Kashish Kochhar | Photography + Design + Architecture Portfolio

PORTFOLIO

Photography + Design + Architecture

Kashish Kochhar

Experimental Perspective of a Staircase Mixed Media

Kashish Kochhar

age : 24 sex : female birth : April 3, 1998

email : kashish_k@nid.edu phone : +91-8851495295 Instagram : @sinkinginwater

nationality : Indian languages : Hindi, English, Punjabi, German

education

Hochshule Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts International Student Exchange Program | Photojournalism and Documentary Photography, and Interior Architecture Winter Semester 2022 - 2023 | Hannover, Germany

National Institute of Design Master of Design | Photography Design 2021 - Present | Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

School of Planning and Architecture Bachelors of Architecture 2016 - 2021 | Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

Grade: 8.1/10

Manav Sthali School senior secondary, secondary, and primary education 2002-2016 | New Delhi (CBSE) Grade: 86%

professional experience

Future Flow | Flow India + Edinburgh Printmakers in collaboration with the British Council and NID Ahmedabad Fellowship Program Co-Curator May 2022 - March 2023

Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation (+ Asia Art Archive, India) Archiving Intern July 2022 - August 2022 | Delhi, India

Studio Kunal Bhatia Photo post production Intern July 2021 - September 2021 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Sameep Padora and Associates Architecture Intern January 2020 - June 2020 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

exhibitions

Communities of Choice Showcase, Kochi Muzris Biennale Group Show December 2022 - April 2023 | TKM Warehouse, Kochi, Kerela, India

Annual Design Show, Convocation 2022 Group Show December 2022 | NID Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

PDC 2022, Participatory Design Conference Group Show September 2022 | NID Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

workshops

In relation to place 2022 | Chennai Photo Biennale, Arthur Crestani

Storytelling in your neighborhood 2021 | Goethe Institute / Max Mueller Bhava, Nipun Prabhakar

You and Your Neighbourhood 2020 | Z axis | Charles Correa Foundation

Annual Nasa Convention 2019 | NASA

Designing equitable cities 2018 | Z axis | Charles Correa Foundation awards

2022 | Communities of Choice | Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation + FFotogallery Wales, with support from the British Council | Grantee

2020 | RIBA Traditional Architecture Group | Top 6

2018-2019 | Annual NASA Louis I Kahn Trophy | Top 10

2017 | Archstorming the Unbuilt wall | SPArch 48 | 1st Runner -Up

co-curricular volunteering

2022 | Visual Design | Tohoku - Through the eyes of Japanese Photographer | Exhibition | NID Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

skills

Autodesk AutoCAD 2D/3D Autodesk Revit

Adobe Suite Photoshop Camera Raw Illustrator Indesign Rhinoceros Climate consultant

Vray(for Sketchup/Rhinoceros) Lumion

Hand/Digital Sketching Physical Modelling Graphics Documentation Archiving

certification and licences

Architect | Council Of Architecture, India No expiry date

advance advance advance intermediate advance intermediate beginner intermediate intermediate intermediate intermediate advance advance advance advance beginner

Further questions arise like: How can I reappropriate spaces through my medium of inquiry?

In urban settings, the cycle of construction and demolition heightens the transient condition of life. What kind of work can engage with space as a social construct?

Beyond the description of the place, we seek to look at places as fertile grounds for imaginaries. How do places influence the way we look at, respond to, and represent our environment? What imaginaries does one bring to the terrain they photograph? What are imaginaries? How do social, political, cultural, economic, and ecological layers materialize themselves in space? What is the discrepancy between the utopian renders and reality? What is the ideal projection of the future in the present?

(VISUAL + SPATIAL

Design

RESEARCH)

01. Space as a Catalyst

Architecture | Research | Communities | Documentary | Space-Place

Spring 2022 Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Communities of Choice 2022| CPB Foundation + FFotogallery Wales + British Council | Grantee

Design Project, Semester 2, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar

Mentors: Dr. Jignesh Khakhar (Discipline Lead, New Media Design, NID Gandhinagar), Amarnath Praful (Discipline Faculty, Photography Design, NID Gandhinagar)

Status: Work in Progress

“Space is not merely the background where things happen; it is also a medium that shapes interactions and relations in a way that liberates or constraints.” (Bige Saatcioglu, 2013) or both/more.

The body of work studies how a public space like Manek Chowk, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India forms and deforms over time and so does the community within, the body of work constructs and deconstructs space to understand the community through photographic documentation and an etched multislide projection box.

