R.S.Aruna: Architecture portfolio

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WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS

CAMPUS LIBRARY

MISC

Dear Dairy

a milk booth at a metro station

SEMESTER 2, YEAR 1

T h i s p r o j e c t i s a d a i r y p r o d u c t s

k i o s k p r e s e n t o u t s i d e a m e t r o

s t a t i o n . T h e c o n c e p t i n c o r p o r a t e s a m i l k b o t t l e a n d c h e e r f u l p a s t e l

c o l o u r s i n t h e d e s i g n .

BUILT UP AREA: 17.5 SQM

FEATURES:

Curves represent fluidity

Installation acts as signage and extends as roofing for the seating space

FRONT ELEVATION

3D MODELS

SIDE ELEVATION

SECTION A: Horizontal section SECTION B: Vertical section

FLOOR PLAN- DAIRY KIOSK

A r c h i t e c t u r e P o r t f o l i o

Shoreline Shack

a snack kiosk by the beachfront

SEMESTER 1, YEAR 1

T h i s p r o j e c t i s a s n a c k k i o s k

a l o n g t h e b e a c h f r o n t . I t f e a t u r e s b r i g h t r e t r o c o l o u r s

a n d a s h a c k l i k e e x t e r i o r t o

a t t r a c t t h e p e o p l e p a s s i n g

t h r o u g h t h e p r o m e n a d e .

SIDE ELEVATION

Bubble Diagram

BUILT UP AREA: 20.5 sqm

The concept of the kiosk is to be a bold statement on the beachfront, attracting customers to stop for a snack.

FRONT ELEVATION

3D MODEL VIEWS

FLOOR PLAN

A r c h i t e c t u r e P o r t f o l i o

Neuralib

Connecting ideas, inspiring progress

W i t h t h e f o r m i n s p i r e d b y a n e u r o n , t h e d i f f e r e n t s p a c e s o f t h e l i b r a r y b r a n c h o u t f r o m a c e n t r a l n o d e . T h e d e s i g n a s p i r e s t o e n c o u r a g e m o v e m e n t a n d c o n n e c t i v i t y w i t h i n a l l t h e s p a c e s i n t h e s i t e .

2 0 2 3

SEMESTER 6, YEAR 3

Study

Main Library BlockBasement

Interstitia spaces are made functionaloutdoor reading w th covered shed

PROJECT GALLERY

Main Library Block- First Floor

Main Library BlockSecond Mezzanine

Reading section with meeting ha lDouble height ce lngs Exhib tion hal at the entrance- g ass facade to draw attention from site entry

Children s Library: Pop of Colour, Kid fr endly furn ture

Main reference section: Triple height cei ing, sky ight, group seating, connected to archives

Outdoor canteen/ food k osk: Well connected to inter or spaces

Outdoor group study pods

The central ‘node’ - The pavilion

hall- Ground floor Auditorium

SECTION 1: AUDITORIUM

SECTION 2: MAIN LIBRARY BLOCK

SECTION 1: AUDITORIUM

SECTION 2: MAIN LIBRARY BLOCK

SECTION 2: MAIN LIBRARY BLOCK

SECTION 1: AUDITORIUM

A r c h i t e c t u r e P o r t f o l i o

Skilltech Institute

A vocational Training Centre for underprivileged youth

S i m p l e m i n i m a l i s t i c g e o m e t r i c

s h a p e s w i t h n o g r a n d e u r i s w h a t m a k e s t h i s p r o j e c t s p e c i a l .

I n s t e a d , t h i s c a m p u s a i m s t o

g i v e b a c k t o n a t u r e i n s m a l l

w a y s , w i t h s u s t a i n a b i l i t y a n d

n a t u r e a s i t s f o c a l p o i n t .

SEMESTER 4, YEAR 2

SITE SECTION 1: ADMIN AND AUDITORIUM

SITE SECTION 2: ADMIN, ACADEMIC AND HOSTELS

SITE SECTION 3: ADMIN, ACADEMIC AND CAFETERIA

SITE ELEVATION 2

SITE ELEVATION 1

A r c h i t e c t u r e P o r t f o l i o

Railway Residency

A railway colony in Mysore

M o d e l e d a f t e r I t a l i a n P i a z z a s , t h i s

r a i l w a y c o l o n y i s d e s i g n e d i n l a y e r s .

C e n t r a l l y i s a l a w n a n d a p a r k ,

s u r r o u n d e d b y t h e a m e n i t i e s ,

f o l l o w e d b y t h e r e s i d e n c e s a n d t h e

f i n a l l a y e r o f s e r v i c e s .

( T h i s p r o j e c t i s c u r r e n t l y i n p r o g r e s s

f o r s e m e s t e r 7 )

SEMESTER 7, YEAR 4

TYPE IV UNIT AND CLUSTER

TYPE III UNIT AND CLUSTER

TYPE II UNIT AND CLUSTER

ELEVATION 1: NORTH

ELEVATION 2: EAST

SITE SECTION 1: TYPE III

SECTION 2: TYPE IV

SECTION 3: TYPE II AND GUEST HOUSE

SITE SECTION 4

SITE SECTION 5: RESIDENTIAL BLOCKS

A r c h i t e c t u r e P o r t f o l i o

Miscellanous A collection of personal projects, technical drawings and art.

