Architecture portfolio

PORTFOLIO

roshnichiragshah@gmail.com

ROSHNI SHAH

EDUCATION

2015-2020|Bachelor’s in Architecture

School of Environmental Design and Architecture, NUV (SEDA)

Vadodara

2021-2022| Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities (MAEBB)

IAAC, Barcelona

WORKSHOPS

2020|Pottree Ceramic Studio- wheel work and glazing

2019| Architecture journalism

Chief editor- CON_quest

https://issuu.com/con-questseda/docs/issuu_1

2017| Leewardist- Architectural storyboarding

2016| Hunnarshala- Passive building and Earth consruction

2016| Auroville- Voulanteer work- garndens and landscapes

Leadership role

Subordinate role

Team work

Client interraction

INFO

I believe in the power of meticulous design to build a refined way of living.

roshnichiragshah@gmail.com

linkedin.com/in/roshni-shah-1114b4148

+91 9898077884

WORK EXPERIENCE

Nov 2022- on going| Meraki Studio

- Meraki new office- Site architect

-Design execution and stage-wise planning

- Co-ordination of various agencies invovled

- Sourcing materials and tools for efficient fabrication

Nov 2020-mar 2020| Site Art Space, Rachaita Creations

- Furniture design head

- Ideation and fabrication of furniture range

- Client analysis and pitch formulation

- Brochure design

Jan 2018- june 2018| PAN ARCH, COlombo, Sri Lanka

- Intern designer for Romance valley project

- Analytical site drawings and conceptual

diagramming

- Construction stage documentation and task-time management

WORKING PATTERNS

Inquisitiveness

Experimentation

passion

Context study and research

Conceptualising

Space organisation

Structural design

Detailing

Rhino

Grasshopper

Autocad

Sketchup

Revit

SKILL SET

V-Ray

Hand drafting

Sketching

CONTENTS

1

BUILT PROJECTS

Meraki new Office Ar. priyak Shah’s office and collaborative studio

2 DESIGN PROJECTS

Sheepscape sustainable social housing

5

Twister Lamp design and fabrication

3

4 COMPETITIONS

RESEARCH THESIS

Rock-bottom ArchDaily| Reimagining Guggenheim (winning entry)

The role of a Flea market in the urban fabric- Case of Vadodara Shukravari

MASTERS IN ECOLOGICAL BUILDING AND BIOCITIES- IAAC, Barcelona

F.L.O.R.A

NIU-NIU Installation design and fabrication

FOREST LAB FOR OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

MERAKI- NEW OFFICE 1

Head architect- Ar. Priyank Shah, Ar. Pavna Shah

Site architect- Roshni Shah

Fabrication team- Raadhe fabricators

Carpentry team- Mr. Mahendra Bharti

Civil team- Mr. Rakesh

Electircal team- Mr. Samir Sheikh

Glass works- Mr. Rakesh parikh, Mr. Anuj

Drafting team- Mr. Gopi, Sunidhi, Priyanshi

Individual role:

Material calculations and sourcing

3D renders and drawings

Model making head

Agency co-ordination and supervision

On-site detailing

ARCLANE

furniture design company

ARTA BROCH ceramics company

MIYAWAKI

FOREST by meraki

BANANA

GORWA BIDC

Meraki Design studio is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative architecture firm with focus on the ideas of ‘up-cycling’ as a step towards achieving a sustainable built environment. It’s core beliefs are inclusive of various art forms including paintings, sculpture, cinematography and so on. The new office building for meraki studio has been imagined to become a felxible space capable of expanding its functionaity to provide for the various interests of the firm and to be a part of the process of innovations that the firm aims at bringing. The office responds well to the site that is set in an industrial estate. The challenge of the site was the refurbishment of an existing warehouse build in pure masonary with a plaintif metal roof, hardly providing for climate control.

