Graduate Architect Portfolio

PORTFOLIO

Swathi Devadas

Š 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced. in any form without written permission of copyright owner.

Table of Contents Resume Statement

04 06

ACADEMIC

Outsizing Crimped and Puffy Cyborg Misprision AI Urbanism - Deep Time Xchange Contemporary Practice Design Development Man-made Nature The Big Picture Processing Structural Systems Building Systems Semblances Lines, Composite and Texture Tectonics Urban Nexus The Forgotten

08 22 30 40 46 60 68 90 108 118 124 130 136 154 162 174 182

PROFESSIONAL

Crossroads Residence Residential Projects

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Resume

SD PERSONAL

EDUCATION

Swathi Devadas 09/27/1991 10,000 Imperial Hwy B209 Downey, CA 90242 626-756-0350 swathidevadas@gmail.com

Southern California Institute of Architecture Los Angeles, California, United States of America Masters in Architecture School of Planning and Architecture Mysore, Karnataka, India Bachelors in Architecture Bharathiya Viya Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir Irinjalakuda, Kerala, India Schooling

2019 2015 2010

LICENSE Registered Architect Council of Architecture, India Credential ID - CA/2018/97654

SKILLSET DIGITAL

Rhinoceros 3D Autodesk Revit AutoCAD Pixologic ZBrush Google SketchUP V-Ray KeyShot Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Adobe After Effects Microsoft Office Java-based Processing MANUAL

Sketching Drafting Model Making

EXPERIENCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS Intern at Lehrer Architects, Los Angeles Architect at Namasthe Kerala Projects, Irinjalakuda Intern at Design Combine , Cochin Member of Design Team that won the National NASA G-Sen Design Trophy Member of Design Team that won Special Mention in the Design Competion, Collector Light Selected as the School Head Girl

2018 2016 2014 2013 2011 2009

EVENTS AND PARTICIPATION Young Architects Festival Indian Institute of Architects Awards Event Malnad Architecture Students Association Convention National Convention of NationalArchitecture Students Association Zonal Convention of National Architecture Students Association COA - NIASA Architecture Thesis Excellence Awards Event Zonal Convention of National Architecture Students Association

2014 2014 2014 2013 2013 2012 2011

06

Statement

Swathi Devadas, is an M.Arch graduate from Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Originally, from India, she completed her undergraduate studies at Mysore University in 2015 and is a licensed architect in the country. She has observed art and architecture in various cultures deeply through travel and exploration. During her undergraduate studies, she has involved in group activities and had been a part of the organization committee of NIASA and ZONASA 2014. She was also a part of the design team that won the National Level Design Trophy at Nasa Convention in 2013. She has attended a number of guest lectures and seminars during this time which made her more confident when it comes to presentations. Her work experience as an architect in India and as an intern in California has helped her gain experience specifically in commercial and housing projects. Her graduate education at Sci-Arc has been crucial in moulding her software skills. She believes in the language of architecture to bring about changes in this world and aspires to reach this goal through her works.

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Outsizing Thesis

Summer 2019 Instructors: Andrew Zago (Thesis Prep), Ramiro Diaz - Granados (Thesis )

As ground for understanding scales, conventional elements such as windows and doors have historically helped in evaluating the functionality of a space through their scale specificity. These elements have been taken for granted for so long that their relevance in the traditional scalar relations are often not acknowledged and the spatial proportions assume to accommodate their pre-conceived, in-built dimensions. This project consequently alters the state of architectural elements in the analytical toolkit to emancipate them from normative rationality.

Exploiting the power of scaling , the ideas and ideals of spatial, functional, material and contextual criteria are quentioned here. The typical San Francisco bay window serves as the object for this analysis, scrutinized by an operational set of rules revolving around scaling.

Blown up to street scale, the window becomes a habitable volume, shedding the general assumptions of classical architectural synthesis. Through scaling, the elements transcend conventional borders and ultimately dissolve their identities to embrace new scenarios. It allows us to create proportional wholes from disproportional parts. A thin line of legibility separates them from their originals to create ambiguous associations and moments of familiarity in a strange setting; abstract yet clear; old yet new. These new objects act as infills in a vernacular streetscape, capable of communicating with their immediate surrounding.

This thesis, however, does not intend to discuss about the many narratives of form. It is a logbook of various formal procedures undertaken to build the iterations. It is a journey from form to function. The aim here is not to design a space but to pick the right set of operations, free from constraints to achieve desirable outputs as a result of deliberate attempts to dissolve scale, function and materiality.