A s m a l l g l i m p s e i n t o p r o j e c t s a n d i d e a s t h a t i n t r i g u e d m e a n d

c a u g h t m y i n t e r e s t - a f e w

p e r s o n a l f a v o u r i t e s .

E x p e r i m e n t i n g w i t h n e w m e d i u m s

t o e x p r e s s m y s e l f h a s a l w a y s

b r o u g h t m e j o y .

RESCHOOL 2021 COMPETITION

LOCATION: Chiramadam Village, Nagercoil district, Tamil Nadu, India

TOTAL BUILT UP: 488 sqm

DESIGN BRIEF:

To design an innovative school innovative school that focuses on activitybased learning for students of age 5-10. There are indoor and outdoor classes for students based on the subjects. Since the school is located in an agriculture intensive area, it doubles down as a Farmers Market post school hours. It is a centre of education, commerce and society combined into one.

MATERIALS: Clay Tile Red Brick Teak timber Steel Glass

RENDERS- INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR

CONCEPTUAL SKETCHES AND IDEAS

RESIDENCE EXTERIOR RENDERS

I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with new forms of art. After spending my entire childhood experimenting with traditional mediums like acrylics and watercolour, I found my love for digital art during university. I have dabbled with concept art for articles, animations for events, album designs for aspiring musicians, logos for college clubs and small businesses, merchandise for cultural fests and even personal commissions forpersonal events for loved ones. I love taking up new projects of different types to expand my expertise.

In the 1961 book ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ by Jane Jacobs, she criticizes how lifeless cities, devoid of warmth or character, rose with modernisation and the growth of the human population. It has since been over six decades since 1961 and the global population has only been on a steady incline. Earth is home to over 8 BILLION people, and the need to question and restructure city and urban plans is now greater than ever.

In the race to accommodate the rapid influx of people moving into major cities, in search of jobs, education and a better life, the human dimension of city planning has lost precedence. Cities are an immense laboratory of trial and error and every move made affects the lives of entire neighbourhoods. Jane Jacobs brought up the example of Morningside heights in New York City to illustrate her point, but I would like to state a more recent example in an Indian context.

I have been born and brought up in Chennai all my life, and both my parents spent their lives in this city too. Unlike cities like Mumbai where the division between the rich and poor, the posh areas and the slums are apparent, Chennai’s slums were more sporadic in nature. They were scattered around the city, taking up small spaces in each neighbourhood, lining up from Adyar to Teynampet. During the period of Jayalalitha’s government, these slums were considered an eyesore to the city and a Slum Clearance board was initiated to provide these residents with more opportunities and better housing. This a classic example of a great idea, but catastrophic execution.

The residents of these slums were allotted a space near Old Mahabalipuram Road, and boxed apartments were built for everyone. From a distance, everything seemed completely okay- but what the government failed to consider was how this would entirely isolate these residents and the lives they were used to in the city. Chennai is a conservative city to a fault- many residents of this new ‘Kannagi nagar ’ could not find employment anywhere when they mentioned their locality. They were branded as thieves, alcoholics and soon the entire neighbourhood was known for its crime rates. Since this space was on the outskirts of the city, transport to and from their earlier places of work would also put a significant dent in these dwellers’ living expenses. With no employment and constant scrutiny from law enforcement just because of the place they lived in, many of the citizens of Kannagi Nagar turned to a life of crime- a live example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. And so, improper city planning has destroyed the lives of over 200 families.

The above example was a dinner table conversation that echoed throughout my childhood- and it had stuck with me ever since. Because of no mistake of their own, so many lives were ruined. It brings into perspective how the residents must be the focal point in any city planning initiative. If practicality and aesthetics take precedence over actual human lives, it will lead to tragedy on such large scales. What is the point of a visually pleasing design when it has no use to the people actually utilising the space?

This is what Jan Gehl suggests in his book too -

Documenting the lives of people is an essential part of city planning. When even a simple product is being marketed, its target demographic is thoroughly researched. When cities of such massive scales are being designed and when this affects the lives of thousands, the study should begin at the human level.

He separates city spaces into essential, optional and social spaces- all of these integrated into the city. No space in the city should be purposeless- even as we walk through the streets we are in contact with other people and the world around us.

The psychological concept of proxemics coined by Edward Hall also plays into this aspect. Any space that we utilize- from our own bedrooms to the street we cross to get our lunch- we come into contact with other people. This is what Jan Gehl once again mentions as ‘life between buildings’- making the city a meeting place. When planners aim for more than just ensuring that people can walk and bike in cities, the focus expands from merely providing sufficient space for movement to the much more significant challenge of enabling people to have direct contact with the society around them. In turn, this means that public space must be alive, with many different groups of people using it. There are positives and negatives in every city in the world- but when people are put at the forefront of city planning instead of practicality or profits, it will result in happier citizens, livelier cities and better lives for all.