SATYANARAN INDUSTRIAL ESTATE

BANANA PLANTATIONS

SANDALWOOD TREE PLANTATIONS

In-house artist cabin

Work-space for fenka artists

Viewing balcony and lounge

Fenka tool room

Fenka office

Art gallery

Light-weight metal construction was chosen for for the intervention. The space is divided into two parts attending to two branches that the office funtions in- Meraki studio is an architecture and interior design office situated in the right wing and the left wing is for a scrapbased furniture design venture called ‘Fenka’.

Fenka is a hands-on collaborative venture, The ground floor is dedicated to providing wide open space for experiments and can also be transformed into a displlay gallery space as required. provisions for tools and machines is done behind the flush cement-sheet finished walls that can be used for artistic display.

One enters into Meraki office through a welllike double height foyer space that connects to the main office on the right and workspaces on the left. A wood+metal staircase adroens the empty wall on the left eccentuating the contrasts in three basic materials used through out the design.

A wooden stairce sourced from a dismanteled haveli leads to the ‘L’ shaped mezzanine above the gallery space, crating interesting play in volume and generating a balcony-view for the gallery. This also connects to meraki office mezzanine through an unsualy intricate gateway in the center wall.

The staircase on meraki wing takes one atop a bridge entering an extremely flexible space barely divided by foldable glass partitions to maximise sunlight and outside connect. Meraki lounge provides access to a quaint balcony intuded by a bamboo thicket.

Meraki workstations

Ar. Priyank Shah’s cabin Foyer and reception

Meraki porfolio consultancy

Meraki Lounge

SHEEP- SCAPE 2

Completed in a team of three- Romain Russe, Pablo Herraiz Garcia de Guadiana, Roshni Shah

Mentored by- Vicente guallart, Miguel Rodriguez, Javier Garcial-German, Elena Orte and Guillermo Sevillano, Oscar Acaves

Special thanks to- Barak Pelman, Alexander Hadley, Bruno Ganem

Credits:

Renders- Romain russe

Diagrams- Pablo Herraiz, Roshni Shah

Parametric Exoskeleton- Romain Russe

Metabolics of energy and water- Roshni Shah

Programatic resolution- Pablo Herraiz

Sheepscape is a visualization of the urban utopia of what Bruno Latour referred to as ‘terrestrial positivity’ The Social housing project explores the possibility of accommodating not just agriculture witin cities but also animal herding and co-habaitation of humans and animals as equals in the same physical space we know as Earth. The project is Situalted in Sociopolis, an urbanization project in the city of Valencia, Spain. Sheepscape finds its inspiration in the nautical elements of this beach city. It’s ship-like form with bule tiled walls resembling fish scales establish strong linkages to the culture of Valencia.

THERMODYNAMIC MASSING

1. Plot maximization

3. Shaded public atrium

5. Sheep landscape peeling from ground for accessibility to restaurant

2. Wind tunnel

4. Daylight exposure on all facades

6. Punctures in the volume for porosity of wind and light

7. Exostructure enveloping

Roof top solar panels

Central atrium

STRUCTURAL FACADE

The facade of the building is the most impressive feature. It multiplicates its funtionality as an exostructure, solar energy producing surface and semi-covered balconies. A diagrid frame envelops the building connecting the core through puntures of courtyards on various floor providing structural stability to the complex geometry of the building. The diagrid is primararily composed of continuous columns connecting floorplatesand triangulating with diagonals. Every alternate floor forms triangular balconies following the structure.

Img 1. (top) Wall section details Img 2. (bottom) Blacony and photovoltaic facade detail

Img 3. (top) Model for exostructure enveloping Img 4. (bottom) Detail model of a 4-way junction

rock bottom 3 RE-IMAGINING GUGGENHEIM

SWITCH COMPETITION- ARCHDAILY

https://switchcompetition.com/guggenheim-museum-new-york-results

The aim of the competition is to re-create the iconic museum in NYC by the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright at the same exact site but with an entirely new perspective by the participants. The competition offers a chance to re-design the museum created by the master himself, with a similar intent to break from the prevalent conventionality in designing a museum and gallery space and create an innovative and extraordinary built form. The in-situ replacement of the existing museum should be iconic and revolutionary, capable of transforming the urban form of NYC in a similar or a more powerful way. The response should be FLW-like, where he constantly strived to devise new architecture systems that were ahead of his time and were hailed as wonders of the modernist movement.

