Architectural Portfolio - Dashar Mohan.

PORTFOLIO SELECTED WORKS 2018 - 2020 DASHAR MOHAN

CONTENTS

CURRICULUM VITAE 2000-2008 :

2013- 2015 :

Sophia Primary School

2018

St. Joseph’s Pre-University college

Illustrations for a book written by Dr.R.Balasubramanium - Released by the Prime Minister’s of India’s office

18th Semptember,

1996

2008-2013 :

St. Joseph’s Boys’ High school

2015-2020:

School of Architecture, CMR University

Hobbies : Languages: English Kannada Hindi Telugu

Making Music Playing football Sketching Hiking Reading Photography

2020

Highest SGPA obtained for Thesis Semester

2020

Shortlisted for COANIASA thesis Award.

2020

2018

Architectural training at Hundredhands, Bangalore

Special Mention for architectural thesis awards by Mango architecture

Software skills Autocad Photoshop Sketchup Indesign Rhinoceros 3d Illustrator Vray

Address

22, 1st main road, Munnihanumaiah colony, Lottegollahalli, RMV 2nd Stage, Bangalore 560094

A GESTALT SHIFT:

A COMMUNAL HARMONY INTERPRETATION CENTER Mentor: Anil Dube

“Memory really matters...only if it binds together the imprint of the past and the project of the future, if it enables us to act without forgetting what we wanted to do, to become without ceasing to be, and to be without ceasing to become.”

- Italo Calvino

At it’s core, this thesis aims at using the concept of collective memory to form a narrative through built inserts in Ayodhya’s pilgrimage route. These built inserts will aim at portraying how communal harmony has existed in the region throughout different eras. Since social frameworks are used as a benchmark to recall an event, it is important design spaces to showcase aspects of communal harmony both - literally as well as metaphorically.

The base narrative in this case is communal harmony. The approach that I have taken to portray it is ‘History, Outcome & Reflection’ Since the design is a collection of individual buildings tied together by a narrative, it had to be done with sensitivity to its context - both socially as well literally so that it fits into the fabric of the town and at the same time allows the residents of the town to also benefit from the design.

By designing a street which also acts as the shortest from one landmark to another, it will enable a large number of tourists and pilgrims to visit the individual inserts while simultaneously improving the local economy.

01 | 01

Imprints of the past Up until the British Raj, Ayodhya was an extremely prominent city.The city’s prominence was credited to the ‘Uttarpath’ and the ‘Dakshinpath’ - the highways which were used for trade and commerce. Apart from the fact that the city of Ayodhya or Saketa as it was known earlier lay in the region where both the highways met, the city was also built on the banks of the river Sarayu. Over the years, the region developed its own unique culture which was a fusion of different cultures.

Present Day Realities Ayodhya has been a hot bed for communal violence since the early 1800s. Repercussions of the violence that emanates from this region is always felt throughout the country. The demolition of Babri Masjid which resulted in communal riots throughout the country in 1992 retarded the pace of change in the city. The area around the Babri Masjid site is tended to by the Indian army, to ensure that communal violence doesn’t dissolve the city into a state of chaos yet again.

These events sent the city of Ayodhya into a state of comatose, buildings that were once magnificent lay in ruins and are crumbling into dust whilst the rest of the nation has moved on.

1. Hanuman Garhi Temple 2. Raj Dwaar 3. Dasharath Mahal Temple 4. Proposed Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Complex

Pilgrimage route: The Ramkot area is the area within the vicinity of the Hanuman Garhi and the site where the Masjid once stood.

Vehicular parking is not allowed in the Ramkot area because the roads are not equipped to handle vehicular traffic.