The project has received a grant under the open call for multidisciplinary lens-based artists “Communities of Choice 2022” organized by the Chennai Photo Bienalle Foundation, FFotogallery Wales, along with the British Council. And the project will also be exhibited at the Kochi Muziris Bienalle 2022, at the TKM Warehouse, Kochi, Kerela.

Public spaces of the Walled City of Ahmedabad incorporate multiple layers of history and cultural significance. They play an important role in supporting the long-term sustenance of heritage elements of the place. Manek Chowk is an example of a traditional public space that constantly adapts to changes for its effective usage as an urban public place. It is an important heritage site adjacent to the Jama Masjid and King’s and Queen’s tombs. From a vegetable/ idle space in the morning, then to bullion and multiple other formal shop activities in the noon, it slowly starts transitioning from evening onwards into a street food setup wherein around 2 am it again goes into the phase of refreshment but leaves its traces for the next round of transition.

It becomes a temporal celebration of broken-down social nuances that initiates a debate, conversation, or discussion to understand the community it forms or deforms over time. It is a unique settlement that has acquired significant importance for its neighborhood structure and community living which is characteristic of its economic reliance on trade and commerce. The place can objectively be seen in multiple layers of segregated typology layers, which can then be looked at from the lens of theorists and scholars like Henri Lefebvre and Edward W. Soja. Their frameworks understand the meaning of space as a starting point wherein situating the understanding of Objective space (materialistic-objectivist treatments of social space), Subjective space

(idealist-subjectivist approaches to social space as the pure product of agency and human imagination), and Lived space (fusion of these real and imagined spaces with the actual lived uses by consumers).

Thus, the body of work initiates this objective component-wise segregation of layers in tactile form as a starting point to understand the visuals laid and put forward thought of how might the interaction and intersection happen to disseminate the process of formation and deformation of the community within which further points towards the construction of space, herein “The term social construction may then be conveniently reserved for the phenomenological and symbolic experience of space as mediated by social processes such as exchanges, memories, images, and daily use of the material settings - into scenes and actions that convey symbolic meaning.” (Low, 1996)

02. Intersections and Interactions

Architecture | Research | Urban-Design, Urban-Planning, Documentary | Theatrical

Fall 2021 Gurugram, Haryana, India

Storytelling in your neighborhood Workshop with Nipun Prabhakar, 2021

About the place: Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation Workshop with Arthur Crestani, 2022

Research Workshop 2021, Semester 1, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar

Mentors: Rishi Singhal (Discipline Lead, Photography Design, NID Gandhinagar), Amarnath Praful (Discipline Faculty, Photography Design, NID Gandhinagar), Arthur Crestani (Photographer, France)

Status: Work in Progress

The intent was to identify a subject matter in my immediate surroundings to commence an inquiry and respond by building connections, impressions of the network of thoughts, and ideas of/from the context by the methodological tool of research. Likewise, not just using the tool, but thinking with the tool as well. The intent was initiated by the workshops I attended and then further on carried forward the idea through other workshops and academic modules.

Further, the body of work produced through this project is still building in order to further the intent of urban politics in millennium cities through the spectacle of play spaces highlighting the urban-rural divide

Use the link to view the complete project book so far: https:// issuu.com/kashishkochhar3/ docs/211202_final_outcome_ draft_6_pages

edgeparks

edgeparks

My childhood, teenage, and part of adulthood are set in a neighborhood of DDA flats in West Delhi, which opened up to a series of buffer spaces put in a hierarchy. Shaft, staircase, parking, Halla Gulla benches, pocket park, and finally the DDA district park. Here the politics of power over common spaces or if I may say buffer spaces was always prominent. Thus, my definition of immediate surroundings revolved around the spaces I interacted with. Now, I reside in Sector 52, Gurugram where again I encounter a buffer place, a node to which I connect in all sensorial experiences whether far or near.

Real estate speculation and growing expenses in urban centers have driven megacities’ expansion centrifugally outward. Gurugram is one of Delhi’s satellites which is growing at an unprecedented growth rate not just offering real estate, but

employment opportunities as well. Gurugram appears to be the sum of hundreds of private land deals, with a pixelated built environment of affluent gated enclaves, villages, and pockets of underdevelopment. In sector 52, we read the same pattern of development/ underdevelopment as that of the whole of the city.

Intersections and Interactions documents and poses critical questions about the politics of place-making and further the urbanrural divide in the “millennium city” of Gurugram, through the lens of Tikona Park, Sector-52, Gurugram, Haryana.

It reads the context to understand how the components act as a stage to hold the stakeholders to interact and intersect, with various social-political-economiccultural annotations running in the background.

