OFFICE REPORT

INTRODUCTION

This report has been prepared for an Internship that I have done with Ini Chatterji & Associates, Goa. To study a practical exposure of a course and implementation of theory in a real field with a purpose of fulfilling requirements of the course of B.Arch.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude to Ar. Yash Korat, Idr. Rutuja Kulkarni and Ar. Swapnil Agarwar for giving me this opportunity to work under their guidance as a trainee. I am also thankful to Ar. Indrajeet Chatterji for being an inspiring role model and mentor through the journey. The time spent at Ice Factory was delightfully precious and a life long inspiring event.

ABOUT THE STUDIO

The ICE – FACTORY, named after a literal ice factory which used to exist 50 years ago at the very same spot in a rural outskirts of Goa, known as Aldona.

The firm was orchestrated by the Ar. Ini Chatterji himself after he moved to Goa from Delhi several years ago. Since then The Ice Factory holds a reputation of being an exemplary firm with interdisciplinary fields of Architecture, Planning, and Urban Designing.

At Ice Factory each project is an opportunity to explore something unique with an approach which is not known to many. The practice here tries to break the barriers and bondages of conventional norms which define architecture and present the world with outcomes which makes a statement for itself.

The Ice Factory focuses on creating experiences rather than just buildings. It strived to create architecture which can address more than physical needs of humankind, something which is more than just a roof overhead and a structure to protect body, it strives to create an emotional attachment between humans and their place.

NATURE OF PROJECTS

Ice Factory houses multidisciplinary practices concerned about the habitat and its impact on society. Even though major practice involves architecture, urban design and planning there is an active participation in academia, research and studies in environmental issues.

The projects undertaken by Ice Factory falls under a wide spectrum. From large scale institutional projects dealing areas up to 600acres, to extensions of existing architecture projects and to small scale residential projects, the team does it all. Having projects of such varied scale requires the office to categories and split the work in order to have better coordination and systematic approach in dealing with the project.

On going major projects include –

• Resort, Hampi

• Amin House, Vadodara

• Samiti House, Goa

• Bharat Sikka House, Goa

• House for Taara, Goa

WORKING AS AN INTERN

Working as an Intern Ice Factory is often looked at as the Holy grail of Architecture practices in India. Working as an intern in an office like Ice Factory is intimidating for any architecture student. It is understandable that a degree of nervousness and curiosity engulfs a student before stepping into any office for the very first time. That's exactly what I felt, but as soon as I had my first interaction with a senior architect, Ar. Yash Korat, I felt at home and part of the family, just like that. It was indeed very easy to get acclimatized to the studio environment.

Ice Factory has many fragments to it. It has the nature, some music, a sense of timelessness and most importantly people. The people here make the place what it is. At various instances and spots you find people - working tirelessly, eating together, interacting, giggling, strolling around and doing various other activities which makes the place come alive. For me all these tiny yet vital things constitute the soul of Ice Factory.

The office is compartmentalized, and as an intern, I did not know what to expect at a firm with such mammoth practice. But to my surprise, I got an opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects from large scale institutional buildings to small scales residential homes. I worked on conceptual designing, construction and working drawings, detailed drawings, presentation drawings, model making, and on-site supervision as well. It was a refreshing experience with a learning curve that will remain for long in my memory.

The exposure that I got while working here is incomprehensible. I learnt numerous things in various ways and at all times. The office taught me to be professional and precise at what I undertook. It taught me to be sincere while doing even menial work that might not seem important. It taught me to work as a team and how every contribution regardless of its magnitude, matters. Parmeshwar Ji the head carpenter taught me to be patient and do my work with perfection while keeping my mind at peace. My senior architects always taught me how to schedule my work and finish it before time. Ini sir and everyone else in the studio, during our constant discussions shared his treasure of practical knowledge and wisdom with us. At some times like small curious children, we would all gather around Ini Sir to gain as much knowledge and wisdom as we could get from him. Its all like living a dream.

