Jay Shah Post Graduation Portfolio

Design Portfolio

Table of Contents

Drawing of Resham Khana Srinagar commissioned by Architecture dialogue published on the cover of Landscape Journal India, LA-72, 2022

1. Garden of Reconciliation Kashmir- Confict and the Architectural Practice Undregradutae Thesis, 2018 KRVIA

2. Project Boject

A case of Swadeshi Market, Kalbadevi Architectural Design, Fifth year, 2017 KRVIA

3. The Kohima Portfolio Community Center, Kohima Volunteer Program, 2017 KRVIA

4. Museum of Trees Research book on Rani Baug, Mumbai Samira Rathod Design Atelier, 2018

5. School of Dancing Arches K-12 School in Bhadran, Gujarat Samira Rathod Design Atelier, 2019

6. House of Concrete Experiments Private Residence in Alibaug Samira Rathod Design Atelier, 2022

Garden of Reconciliation

Kashmir- Confict and the Architectural Practice

Fifth Year Undergraduate Thesis at KRVIA

Year- 2018

Abstract:

This thesis looks at the conficted area of Kashmir. The thesis analyses various cultural ‘practices’ and the positions taken by them in this conficted region to then see for oneself the position best suited for an architectural ‘practice’. This knowledge would then inform the choice of program, site and the architecture itself that the program requires. The intent is such that it takes a ground up approach to look at ideas of the social, of gathering and expression as tools to trigger this dialogue between the Kashmiris and the power (be it the State or Individuals that identify with the State) to not only deconstruct the idea of the State as the only power but also question the perceived instrumental nature of architecture to explore possibilities of what architecture and architectural practice can do.

A cultural ‘practice’ seeks its legitimacy either from the state or the stake holder that the practice is being done for. In case of architectural ‘practice’ this legitimacy comes from the client or the governing body that approves the act of building. But in case of a conficted zone this very legitimacy and existence of the ‘practice’ is contested. Does the practitioner have the right to intervene within the region of confict if he does not belong to that region?.

What is very important to realise though is that architecture as a practice comes with a certain sense of power and a set of value systems that the practitioner brings along with himself. One cannot be oblivious to these values nor can we deny that they exist. This imposition of power and ethics on the people already suppressed by the State would in no way help in establishing the practice in the region making the practitioner an oppressor himself. But what the practitioner can do in a place of confict, where the

population of that state of confict has turned into an exclusive community with everyone else seen as an outsider is to gain the trust and faith of this community to be able to establish their practice within the given context.

This thesis aims at studying one such confict which is the Kashmir valley. The thesis tries to study Kashmir valley as a region of confict, its history, current status, nuances of life in a conficted region, its architecture and its rich culture, all of which we know very little about. The thesis is a document of various practices that have established themselves within the region and civil societies that have worked towards certain reconciliation in this disputed land. The thesis also studies various places of consent and dissent to understand the character of these social spaces and what makes them so important to the people of Kashmir. This understanding will then be used to decide the best suited position for an architectural practice in the region

Guide- Rohan Shivkumar, Dean of Academics, KRVIA Technology Tutors- Jimmy Bhiwandiwala, Kimaya Keluskar

Drawings for Dal Lake, Lal Chowk and Downtown Srinagar in descending order

There already exist spaces within the city that due to their nature allow for people to voice their views fearlessly. These spaces of Consent and Dissent are spread across the city of Srinagar. Most of these being spaces of worship or congregation automatically provide for a platform and strength in terms of number of people to be able to start a protest. Some of

them are streets and junctions that due to their position in the city have become vital to the people. Certain events have made places in the city politically important to the people. This part of the study looks at all such spaces in Srinagar to be able to map their characteristics and relation with the people and city to take these learning forward

in decision making for a site and program

The sites analysed here are

1. Kahgah-e-Moula Pir.

2. Housing Cluster.

3. Eidgah Ground.

4. Jamia Maslid

5. Hazratbal Shrine.

6. Ghanta Ghar.

Drawings for Khanqa-e-Moula Pir

Drawings for

1. Jamia Masjid

2. Hazratbal Shrine

3. Typical Housinf Cluster

4. Ghanta Ghar

The site chosen for the intervention is the Eidgah Ground, an important landmark connecting the entire city north-south, the Eidgah has religious and political importance. In the heart of the city Eidgah is often used for prayer and protest both. The eidgah has a small shrine on its north and a graveyard on the east.

