Design Portfolio

PORTFOLIO

ABOUT ME

Hello, my name is Pracheeta Chordia, and I’m an interior design student at the University of North Texas. I’m in my fourth year, working towards a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Interior Design, with a minor in Art History and a minor in Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Management. I’m currently looking for a summer internship and other opportunities to expand my knowledge. Some of my design interests are sustainability and biophilia, as well as research, and innovative design.

From trying to rearrange my bedroom to putting up my artwork up on the walls as a kid, my design journey started when I was young. Art, in its many forms, has always been a significant part of my life, whether that’s going the extra mile in any art-related assignment to trying out as many art mediums and creative pursuits as I could get my hands on. I have always known that I wanted a career in the arts, and have been interested in pursuing interior design since I was 12. Although my understanding and perception of interior design as a field has changed since then, my passion for it has not.

As a designer, I’m fascinated with the relationship between people and the environment around us, and the significance that design has in that relationship.My experiences throughout my childhood and through my courses at UNT have deepened my appreciation for the impact that art and design has on our lives. I have always been observant of the world around me and I translate that into my design work by paying attention to details and creating research-based, people-focused designs. Through my work, I want to keep exploring that impact and relationship, designing interiors that foster a deeper connection and make a difference.

“The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live. It is about the realities of what makes for an attractive, civilized, meaningful environment, not about fashion or what’s in or what’s out.”

-Albert Hadley

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Tili Vini Vineyard Guest Houses

Casa e Coure Restaurant

Hospitality Design Pg 6 - 13

Retail Design Pg 14 - 19

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Ensueno Refugee Housing Residential Design Pg 20-25

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Photography

Other Works

Selected Works 2019-2023 Pg 26-28

University Projects Pg 29-32

IL CUORE VERDE Fall 2022 | 2,500 M2 | Assisi, Italy Team Project completed with Anushka Panwar and Kim Ngun

Il Cuore Verde is a building complex of guest accommodations aimed at promoting the brand and wine tasting experience of Tili Vini Italy. Tili Vini is a boutique winery located in the hills that flank the historical town of Assisi, Italy. The complex is made up of 5 guest villas that can each house a couple and a central common space intended for wine tasting and communal dining. The design is influenced by the history and culture of Tili Vini, as well as their modern day sustainability practces.

Each of the guest villas are within 70 square meters and consist of a living room or lounge area, a kitchenette, a bedroom, bathroom, storage space for luggage and an outdoor patio area. The wine tasting and communal dining area has seating for the couples, a dedicated wine tasting counter, a kitchen, and a space for the Tili Vini employees. Its connected to the guesthouses via an outdoor space where guests can gather.

In order to offer a comfortable stay that promotes the history and culture of the Tili family vineyard, the guest villas at Il Cuore Verde places a strong emphasis on sustainability and integrates local architecture and materials with modern technology. Guests have the opportunity to both enjoy their privacy in their own villas, and connect to the vineyard and other guests in the communal areas.

Winery Background Tili Vini is a family owned organic farm and winery that produces high quality wines and olive oils. The Tili family has been in the region for centuries, cultivating the land with love and hard work. It has been the family’s long term dream to share their passion of wine with enthusiasts all around the world and they take great pride in creating and exporting high quality products to many different countries. By fusing the methods passed down through the years with tenacious research and sustainable technology, the current proprietors are carrying out this dream.

Site Background The Tili Vini winery and guest houses are based in Assisi, a town located in the Umbrian region of Italy. Umbria, which is alos known as “Il Cuore Verde d’Italia” or the green heart of Italy, is a region distinguished by its mountainous, green landscape and abundance of historical cities and landmarks. With origins in the Middle Ages, Assisi is no exception. The city is rich in history and culture, and has been designated as an UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sustainability Iniatives

Materials

Their environmentally friendly and sustainable wine packaging only uses natural corks and recyclable glass bottles. Tili Vini also complies with strict regulations to achieve its organic and DOC certificates in order to guarantee the total naturalness and traceability of its products.

