SELECTED WORKS RACHIT RAJ SOMANI SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND ARCHITECTURE (SEA) 2019-22
Thinker, Storyteller,Geek Hi. I am Rachit Raj Somani. I consider myself an observant and critical thinker with a curious mind always eager to learn. Beyond architecture, I enjoy reading fiction, watching movies of multiple genres, travelling and writing for myself. Getting to know people, their lives and exploring different cultures has always been compelling to me. I like to stay in touch with current affairs and tend to have strong social and political opinions. Fascinated by the multidisciplinary nature of this field, I try to follow an ambiguous and explorative process of design.
I am interested in exploring the existing relations between form and space through an ontological lens where people, skill, environment, material and the sensorium they hold become key points of entry in the design process.
Rachit Raj Somani School of Environment and Architecture (SEA) Mumbai, English8+91a19rachit@sea.edu.inrachit8801@gmail.comIndia7587055604august2001|Hindi Shree Sukhprada, E-139/140, sector-5, devendra nagar, Raipur (C.G.) Education Holy cross Kapa, Raipur Bhavans R.K. Sarda Vidya Mandir, Raipur New look school, Kota School of Environment and Architecture, Mumbai Electives & workshops 2019-20 | Urban Ecology, Anand Pendharkar 2019-20 | Architectural Imagination, HarvardX 2020-21 | Video art, Amol Patil 2020-21 | After effects CC, Udemy 2020-21 | In a city, parts do not make a whole, Prasad Shetty 2021-22 | Generative Drawing, Karthik Dondeti 2021-22 | Psychospatiality, Drishti Mehta 2021-22 | Weaving steel, Manjunath BL 2021-22 | Materialising ideas, Sankalpa Sankalpa 2021-22 | Miniature: as a method, Dipti Bhaindarkar 2022-23 | Reframe workshop, Aamchi 2022-23 | Architectural Kitchen, Dushyant Asher Skills Hand Drafting | Sketching | Model making | Basic carpentry and masonry | Photography Cad Autocad 3D software Google sketchup | Rhinoceros3D Rendering Blender | Lumion | Vray Adobe Photoshop| Illustrator | Indesign | Premiere pro | After effects Website Wix | Wordpress Soft skills Critical thinking | Collaboration | Problem solving | Leadership | Organisation | Time management | Emotional Intelligence Achievements 2019-20 | elected student council member & treasurer 2019-20 | for ‘Enthusiasm and embodying process’ 2020-21 | for ‘Persistent thinking’ 2021-22 | elected student ambassador to the Charles Correa foundation 2021-22 | Connected Collab Studio, a student-led initiative between four colleges across India Publications and Collaborations 2019-20 | Change, a story of Juanwadi, Goa 2019-20 | Building science & technology, book 2020-21 | Error: 404 not found, a book of short stories 2020-21 | Classroom, campus, culture and tradition 2020-21 | Covid Glossary 2021-22 | Miniature: as a method, website 2021-22 | Ground & Built form, website, a Sewri creek study 2021-22 | Ground & Built form 2, website, Manipur site study
Content Ontological questions What is a home? What is a factory? Material & Technology SeeingShellswind Design with detail Environment & architecture Artist residency Of morphed terrain Mass InhabitationsOtherworks Textures,Drawingstudio,postcard(semester2)
Simultaneously, my peers in Mumbai studies the ‘site and services schemes’ in Charkop, Borivali which later became the site for design. The Bada has a bedroom with a dining table and a refrigerator in it because the family appropriated ‘the guest room’ of the first floor as a dining space. It also has three kitchens over two floors. These small anecdotes of the house and the life in it, provoked and helped me rethink the typology of the spaces that constitutes a home. Hence, I worked with the idea of ‘ahomeasaseriesofnetworkedspaces’.
I designed a home a young couple who migrates from Raipur to Mumbai for work. The process questioned the spatial typology and experiences that take place. ‘What constitutes a bedroom space or what is the experience of a bathroom?’ and so on. The cut and fold method were an exploration in model making that influenced the process and design greatly.