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Typical Window and Typical House in the Common Bounding Box

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House 1

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House 2

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House 3

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House 1 First Floor

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House 1 Second Floor

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House 1 Third Floor

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Street Elevation

Roof Plan

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Physical Models

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Crimped and Puffy Visual Studies

Summer 2019 Instructor: Rachael McCall

Eliciting thoughts of fashion, layered flaky pastry and strange hair styles, forms and textural responses are to play on the terms, crimped and puffy. What can these words can evoke as objects, sounds and animations?

A series of objects and scenes were developed and staged and their artificial environment was enhanced through dynamics, sounds, post-production effects and animation. Working in the territory of contemporary architecture practice, in the interest of advancing image production, techniques in modeling and animation, as well as investigating the new paradigm of virtual reality (VR) was developed virtuosity in multiple mediums. In a time when the search for integrating and finding relevance for virtual reality in contemporary architecture practice is underway and evolving at a rapid rate, this seminar will investigated how VR can be used for architectural production and move beyond its status as mainly a representation and viewing tool. Challenging the smooth slickness of spline and polygon modeling of the 1990s and early 2000s, the seminar operated within the current post-digital context, investigating ideas of precise and intentional unruliness, mixing rustication and delicacy, and how formal legibility is affected by rips, wrinkles, peeling, and fuzz.

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Objects

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Carcass Collection I

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Carcass Collection II

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Cyborg Misprision II Vertical Studio

Spring 2019 Instructor: David Ruy

Something has changed. Though architecture has been talking about the crisis of the discipline since the 60’s, this time it feels real. Technology plays a big part in this crisis. It has become normal today to use Google image search for finding architectural precedents and authoritative journals and institutions have lost their influence. We know the world more through our devices than through books, hearsay, or personal experience. It used to take a long time to get to know or develop a form and a style. Today, we type in some words like, “Le Corbusier 5 points,” and get back “About 1,760,000 results (0.62 seconds).” Most of the images retrieved are copies of copies of copies.

What does originality mean in this context? Who is retrieving these images? How should we use these images? What are we to do with this surplus, this accursed shared? Perhaps there is no need to develop a new formalism for these new technologies because it is already formal to begin with. Our very atmosphere, our mediated existence may have an inescapable formal structure. Perhaps contemporary forms and styles are absorbing architecture. Perhaps there is no need to develop a new formalism for these new technologies because it is already formal to begin with. Our very atmosphere, our mediated existence may have an inescapable formal structure. We use the words form and style all the time, and like all words that are commonly used, their exact meanings are vague. The scholarship on these two words and what they represent is immense. The studio focused on “formalism” to develop some self-consciousness about style.

We will design a hotel. However, this hotel will merely be a vehicle for developing our ideas about form and style.

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Style Image

Form Image

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AI generated Image

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Wall Texture

Stage 1

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Stage 2

Stage 3

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Atrium Wall

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Form Axonometric

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Elevation

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AI Urbanism - Deep Time History - Theory

Spring 2019 Instructors: Benjamin H. Bratton Team: Swathi Devadas, Andrew Chittenden, Cisem Saglam, Eric R. Valle, Nicholas Persio

While artificial intelligence may be uniquely suited to process data across superhuman timescales, such durations call into question the sustainability of current data collection and storage methods. Eventually, we must run out of space, or it must take too long to actually access—let alone process—the data for it to be useful. The “Infinite Container Problem” attempts to confront this issue and strategize methods for managing and utilizing volumes of data that perpetually threaten to approach infinity.

Our proposal aims to document the physical, visible urban environment as a three-dimensional photogrammetrized model, updated periodically.We expect the gradual changes in geology, ecology, and the built environment within our site boundaries to have uses on a scale beyond the scope of routine human behavior, but well before geological deep time.

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Data Collection and the Six Sensors

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Response to Trigger and Life Cycle / Maintenance Chart

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Placement of Sensors in the Bradbury Building

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Urban Coverage

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Xchange Vertical Studio

Fall 2019 Instructor: Hsinming Fung Team: Swathi Devadas, Anna Bahudian

The purpose of education is fundamentally structured around an exchange of ideas, yet the idea of exchange can assume multiple variations depending on the context that can trigger various effects. In this sense, new technologies have not only redefined the notion of exchange, they have expanded and redefined it. To a certain extend, architecture also operates in a continuos line of constant exchanges, either through the urban relationships, or through its own, internal spatialitity. In a similar sense, academic buildings are nothing but “exchange clusters�, places where knowledge is exchanged and retained, in a continuos process of decay, challenge and renewal. The point is that, Architecture needs to become the instigator, the subversive element that is disruptive to the established ways of thinking.