Charbagh Water Body Buildings

Movement Plaza Lanscape and Pavillions

Ground foor plan for the Garden

Diagrams of development of the design proposal

The Garden of Reconciliation is a design intervention that explores possibilities architecture possess to bring about a change in social realities like that of Kashmir. Deriving its structure from a traditional charbagh, the garden houses various programs that facilitate interactions between the various uncoordinated actors in Kashmir i.e., The people, Government(Seat of Power), Security Forces and the Liberation Fronts. With the provision of basic amenities like that of education and healthcare which are critical during confict ,this project tries to achieve a lot more than just solve problems through building. Through interactions the attempt is to start a dialogue leading to reconciliation.

The project tries to bring back associations that people in the city have with Eidgah ground while also making newer relationships within the space. The program derivation and the architecture are derived from closely studying the lives of the people in this incredible city.

The Garden of Encounters is conceptualized as a public park populated with programs that arise out of an intensive matrix of necessary programs and amenities as expressed by the people of Kashmir. The programs cater to all the people of the city of Srinagar and adjoining villages.

The programs include a mental health center, a school, a Library, a market, memorial and various pavilions that could be appropriated by the people visiting the park. The school and library form the backdrop to the Highway that runs along the Eidgah Ground while the memorial becomes the new entry into the Martyrs Graveyard. The mental health is pushed towards the inside of the park for a peaceful environment while the market flters the activities from the rest of the ground into the garden.

The Programs on the Plan are as follows:

1. Amphitheater

2. Mental Health Centre

3. Memorial

4. Market

5. Library

6. School

Mughal Miniature drawing of Garden of Reconciliation

Exploded Axonometrics of the school, library, memorial and market pavilion

Exploded Axonometric of the mental health center

Nahid is from Lalpora. Lalpora village near Srinagar closer to the Line of Control. Coming from a locality where education for women being frowned upon, Nahid’s Mother Mubeena who always encourages her to go to school. Nahid’s father is dead. She hass four siblings. Her community sensitive and often under high militancy alert. She loves learning about the various birds and animals that reside different ecosystems. “He is Rizwan! He is my best friend”. “We play kho-kho, football and cricket together” said Tauheer when asked him what rizwan and he play. He goes on add, dont like when my mother doesnt let me get out of the house during curfews. School shut and can’t even meet Rizwan. dont like playing football without him” “Jan Muhammad Mundu is a little poet”. exclaims his mother from the kitchen window. on insisting Jan recites his latest written poem to me. try to write our story even in times of war, For want them to know we loved through all’

30mm Wooden Battens to recieve slate 100x150mm Wooden Rafters 200mm Tie Beams between wooden posts Wooden brackets supporting the rafter 200mm wooden posts 200mm wooden posts

30mm Walnut Wood Lattice screen Amphitheatre

Says lalaji, my taxi driver on my way to dinner. “sab kashmir me Muslim hai, usko pakistan ko de do”, he adds.

Strip Section F Scale 1:25 Strip Section H Scale 1:25

Section KK’ After offering prayers at the Memorial Taslima and Saba go to the market to buy vegetables. Saba also picks up sweets for her sick daughter.

+0.5 meters +0.6 meters Garden of Reconciliation, P19-1712 06

“They threw all my grains out of the house. Im Ali Bahadur Sahab”. Having mistaken me for a journalist or someone from the media Ali Bahadur runs to me and complains about how the police come to his house at night every week and throw all his harvest out of the house. “ We are farmers, what would we eat if my grains are thrown away?”, he asks.

Bashir Khan in the President of the poetry club at J&K University, Srinagar.

Sections through the memorial,library and mental health centre in descending order

And tear it into shreds and yet not frown I’ve survived many such strokes from the cruel crown I will survive, I’ve survived, I will always survive.