What is a home? Home as a series of networked spaces
The studio focused on understanding ‘typology’ in architecture. For the preceding module in the middle of the pandemic, I studied a Bada owned by the Bhansali family in Raipur (C.G.). It houses 39 members currently. It grew organically with the family of three brothers over the span of 80 years. Situated in the middle of Raipur’s jewellery market, it witnesses a spectrum of interactions on a daily basis, of varied degrees of privacy. From an arched gateway to a network of terraces, the house is a series of spaces of varied scale, program and level of intimacy connected through stairs and corridors. This, in turn, created various nooks and junctions with redefined spatiality and spaces of interactions. Thus, networkscreatingnetworks. This understanding in addition to the measured drawings of the house developed into a narrative drawing that tries to portray the networks established, created and possible.
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1 65432Badanarrativedrawing:NetworkscreatingnetworksModelview1Modelview2Modelview3Basedrawingforcutandfoldmodel Firstfloorplan 7 Longsection 823Narrativedrawingfordesign 45 67
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What is a factory? Factory as a series of communitarian landscape
As he walked closer, the noises grew louder. He stood at the threshold and let his eyes wander through the panorama of infrastructure made by machines. Some emerging from the floor and disappearing into the ceiling, some slender, some humongous, all creating a complex landscape for humans to meander in. Wandering through the alleys in between, he felt small and lost. The din, even louder now, had almost become white noise after the time he had spent with it. He realized the noise had grown enough to drown him out. Hewonderedifashoutforhelpwouldeverbeheardinthisdin. Stepping out of this realm of machinery became their moments of pause. The clock struck eight and in a matter of minutes the screaming machines became deadly silent. Shefelteerilyalonestandinginthecolossalshed surroundedbygunnybagstoweringaboveher. She could suddenly hear echo of the human chatter and followed it, navigating her way to her co-workers. With them alongside, she exited the sheds. They stood outside for a few minutes and dispersed quickly. Everybody was tired. The room became a sanctuary. Or maybeanisland. He and his friends/colleagues spent all their time there, completely detached and aloof from the world beyond the site perimeter. His wishful thinking took hold and he began thinking of possibilities of connecting these isolated, island-like spatial experiences and induce a method of connection and communication. He located the nodes and junctions he could use to create any and all sense of connections. He envisioned aspineofthe site, the spaces where its inhabitants spend almost all of their time. He wondered if these secluded social conditions could be improved by introducing another organ to this whole body. He thought of aparasite, that spreads its effects in all directions. He thought of anoctopus, whose numbered limbs move in all directions. He thought of thecommunitarianspatialnodesandjunctionsalongthespine that spread its arms in various directions, rupturing through barriers, creating visual connections and places of pause and rests in its way. (ScanorclickontheQRcodetovisitthewebsite pageformultimediaworks)
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1 111098765432ExistingnarrativeExistingbuiltformaxonometricIteration1Iteration2Iteration3Iteration4Designintervention,inplanRenderedview1Renderedview2Renderedview3Designnarrative2 3 4 5 6 7
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Shells exploring versatality of a public space
The design project that followed was acommunityfoodfacilityandanancillarymultipurposeeventspace (festivals, community centre, disaster relief, healthcare camps and so on) where the question of modularity is central and operative. The site chosen for this intervention was around one of the informal settlements called Eksar Dongripada in Borivali West, Mumbai. (ScanorclickontheQRcodetovisitthewebsite pageformultimediaworks)
The studio explored the question of modularityinarchitecture. Modularity today, is understood today only through the lens of an industrially manufactured assembly system, where every component is expected to fit together with a highest degree of precision only. Instead, this technology-inclined module explored a more communitarian, artisanal, exploratory, temporal and at times playful dimension of the idea of modularity. We began with a two-week exercise of designing a food collective that is portable, designed to be disassembled and reassembled; and climate-responsive for two different regions (moderate and warm-humid in this case). Along with these general instructions, we worked with a material constraint of an infinite supply of wooden planks of a certain dimension and use nothing else. Any adhesives, screws or such ‘crutches for joints’ were not allowed.