The starting point of the Pilgrimage route is the Hanuman Garhi Chowk. The Hanuman Garhi temple is built on an extremely high plinth, making it one of the tallest structures in the entire town. After visiting the Hanuman Garhi, the Pilgrims visit the Dasharath Mahal Temple, after which they proceed to the Janmabhoomi site or the Babri Masjid site

Existing Pilgrimage Route

Proposed Pilgrimage Route: The proposed pilgrimage route cuts through the site and leads to the road that will ferry people to the Janmabhoomi / Babri Masjid site. Not only will the new path be the quickest way to the next temple, but it will also give an opportunity for people to have a ‘chance encounter’ with the interpretation center.

Proposed Pilgrimage Route

Epicenters of Violence

Major landmarks of the town

Existing pilgrimage route

Site

Existing Buildings inside the site

Proposed Pilgrimage route

Strategies for the future In light of the verdict passed by The Supreme Court of India, the winds of change seem to be blowing into the city, and along with it, hope fills the hearts of the residents, who wish to put the past behind them, and want to step into a bright and promising future.

This thesis focuses on telling the story of the region, to help people understand that there is more to the region than just what it is presently known for; The history of communal violence in the region is 160 years old - a very short time line compared to the time line of the region. The objective of this thesis is to design a built environment that celebrates communal harmony and enables the spirit of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb to be rekindled.

Abstract Concept Diagram

Zoning Diagram

Process plan highlighting the Street.

Process plan 2.

Process plan 3.

Process plan 4.

Model to resolve the Roof-scape

2nd model to resolve the Roof-scape

02 | 01

History : Permanent Exhibition Area, Temporary Exhibition Area Curator’s office, Storage room, Toilets,

Outcome : Classical Dance experience gallery, Classical Music experience gallery, Curator’s office, Kathak institute, Classical music institute, Music O.A.T, Reflection : Kathak O.A.T, Cloak room and ticket counters, Music Pavillion, A.V Halls, Kathak Pavillion.

Covered spaces for reflection, Open to sky spaces for reflection, Photography Gallery.

Shop Houses : Shop, Bedroom, Work area, Toilet, Utility.

Concept and Strategy At it’s core, this thesis aims at using the concept of collective memory to form a narrative through built inserts in Ayodhya’s pilgrimage route. These built inserts will aim at portraying how communal harmony has existed in the region throughout different eras. Since social frameworks are used as a benchmark to recall an event, it is important design spaces to showcase aspects of communal harmony both - literally as well as metaphorically.

The base narrative in this case is communal harmony. The approach that I have taken to portray it is ‘History, Outcome & Reflection’ The history galleries will showcase how communal harmony has existed throughout different eras.

Since the design is a collection of individual buildings tied together by a narrative, it had to be done with sensitivity to its context - both socially as well literally so that it fits into the fabric of the town and at the same time allows the residents of the town to also benefit from the design.

By designing a street which also acts as the shortest from one landmark to another, it will enable a large number of tourists and pilgrims to visit the individual inserts. The shop houses will also give the local residents a chance to get better business and therefore improve the local economy.

03 | 01

Thesis. 2020

Saketa - History museum The internal circulation of the history museums is designed to be a tributary of the main street. The temporary exhibition areas are on a raised plinth while the permanent circulation space inside the buildings themselves are designed to be permanent exhibition spaces.

The history museums have spaces that are designed with locally available materials.

The facades of these buildings have common elements so that it generates a rhythm and visually ties them together.

There is a bridge that connects both the museums - the bridge helps in making both buildings appear cohesive as well as give a visual connection to people who view it from the outside

Thesis. 2020 Wind shaft in elevation Gun slit parapet wall

Mud phaska Reinforced brick slab Beam

Perforated brick wall in elevation

Window Fixed Glass in elevation

Sill 230mm thk brick wall Flooring Mud Phaska Beam

Perforated brick wall in elevation Concrete column in elevation

Sill 230mm brick wall with plaster on the inside Flooring Rubble soling

Plinth Beam Rubble soling Drain 0m

1m

2m

Gun slit parapet wall in elevation Beam in elevation

Perforated brick wall in Elevation Beam in elevation

Gun slit parapet wall Mud phaska laid to slope Light weight filling Inverted coffered slab Fixed Glass