The studio researched the core objectives and resulting incarnations of a freshly invigorated typology - an institute of learning - on a site in Bogota, Colombia, where the priorities and traditional objectives have not yet calcified.

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Site Analysis

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Massing/Circulation Studies Research / Laboratories 70,000 sq ft

Teaching / Classrooms 20,000 sq ft

Public Interactive Spaces 60,000 sq ft

Gallery / Exhibition 25,000 sq ft

Cafe 4,500 sq ft Gallery Store 15,000 sq ft Auditorium 5,000 sq ft

Library 20,000 sq ft

Teaching / Classrooms 60,000 sq ft

School Administration 30,000 sq ft

Common Area 10,000 sq ft

Program Distribution

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First Floor Plan

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Third Floor Plan

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Sixth Floor Plan

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Sections

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Renders

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Physical Model

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Contemporary Practice Applied Studies

Fall 2018 Instructor: Jerry Neuman Team: Swathi Devadas, Sarah Carcamo, Daniel Otte, Frank Parrado, Joseph Suh

Through an adaptive Reuse Proposal for the Historic Van Luit Complex at Atwater Village, the means and methods of creating a practice were explored by engaging in the dynamics of real project design and approval.

We proposed a low impact, limited density, mixed-use development that can serve as an example of how to integrate deteriorating industrial parcels in such a way as to ensure compatibility with the neighbourhood’s quite, residential character and the burgeoning recreational uses along the Los Angeles River. Our proposal consisted of approximately 30 residential units over 41,000 SF as well as 44,000 SF of commercial office and limited retail and recreational spaces for a total FAR of 0.58 (just over the third of the permissible FAR of 1.5).

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Site Analysis Population Density

Age Group

Occupied Housing Units

Consumer Spending

Total Population - 28,685 Male Population - 14,461 Female Population - 14,224 Median Age - 38

Demographics

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Existing Condition Site Area - 145,943 sq ft Allowable F.A.R - 1.5 Proposed F.A.R - 0.61 Total Building Area - 89,000 sq ft

Vehicular

Bicycle

Pedestrian

Site Access

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Existing and Proposed

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Proposed Programs POTENTIAL RENT REVENUE Residential - 30 units x 12 months x $2,900 unit average = $1,044,000 Commercial - 30,000 x 24-35$/sf/year = $720,000 - $1,050,000 Retail - 5,000 x 2.71$/sf/month x 12 months = $168,000 Restaurant - 3,500 x 4$/sf/month x 12 months = $168,000 Parking and Event Space - $75,800

Total Gross Area - 89,000 sq ft New Construction - 25,000 sq ft ; Anticipated Construction Cost - $200/sq ft Renovation - 67,500 sq ft ; Anticipated Renovation Cost - $100/sq ft

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Site Plan

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Floor Plan

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Design Development Applied Studies

Fall 2018 Instructor: Herwig Baumgartner, Brian Zamora Consultants: Mathew Melnyk, Jamey Lyzun Team: Swathi Devadas, Swetha Arunkumar, Priyanka Patel, Jiayin Wei, Kyunghyun Lew

This course investigated issues related to the implementation of design: technology, the use of materials, system integration and the archetypal analytical strategies of force, order and character. The course included a review of basic and advanced construction methods, analysis of building codes, the design of structural and mechanical systems, environmental systems, building service systems, the development of building materials and the integration of building components and systems to develop a cohesive understanding of how architects communicate complex building systems for the built environment and to demonstrate the ability to document a comprehensive architectural project.

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Mega Chunk

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2D Facade Chunk

3D Detail

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Opening Detail

3D Detail

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Wall Chunk

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2D Details

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Primary Structure Graviational Forces

Primary Structure Seismic and Lateral Forces

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Secondary Structure

Structural System Cost

Facade System Cost

Finising Cost

Mechanical and Environmental System Cost

Total Cost per Square Feet

Cost and Estimation

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Building Envelope System Selection

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Construction Material Selection

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ADA

Egress

81

MEP Building System

Fire Seperation and Reflected Ceiling Plan

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Environmental Systems

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Day Light and Ventilation Strategies

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Acoustics

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Panel Design

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Hand -made Panel

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Man-made Nature Design Studio