Vignettes of stories used as a design strategy

This thesis explores the various possibilities architecture as a practice could have in tense social realities like that of Kashmir. The Garden of Dialectic theatre is an intervention that establishes ground in relations that people have to various public spaces and programs within the city of Srinagar. Eidgah ground being one such example, the intervention demonstrates how architecture can help in building new relations between uncoordinated agencies to enquire into the various contradictions that exist. The garden is imagined to be built and maintained by the “Association of Parents of Dissappeared Person’ with funding coming from the Government, hence co branding it. The garden becomes a place of respite while also trying to bring about a dialgue under the foil

The Garden of Reconciliation Miniature Drawing

-Bashir Khan

Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o

“If there is a paradise on earth, -Amir Khusrow

Sindh should be brought back to India”

“We want to be considered a part of this country. I want to say I am an Indian before I say that I am a Kashmiri”

Says Tabeen Farooq, a girl from the region studying in Pune.

* Zonal Winner for the COA Awards for Excellence in Architectural Thesis 2018

*National Winner for the COA Awards for Excellence in Architectural Thesis 2018. *Winner of Vowels Scholarchs Thesis 2018, *Citation Uni’ATA 2018 for best graduation project. , *Second Runner up in the institution category of Design Whack Competition 2018, *Citation at KRVIA Design Colloquium 2018

* Nominated in the Top Twenty entries worldwide in the International Archiprix Contest for Architectural Graduation Project, 2018.

Kashmir being one of the longest running and the most spoken about confict forms an important case study for a research thesis like this. In a state where the majority of the population considers themselves as hostages to the Indian occupation there exists great tension between the State and the populace it governs over.

A lot of the architecture in the city appropriated by the State and the military are just representative

of the wide spread claws of power in the region. Hence there is an urgent need to explore what an alternative architectural ‘practice’ can achieve in a conficted place like this while trying to disintegrate what this Power structure stands for in a democracy like that of India. This thesis looks at this relationship of confict, power, politics and tries to explore possibilities of architecture for the beneft of the society

Model for Garden of Reconciliation

Project Boject

A case of Swadeshi Market, Kalbadevi

Architectural Design, Fifth Year at KRVIA

Year- 2017

This Project called Lost and Found looks at the Case of the Swadeshi Market in the Kalbadevi Precinct of Old City Mumbai. The market currently in a dilapidated condition is unable of housing a lot of the programs it used to. The plot of this project looks at dismantling the existing building to procure an inventory of materials and elements that could be reused in the design of the new building while also being extremely sensitive to the existing fabric and current models of development on site. The Project asks fundamental questions like that of value and contests the current high rise model of development.

The Swadeshi market being extremely important in the precinct due the dependence of various functions on it makes the building valuable economically and socially. The market is a heritage building hence has historical value as well. The project documents these various values of the building to

attempt and add to those within the new design proposal. The project also touches upon ideas of cluster development to come up with a model where the market and all its infrastructure takes the forefront along the road while the Housing currently existing as extremely dense chawls to be developed in clusters to enhance the quality of shared services and open spaces.

This basic concept results into a design intent that respects the existing site conditions but also makes the infrastructure capable of catering to contemporary needs.

The Swadeshi Market is a composite building in steel and wood. A majority of the newer construction is done in steel. Beautiful ornate cast iron columns carry the load transfered on them by steel I-sections, the area between which is spanned by concrete jack arches. The residential block sits

perpendicularly on the market network below allowing for the formation of double height spaces at the intersections. These double height spaces pierce through the slab and make way for covered ventilator shafts which ventilates the entire market. The residential block have a pitched roofng system supported by a steel truss at regular intervals and spanned by steel angled purlins.

A stark difference can be seen between the old and the new construction. The older construction used wooden sections for posts, staircases ,balusters and handrails. The centrally located Mayabhai lane which is the hub of various activities is spanned by several trusses the design of which allows in ventilation and the penetration of sunlight. The space between the residential blocks creates narrow double height alleys into which light penetrates illuminating the spaces for various activities.