Perforated brick wall in Elevation Floor Slab in Elevation

Beam Light weight filling Fixed Glass

P.C.C Plinth Beam

Plinth Beam Drain 0m

1m

2m

Gun slit parapet wall Upstanding beam

Mud phaska laid to slope

Perforated brick wall Lintel Glass display Sill Perforated brick wall

Floor slab of bridge

P.C.C

0m

1m

2m

04 | 01

Thesis. 2020

Tehzeeb - Classical Music and Dance gallery + institute As people move ahead after visiting the history galleries, they encounter a dense growth of trees. Through observations it was concluded that in tropical countries, pedestrians tend to move towards the shade, and so when the pedestrians pause to rest under the trees, a view of the Classical Music and Dance Experience Galleries & Institute is framed.(View 1) The Classical Music and dance experience galleries and institute are designed to showcase two art forms that have evolved as a result of communal harmony in the region of Awadh. A negative attribute of the windcatcher is that when there is a wind-catcher that serves two rooms, the wind-catcher carries the sound from one room to the other.

This attribute of the wind-catcher is used in the dance experience gallery by designing the Dance institute right above the Gallery so that sounds of Kathak being taught travel from the dance studios and enter the gallery below and thereby give the visitors an embodied experience of the classical dance form. a. Entrance to Tehzeeb galleries b. Classical Music Experience Gallery c. Storage room d. Classical Dance Experience Gallery e. Curator’s office

f. Toilets g. Wind catcher h. Courtyard i. Lift j. Tea Shop k. Kathak Pavillion l. Kund

m. O.A.T to watch musical performances n. Plaza o. O.A.T to watch Kathak Performance p. Admin offices

Thesis. 2020

Upstand beam

Sill Planter box First floor slab Upstand Beam Sliding folding window

Mud Phaska laid to slope Reinforced brick slab Beam

Fist floor slab Light weight filling Reinforced brick slab

Sill 230mm thk exposed brick wall

Cabinet Plinth Beam

Rubble soling

Wind catcher tower in elevation

Gun slit parapet wall in elevation Beam in elevation Glass elevator in elevation

Upstand beam

Upstand beam

Ventilator sill

Brick lally column

230mm thk brick wall plastered on the inside P.C.C Plinth Beam Drain

05 | 01

Thesis. 2020

Memorial The entrance to the memorial is through the dilapidated structure. A view of the tower and courtyard is framed at the entrance. There are five programs attached to the memorial : 1. A.V halls.

2. Pods 3.Gallery 1 4.Reflection Courtyard 5.Photography gallery.

The Memorial is designed as a series of experiential and reflective spaces that attempt to make the visitors reflect on the nature of communal violence and how it is detrimental to progress. It also attempts to showcase the fruits of communal harmony. There is a central courtyard around which all the different programs are housed.

There is a central courtyard around which all the different programs are housed.

Thesis. 2020 The Pods are deigned using extreme scales in order to attempt the visitor feel discomfort while listening to the stories of communal violence. The space inside the pods are designed to accommodate a group of 5-6 people. The kiosks are placed in the center of the pods so that people gather around them and listen to the stories Beam in elevation Reinforced brick slab

06 | 01

Pods in elevation Skylight

Beam

1 brick thk wall plastered inside Exposed brick wall plastered inside Audio kiosk P.C.C Rubble soling

Plinth beam

The Cloud Gallery is a photography

Mud Phaska

Roof Slab Perforated half brick thk wall

gallery. It is a double height volume that has a ramp running through it.

By pumping in air of different temperatures in the gallery at different heights, clouds can be created inside the gallery. The photographs are to be hung from the ceilings and will be visible only after the visitors have walked through the clouds and into a height where they are above the clouds.