Spring 2018 Instructor: Kristy Balliet Team: Swathi Devadas, Divyansh Agarwal

While classical ideals of nature disappear, the territory of nature has silently become an area for work, speculation and potentially a new aesthetic of architecture. Here, we take on this controversial discussion - how contemporary “architecture” engages with “nature” within a high density city setting like Downtown LA. The project is productively situated between a mid-rise and tower massing, during one of the fastest economic turns that transformed a low density industrial zone into a highly valuable land for mixed-used developments. The area of the project is in transition from horizontal fringe to a vertical landscape condition. A mixture of expansive market hall and repetitive vertical housing units is exploited through the deliberate integration of nature, real, implied or fake. This combination required innovative reconsideration of circulation models, hybrid structural systems and an extensive exploration of material and color. The relationship between a commodified nature and urban inhabitation was the silent protagonist of the Design Studio. The relationship between natural and synthetic landscapes, technological and organic languages, traditional and contemporary processes, ethical and unethical ideologies, poetic and threatening visions of nature formed the ground for this project.

The project focused on an architecture that flickers between multiple grounds – fore, middle, and back – grounds. The studio reviewed qualities of the picturesque, notably, the disruption of the promenade in favor of the oblique, a preference for the elevational over the planimetric and a calibration of multiple centers. The design calibrated accidental irregularities to challenge the consumption of a complete or primary image. We engaged a multitude of orientations, leaning on a jostling of the massing between expectation of repetition and abrupt idiosyncrasies. As a typology, mixed use buildings often trade in negotiation or indifference. We were not interested in the hybrid or the generic but aimed to amplify the experience of the distant mass, the intermediate glance and the intimate view all at once.

Finally, in lieu of crisp distinctions and as an acknowledgment of the swallowing of a market hall within a repetitive massing, the project oscillated between background gestures and distributed highlights.

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Urban Context

Program Massing

21 DEC 5 PM | The green house cools and filters the air that is brought in by variation in air pressure, creating a cross ventilation effect.

2 PM | The thick membrane acts as an insuating layer reflecting and distributing the heat.

8 AM | Sun heats the outer surfaces causing the hot air inside the volume to rise, thus creating a low pressure zone inside.

E 21 MAR

W Solar Panels on the South Facade capture South sun and allow air flow movement throught the green house.

21 DEC

Inflow of air due to vaccum, gets humidified to create a comfortable and experiential space.

Distribution of the cool mist in the site through multiple outlets in open areas to achieve a cooler micro climate.

N SUNPATGH DIAGRAM Scale: NTS

Mist distribution outlets

Maximizing the green spaces by using the inner surfaces for vegetation to create a holistic experience of a Front yard.

Reflected sunlight into the Market area to achieve a uniformly lits space.

Rising mist creates a novelty in the precinct Facade designed to Humidify the incoming breeze and spread the now cool breeze throught the entire complex

Mist generation system Green Spaces/ Green Houses Mist distribution Warm air flow Cool air flow

Section Diagram

Scale: 1/64” = 1’-0” Environmental Features

Environmental Systems— The project employed a novel Mist cooling technique to alter the micro-climate in the precinct to create a cooler and more comfortable environment. This system strategically introduces green spaces at multiple location to take advantage of the North - South orientation of the residential blocks to create a shadow zone for lower areas. The project uses natural vegetation as an insulating layer from the urban environment. It will employ rain water harvesting and solar energy generation in the common areas as well as proposing Square foot Vertical Farming to create a self sustaining ecosystem with low energy usage.

Divyansh Agarwal _ Swathi Devadas | Kristy Balliet

DS_2GBX Spring 2018 | Application: Environmental Systems

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Renders

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First Floor Plan

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Typical Floor Plan

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Roof Plan

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Section

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East Elevation

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North Elevation

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Physical Model

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The Big Picture Visual Studies II

Spring 2018 Instructor: Ryan Tyler Martinez Team: 16 students developed 3 islands each to create the final Big Picture.

The course examined the notion of “Regularity and Random”, “Growth, Form, and Simulation”, and “Emergence” in both two and three dimensions. Architecture tends to point and communicate with itself through more than one final output. The drawing communicates to the physical model, the model talks to the text and the text specifies things in the drawing which helps understand the totality of the project. In some ways, “connect the dots” can be used as a metaphor to illustrate architecture’s ability to associate one idea with another, to find the “big picture” in a mass of data and information. This notion towards connection was a fundamental subject within the seminar.

