined configuration by consolidating the public-controlled programs and private offices into a single mixed-use structure. While this approach integrates programs vertically, the public realm block is removed from the primary junction, reducing its engagement with the road and overall accessibility. The focus here is on efficiency and compactness, though at the expense of contextual interaction and a stronger invitation to the site.
Top View
Section Front
Section Right
Section Left
Section Back
- Efficient use of space through the mixed-use structure.
Simplified programmatic organization reduces complexity in design.
- Disconnect between the public realm and the road diminishes the ability to invite users effectively - Reduced legibility of the program’s spatial hierarchy, as combining spaces blurs functional clarity. - Lacks the dynamic circulation opportunities seen in Iteration 2.
The iteration most appropriate for this context is iteration 2, using iteration 2. I had used my design language and spatial model to get the footprint of the structure via grids. I split the public realm, public controlled and private offices into seperate zones appropriate to the site context and area program.
There was a huge portion of the site that is left unused.
The intention is to fill these nodes with landscape and continue my design language as an ever expanding design, linking to my element, space. Thus scaling my site as a living experience
Opportunity of Empty Nodes
Public Realm
Public Controlled
Private Offices
Design Concept
My design concept views space as a dynamic, living entity shaped by its occupants. Architecture is not just a physical structure but a medium for evoking emotions and guiding interactions. Through varied heights, layered enclosures, and multi-leveled platforms, the design fosters visual communication and connection. Frames and planes influence the perception of space, creating a journey that invites movement, pause, and discovery. Ultimately, this approach redefines architecture as an evolving, transformative experience that connects people to each other and the cosmos.
Horizontal Planes
Vertical Planes
Balancing the Scales - Design influence
Precidence Study
The spaces created through this design foster environments where the public can interact and connect. They inspire users and create moments for pause and reflection. With elements like shade, privacy, and connecting bridges, the design encourages communication through void spaces and solidarity through solid structures. The frames create a sense of infinity, making the space timeless. These areas serve as sanctuaries away from the chaos, offering relaxation and rejuvenation. As the client envisions: “What if our spaces— whether for quiet work or vibrant gathering—could do more than serve a single purpose? Imagine a place where work doesn’t drain us but heals, rejuvenates, and strengthens us.” At Mind Valley Dubai, both private and public spaces are designed to spark ideas, deepen connections, and support wellness.
Level Up Street Pavillion
House NA by Sou Fujimoto
Scaling space through Architecture
Scaling space through Architecture
Reflect. Rethink. Redesign
Tracing back to space
The Horizon and the Mountain
I took a moment to just look at the horizon that quiet stretch where the sky meets the earth. It reminded me of how space really begins… not with walls or shapes, but with feeling. Like standing at the foot of a mountain. There’s stillness, but also strength. That kind of space — open, grounding, and full of potential is what I wanted to come back to. For Mindvalley, this project couldn’t just be about designing a place. It had to reflect the kind of space that helps people grow, reflect, and reconnect with themselves. So before moving forward, I needed to pause and return to where the idea of space truly began.
The following are exploration of what space feels like in nature. The desert gave me silence and solitude an open canvas where even emptiness feels full. The northern lights brought movement to stillness reminding me that space can be fluid, magnetic, and filled with wonder. And underwater, everything slowed down. Time stretched, sound disappeared, and space became weightless more felt than seen.
The Impact
Social impact and strategies
This collage captures the deep connection between architecture and the human experience. At its core is a framework not just of structure, but of life itself where people play, gather, converse, and share. These simple scenes bring space to life. The tones evoke a sense of nostalgia, reminding us to learn from the past while shaping spaces for growth.
Every part of the site becomes something you carry with you a memory, a moment, a quiet shift in perspective. In a community shaped by connection and self-growth, the space doesn’t just hold people it transforms them. It encourages reflection,
Mountain
Horizon
Junction Connection
Urban regenerator - Vegetation Pods
Precendent study - 1000 trees
A building that becomes a landscape.