Indira Colony

Pocket A, HUDA Ardee City

Ardee City

Wazirabad

gate

tikona park

gate

Blanket of Urban Morphology

Politically placed

Edge Interaction

I come where I belong

Collective response

Alvida

Alvida

Edge conditioning returns

03. Meaning and Dissemination

Spaces/Places | Architecture | Exploration | Experimentation | Analysis

Spring 2022 National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

Semester 2

Mentor: Dileep Prakash

What characterizes the relevance of a space? Is it its use, its stakeholders, or the one looking at it from a distance? What role am I supposed to blur into to understand ‘it’ better? The jargon of words that define the dissemination is difficult to simplify but the visual narrative built around builds a bridge of relationship which one tends to cross to dwell with it. Does the medium of photography resolve complexities or does it question complexity to create meaningful answers?

Physical and visual inconsistencies that come together in a landscape of tremendous diversity result in sites where elite and diasporic cultures meet to negotiate.

The following work narrates these questions in isolation and combination, following a path towards understanding the interaction and intersection between people, ideas, tendencies, and the built and unbuilt environment.

Projection | Gelatin Silver Print | 4.5”x7” April 2022, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India Film: Ilford D100 Media: Ilford Multigrade Resin Coated

Reflection | Gelatin Silver Print | 4.5”x7” April 2022, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India Film: Ilford D100 Media: Ilford Multigrade Resin Coated

Conclusion | Gelatin Silver Print | 4.5”x7” April 2022, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India Film: Ilford HP5 4”x5” Media: Ilford Multigrade Resin Coated

(VISUAL) Design

04. TOHOKU

Print Design | Exhibition | Culture | Semiotics

Spring 2022 Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

Exhibition - TOHOKU through the eyes of Japenese Photographers, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, Gujarat India

Mentor: Amarnath Praful (Discipline Faculty, Photography Design, NID Gandhinagar)

Volunteered to design the invite, poster, banner, and social media posters for the promotion of the exhibition.

05. Contemporary translations

Spaces/Places | Architecture, Chemistry | Skill-development | Exploration and Experimentation

Spring 2022 National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India Semester 2

Mentor: Dileep Prakash

Status: Work in Progress

This body of work explores how space forms meaning with time, and how I have a certain inclination to the analogy of spaces and their translation into being called places.

The intent was generated through the process of understanding the analog photography medium itself, which gives an opportunity to take a step back and analyze one’s own favors, critical intentions, and make decisions.

Leading Film: Ilford D100 35mm

Jammed

Double exposure

Film: Ilford D100 35mm

Untitled 1 Film: Ilford D100 35mm

Untitled 2

Film: Ilford D100 35mm

Transcribed | Projection Print | 7”x4.5”

April 2022, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India Film: Ilford D100 Media: Ilford Multigrade Resin Coated

Multiple | Projection Print | 4.5”x7”

April 2022, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

Film: Ilford D100 Media: Ilford Multigrade Resin Coated

Twisted | Projection Print | 7”x7” April 2022, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India Film: Fomopan 120 400 ISO Media: Ilford Multigrade Resin Coated

Extension Film: Fomopan 120 400 ISO

06. Analog and Historic processes

Processes | Chemistry | Skill-development | Exploration and Experimentation

Spring 2022 National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India Semester 2

Mentor: Malhar Dhruv

a) wet plate collodion (glass-plate | 4”x 5”)

b) Salt print anad gold toning

Self potrait | 8”x10”

Media: 300 GSM Brustro Watercolour paper

c) Gum prints

Where are we? | 10”x8”

Media: 300 GSM Brustro Watercolour paper

Where are we? | 10”x8”

Media: 300 GSM Brustro Watercolour paper

Where are we? | 10”x8”

Media: 300 GSM Brustro Watercolour paper

d) Cyanotype

07. Isolated translations

Architecture | Spaces, Digital | Post-processing | Documentation | Interpretation

Fall 2021 National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

This exploration of generic work when now looked back at makes me realize how we have been conditioned to look at perspectives while ignoring the elementary understanding of the same.

Stimulated thoughts

Studio Gel light photographs, Cubism inspired collage 2022

08. Conscious Gaze of the Subconscious

People | Gestures | Digital | Materials and Processes | Archival Printing

Fall 2021

Materials and Processes, Semester 1, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

Mentor: Sheikh Ishaq Muhammed

The project explores how we look at components of a person, and how our sub-conscious gaze provides conscious judgments to reach the first encounter of someone’s face. The tenderness, exclusivity, appreciation, comfort and discomfort, conscious awareness, and unconscious impulse.

09. Product and the Body

Experimental | Exploration | Selfportrait

Fall 2021 National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

Mentor: Anay Mann

This project pushed my boundaries, celebrating the isolation and comfort of the body.