The project was broken into four parts; Output (Data), Massing (Volume), Texture (Surface), Picture (Composition). Using 3D industry standard digital sculpting applications, FlatHorizontal and Spherical Envelopes through the aggregation of solid primitive geometry such as boxes, spheres, cylinders, cones, pyramids and letters were produced. These massing elements were used as follies and garden ornaments for the landscapes but also as z-tools for the development of group loops and surface layering. In the next step, we investigated and researched Topiary Gardens as a surface treatment for the massing studies to be used in the large pictorial landscapes.

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Spherial Envelopes - Development

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Collage of Spherical Envelopes

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Spherical Envelopes with Topiary

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Furry Island Composition - 1

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Furry Island Composition - 2

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Furry Island Composition - 3

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The Big Picture - Pictorial Landscape

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Processing Workshop

Spring 2018 Instructor: Casey Reas Team: Swathi Devadas, Divyansh Agarwal

Processing is an open source computer programming language and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts, new media art, and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching the fundamentals of computer programing in a visual context, and to serve as the foundation for electronic sketchbooks.The workshop focused on the seven elements of coding, regularity and random, export image and geometry, as well as motion, growth, form, simulation and emergence.

The first exercise involved generating codes that represented the qualities of a certain piece of music through a series of repetitions, directionality, intensity and depth. The second exercise was aimed at a broader interpretation of the coding system by exploring its numerous levels of specificities in terms of colors and textures. By adapting different manipulation processes for a given code, the results obtained were further implemented in a 3d scenario to explore its diversities.

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Processing Textures

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Physical Model

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Structural Systems Applied Studies Spring 2018 Instructor: Greg Otto

This course introduced various structural concepts available to the designer to imagine and ultimately design long-span, large volume architecture. The desire to create enclosure-space that is protected from external environment -has continued to evolve, pressing for greater span and more imaginative solution. Scale and geometric complexity create significant challenges unique to this sub-set of building typologies. Knowledge of the concepts, their strengths and the associated challenges in both design and construction will enable the design decision-making process to arrive at appropriate solutions. To understand the concept in detail, a stadium and an airport was designed.

The stadium design was elliptical with its primary structures anchored to the ground. Planar trusses form the secondary structural system with all the connections made at the nodes.

The primary structure, which is in tension, distributes the load to the ground through the secondary structures. Four tertiary trusses connects the primary structure and the stadium bowl. A semi permeable tension membrane becomes part of the roof, increasing the stability.

The secondary trusses along with the membrane together acts like a folded plate structure and hence helps in resisting shear to an extend.

The design of the airport utilises same concepts of tension and compression. A single stable system of primary and secondary members is repeated multiple times to cover a large area, making it a large-span, large volume architecture.

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Long Span Structural Design - Stadium

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Long Span Structural Design - Airport

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Building Systems Applied Studies

Spring 2018 Instructor: Russell Fortmeyer Team: Swathi Devadas, Divyansh Agarwal, Swetha Arunkumar, Priyanka Patel

This course focused on the integration of advanced building systems in the contemporary architectural project. Rather than accept the conventional basis of this position, which is arguably a still born legacy from 20th-century modernist and state-supported capitalist agendas, this course reframed the terms of what is considered “advanced” in light of global resource scarcity and the continuing pressures of climate change, political instability, and income inequality. We explored the key topics of technology—building envelopes, mechanical, electrical, lighting, plumbing, fire/life safety, controls and security, and vertical transportation—as symptoms of the failure of the fundamental and passive basis of architecture to find expression, learning new analytical and modeling approaches to progressive design that re-instates the core values of an architecture for people. Vodafon Site Solutions in Midrand were used as the precedent to explore alternative approaches to technical documentation and economic models that underpin the architectural project.

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Materials Used

Shading Device Calculation

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Climatic Analysis

Winter Solstice

Summer Solstice

Sun Path

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Daylight and Ventilation

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Electric Lighting Strategy

Material Values

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Semblances Design Studio

Fall 2017 Instructor: M. Casey Rehm Team: Swathi Devadas, Asmaa Abu Asaf

The studio interrogated the potential of the replica in architecture. Advancing recent debates regarding influence, affinity and appropriation in architecture, we adopted an approach that exploits the potential for architectural acts of appropriation to engender new forms of authenticity and to challenge context and type within an architectural project. Quotation as a postmodern form of referencing an ‘original’ and subsequent forays into sampling including kitbashing and the mash-up are various forms through which appropriation has surfaced in architectural discourse and practice. A more contemporary notion of the replica ties it to the status of the object in architecture and its inherent potential to engender multiple and coexisting forms of legibility; raising questions of scalability ranging from the colossus to the miniature. This approach involves the selection of copies (found objects) instead of the creation of originals.