Plaza- above the ground access andpublic space and

impending catalytic events. York City. The whelved spaces create an interesting experience of drilled out trench. rotunda at the central lobby is reminiscent of FLW’s existing museum. the permanent exhibition spaces.

levels under the surface of the earth. These spaces are connected out within the trench cavity. One experiences the trench as they through a series of bridges that cross at various levels within the pit

shifting void to carved transition

A series of bridges span across various distances in the void connecting various volumes and accentuating the experience of the void.

acts as people to discuss art heat winter.

Credits:

Meghna Kanungo, Vishesh Narola, Varun Shah

Mentored by- Dhruv Shah, Prof. Percy Pithawala

Replicating the central atrium of the existing Guggenheim, the glass roof illuminates the trench along with providing natural light to the conservatory.

Guggenheim Repository

“Maybe you are searching among the branches, for what only appears in the roots.”

We strongly feel the urgent need to conserve art for all posterity in the face of the impending catalytic events.

Our proposal envisages a thriving public space amidst the high rise density of New York City. The whelved spaces create an interesting experience of negative space in the city of skyscrapers. It goes 360 m into the ground in the form of a drilled out trench.

A domed plaza encasing a conservatory forms an approach for the building. The rotunda at the central lobby is reminiscent of FLW’s existing museum.

The first three levels under the earth comprise of reception, offices, seminar rooms and the permanent exhibition spaces.

We propose to accommodate all the functional programmes at varying subterranean levels under the surface of the earth. These spaces are connected to the main exhibition spaces and other spaces through lifts and corridors carved out within the trench cavity. One experiences the trench as they descend into the cavity through the lift cores. Galleries are connected to each other through a series of bridges that cross at various levels within the pit further enhancing the experience of the museum.

Underground cavity Circulation system Bridges

The proposal breaks the verticality of New York by reversing the process and grows underground generating a void.

A series of radially shifting elevators run around the void to journey down. Corridors carved out of the void act as transition channels.

A series of bridges span across various distances in the void connecting various volumes and accentuating the experience of the void.

Sporadic vertical distribution of volumes with large exhibition spaces on the top and ancillory spaces dispersed below.

The green conservatory acts as a public space for people to come together and discuss art related issues along with heat generation for the winter.

Exhibition spaces Observatory Atrium

Replicating the central atrium of the existing Guggenheim, the glass roof illuminates the trench along with providing natural light to the conservatory.

View of the creek from the conservatory

Conservatory

Exhibition sapce- looking up to the atrium dome

Documenting Vadodara

- Thesis 2020 4

Shukravari

The

role of a flea market in the contemporary urban environment

Thesis mentor- Ar. Priyank Shah| Chief Architect- Smart cities India Programme head- Ar. Pratyush Shankar| Dean- SEDA Speciality guide- Manubhai Nirmal| Ex-Fine Arts MSU facutly and reknowed art collector

‘THINK GLOBAL ACT LOCAL’

“...education in seeing will be quite important as the reshaping of what is seen. Indeed, they together form a circular, or hopefully a spiral, process: visual education impelling the citizen to act upon his visual world, and this action causing him to see even more acutely. A highly developed art of urban design is linked to the creation of a critical and attentive audience. If art and audience grow together, then our cities will be a source of daily enjoyment to millions of their inhabitants.”

- Kevin Lynch (Image of a city. 1960)

Following up on the ideas of Kevin Lynch and Chirstopher Alexander, the research aims to quantify the relevance of flea markets in the contemporary urban fabric of a city. It seeks to understand and analyze flea market as an event and the ability of urban-scape of cities to accommodate such institutions along with the socio-spacial values possessed by a these markets that make them functional even today.