OFFICE STRUCTURE

INDRAJIT CHATTERJI

(Principal Architect)

B.Arch (C.E.P.T University)

RUTUJA KULKARNI (Junior Architect)

I.Des (C.E.P.T University)

HRISHIKESH JHA (Intern)

B.Arch (S.V.I.T Vasad)

MILIE SHANKHDHAR

(Intern)

B.Arch (D.I.T Dehradun)

SWAPNIL AGARWAL (Senior Architect)

B.Arch (S.P.A Bhopal)

YASH KORAT (Junior Architect)

B.Arch (Indus University)

PANKHURI SHARNAGAT (Intern)

B.Arch (M.S.U Baroda)

PRIYANKA (Accountant)

PROJECTS

SAMITI HOUSE

Site Area – 600 sq.m

Typology – Residential Cost – 2.5Cr

Clients – Miti & Samantha

Timeline – 2019 - Ongoing

This is a residential project which started during the time of pandemic, and was already in construction phase when I came in as an intern. The house belongs to a couple, Mr. Miti Adhikari and Mrs. Samantha Adhikari. The site is situated in Goa itself, and the design is inspired by the needs and hobbies of the family.

Miti retired as a sound engineer from B.B.C Studios, London and has recorded many hit albums like Nirvana. There’s a separate studio space at the western part of the house, designed ergonomically with the advanced understanding of acoustics and sound mechanisms.

Sam, being an artist requires space for painting and all the creative stuff she does. The house has ample amount of natural light intake with appropriate ventilation. The design is done while taking account of contextual values and climatic data of the tropical region of Goa.

MY ROLE –

As the project was already in construction stage, my task was to supervise the construction and provide day to day assistance on the site, which included error resolution, drawing submission and explanation of the same, good supply from the market, coordinating with all the consultancy services and briefing client time to time, which included funds management and whole schedule for the construction.

CHALLENGES

–

For any intern, managing a whole site comes with lots of self doubts and confusions, there were always much more qualified people to guide and help me, but there were times when I had to make decisions and come up with solution right on the spot. Also, I discovered an unsaid truth that the drawings and actual building don’t coincide exactly as we believe they should.

OUTCOMES -

For me, this project is the most essential and most educating one. Not only the designing and drawing, but this project taught me how to execute things, on site limitations and issues faced. This experience of handling a whole site gave me n insight in the real world on ground constructions and all the aspects related to it, this helped me polish my management skills along with the leadership skills.

BHARAT SIKKA HOUSE

Site Area – 4500 sq.m

Typology – Residential Cost – 5Cr

Clients – Bharat Sikka Timeline – 2020 - Ongoing

This is a residential project, situated next to a river at a beautiful site, surrounded by lush greenery. Topographically placed at a high altitude, the contours add the play of levels to the design.

Bharat Sikka grew up in India. After studying photography at the Parsons School of Design, New York City, Sikka turned his attention to the cultural contradictions of a fast-changing India, questioning conventional perspectives while playing with notions of subjectivity and intimacy. His subjects vary from the mundane to the peculiar. In Matter, Sikka delved into an India opened up to the forces of Globalization, while Indian Men addressed shifting narratives of masculinity.

The lavish villa is designed in order to cater all the modern life requirements, while serving the official spaces like Photography studio, Office and etc. The design strived to bring the actual surroundings inside the structure, delivering an immense experience.

MY ROLE –

The project was few months into the construction stage, this building is a fairly complex design with lots of levels and contours to deal with. My task was to add details and produce necessary drawings required on the site, time to time. Since the drawings were so complex, we had to come up with ways to make the drawings more readable and easier to understand for everyone.

CHALLENGES –

To understand the whole design and make it simpler in terms of drafting and understanding for everyone was a tough job. Each and every level all the contours were very crucial for this project and even a small error of 15mm resulted in a big problem in later stages. And the details were very important, they had to be precise and executable on the site, eg concrete wall cavities and positions of bolt holes and etc.

OUTCOMES -

This project helped me understand the precision and accuracy required in a real life project. The amount of details and how exactly a structure is build with stage wise decisions and plan making. Since the design and drawings were complex, working on this project polished my software skills like autocad and sketchup.