10. ContrastAnchit

Experimental | Exploration | StudioPractice | Grey/Black Background | Lighting systems

Spring 2022 Fundamentals of Light, Semester 1, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

Mentor: Anay Mann

Model: Anchit

11. ContrastAnanya

Experimental | Exploration | StudioPractice | Grey/Black Background | Lighting systems

Spring 2021 Fundamentals of Light, Semester 1, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

Mentor: Anay Mann

Model: Ananya Gautam

(RESEARCH) Design

12. Micro Decisions & Carbon Labelling

Research | Urban-Design, Urban-Planning, Documentary | Transportation | Micro Decisions

Spring 2022

Exhbited at PDC Place (Participatory Design Conference) 2022, National Institue of Design, Ahmedabad

Research Methodlogy, Semester 2, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar

Mentor: Mayukhini Pande

Status: Work in Progress

Every day, our micro-decisions as users in choosing transport gradually mount to large-scale impact on the environment. These decisions are driven by various factors such as money, comfort, convenience, time, safety, etc. that often override the environmental impact within an individual’s sphere of judgment. Could this be attributed to lack of or poor visibility of the ecological impact of our choices? Our research aims to understand how the presentation and interpretation of visual data on carbon emission inform microdecisions of commuters using a participatory model. This study is a small-scale prototype of a participatory experiment with an element of play to understand the everyday decision-making process among commuters. Using a participatory framework, helped us co-create knowledge as well as a visual language with our participants which were incorporated into our design through an iterative process. Our research is open ended and exploratory in nature. Inferences from this study could help further refine our methodology for more impactful design and for scaling up.v

Micro-Decisions & Carbon-Labelling Sustainable Transportation

ABSTRACT: Every day, our micro-decisions as users in choosing transport gradually mount to large-scale impact on the environment. These decisions are driven by various factors such as money, comfort, convenience, time, safety, etc. that often override the environmental impact within an individual's sphere of judgment. Could this be attributed to lack of or poor visibility of the ecological impact of our choices? Our research aims to understand how the presentation and interpretation of visual data on carbon emission inform micro-decisions of commuters using a participatory model. This study is a small-scale prototype of a participatory experiment with an element of play to understand the everyday decision-making process among commuters. Using a participatory framework, helped us co-create knowledge as well as a visual language with our participants which were incorporated into our design through an iterative process. Our research is open ended and exploratory in nature. Inferences from this study could help further refine our methodology for more impactful design and for scaling up.

KEYWORDS: Nudge Theory, Meaningful carbon labels, Sustainable transport, Information futures, Game-play, Human behaviour, Micro-Decisions, Social Experiment

VISIBILITY SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION

FACETS MEANING IMPACT

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

DIVERGING / LITERATURE REVIEW ANALYSIS

4 Case-Scenarios to look into

VISIBILITY of pure carbon data

carbon Labelling and IMPACT TRANSPERANCY

How does visual data presentation and interpretation of carbon footprint influence our everyday micro-decisions/choice-making

What values, attitudes and context effect a positive shift towards sustainable transportation

What factors influence the shift from walk to wheel and then back to walking in young adults of urban India?

IMPACT that connects to something YOU CARE ABOUT SOCIO-CULTURAL PLACEMENT post in contrast to the pre

The above questions were weighed against the following factors:

ACCESS

| TIME | ENERGY |

AFFORDABILITY

WHY PARTICIPATORY

Although we started out to understand the impact of visual design on decision making, human behaviours and choice-making, as complex as they are, cannot be universally decoded. This prompted us to create a participatory experiment with elements of play that closely simulates every-day commuting decisions to help us observe, understand, and analyse in real time why people choose what they choose. A participatory framework helped us dive deeper into the influence of personal values and attitudes towards micro-decisions in the context of young urban India which was otherwise lacking in literature. Through our iterations and voices that emerged from the participatory framework we co-created knowledge (effective as reward systems, limited/unlimited resources, narrative elements, etc) and a visual language (visual elements that appeal to our user groups).

Our game serves as a partial mirror to reflecting conscious/ unconscious choices to our audience and co-interpret those behaviours with us - them bringing in their inner experiences, us bringing our external observations, rather than a one-sided interpretative authority. This mode of co-interpretation of conscious/unconscious values expanded our scope for further evaluation and analysis and finally condensed it to well informed outcomes – a clearer mirror of choice making behaviour of our audience.

LIMITATIONS

The project is exploratory and experimental in nature.

The method works around data and impact independence and interdependence but is at present response-dependent.

WAY FORWARD

The research method of the social experiment as game-play itself is one major outcome of our research project, which not only helps in data collection but also brings a sense of environmental consciousness amongst the players as they go about the decks and map.