This page is an acknolwedgement towards 1000 trees
Heatherwick Studio’s 1000 Trees project reimagines the relationship between nature and structure. Using a grid of columns that branch out into platforms supporting trees and vegetation, the architecture becomes a mountain-like formation living, growing, and constantly evolving. What stood out to me was how the stacked volumes, vegetation pods, and rotating grids transformed not just the building’s form, but the way people feel within it. It’s not just structure it’s a spatial ecosystem. Inspired by this approach, my own design explores how vegetation can exist within the interior, not just on the exterior. Columns expand into planting platforms, bringing nature into the heart of the space. By staggering the structure and integrating cantilevers and a rotating stacked grid, I aimed to create a spatial experience that mirrors the rhythm of nature layered, organic, and ever-shifting.
This precedent became more than a reference it became a framework for thinking about how space can breathe, grow, and reconnect people with the natural world.
Vegetation pods - Column that expand to platforms
Structural Support
Interior
Design Strategy
Reinterpreting the Mountain
Drawing from Heatherwick Studio’s 1000 Trees, my approach explores a similarly layered and staggered structure, but reimagined with a dynamic shift in orientation, grid, and form. Instead of a uniform stacking system, I’ve introduced rotating grids and offset slabs to break the predictability of repetition and create a more fluid architectural rhythm. These shifts generate natural cantilevers, interlocking spaces, and opportunities for playful lighting conditions as light filters differently through each rotated level. The vegetation pods, instead of only existing externally, begin to bleed into the interiors blurring the line between inside and outside, and enhancing the spatial experience with moments of surprise, shadow, and serenity. The result is a structure that behaves like a living organism always shifting, growing, and responding — both to its users and the environment around it.
Aligned with site boundary Aligned with the North Aligned with horizon view of Al Makthom Bridge
Grid orientation from different levels
Columns that expand to platforms featuing vegetation pods in the interior
Design Development
Building the Mountain
Columns and vegetation pods are raised according to grid orientation Walls create a covering around the structure
Stratedgic windows are placed to overlook horizon Points are placed as junctions for the envelope at the highest point of the structure
Columns and vegetation pods are connected via beams Slabs follow the grid orientation and foothold of the structure
Harmony Between Nature and Architecture
The vegetation pods protects from summer sun and direct radiance, while allowing winter sum and indirect radiance. Additionally the vegetation protects from strong winds and noise. It captures dust particles and converts carbon oxygen to oxygen, acting as a urban sink. The vegetation pods also release humidity into the interior spaces
The structure is designed to block the harsh evening sun from the west while allowing the morning sun to enter the building to control heat levels and maximizing natural lighting through the transparent envelope that allows light to enter.
Greywater Misting System
Cooling Through Care
At the heart of the design is a greywater misting strategy that nourishes both the structure and its users. Greywater sourced from the nearby hospital is collected, filtered, and reused to power a gentle misting system embedded within the vegetation pods.
This system serves a dual purpose — irrigating the integrated greenery while also cooling the surrounding air, enhancing comfort through evaporative cooling and creating a serene, almost ethereal spatial quality.
The mist moves like a soft veil through the architecture, turning the act of sustainability into an experience of care, connection, and climate-conscious design.
Vegetation pods inside the structure
Automated through sensors
Vegetation pods outside the main structure, on the bridge, for specific events or time scheduling
Water intake from rashid hospital
Distributed evenly across vegetation pod inside building, to the filteration unit located at each pod
Filteration unit located at the basement
Filtered water Distrubributed across vegetation pods on the bridge
Vegetation pods inside the structure
Automated through sensors
Cooling Through Care
South Elevation
North Elevation
Section AA
West Elevation
East Elevation
Section CC
Section BB
Visualizing Space
Exploring the Dynamic Interaction of Form, Light, and Nature
05. Appendix
Al Qusais - Al Nahda Site
Uanzekin Ohireme, Dham Avanish, Shahnawaz Jumanah, Thakur Sharan, Mohammed Ammara
AL QUSAIS - AL NAHDA
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