Tutor- Samira Rathod, George Jerry Partner- Lorenzo Fernandes

Part sections drawn through the Swadeshi Market to understand the form and construction of the building

The design of the building followed a rigorous process of form development that rises from the main road and sweeps up to get higher at the back. The volume is punctured to make courtyards within the building almost like the wadi typology of housing surround the market. The Circulation within the building has been derived from the intense movement study of the

existing model to allow multiple entries into the building of varying scales depending on the point of entry with respect to the site. The grid of the movement within were broken by various quirks in plan like that of a double height entry foyer, smaller courtyard and receiving spaces and public functions like that of a food court and Bhojanalays introduced within

the building to get more foot fall. Introduction of retail along the main streets perforated the thick fort like wall while the various roof levels connected various foors and activities. The roof also allowed for various public functions and festivities bringing back the lost vibrancy in the existing building.

Section through the market complex Section through one of the internal courtyards in the building

Artistic representation of new design proposed for the Swadeshi Market

Kohima Portfolio

Community Centre for Japfuphiki Pfutsana Keseko

Angami tribe, Kohima Volunteer Program, Fourth Year at KRVIA Year- 2016

With very few tribes left in Nagaland that still follow the indigenous traditions and ways of life it gets imperative to give such communities a sense of establishment and enforcement for the rich Nagal culture to continue through the generations.

Gentrifcation of cities and its people is alarming to a region so rich in its identity and culture. A group of tribes standing strong against this gentrifcation is the Japfuphiki Pfutsana Keseko.

A collective of Angami tribe memebers that still follow the indigenous way of life struggle to keep their beliefs and traditions in these contemporary times. The collective had a piece of land which they saw potential in, to build a centre that could give their youth an impetus to stand at the same fotting as the rest of the Nagas in the state.

Mr.Padnamabh Acharya, the then Governor of the state approached KRVIA to develop this plot of land

and design a community center and prayer hall for this group. We were selected as volunteers and moved to Nagaland for three months to work on this project.

Stay with the community got us abreast to their ways of living, their food, traditions, garments and also the ways of local building. This knowledge was a necessity to understand their social situation and the kind of architecture then required to give this collective a sense of identity.

Assistant Tutor- Ainsley Lewis Partner- Tanmay Nawar

*The project was conceived in association with the Governor of Nagaland Mr. Padmanabh Acharya, Raj Bhavan, Kohima

The site was very steep and proposed challenges for the building being envisioned. A large hall was designed on the fat table land on top and smaller volumes below as the land contoured into the valley. Local Stone and Bamboo were used as a form of construction to make the semantic relatable to the tribe but also make a strong case for the vernacular that is often forgotten in garb of being modern.

Elevations developed for the building proposed

Layouts developed for the building proposed

Museum of Trees

Samira Rathod Design Atelier

Publication on the Rani Baug, Mumbai

Year- 2018

There is nothing better than a playroom that is a big open green space or waking up to the bright light and taking in the fresh air. But big cities like Mumbai are struggling to barely sustain a need for some place to dwindle around.

Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, popularly known as Rani Baug, situated in Byculla in the southern part of Mumbai, is one of the largest open spaces of the city. The trees in the garden give out a picturesque vision for one to just spend time amidst the soothing green canopies and take in the freshness.

On experiencing the vastness of these ancient trees, one encounters

the two other collections that Rani Baug hosts; the Museum and the Zoo. The depleting condition of the zoo is a worry to the people concerned with the preservation of the garden. Although there are only few animals that remain in the zoo, the trees are plenty and seek care.

This extensive research on the existing trees of Rani Baug states the observations and understandings that identifes the problem regarding the sustenance of the garden. The objective of this study is to draw attention to trees, for their own sake and to express concerns for the preservation of the Baug.

Role- Editor, Researcher and Book Designer Team- Chetan Kulkarni, Rhea Shah, Shivani Mehta, Devanshi Shah and Bhumi Gupta

School of Dancing Arches

Samira Rathod Design Atelier

K-12 School in Bhadran, Gujarat

Year- 2019

Almost all of us have been here in our childhood, and perhaps the closest memories we hold dear are not of signifcant events, but ironically of the insignifcant ones. Of losing oneself to wonderment, to wander under the skies, to relive in our vivid imaginations of the make-believe and many more phrases that make the song of our lives.

This is the premise on which we began to design the spaces of the school at Bhadran, where a child spends his formative years, where his frst friends are made, where

his frst memories are etched. This evolved as a quilt of many small events, of small places and spaces, to hide, to collide, climb, roll, run into and out of, to satiate curiosities of a forming mind, allowing its idyllic imagination and wonder.