Integrate elements of social engineering to to create visual elements can nudge people towards making more sustainable choices

INFERENCES

Some patterns that emerged through our research were1. Some participants showed a visible shift in transportation ways meaningful to them (such as skin aging) whereas others 2. One set of participants found colour coding more effective were not influenced. 3. Most decisions from the participants also seemed to of public transport connectivity in their locality, past experiences of cycling lanes , parking facilities etc. 4. For time sensitive situations (business meetings, fire of transport regardless of environmental impact suggesting encing micro-decisions 5. For social status sensitive situations (business meetings, fortable mode of transport regardless of environmental impact role in influencing micro-decisions for certain contexts for

Comfort over eco-friendliness

shift from personal to shared transport

PARTICIPATORY OUTCOME

The narrative makes little sense to me I am not able to visualise my settings. Even though the cards have distance a map will make it much more easier to understand my relative location

“Colour coding does not work for me”

“I am not able to figure out my current location based on this map”

“To me the numbers on he deck do not mean mean much. I think it’d be more effectve to represent relative qualitative information”

“What if you make MONEY and ENERGY as limited resources?, because in real life we also consider budget and energy before chosing transport”

transportation choices when environmental impact is shown in others who didn’t care about aging were less influenced. effective than image-based representation while others to have been driven by past experiences such as the level experiences that compromised safety, presence and absence

fire report) most participants preferred the fastest mode suggesting perceived urgency plays a dominating role in influ-

meetings, dates) some participants preferred the most comimpact suggesting social perception plays a dominating for those who share the value.

Deck 3 Deck 4

Situational shift towards less eco-friendly options

Compared to Deck 1, a positive shift itowards eco-friendly transport

When you make a choice you change the Future.

TEAM

Anirudh Garg anirudh_g@nid.edu Harini Murlidharan harini_m@nid.edu Kashish Kochhar kashish_k@nid.edu Ram Prakash ram_p@nid.edu Sai Krishna sai_kr@nid.edu

(SPATIAL) Design

What was old, is now new?

The mixed-media graphic captures the essence of contrast between what was old and what is new in the city of Gurugram. The city of Gurugram is the financial and technological hub of Haryana. What the observer seems to perceive from the outside is the new Gurugram that surrounds the old. New is the contemporary part, which stretches beyond the physical limits and the signs of growth are manifested in the form of vertical

development towering over the low-rise neighborhood. Achieved an unprecedented growth rate as a result of commercialization, privatization, developers like DLF, etc.

Whereas when you go deep into the city you read the urban-rural divide as a result of the above catalysts. The old town acts as a backdrop to Gurugram, wherein Sadar Bazaar gives life to it. Sadar is the heart of the city physically and perceptually. Is also called Chandni chowk of Gurugram. It caters to a multitude of diverse users ranging from different socio-economic groups, origins, and commercial ownership. Thus, is an important landmark and anchor of the city.

Evolved with time yet of a dynamic character owing to its organic nature of development juxta positioning with the rigid urban character of Gurugram.

13. Nexus in Proximity

A commercial Business Center for the building design and construction community.

Undergraduate Thesis project Spring 2021

Guide: Prof. Sanjeev Singh

Site: Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Area, Phase 1, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh

This thesis enquires about the physical inter-relationship between the building design and construction community, identifies the gap, analyses it, and serves through a physical typology. “Construction is a key industry in countries across the world, but one that has struggled to evolve its approaches as other industries have done, and one whose productivity has suffered as a result. Even while other sectors from retail to manufacturing have transformed their efficiency, boosted their productivity, and embraced the digital age, construction appears to be stuck in a time warp” (McKinsey & Company, 2017).

The building construction community faces communication and physical approach gaps which translates into various mediums and steps of the supply chain thus affecting the project execution and final product. But the author has identified through literature and live analysis along with stakeholder perception analysis that the gap which exists in the physical environment amongst the different stakeholders of the community furthers the reach to progress. The supply chain (1) of an ideal project splits the whole community into four broader categories of stakeholders (2).

Further, a survey (3a - Stakeholder perception) was taken for a sample size of 45 working professionals in the field to understand the gap between them and other stakeholders who have to be reached out to at almost every step of the process of designing and constructing a project

According to the survey conducted, 75% of the people out of the sample size of 45 people wanted to have the stakeholders in immediate proximity and be knit together underlining the subject of Nexus in Proximity (4).

Such a physical typology would help by (5);

• Easier to visit, sample, negotiate and try permutations of vendor services and quotations. Makes the selection process faster and more flexible.