In a country like india, where the unorganized sector exists parallel to the formalized sector, ‘architecture without architects makes up an essential component of the urban fabric of a city and has become an intrinsic part of the lifestyle and forms an integral part of the Indian urban experience, selling everything from shoes to furniture at affordable rates. The thesis is an attempt to evaluate the place of Flea markets within a built and unbuilt urban environment through a process of research and documentation.

Objectives:

- To study Understanding the overlap of flea markets with the contemporary urban fabric

- Studying the organic arrangement of markets that generate a sense of event

- Understanding the relationship of flea markets with lifestyle of inhabitants around host location and user groups

- Documenting the area of influence of the market contributing to it being a link for global connect

UNDERSTANDING TEMPORAL MARKETS-CASE STUDIES

overlapping on urban fabric

Unorganised markets around the worls

Els Encants

Besiktas Fishmarket

QUALITIES OF A VALUEABLE PUBLIC SPACE

-Case of Vadodara shukravaari

Accessibility of a space is the connection it holds with the city and the permeability, both physical and spacial

- Visual accessibility

- Physical accessibility

Safety-sense of security pertaining against personal harm or harm to belongings is necessary for a public space in order to conduct people within the space.

Democratic environment-a public space is required to host all the sections of the demographic of the city.

Interactive pauses-in order to let people linger in the large open space,pauses that allow them to talk and perceive the vibrancy of the space becomes essential. Place identity and recognition-within a wide open space, the sense of awareness of the environment provides location a land-cognitive understanding of the space for its users and generates attachment to the space.

Multi-functionality-the spacial integration and form dictates the functional utilization of the space. This inturn defines the typology of user groups.

Freedom of choice-provision of options for the users to have a control over the space, its movement and its activities also accentuates the attraction that the space provides to the public.

Aesthetic qualities-interesting views,use of colours, mysterious elements generating curiosity, etc all contribute to the aesthetic qualities of a space

Vadodara shukravaari- overlap on urban fabric

CLIMATIC CONTROL

CIRULATION OF USER GROUPS

Climate control- green cover + water bodies v.s built area

Movement- Seller v.s. buyer traffic

TACTICAL URBANISM

Seating systems- sellers

CONCLUSIONS

Sustainability- Flea markets are a destination for second hand and resale products. Resale and reuse of products promotes the idea of sustainability. Since the market is an unbuilt structure and can be assembled and disassembled it leaves no residue imprints on the ground and does not have a negative impact on the environment.

Temporality- This market happens once a week for the entire day and the host public space is open to a different use for rest of the week making the space multi-functional. Also, it creates a sense of event among the local population where people look forward to finding some unique products and being a part of a large gathering.

Low cost- Since Shukravari is temporary, it is generally built with make-shift techniques that are easy, cheap and sustainable. The products on sale are also second hand goods that can be bought at a bargained rate.

Adaptive- Unorganized nature of the market allows it to be highly flexible, adaptive and inclusive making it an open ended expression.

Democratic- Shukravari is not governed by a private person, organization or group and is neither is it a government owned market, it is set up by the local communities of vendors belonging to all religious and socio-economic backgrounds. Hence anyone and everyone is free to attend or partake in the market.

Variety- Unlike buit markets of cloth, fruits and vegetables, crockery, etc; the Shukravari is not dedicated to any particular product giving it the unique quality of anything and everything and increasing its reach through the various sections of the society.

Credits: Romain Russe, Roshni Shah

Mentored by- Bruno Ganem

The Anti-gravity lamp, as the name suggests, was conceived as a structure that creates an illusion of standing without a support giving it a magical effect.

Project brief

Designing products to understand the interaction of fabrication tools and machines with various materials. The base material provided was a Plywood sheet of 2400mm x 1500mm x 15mm

Design process

Tensegrity is a structural principle where compression members are arranged within a loop of tension members so as to generate a prestress and allowing the structure to eliminate external support and stand by itself.

The first step of designing a lamp was to understand the functioning of tensegrity in order to manipulate it for the ‘magic’ effect. Quick prototyping was an essential step to develop an optimized design.