The project questioned latest digital techniques in architecture to design a district library in the state of California and explored contemporary methods of measuring and analyzing 3D form and space in conjunction with human and computational forms of design production to identify how this transforms our understanding of the relationship between context and architecture. The studio was an experiment to rethink our relationship as designers to these methods to allow for new possibilities in architectural production.The focus was on the aesthetic dimension of architecture and the possible production of new modes of being in the world. As a starting point we worked on producing a composite form of selected source material derived from the site context that redefines the formal relationships inherent in selected elements and shifted these toward an architectural scale.

Photogammetry was used to capture the site and to generate 3D forms of hand-made soaps which acted as the basic massing units. An abstract texture produced through manipulation of the soap textures with the help of Processing language was then projected onto the final massing obtained through various iterations. The studio witnessed the transformation of physical attributes into digital elements and these elements were utilised in its depth and detail at a tectonic level during the final stage to weave an envelope for the building.

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Processed Texture 1

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Processed Texture 2

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Photogammetry Composition - Stage 1

Repeated Composition - Stage 2

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Cuts in Maya - Stage 3

Insertion of Openings - Stage 4

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First Floor Plan

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Second Floor Plan

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Section

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Elevation

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Interior Core Development - Stage 1 Massing

Interior Core Development - Stage 2 3D Scripted Cores and Reading Rooms

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Interior Core Development - Stage 3 Insertion of Escalators

Interior Core Development - Stage 4 Final Textured Cores and Reading Rooms

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Interior with Floors

Roof Plan on 3D Scanned Site

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Facade Chunk

Physical Model

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Lines, Composite and Texture Visual Studies I

Fall 2017 Instructor: M. Casey Rehm, Kristy Balliet Team: Swathi Devadas, Gabriella Zappi (Exercise 1)

The course covered issues of contemporary representation and the developmant of splines in relation to complex digital form and physical and visual space. Visualization today encompasses the development, exploration and communication of information and ideas in multiple mediums. The course engaged recent techniques related to splines, gesture interfaces and virtual reality and developed critical visual literacy and review methods for generating and evaluating lines, surfaces and volume. We reviewed modes of drawing and modeling in threedimensional space, including the importance of precision and abstraction. The development of architectural character was fostered through the set of exercises that ranged from straight forward drawing tasks to tasks that required aggressive experimentation.

The gestural line explored the potential and differences of the stroke, the gesture and the line. In architecture and visualization these artifacts can be associated with rhythmic repetition, erratic character, structural integrity, whimsical moments and elegant form. The initial digital models engaged two different techniques. The first model was the result of a set of designed lines in Maya and the second model, the generation of lines in Virtual Reality, using Oculus Medium. The composite model explored texture and surface development. The range of investigation included subtle bumps to elaborate deformation and alter surface qualities. Through design, testing, and refining the project issues of aggregation, layering, and tactility were addressed. By creating a series of autonomous objects and then redesign their qualities in relationship to surface, line and seam, a composite model was obtained. The last exercise focused on utilizing bottom up logic and intelligent agent based algorithms to manipulate color and matter at a granular level of resolution. Rather than utilizing off the shelf plugins, personal design intention was coded into unique algorithms. This process engaged complexity theory and algorithms purposed to both simulate human forms of composition, and non-human forms of perception. The final output was an object transformed through algorithms and texture mapped with new 2D scripts.

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Line Work of the Vessel

Elevation of the Surface

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Renders of the Volume

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Stamps

Renders of the Composite Model

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Unrolled Model

Processed Texture

Section of the Processed Composite Model

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3D Scripted and Textured form of the Composite Model

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Physical Model 1

Physical Model 3

Physical Models

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Tectonics Applied Studies

Fall 2017 Instructor: Maxi Spina Team: Swathi Devadas, William Maya, Chen Chen, Jiayin Wei

The class paired areas of investigation and speculation as Tectonics - predominantly building envelopes and Performance - largely consisting of technical, technological, cultural and environmental dimensions. We analyzed and documented a Precedent in order to formulate a series of hypotheses in an attempt to construct a number of interrelated tectonic conjectures.

In srutinizing building assemblies, we attempted to position construction analysis so as to produce both technical knowledge and critical awareness of embedded cultural habits and thus sought out an alternative understanding of the Tectonics, one that not only mirriors the realm of construction; materials, methods ,sequences, tolerances, etc. but also embraces architectural process of expression, encompassing issues of geometry and technique; posture and character.