Site Area – 75000 sq.m

Typology – Residential Cost – 15Cr

Clients – Udit Amin

Timeline – 2022 - Ongoing

Amin Residence is a huge residential project in Vadodara, located in Sindhrot next to the banks of river. The beautiful site belongs to the owner of Alembic Groups. The site is a lush green path of land on a high cliff mountain, with river running next to it creating a valley.

The house is designed in order to deliver all the amenities and basic requirements demanded by the clients, which includes swimming pool, gym, indoor theatre, amphitheater and lots of courtyard and semi open spaces. Belonging to the elite business class family, the clients needed a formal and informal siting space and several other gathering spaces for format meetings.

The most prominent materials to be used are Fair faced concrete, Stone and Wood. Elements like Vaults, Arches and Jalis are incorporated to bring the essence of old Vadodara.

MY ROLE

The project was is in designing phase when I was introduced to it. My task was to develop sections and accordingly the plans were resolved. The way it works is that designing is majorly done through sections and hence the plans develop. Portions like Gym, Home Theater were designed by me, with guidance of Ini sir. Also I did play a role in completion of presentation drawings.

CHALLENGES –

Understanding the client’s requirements and coming up with something which is homogenous with the whole project and aesthetically pleasing, while serving its purpose to its best was a challenging task. To design such spaces I had to go through standard sizes and dimensions of all the articles required including furniture, fixtures and even anthropometry.

OUTCOMES -

This project gave me a very curtail exposure to the core of designing a space. I got to understand how spaces are manifested and how it is designed by considering several factors like construction details, costing, structural stability and etc. Being able to design a space with such great architects boosts confidence and brings sense of ownership over a design.

HOUSE FOR TAARA

Site Area – 1100 sq.m

Typology – Residential Cost – 2Cr

Clients – Taara Chandani

Timeline – 2020 - Ongoing

This is a residential project located in a rural region of Goa known as Moira. The site is situated at a steep mass of land, with lots of gradation in the contour. The house is highly inspired by the authentic Goan houses built by the Portuguese back in 1700s.

There has been efforts to conserve all the tress and Fauna Flora in the region, and hence design resolves majorly around the site conditions and requirements of the client. Traditional 4 way roof is implied considering the heavy rainfall, double height spaces are induced for the humid hot summers of Goa.

There was an already existing structure on the site which had to be demolished due to its structural instability. The plinth of the demolished structure is utilized in few spaces. The site has a rich context and on site elements like coconut trees, Chickoo tree and a well with several flora and fauna.

MY ROLE –

The project was is in execution stage at the time I joined it. Major casting work was over and now the masonry work was taking place. My task was to generate section and details for the execution. The survey drawings generated by a #rd party weren’t very accurate, hence I had to produce measure drawings for the well with respect to the site and its existing conditions.

CHALLENGES –

Being on the site and taking all the dimensions and levels for the measure drawings was a challenge. Due to unidentified conditions of site, there were constant changes in the design everyday, and punctually delivering those updated drawings was a tiresome and discipline demanding task.

OUTCOMES -

Taking measurements on site and then implementing the data collected in design helped me understand how topographical conditions govern the design and space. Also the punctual changes in design gave me a sense of responsibility and discipline. Enhancing my software skills, making me faster and quicker, also helping me contact and connect in a better way with the site workers.

INTERACTION

While we all used to talk about Architecture, spaces, structures, materials, technology and the future, Ini sir used to talk about life, soul, childhood, the present, and about how architecture is connected to our sensibilities. He infused emotions with architecture and called buildings as living organisms. He would ask us to have a conversation with the light and play with scale, he would ask us to go back in the past and cherish our memories which we had lost and regenerate them for us to be a child again. Ini sir interacted with us at least once or twice everyday, and in each discussion he humanized us even more. He made us realize that we have forgotten the human in architecture, our buildings have become callous forgetting how it will affect our sensibilities and he would ask us to let go of the gravity and be a child again, which in turn changed the way we perceived architecture. We would venture out to observe and grasp, to understand the real meaning of his words and try to come up with sketches, notes, pictures that would strike the next conversation with him, always a new lesson to learn.

SKETCHES

THE END