A simple tensegrity tripod module was generated in grasshopper in order to stimulate modifications.

Design decisions:

- Eliminating vertical tension members in the tripod

- Scaling up the base triangle for structural stability

- Twisting the top triangle and re-connecting the compression members

Assembly

Materials used:

- 2400mm x 1500mm x 15mm Plywood sheets

- Recyclable red PLA

- 3mm tension cables

- 21V LED strip [3000k warmth]

- Electrical cable

- Wire sleeve

- 2mm transparent acrylic sheet

Fabrication process

Step 1- Preparing CNC files for plywood members

Step 2- 3D printing the connectors

Step 3- Electrical connections

Step 4- Connecting tension members

Step 5- Assembly

Credits: Students at Valldauura LabsBatch of 2020-21, Alex Hadley, Bruno Ganem, Kya Kerner, Vicente Guallart, Daniel Ibanez

The intention of this wooden nest is to enhance and uplift the entrance to the School, bringing the energy of the forest down to the city. ]This nest is constructed from over 1.500 wooden elements, each cut using robotic precision to carry the structure above the wall. The pieces are modular and self-supporting, meaning the form is flexible yet the structure becomes rigid when connected together. This project was designed and assembled by the students and staff at Valldaura Labs, in collaboration with the students and families of Escola Entença.

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Assembling with students and parents

Assembly completion

Preparing ‘+’ shaped latice- 45mmx45mmx600mm

Transporting on site

F.L.O.R.A

FOREST LAB FOR OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH

AND ANALYSIS draws it inspiration from a camouflaged hunter in hiding observing his surroundings. The contrast between the man-made world of orthogonal regularities and organic but controlled geometris creates a liminality where the two can interract harmoniously.

It aims to allow humans to learn from the nature without drastically distrubing it.

Architecture- The 8m high structure sits atop 4 timber colums. The solid core encloses all the technical equipments attached to F.L.O.R.A- cameras, sound recorders and weather station to give live feedbacks to the system. The walkways attached to the core are wrapped in a lattice net mesh that is designed to host climbing Ivys and create the camouflage for people to see the outside without being seen.

It was concived as a cell with a central enclosed nucleus and a semi-exterior interractive space.

Functionality- Funtionally inspired from the idea of integrating humans into nature in order to understand it better. It comprises of a small but acommodative cabin for biologists and other bio-diversity enthusiasts .The walkways facilitate acess to all the stratas of a tree- canopies, trunks and roots. The light net mesh creates a visual enclosure for the users.

F.L.O.R.A is build on the slopes of a valley known as ‘hell’s creek’ in the Collserola natural park.

1. Reaching out to tree crowns

Solid enclosed core

2. connectivity to bridge

3. Camouflage wrapping- membrane skin

Permeable membrane envelop

Morphing the membrane to reach canopies

Section of F.L.O.R.A

F.L.O.R.A from across the valley

Materiality- Largely made of timber, the structure uses timber in its various capacities. Solid raw wood members form the footing and supporting diagonals. The core is made of CLT panels while the bridge beams use GLT in order to optimise the strength with material saving. The lattice net is a nylon net mesh stitched from 4 parts. The form of the net is derived through a process of minimal surface generation for relaxed meshes.

Fabrication- The trees slected based on the ideas of ‘forestry management’ were brought back to the facility to be sliced into planks and let dry. The planks were processed into CLT walls and GLT beams spanning upto 12m in length. While chunky structural elements were processed raw wood elements. The foundations of F.L.O.R.A are laid in lime-crete mix prepared on site by the students.

Strict geometrical and solid structure core

Organic and feather light skin

FABRICATION AND ASSEMBLY

Processing cut wood

Tree sliced on saw mill to produce planks

Assembling the bridge

making GLT beams

Assembling the core

Preparing for Lime-crete foundations

Prototying for net mesh

Stitching mesh on site

Prototying for net mesh

Raw wood columns and diagonals

assembling core and bridge connection on site

Finishing touches

THANK YOU