Through close understanding of the Forfatterhuset Kindergarten, a structural and tectonic knowldege of the system was acquired in deep including the materiality and their properties.

This acquired knowldege was used to design a modification of the existing facade system so as to relocate it hypothetically to Los Angeles. The disparities in the climatic and environmental conditions called for adaptations both tectonically and materialistically. The sun path diagram, the wind rose diagram and R values of materials were the major factors determining the effective changes in design.

164 ISO ITERATION CHUNK VIEW

Custom steel connection Brick Lamellae slat Aluminum Frame Composed wall. Gypsum finish with insulation foam Double glazed operable windows Terrace deck, waterproof layers and concrete slab.

Bird’s Eye Chunk Precedent Study: Forfatterhuset Kindergarten Envelope System: Vertical Brick Lamellae

165 B1- FACADE DETAIL AND LAMELLAE CONECTION

Double glazed operable windows Aluminum Frame

Brick Lamellae slat Custom steel connection

Composed wall. Gypsum panels with insulation foam

3 ft

3 ft

3 ft

Facade Detail and Lamellae Detail C1- BRICK LAMELLAE DETAIL

C2- STEEL CONECTION DETAIL

Aluminum Frame Double glazed operable windows

Custom steel profile

5 ft

Custom steel profile

20 in

Brick Lamellae slat

Composed wall. Gypsum panels with insulation foam 5 ft

5 ft

1 ft

Steel angle connection

Brick Lamellae slat

20 in

20 in

Brick Lamellae Detail

Composed wall. Gypsum panels with insulation foam

1 ft

1 ft

Steel Connection Detail

Advanced Tectonics and Materials. AS3200 William Maya_Chen Chen_Swathi Devadas_Jiayin Wei

WORM’S VIEW CHUNK

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Aluminium skylight struture

Brick lamellae continous facade Terrace deck and waterproof layers with concrete slab

Reinforced concrete structural walls

Continous glazed courtain wall facade

4 ft

4 ft

4 ft

Worm’s Eye Chunk Precedent Study: Forfatterhuset Kindergarten Envelope System: Vertical Brick Lamellae

B1 - TERRACE DETAIL

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1.2 in x 2.3 galvanized steel profile Metalic profile. C shape. Connection between the brick slat and the steel profile / outside wall

Brick lamellae / Brick slat

HEB 160. Steel Beam 4in x 1.5in x 0.20in RHS steel pipes

Gysum false ceiling

5.5in x 4.3in x 0.20in flat steel welded pipes.

Mounted with 4 M12 stainless steel bolts pieces.

Terrace deck Waterproofing membrane Concrete slab

2 ft

2 ft

2 ft

B2 - LAMINAE MEETING DETAIL

Terrace Detail

Wall insulation Windproof gypsum Wall insulation Waterproof facade plaster

4in x 1.5in x 0.20in RHS steel pipes 1.2 in x 2.3 galvanized steel profile Galvanized steel white main stairs

Brick lamellae / Brick slat Aluminium window framing

2 ft

2 ft

2 ft

Laminae meeting Detail Advanced Tectonics and Materials. AS3200 William Maya_Chen Chen_Swathi Devadas_Jiayin Wei

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Sectional Axonometric View

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Roof Detail

Stair Detail

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

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Precedent dent Study: Forfatterhuset Kindergarten Environmental Analysis Envelope System: Vertical Brick Lamellae

SUMMER SOLSTICE

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SUMMER SOLSTICE

WINTER SOLSTICE

WINTER SOLSTICE

Summer Solstice

WIND ROSE ANALYSIS

WIND ROSE ANALYSIS

Winter Solstice

Copenhagen is in the oceanic climate zone. Its weather is subject to low pressure systems from the Atlantic ocean which results in unstable conditions throughout. Because of its Northern Latitude, the number of sunlight hours varies considerably between summer and winter with a difference of over 10 hours in the length of days and nights.

According to the annual sun path diagram, the positioning of windows are fairly effective as more windows are placed on the North Eastern side. The roof experiences maximum heat at any point of the year and this energy is utilised for solar power generation. Roof gardens also helps keeping the interior cool. The curves and the varying heights of the building provides various pockets of shadows inside as well as outside the main mass. The massing is carefully planned so that these shadows fall on regions with higher sunlight exposure. The wind rose diagram shows that winds prevail on the west side due to the presence of Atlantic Ocean, Due to its high thermal mass, the concrete slabs stores energy and releases it during day time. The use of triple glazed low E glass with an air barrier also helps a great deal in keeping the building insulated along with the composite materials used on the walls for thermal insulation like mineral wool and gypsum. The low E glass reflects most of the harmful UV rays back to the atmosphere and lets in visible light. Most of the summer heat is reflected back and in winter, most of the radiant heat is reflected back into the interiors. This way, the interior remains warm during winters and cool during summers which in turn helps to save almost 60% of energy annually.