• Stay informed and keep all the organizations/stakeholders in a loop.

• The indigenous essence of the nexus could be observed.

• Also, it eases out transportation, and speed of construction/ project completion, and is environmentally friendly.

• As there is a better understanding of ideation and this familiarity helps

• in the execution and supervision heavily.

• Vocal for local, lowering the carbon footprint.

Further, highlighting the demand for such a typology has been seen in architecture competition brief trends and national and international exhibitions that take place around the year like ACE tech and Stonemart to name a few.

We know the stakeholders want to be closer to each other but where do they want to be located? This is addressed by Survey 2 wherein 3 markets were surveyed with a sample size of 10 shops each. It enquires that on what factors does

the placement of the material market depends upon and thus the vendor shop. This points towards the parameter of satisfactory freight movement pattern to and from the sources of good product and services to the physical typology called A business commercial center for the building design and construction community.

Iconism as a tool for global identity.

Hybrid mixed use Add connective program blocks to to foster sustainable development.

Design for climate Passive cooling stratergies | sun, wind and light

Off-site to in-site circulation.

Reinterpretation of sustainable development.

Contextual connect.

Maintaining spine on activities of the site from the context.

Design for integration Use of third spaces as a spine of connection between different programes.

Adding value to commercially inactive spaces.

By-laws and space standards.

Visual of the built from the entrance and key objectives

Component relationship diagram and movement systems

Spatial Component Customer movement system Goods movement system Staff movement system Entrance Lockers and rest area

Management office Mechanical services area

Public plaza Reception Display Storage Admin cabin Cash checkout Goods recieving area Warehouse

Food court

Resturaunt and cafe Exhibition space Seminar hall Architects and associates offices Builder or contractor offices Co working space

The design development is led from the context and a derivative response to the same by the design research and program components and their linkages.

Hence, Solar carving faces, at respective angles.

Chamfering blocks, broading floor plate for better retail mix, hieghtening in acordance to wind analysis.

Rotating the blocks to minimise heat gain and recive cross ventilation.

Deviding the total mass into parts for thin floor plates and better wind catchment.

Deriving a base for development from site sythesis and analysis.

Architect+assoc. , builders + contractors offices

Lobby + exhibition hall Resturaunts/cafe

IKEA

Circulation atrium

Finishing retail complex Warehouse Parking

The site view establishes the development wholly following various passive cooling techniques as shortlisted from the bundle formed as studied in the book Sun, Wind, and Light by G.Z. Brown.

Sun-Wind-Light

Dense to loose patterns

Shared shade

Interwoven bldgs with water and green

Solar carving

N-S wind corridor Rotation from cardinal to increase shading E-w solar access corridor

Breezy calm courts

Jali integrated via louvres designed to face

Tall thin plan with sidelight room depth

14. Countenance

Bhojpur Interpretation Center

Culture | Heritage | Contemporary | Iconography | Space conception

Institutional Design, Academic project, Individual

Fall 2018

Guide: Prof. Devarshi Chourasia

Site: Bhojpur, Raisen District, Madhya Pradesh, India

Aim: to design an interpretation center.

Objective: re-imagination of temple architecture.

Response: the essence of a space lies in its experience. Architecture cannot just only be revived by details and grandeur. It can also be revived by experiential spaces. So, why translate to deteriorate the original, rather let’s translate to originate new from the original.

Cosmos is circular in form and stable in itself, and also demonstrates movement. Shiva symbolizes activity and stability in peace and relativity. Thus, the form developed in the plan gives a radical shape to my design.

“Light creates ambiance and feel of a place as well as expression of a structure.”- Le Corbusier

Light is not good until darkness is there. A plant growing orients itself towards the direction of light. Symbolizing movement and life.

It’s an experience that forecasts the original in a small period of time.

Total site area = 21114 sqm F.A.R. =1 Thus, Buildable area = 21114 sqm Permissible ground coverage = 30% = 6334 sqm Achieved ground coverage = 28.70% = 6060 Sqm

Concept Site highlights

View from OAT View through the workshop

Section at X

Administration Canteen

Workshop

OAT

View: Dhyankaksh; Meditation space

Dhyankaksh Section at Y

Permanent gallery

A/V gallery

Auditorium

Temporary gallery

Entrance Complex

15. Rao Sahab ki Bakhar

Loius I. Kahn Trophy, NASA (TOP 10)/National

RIBA Traditional Architecture Group (TOP 6)/International

Architecture documentation and interpretation, Teamwork Fall/2018

Guide: Prof. Vishakha Kawathekar

Site: Narsinghpur, Raisen district, Jabalpur Division, Madhya Pradesh

I not only inhabit my body but also in my dwelling. The dwelling, the house where I abide, is the manner in which my body and soul interact - Rene Descartes

A dwelling is not just a part of the inhabitants’ life, but also of the community making living a communal activity where the dwelling reflects the changes in the whole scenario over time. Rao Sahab ki Bakhar, in Narsinghpur, is one such exemplary dwelling unit. Since its construction in the 1780s, it has evolved continually with changing needs of its dwellers brought upon by factors such as economy, external conflict, family expansion, culture, etc.