Upstand beam Beam in elevation Exposed brick finish wall Fixed glass

Upstand Beam

Ramp in elevation

Clouds generated inside the gallery P.C.C

Mud phaska laid to slope Reinforced Brick slab 1 Brick thk wall plastered inside Lintel Door

At the center of the courtyard is “The

Tower of Light” At the base of the

tower, niches are created. These niches will showcase “The idea of God in different religions” through the different idols and figurines that are created by craftsmen from all over the country. As the height of the tower increases, the niches become perforations and slowly transition into plain glass.

The tower symbolizes the idea of God the starts off with having a form and transitions into a formless symbol of light.

RETIREMENT HOUSING

9th semester | Mentors: Vagish Naganur, Adnan Nakhoda, Satyanand.

Accomodation 40% - 8424 sq. Mts.

Periphery 40% - 8424 sq. Mts.

Individual 40-50 sq. Mts per person x 60 people = 3000 sq mt Couple 55-65 sq. Mts per person x 80 people = 5200 sq mt 24/7 Medical care 40-50 sq. Mts per person x 20 people = 1000 sq mt Service staff 50 sq. Mts per person x 20 people = 1000 sq mts Guests who come alone 25 sq. Mts per person x 10 people = 250 sq mts Famiily members 90 sq. Mts per person x 5 = 450 sq mts Area for services in accomodation 20% of accomodation = 2180 sq. Mts Total area for accomodation 10900 sq. Mts - 2180 sq. Mts =8720 sq. Mts

Prayer hall 600 sq mts Club house + multi purpose hall 2400 sq mts Salon 200 sq mts Health and wellness 2500 sq mts Library 1000 sq mts Total area for periphery 6700 sq. Mts

The brief for this design studio was to design retirement housing senior citizens. The design was supposed to reflect the socio-cultural setting of the site’s context. The site is located in ‘Ideal Homes Layout’ - a neighborhood in the residential area of Rajarajeshwari Nagar in south Bangalore.

Site area : 14040 sq.m F.A.R : 1.5 Permissable Built : 21060 sq.m up area

Services 20%- 4212 sq. Mts. Community kitchen 300 pax 450 sq mts.

Dining hall 450 sq mts.

Admin + reception 200 sq mts Laundramat 500 sq. Mts General store 200 sq mts.

Imfirmary(20 beds) 400 sq. Mts Total area for services 2180 + 2200 =4380 sq mts.

Socio-Cultural study of the context that lead to study of potential residents

A study of the context revealed that 90% of the neighborhood’s residents were Kannada speaking individuals and most of them had migrated from North Karnataka.

Taking cues from this, I studied the settlements that are typical to North Karnataka to learn more about how clusters of houses are planned and so on. This study revealed that the housing clusters all have a shared wall and are low rise. The street itself acts as the public space and most of the resident’s activities during th day happen on the street.

I interviewed residents of a few retirement communities to find out if given a choice, what kind of a spatial organization they would like to retire into and a majority of them invariably answered that they would like to retire into am environment that would remind them of their childhood.

Strategies for the Site: Northern Side of the site has a dense growth of reeds that act as a green buffer between the edge of the neighborhood and the storm water canal.

A park exists on the southern side of the site.

Individual houses exist on the eastern side and the western side.

A main road runs on the eastern side of the site.

The strategy implemented was to channel the run of watter from the park through the site and into the Rain water canal, house the more public activities towards the main road on the east and the more private spaces towards the west

Development of concept and scheme

I come from haunts of coot and hern, I make a sudden sally And sparkle out among the fern, To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down, Or slip between the ridges, By twenty thorpes, a little town, And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip’s farm I flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever.

I chatter over stony ways, In little sharps and trebles, I bubble into eddying bays, I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret By many a field and fallow, And many a fairy foreland set With willow-weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever.

I wind about, and in and out, With here a blossom sailing, And here and there a lusty trout, And here and there a grayling, And here and there a foamy flake Upon me, as I travel With many a silvery waterbreak Above the golden gravel, And draw them all along, and flow To join the brimming river For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever.