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1 432Esquisseiterationview1Esquisseiterationview2Esquisseiterationview3 Esquissefinalphysicalmodelview1 5 Esquissefinalphysicalmodelview2 6 Esquissefinalphysicalmodelview3 7 Esquissefinalview1 8 Esquissefinalview2 9 Module iterations 10 Furniture structure and variations 11 1615141312Assemblyexample1Assemblyexample2PhysicalmodelofthemoduleAnexhibitionspaceAmarketspaceAmixed-usespace9 1011 12
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This studio drew attention to theactofmediationofphenomenathroughthebuildingasanapparatus,andhowitmayallowustoconceivenewtypologies inordertobecomecriticallycuriousabouttheenvironmentaroundus. Intimate interdependencies between the structural and spatial aspects of an architectural endeavour produce distinct environments that are not simply functional but technological artefacts in themselves. To explore the technospatial and sensorial possibilities that may be explored within building envelopes, this course worked through three ideas / propositions: Firstly, Building asanapparatus: How can the apparatus that produces the building thus, be integrated as well as emphasized within the schema of its formal construct and spatial experience more meaningfully?; Secondly, Phenomenaasexperience: Can the body be programmed in space and time in a way to experience the rhythms of phenomena not just for comfort, but also for curiosity of experience?; Lastly, Spaceasasensorium: How can a building sensorium allow us to experience and interpret the environment around us afresh helping towards its critical appraisal?
Seeing wind A technological sensorium
Based on two scenes from the movies ‘The mirror (1975) ´and ‘The blade runner (1982)’ the phenomenon was articulated as asoftspacewhichisbroughtout bylightdiffusedthroughmultiplelayersofafabricandtheflutteringofacurtainbecauseofthewind. The apparatus kept along a stretched cloth would create a wave-like motion which when multiple, generates the phenomenon of a flutter in a very controlled manner. The wind is felt through waves which are only felt by us. Theapparatusmakesthemvisible and are experienced through this controlled movement in the cloth. The transitional movement shapes different volumes between the two pieces of fabric which create a play of diffused light, controlled through the wind turbine. The materiality of the cloth allows a certain level of translucency which becomes a tool to experience light in a certain desired way. The materials we were working with sparked the idea of ephemeralortemporarystructurescapableofdisassemblyandinstallation on multiple settings after simple tweaks, if required. (ScanorclickontheQRcodetovisitthewebsite pageformultimediaworks)
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1 32PavilionoftheapparatusPrinciple,kineticenergyofwind Principle,diffusionoflight 4 Drawingofthephenomena 5 Apparatusassemblydetails 6 Apparatus 7 Charkopsite,designstrategy 8 Charkopsite,intervention 9 10NESCOsite,experientialdrawingNESCOsite,intervention2 3 4 5 6
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The focus of the studio was threefold: firstly, to developanabilityofthinkingthroughsystems; secondly, todevelopanabilityfordetailing (detailing here is the act of putting together different materials and their assemblies in a manner that is conceptually coherent with the overall idea of the building); and thirdly, todevelopadeepunderstandingofconstructiondocumentation. This journey of fabrication of built form is explored through three processes, first; detailofdesign which outlines the mechanics of space through experience intent of the space, inter-relationships between programmed and interstitial volumetric spaces, range of light, shadow, sound, smell, feel, emotions weaving with flows - water, wind, energy, the language of systems - geometrical and structural propositions of form. second; designofdetail crafts the built form in conversation with the intent of detail of design. Third; communicationforactualization,allthestagesarethoughtthroughtheactof drawing.Theintent evolved along the process to design a museum that encourages discovery and learning. It would compel and invite visitors to explore, experience and simply be with the artifacts. The process began with a material palette that could compliment the experience and blend the building into mute tones so the textile artifacts rise to one’s vision effortlessly: reinforced concrete for structural elements, steel for furnishing and lime plasters on the surfaces. The RCC ramps connect the upper ground floor to the terrace through all the floors in between. It is supported by columns and beams at the two mid-landings. The exhibition spaces are designed to have a free-flowing spatial experience with no doors but three-metre-wide punctures in the walls. (ScanorclickontheQRcodetovisitthewebsite pageformultimediaworks)
Design with detail Systems, details and construction drawings
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1 Uppergroundfloorplan 2 Section 3 Constructionprocess1 4 Constructionprocess2 5 Constructionprocess3 62Toiletplanandsection 3 4 5
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The studio was based on discussions of Urban environment and Architecture. Today our urban environments are generated by indifferent mega systems. These have become unmanageable by virtue of its centrality and agglomeration. The present popular typology in any urban setting speaks of built form that is more resistant to flows resulting in more enclosed and protected built forms and living. The idea of property, density, nuclear living, less resource availability and efficiency have been the factors shaping such language of built. The studio asked the question, ‘how we can create architecture that is notresistivebutenhancestheexperiencesofflowsbybuildingcompassiontowardsflowsthatallowsreinterpretationofresourceconsumptionandmanagementwhichresultantlydemandsreimaginationofspacethroughsystemicspatiallogics.’Thisprojectwasaformexplorationwhiledesigninganartistresidencyamidstanurbanecosystemthatquestionstheexistingsocio-culturaleconomicfabricandemphasisestheunbuiltoverbuilt.BasedonthestudyofthehistoryandcultureofthecontextofPowaiadesignintentwasarticulatedasquestions:firstly,canthearchitecturerespondtotheexistingsocio-economicfabricofthecontextandthedisregardfortheenvironment?