A Bakhar (3) is a typical dwelling unit, found in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, built by the village landlords for the residence of their family, and has been lost in time due to reduced usage. The construction techniques that have brought about these changes have also varied according to the needs and climatic understanding affected by the community.

The dwelling continues to house the descendants of Rao Jagbharat, who originally built this bakhar, proving its efficiency by being still habitable yet susceptible to change. The bakhar has a major role in the social structure of the district, housing the family that had also constructed the Narsingh temple, from which the district derives its current name. Along with housing the village’s primary granary, the community well present beside the bakhar provides

Commoners’ access to water. It thus becomes a part of the daily routine of every resident of the village and including the oral history of the area.

The Bakhar lies between the temple (2) and ghat (1) at river Singri, all built by the Jat family who migrated from Dholpur, Rajasthan in the late 18th century. It is said that there are two tunnels ( ) underneath the Bakhar that connect it to the temple of Lord Narsingh and the ghat.

1 1

Section from Narsinghpur temple (L) through the Bakhar till the Ghat (R).

3

4

2 2 3 4

Let’s go back in time.

Phase 1: 1782-1797

Rao Jagbharat, a former Samant of Maratha Bhosle, settled in Narsinghpur and constructed Bakhar and the Narsingh Temple in the Bundeli architecture style. The necessity for a space to accommodate living working and storage spaces led to the conception of the Bakhar.

Phase 2: 1797-1820

Under Rao, villages saw great economic growth which led to further expansion of the Bakhar to accommodate an extending family. Shooted power and business required security and hence the bastions were added. And ataris along with it were envisioned for storage and support facilities.

Phase 3: 1820-1840

British raj came into play, and revenues and taxes rolled. Bakhar required more storage, thus with the help of the Britishers Rao turned the ground floor into an arched and vaulted basement. The Brahamsthal has shifted a level above.

Phase 4: 1782-Present

Families split, and personalized their respective spaces. Long-term ignorance turned Bakhar into its current dilapidated state. Almost 3/4th of the portion runied and fell.

Phase 4: 1782-Present

Phase 3: 1820-1840

Phase 2: 1797-1820

Phase 1: 1782-1797

Conclusion/Analysis

All this beautiful architecture I know, gradually rose from the inside to the outside, from the needs and the character of the one, who dwells in it and is its only builder-from unwanted truthfulness and nobleness and without any consideration of the appearance.

- Martin Heidegger

The dwelling primarily supports the activity “to live”. So, when the way of living changes, the design of the dwelling does too. It is the physical form of the way to survive, which is decided by the practical and ecological conditions. Historically, the activities in a society

were often integrated both in time and in space where work and idle time were not separate concepts. Since major activities occurred inside or around one’s home, the dwelling was forced to be selfsufficient. Hence, an idea satisfying all such needs was conceived, called here, the ‘bakhar’.

The livability of the bakhar evolved with the people’s needs with inhabitants initially being royal and of a higher status. People have now been leaving the place, due to their surroundings failing to change with the needs of its residents while the house itself remains in a dynamic state of existence.

Bakhar’s entrance view

Bakhar’s courtyard view

16. Mahavan Kanha

Culture | Contemporary | Hospitality | Resort

Hospitality Design, Internship (Confidential Project)

Spring 2020

Guide: Ar. Vami Koticha, Ae. Sameep Padora

Site: Kanha, Madhya Pradesh, India

Area: 21 Villas, 9 Acres Client: Hidden India Eco-Resorts Pvt. Ltd.

My Role: Design Drawing Set of Jungle Villa and River Villa, and Visualisation.

Inspired by the colors and textures of the surrounding environment, this project translates the landscape of Kanha national park into its architectural language.

The expansive site is formed encouraging visitors to decompress and regenerate, amid the lush surroundings, away from the neighboring urban zones. The building is constructed with locally sourced materials, fusing traditional techniques with leading-edge design philosophies.

The villas are designed to harvest the natural light and distribute it evenly around the rooms. Symbiosis with the verdant landscape is achieved by blurring the boundary between exterior and interior, generating a sense of boundlessness, increasingly hard to come by in the verticality of the city.