They take great pride in their rigorous and wellcoordinated efforts to produce top-notch wine without using pesticides, herbicides, or anything else that would harm the environment.

The materials and finishes combine the historical architecture influences of Umbria with Tili Vini’s sustainability foucsed and environmently conscious principals while also meeting the durability needs of a guest house.

This is accomplished by using locally sourced materials like traditional clay roof tiles and onsite stone rubble for walls which reduces transport emmisions and reuses existing material. Tile and stone for interior spaces provide durability and are easier to clean between guest bookings

SPAZIO DI RACCOLTA

The Spazio di raccolta is the perfect dining experience for visitors, with ample outdoor space to help entertain up to 5 families. Located in the center of estates with a view of the stunning mountains in the distance.

A wide open area that incorporates the scenic vineyard fields and mountains.

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4 To commemorate the wine poured and sold, furniture upholstery and wall coatings should reflect wine's hues.

3 2 Materials like kegs, crates, and used bottles are reused in the interiors, which contributes to sustainability.

1. Reception 2. Common dining area 3. Outdoor seating area

4. Kitchen 5. Employee area 6. Bathroom

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Communal Spaces Above: Rendering of exterior view featuring outdoor seating area Mid Left: Rendering of reception area Bottom Left: Rendering of interior communal dining area Bottom Right: 360 view of interior communal dining area

AMARITA ROSATO

360 View of interior: living room and kitchen

360 View of interior: living room and kitchen

MARILU

360 View of interior: living room and kitchen

CASA E COURE Spring 2023 | 10,000 FT2 | Dallas, TX Team Project completed with Breanne Gorman and Kim Ngun

Casa e Cuore is an upscale Italian restaurant and bar that intersects traditional Italian culture with a modern flair. The restaurant will create a sense of intimacy and seclusion by employing the prospect and refuge theory through the use of booth seating which provides privacy and allows diners a view to other guests . The restaurant aims to create a “Third Place” away from homes and workplaces where guests can connect, socialize, and express themselves. This will be accomplished through the use of curved banquettes and face to face seating as visual access leads to better communication and connection.

The design will also create a community atmosphere by focusing on authenticity in the dining environment and ambiance To connect to the restaurant’s Italian roots, the design will draw influence from roman architecture and design through the use of materials like stone veneer, marble-look tabletops, and stucco walls. The use of repeated arches calls back to monumental architecture such as the Colosseum or Pont du Gard, while the incorporation of greenery is inspired by domestic roman courtyards and atriums.

By retaining a neutral color palette, incorporating natural woods and placing an emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines, Casa e Cuore combines its historical influences with a more modern aesthetic.

FURNITURE FLOOR PLAN

LEGEND

REFLECTED CEILING PLAN

BAR & LOUNGE ELEVATION

BANQUETTE DINING ELEVATION

BAR & LOUNGE PERSPECTIVE

BANQUETTE DINING PERSPECTIVE

ENSUEÑO Fall 2022 | 50 M2 | Moyuta, Guatemala Team Project completed with Anushka Panwar IDEC Student Design Competition 2023 Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women, and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more. -Pope Francis

Fernanda Sancho is a single mother living with her daughter Ana Sofia in rural El Salvador. The smallest and most populous nation in Central America, El Salvador has experienced a lot of unrest and conflict since its establishment. As violence has been on the rise around her, Fernanda feels she must leave in order to protect herself and her child. She wants to immigrate to the United States as many other Salvadorans do, but she doesn’t have the resources or know-how to do so right away. Deciding to make the journey in steps, She begins by packing as much as she can and catching bus routes up into Guatemala. She gets off in Moyuta, Guatemala, making her way to Ensueño, a refugee camp developing on the outskirts of the town.

Named after the Spanish word for dream, Ensueño hopes to provide just that. Here, people can leave behind their pasts and nurture their dreams for the future. Featuring an elegant environment that is adaptable to meet unique family needs and can develop with time, this modular living space offers refugees the stability and security they lacked at home.