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4 ft

The screen of bricks, blocks a portion of the driving moisture and rain water. the use of waterproofing facade layer and concealed flashing makes the building insulated from moisture to a great extend. All the rain water is directed through MEP drainage system.

Wind Rose Diagram

Advanced Tectonics and Materials. AS3200 Copenhagen is in the oceanic climate zone. Its weather is subject to low pressure systems from the Atlantic ocean which William Maya_Chen Chen_Swathi Devadas_Jiayin Wei results in unstable conditions throughout. Because of its Northern Latitude, the number of sunlight hours varies considerably between summer and winter with a difference of over 10 hours in the length of days and nights.

According to the annual sun path diagram, the positioning of windows are fairly effective as more windows are placed on the North Eastern side. The roof experiences maximum heat at any point of the year and this energy is utilised for solar power generation. Roof gardens also helps keeping the interior cool. The curves and the varying heights of the building provides various pockets of shadows inside as well as outside the main mass. The massing is carefully planned so that these shadows fall on regions with higher sunlight exposure. The wind rose diagram shows that winds prevail on the west

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Physical Model

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Physical Model

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Urban Nexus Design Studio

Fall 2014 Instructor: Shobha Raj Team: Swathi Devadas, Savita Rajan, Annu Malayil, Vidya Narayanan, Nida Jahain, Zughlool Anees

The studio desgned a Commercial Hub in the middle of Mysore city in India. The design consisted of a Shopping Complex, Library, Art Gallery and 5 Star Hotel. By interwoving various functions that had varying demands in terms of access, noise, light and parking, the studio proved to be a good exercise in understanding circulation within a site, traffic problems like bottlenecks and the complexity of parking.

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Nodes and Movement Pattern

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Massing Options

Impact

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Master Plan - First Floor

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Sections

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The Forgotten Design Competition Spring 2013 Team: Team of 16

The design competition that was names as - “Creation for Conserving our Glorious Past, aimed at conserving a heritage site by giving it new mixed use functions. The redevelopment focused on preserving the historical values of the site while at the same time entitling it to brand new definitions.

In a rapidly transforming situation in today’s society, our urban areas are constantly experiencing a severe development pressure. Sometimes these transformations carve an example in architectural domain and sometimes the solutions are disaster. As the citysociety is meant to serve the human beings, the development pattern should also respect the traditional culture.India is a country having varied example of cultural traditions which has a direct impact of its built form especially in urban areas. Indian Architecture is a physical manifestation of its culture which has a glorious past. These heritage resources can be experience in an old commercial spine to a rich heritage residential core in various cities of India. Regeneration of traditional urban area is actually identifying and re-establishing its original resources through conservation and creating sustainable economy which was originally present in those areas.

The project aimed at restoring and redeveloping the historic Devaraja Market in Mysore, a heritage city in India and save it from complete dilapidation. Functions like residential units, commercial complexes and recreational spaces were carefully woven into the existing master plan, keeping in mind that the new functios did not interfere with the aesthetic as well as functional features of its original form.

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Crossroads Residence Freelance Project 2019

This is a freelance project in progress in the state of Kerala in India. The single family residence is set on a tight site with programs arranged around two crossing circulation spines that segregates an open plan into Living quarters, Sleeping quarters and Outdoor spaces.

The sunpath and direction of wind serves as the two major deciding factors in the spatial organisation. Various inlays of wood in concrete serves as sun shade in the exteriors and transforms into various pieces of furniture and storage spaces in the interior.

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Plan

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East Elevation

South Elevation

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Isometric View

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Interior Renders

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Residential Projects Professional Works 2014 - 2016

The following are a few projects completed during the course of internships and while working as a Architect. It was crucial in understanding the factors associated with residential projects, and in getting accustomed to building codes. Meeting with clients, visualising their needs, preparing construction drawings, paying site visits and communicating with the contractors and labourers have aided me in getting involved with the different stages of the project; design/conceptual to implementation. . I was able to learn various vernacular styles and techniques in detail and studied the local methods of construction.

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