Jungle villa

River villa

17. JSW

Crematorium

Culture | Contemporary | Cremetorium | Circle of life

Communal Space Design, Internship (Confidential Project)

Spring 2020

Guide: Ar. Sameep Padora

Site: Hampi, Vijayanagar, Karnataka, India

Area: 95000 SQFT. Client: Jindal Steel Works Group

My Role: Architectural design, and reasearch. Preparing client resentations and Schematic design drawing after approval.

Death is a step in the life cycle that in its most intense form evokes raw emotions of sorrow and melancholy. The human body is made up of 5 elements of nature. These 5 elements revert back, with the departure of the human. Thus, the attainment of peace by the soul and the return of the body back to its sources. Hence completing the circle of life.

My role in the project was research and design. Starting with the concept formation followed my case studies and further research into the ideologies of the cremation process. Under the guidance of Ar. Sameep Padora the ethical understanding of detail design work in symbiosis with the site scenario was celebrated pointing towards sustainable development.

sq.m.)

(200 sq.m.)

Overall area program

sq.m.)

sq.m.)

18. JSW Orphanage

Culture | Contemporary | Social Architecture

Communal space Design, Internship (Confidential Project) Spring/2020

Guide: Ar. Sameep Padora

Site: Hampi, Vijayanagar, Karnataka, India

Area: 95000 SQFT. Client: Jindal Steel Works Group

My Role: Architectural design, and reasearch. Preparing client resentations and Schematic design drawing after approval.

The project sits against a backdrop of mountains loaded with boulders on the outskirts of Hampi, an ancient village in the South Indian State of Karnataka. Conceptualized as an elderly home and an orphanage for children of all ages it includes resting units, a library, and games center, dining, a kitchen, housekeeping units, guest units, and an administrative block.

The project proposes to combine two distinct user groups into a single unit to initiate a caregiver receiver dialogue and a response to scaler architecture.

The project was going to be developed in phases; thus, a modular structure was proposed for the ease of construction. Each individual octagonal unit contained four c-shaped stone walls that held the furniture leaving the other four edges for sourcing light and ventilation.

Physical Model - View of the intermediate courtyards

View of the intermediate courtyards

22C New Kantwadi Scheme, New Kantwadi road, Off Turner road, Bandra West, Mumbai 400050

Letter Of Experience: Ms Kashish Kochhar

This letter of experience is for Ms Kashish Kochhar who has been employed as an Intern with our studio sP+a from Jan-2020 to June 2020 . During this time she was involved with a number of projects including an Orphanage, Crematorium, Railway cabin and Mahavan Kanha

Ms Kochhar in her time with us has performed all tasks assigned to her competently and has contributed to all projects she was involved with. We wish her the best in all future endeavors.

Sameep Padora Principal sP+a

sp - arc@sp - arc.net • www.sp - arc.net • + 91 22 26400558 Architecture

Urban Design Planning Ahmedabad Mumbai

27 Aug 2022

Certificate of Internship

To whom it may concern;

This is to certify that Ms. Kashish Kochhar, a student of the Master of Design program in Photography Design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, successfully completed her 6-week internship at the Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation (MMF), in July-August 2022.

We would like to acknowledge that Ms. Kochhar undertook the following tasks as part of her internship –

1. Assisted our archivist Nidhi Khurana in at the MMF studio with the following tasks -

o Categorization of documents, books, magazine, and other literary material as per their thematic or type of publication, and cataloguing of the same.

o Scanning of film negatives and slides.

o Photographic documentation of artworks and other objects

o Ideated and initiated the documentation of the archiving process for the website, and drafted questionnaires for interviews.

2. Assisted our collaborato rs at Asia Art Archive India with their work on the Mrinalini Mukherjee Archive, including –

o Transcribing interviews

o Documentation of the archiving process

o Documentation of the archiving material

Ms. Kochhar’s dedication and enthusiasm will make her a valuable asset to any institution she works with Wishing her the very best for all future endeavors.

Padmanabhan

Manager – Projects & Grants

Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation

C/7 Rashmi Cooperative Housing Society, 11 Byramji Gamadia Road, Carmichael Road, Mumbai 400 026, India Email: info@mrinalinimukherjeefoundation.org

Bhooma

Homeless migrants or city makers?

(Square factor- square foot/ competetion entry/’18)

‘Many of the homeless are migrants in metropolitan cities like Mumbai, who have left their villages on account of extreme distress situations. We degrade and neglect their existence around while they form the most important backbone of a city, by being involved in all types of services. Thus the term ‘homeless’ is a situational description and the term “city makers” gives a more positive and dynamic identity.’