Conceptualized from a child’s early scribbles that turned into a series of dancing arches, the school is an experiment with materials and forms. A scribble is indicative of not being instructed, but having the freedom to express yourself in the form of wavy, crooked lines,

the only form a child knows. The dancing arches are a reminder of this freedom.

The asymmetry of the arches reiterate that it is not always mandatory to be straight or conventional, but the irregularity at frst glance makes the forming mind curious and question. The habit of critical thinking, questioning and breaking away from the convention is what the building echoes. The plan is also irregular to allow for a meander

Role- Architect Team- Akshara Verma, Varun Goyal

Set on plot of land, surrounded by tobacco felds in the town of Bhadran, the design of the school grew organically as a series of classrooms that dance their way through the trees; encountering alcoves, cracks and crevices, projections, niches, inhabited bridges, boxes, khadkis & mezzanines

– adding to a composition of experiences that would weave into the fabric of the school, much like the mazelike town of Bhadran itself. The entire school is designed as a sequence of modules; each module would have a pair of classrooms and a corridor, with its tilted vaults sinuously strung.

We have stayed true to one material: terracotta - bricks and only bricks in walls, foors, and roofs. Sourced from a kiln close to the site, it is the love of labor from around the town and the craft they bring with themselves that lends the building its immaculate semantic and precision.

Photographs are a courtesy of Niveditaa Gupta

House of Concrete Experiments

A Private Residence in Alibaug Year- 2019-2022

Every project is a response to several parameters- some physical, some metaphysical, some tangible and some intangible. Today the idea of sustainability is imperative, but its defnition has many interpretations. One such response and interpretation is this house we fondly named- House of Concrete Experiments. The House of Concrete Experiments is a residential project, located in the coastal town of Alibaug, near Mumbai. Set on the foothills of Deotalai in Zirad, the house is amidst a mango orchard.

On the very onset of the design it was decided to place the house around the trees without disturbing any of them, which naturally led to a meandering fragmented form for the house. An existing pit in the land has been made into a sunken courtyard on the edge of which the house has been located.

It was planned to have trees within so as to bring the green foliage into the house.

The house is true to one material; that is cast concrete. The thick walls of the main house in concrete are cast with debris from site to reduce the usage of material and render a certain rough texture when the walls are grinded and fnished. The debris includes stone chips, broken bricks and at times large pieces of waste stone embedded in the walls almost like a relic. The tactile walls are all cast with different experiments in concrete that render specifc textures to each of the walls. The experiments include debris cast concrete; water-jet concrete and form fnish concrete with pigments. The guest block is casted in pink concrete which is made by adding brick powder in it. This gives the concrete a blush. The foors are

made by recycling waste stone pieces cast in concrete terrazzos. Black, white, pink stones and broken ceramic tile chips are all used in different areas in different forms to make the fooring as a large artwork. Light is a very important building material in all our work. The house has multiple playful skylights which literally “play” with light.

The house of concrete experiments is in fact an experiment in all its aspects, its planning, construction, structural design, material usage, play of light and shadow and its services. The details incorporated in the architecture and interiors of this house create continual intrigue making the otherwise overwhelming space very intimate and livable. The house is one that is not easy to photograph. Its spaces need to be encountered and experienced.

Samira Rathod Design Atelier

Role- Project Architect

The house is planned as a large studio space with just one bedroom for the couple. Two guest rooms are stacked in a separate building as an annexe to the main house separated by open courts.

Walls and structure are placed so as to become sculptural elements and not on a particular grid. The house is a large column free space, a seamless fat concrete ceiling with no internal walls that hinder this concrete volume.

Three large sloping, cantilevered overhangs defy concepts of structural stability. These are meticulously designed to offer shade to the external movement around the house but also add to an otherwise fat form of the house.

An active cooling method drawing its inspiration from ancient ways of catching cool breeze into spaces, this method of air conditioning uses the thickness of the walls to its advantage, carving out small ducts within them which carry this cool air and circulate it through the large volume of the house in turn also cooling the walls in concrete.

Photographs are a courtesy of Niveditaa Gupta

Diagram showing the different materials the walls in the house are cast in