I steal by lawns and grassy plots, I slide by hazel covers; I move the sweet forget-me-nots That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, Among my skimming swallows; I make the netted sunbeam dance Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars In brambly wildernesses; I linger by my shingly bars; I loiter round my cresses; And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever.

07 | 01

8

7 7

2

1

8

7

7

8

Legend 1. Activity Spine / steps leading down to the swail 2.Work environments 3.Dining hall 4.Court for Laundramat and provison stores.

5.Meditation hall 6.Cafe 7.Landscaped areas 8.Corridors 4m

8m

16m

4

3

5

6

01 | 02

7 6

1 6

7

6 7

6

Legend 1. Activity Spine / steps leading down to the swail 2.Gym 3.Spa 4.Restaurant 5.Meditation hall 6.Circulation cores 7.Corridors

3

4m

8m

16m

2

5

4

02 | 02

Housing units have views into the courtyard as well as the landscaped zone at the back of the unit

landscaped zone

Housing units have views into the courtyard as well as the landscaped zone at the back of the unit

Circulation spine

Lvl +6300mm

Lvl +3150mm

Internal courtyard

circulation cutting through the housing clusters

Internal courtyard

circulation cutting through the housing clusters

Section AA’ Skylight providing natural lighting for the corridors

Skylight providing natural lighting for the corridors

Skylight providing natural lighting for the corridors

Vertical Circulati

Housing clusters

Lvl +6300mm

Lvl +3150mm

Entrance to a cluster of two housing units

Entrance to a cluster of two housing units

Entrance to a cluster of two housing units

Section BB’

Entrance to a cluster of two housing units

03 | 02

Housing units have views into the courtyard as well as the landscaped zone at the back of the unit

circulation cutting through the housing clusters

landscaped zone

Housing units have views into the courtyard as well as the landscaped zone at the back of the unit

A Internal courtyard

Skylight providing natural lighting for the corridors

circulation cutting Internal courtyard through the housing clusters

Work environments

ion

A Activity spine that mimics the ghats along a river

Dining area

Meditation hall

Service related programs

Entrance to the work stations

Swail

B

Axonometric view

Building Tectonics

Plinth

Ground floor columns

Ground floor beams

Ground floor walls

Ground floor roof slab

First floor beams

First floor walls

First floor roof slab

04 | 02

Terrace

The terrace of the first floor unit overlooks the courtyard of the ground floor’s unit, this arrangement of volumes enables the residents of the community to have a sense of security and affability

Circulation space

Living room

Courtyard

Living room looks into the courtyard

Circulation space

Courtyard

Section 11’

1

1’

w1

1

1’

Bedroom The bedroom has views towards the landscaped zone at the back

Bedroom

Deck The bedroom has views towards the landscaped zone at the back

Stone Pergola

Door in elevation

Railing

Floor slab Beam 1 brick thk wall plastered and painted on both sides Lintel Window

Sill 1 brick thk wall plastered and painted on both sides P.C.C

w1

05 | 02

01 | 03

02 | 03

Airaa Academy

Internship at hundredhands, Bangalore

Scale of involvement : Working drawings Project architect : Arka Banerjee

Airaa Academy Wall Sections

01 | 04

Airaa Academy Toilet drawings

02 | 04

Airaa Academy Toilet drawings

03 | 04

Airaa Academy Railing drawings

04 | 04

Go Native Restaurant and Retail Internship at hundredhands, Bangalore Scale of involvement : Design development.

Project architect : Divyang Sharma

Ground floor plan

Model of the Structure

First floor plan

Go Native Restaurant and Retail Study model

Study model ground floor

Study model first floor

01 | 05

Travel Sketches

I hereby declare that this document contains only original work.

All drawings, sketches, photographs and text are either my own or have been done for an architecture studio by me.

- Dashar Mohan. +91-9591381273 dasharmohan96@gmail.com

https://www.instagram.com/dashar_mohan/