The residency was imagined as a set of built forms scattered amidst nature where the experiential aspect of the built form becomes the primary driving force for the design and secondarily, the program informs the overall planning of the site. The process followed a series of iterations that explored the formal nature of the built form.
Artist residency Resources, flows and systems
Secondly, Can the architecture be more unbuilt than built?
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1 Rendered view 1 2 Designplan 3 Section of the residential unit 4 Performanceworkshopspacemodel 5 Iteration model 6 Residential unit model 7 Exhibitionspaceview 8 Residentialspaceview 9 Cafeteria view 10 Rendered view 2 112Section 3
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Of morphed terrain
Environmental thresholds
The environment, as we experience it, is a set of interconnected networks which balance each other to maintain the rhythmic flows. The current building practices have resulted in newspatialprioritieswhichlargelyignoretheirconsequencesontheenvironment. This causes disruption to the very interconnectedness of all life forms and natural systems. This course investigated and explored design possibilities that negotiated bio-social relationships on an ecologically sensitive terrain. The course intended tolookatthenatural&builtenvironmentsastemporal,dynamic,andnotstaticbecauseofthe processesandflowsintheenvironmentbeinginconstantfluxandthehabitationpracticesbeingeverchanging. The design process acknowledged and accommodated these movements, shifts and changes in processes through developing form and spatiality that was agile to these movements and changes.
As one approaches the site along with the road, one sees a large rock boulder sitting amidst distinct dense urban industrial form. It sits on the edge of the mudflat overlooking the creek and is a relief from the site scape dotted with chemical factories, trucks and warehouses. I see the site as a voluminous mass almost separated from the terrain with undulations and an advantageous vantage. Study of the context and the ecotone resulted in two provocations: firstly, how does one balance the natural flows of the site and its terrain? Secondly, whatisawetlandconservatory&howdoesitmorphwhenequatedwithits context? The intent was further articulated as to amplify the idea of relief of the site scape by designing a wetlandconservationpark that incorporates the ideas of leisure and recreation with education and learning. The aim was to morph and utilise the existing terrain and encourage an experiential relationship between the terrain and its flows; built form and the inhabitants. It was imagined as anetworkoftrailsalongthecontoursoftheterrainwithminimalbuiltspaces interspersedamongthem.
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2 3 4 5 7 6 1 Rendered view 1 2 Iteration 1 3 Iteration 2 4 Iteration 3 5 Iteration 4 6 Iteration 5 7 Overalldesignsketch 8 Cutplanat7000M. 9 151413121110SectionStairwaytowardstheedgeviewSteppedCafeteriaviewMangroveobservatoryviewPavilionviewJoinery1Joinery2
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What new and relevant formal and spatial imaginations could be articulated for mass inhabitations in the emerging contexts of urbanization in India’s metro cities? At stake lies the opportunity to advance spatial explorations which interrogateahistoricalnarrativethathasframedIndia’smasshousing questionaroundthetropesoftenuresecurity,affordabilityandefficiency. These tropes manifest into a standardized housing built-form of a 1-2 or more BHK imagined for the inhabitation of a nuclear family, and on the basis of the separation of living, work and other cultural conditions. Such architectural manifestations have remained limited in accommodating the varied spatial practices of making home for diverse socioeconomic groups.