With a design reminiscent of a beehive, the camp promotes a sense of community and growth. Conscious of the surrounding environment and conditions, Ensueño strives to integrate locally sourced sustainable building materials.

Background El Salvador, the smallest and most populous nation in Central America, has experienced a lot of unrest and conflict since its establishment. The nation, which was created by joining the Spanish neighborhoods of Sonsonate and San Salvador, has had a difficult past as a result of economic problems, social instability, and natural calamities.

Thousands of Salvadorians have fled their homes as a result of the economic and political unrest, and many of them attempt to immigrate to the US in quest of protection. Many are forced to flee to nearby nations like Guatemala and Honduras, which struggle with their internal problems and are frequently unprepared to take in the migrants.

Young children and single women are among those that are disproportionately impacted by the violence. The prevalent machismo mentality and social injustices make it challenging for women to support themselves. Gangs and other non-state armed groups who see women and girls as property pose a threat to their safety.

Temporary Refugee housing and camps are frequently only meant to be temporary solutions. With the expansion and evolution of global concerns, it becomes increasingly difficult to define what “temporary” actually implies. Camps originally intended to serve as short-term emergency shelters can survive for years or even decades, and many develop into independent communities. Building temporary accommodation for refugees in light of this seems counterintuitive. Such housing does not provide the security and stability that these individuals need. Due to this, we decided on a design that is more semi-permanent than temporary.

Refuge What is Refuge? It is a “shelter of safety from danger or hardship,” according to Merriam-Webster, but what does it mean for the thousands of refugees who have been compelled to escape their homes in pursuit of the unknown? A shelter can be defined as having four walls and a roof or as having a supportive community. It can refer to both physical security, such as having a door to lock at night, and financial security, such as the capacity to put food on the table tomorrow. With this project, we want to better understand what refuge means and what it means for design.

Materials CONCRETE A person may be at danger of acquiring the basic diseases that cause more than five million deaths worldwide if they have a bad floor. We’ve teamed up with Cortex Composites, a business that makes “rollable concrete fabric.” A plastic mesh is used to create the fabric, and cement is used as the filler.

WOOD Guatemalan Mora is a strong choice for flooring since it is strong, has excellent weathering properties, and is termite-resistant.

Cabinets are built of locally sourced Teak wood, which is recognized as the gold standard for decay resistance and is characterized as being very durable and termiteresistant.

LOCAL FABRIC The upholstery materials will be sustainable and local in order to pay homage to the ancient weaving practice of Guatemala; the color blue serves as a symbol for both nations.

PLASTIC Plastic, which will be used in place of glass in home settings, can be used to make skylights. This is because it provides more insulation and is lighter than glass.

Site Analysis WALKABLE DISTANCE TO CITY Refugees may quickly access the city’s facilities, employment opportunities, healthcare, and other necessities due to their proximity to the city.

NATURAL RESOURCES Access to an abundance of vegetation and a nearby water source means refugees are less dependant of external assistance and materials.

SPACE TO GROW Large Flat expanse means the camp can grow to accommodate more refugees if neccessary, and local opportunities in the community can aid in their independence BUS ROUTE The city bus is nearby and has connecting stations that allow for further travel into the city as well as beyond the border.

Inner Insulation Layer

Metal Support System

Rollable Concrete “fabric”

FLOOR PLAN Every family is different and needs space to grow, which is why the entire houseis designed to be flexible and adjustable. Interiors of these housing units can be changed to fit an already-existing family that is expanding or even a new family.

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LEGEND 1. Bedroom 2. Storage 3. Living Area 4. Kitchen 5. Patio

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Exterior View

Living Space

Kitchen

Bedroom & Storage

SELECTED WORKS 20 - 2023

PHOTOGRAPHY

Memories of Home

SELECTED WORKS 2020 - 2023

OTHER WORKS

Prismacolor Colored Pencils

Comfort Customizations Prismacolor Colored Pencils

Rocky Views Acrylic Paint on Rocks

Index of a Snow Day Acrylic Paint