Mass inhabitations
The studio also undertook in-depth research and understanding of the city, its demographics; the current trends and projected future scenarios; and current mass housing stocks and redevelopment schemes. Among the various tendencies under urban renewal, one is a tendency to promote self-redevelopment of mass housing stock. The studio aimed at rethinkingthesetendenciesofurbanrenewalanddevelopnewermodelsofredevelopmentrangingfromcomplete retrofittocompleteredevelopment.
This proposal is a completeredevelopmentmodel where apart from rehabilitation, the redevelopment would generate tenements for sale & rent to cover the redevelopment costs. Its feasibility was established through an iterative set of calculations. A week-long site study and conversations with its residents shaped the concerns for the design. The linear typology of the existing built form results in an inward nature of the tenement and of the society as a whole, in terms of both people; and light and ventilation. Additionally, thehigh-riseformofmostcurrentmasshousingstockisnotsuitableforanagingpeople thathastodependonitsnetworkofrelationsandfriendsforcareandsupport. Hence, the intent became to rethink the form of mass housing to improve the quality of life of the resident, in itself and as a part of a community.
Rethinking redevelopment of co-op housing societies
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2 3 45 6 1 Site and context 2 Exisitingbuiltform 3 Proposedredevelopment 4 Defaultgrid 5 Grid rotation 6 Unitassemblydiagram 7 Unit iteration 1 8 Unit iteration 2 9 10PartcutplanSection
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Other works Working with different materials 1 23 4 1 432Playingwithconcrete,sem2Donkeystool,wood,sem1Experimentingwithferrocement,sem2Experimentingwithferrocement,sem2
Architectural kitchen workshop with Dushyant Asher 67 8 5 Formexperiments,glassfibre&resin 6 Materialmixturedepositionapparatus 7 Formexperiments,glassfibre&resin 85Mindmap
Life on a ‘phumdi’ in Loktak lake, Manipur
“In the few seconds that the hoard of men took to cross the street, Rahul had guessed a vague idea of why they were there, and he was assuming it wasn’t good. They came, and immediately threw a liquor bottle right at the couple’s feet. Initially shocked, Rahul turned to his wife to check if she was okay, she nodded. He turned to the horde, and before he could say a word, Manoj began his rant, “I had been working for Hiten bhai for four years. And in a single month, you managed to get me fired.” Rahul was confused by the accusation and apparently, it was evident in his face. Manoj continued, “Don’t play dumb with me. Hiten bhai’s business was crashing around him, he had not even paid us for the past two months. And then you poached his clients and he had to fire his staff to save himself from going broke. He told all this to us himself before firing us. You just came in with your branded clothes and wooed the clients. He even said that you are just a fraud who is eventually going to get caught.” Rahul was dumbstruck. He felt bad for the man but at the same time, it was business. The more he thought about the words, the angrier he got. His hearing was impaired by a high-pitched ringing and his rational thinking went to toss. He turned to his wife and convinced her to go back inside and stay there. After she went, he picked a brick from the roadside, and said, “you think that gives you enough reason to come in front of MY house and call ME a FRAUD?” and out of nowhere, he aimed the brick at Manoj’s head. As soon as it hit him, the others got scared and dragged the wailing, and probably bleeding man out of there. Unfazed at the moment by his actions, Rahul simply dropped the brick and went inside his home.”
(AnexcerptfromFraud,Error:404notfound)
Excerpts from textual works
“The first time I stood at this square, I found the darkness and almost zero visibility of the pathways intriguing, almost inviting me to explore. The circular square looked huge. I couldn’t have even run its diameter in one go. Ironically, the pathways seemed narrow enough to cover the width in three standing hops. The timber post being the only thing in sight, does catch your eye. It had a girth almost comparable to my shoulder width and was almost thrice as tall as me. It has four timber directions pointing towards the four pathways with the words Swaddlopia, Anxiousium, Petrichora & Reminiscaisle carved in them, the lowest of which was still two arm lengths above me. I read the words over and over. I felt intuitively close to them. Every time I read one of them, I felt different yet drawn to the pathway it was pointing towards. That day, unable to decide between the four, I chose to go towards the ‘Swaddlopia’ on the left based on the simple fact that I am left-handed. I started walking away from the post towards the entrance to the pathway humming one direction’s drag me down. In the middle of reciting the song for the third time I reached the entrance.” (AnexcerptfromGetset,eyesshut,flee!)
Postcard,ElectivesworkshopwithLorenzoFernandes(semester7)
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