Cover Type: Softcover (Perfect Bound) Book Size: Standard Portrait 8x10 Page Count: 46 Paper Type: Premium Matte (100# Text)
Vatsal Patel
selected works 2015-2020
Space is not utility
or spectacle but timeless not the final answer or preset rules. Space is a thoughtful question
Order is not past
Form is not appropriation of nature
or future but experience of presence not imposed or diminution. Order is democratic
or destruction of nature but reflection of nature
not complicated style or hollow tropes. Form is profound simplicity
Architecture is not a building
or an art. Architecture is unmeasurable
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Table of contents
01
Solitude A Cistercian monastery
02 A modern day third place
Council Grove Library
03
St. Louis Crematorium One last journey for love
04 Space for a common man
Time
2
1
SOLITUDE
A Cistercian monastery The ritual of movement is what defines our perception of space as being ‘to arrive from’, ‘the space in between’ or ‘ the place to go’. The notion of transitions is what makes a monastery one unique building. Monastery in essence is an institute for monks to arrive from a place of personal reflection, be in between to transcend through a procession to go to a gathering of communal contemplation.
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4
Cistercian monk’s daily routine
Parallel walls
Punctures
In fill
Design parti
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Concept diagram
(Above) Section (Below) Floor plans
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7
View of cloister
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9
Cloister reflecting pool as seen from galleries
Interior view of church 10
Zinc roofing Water proofing layer Wood sheathing Spray- applied foam insulation Building plastic 6” x 18” Wood rafter Wood plank ceiling finish
Wood glass window system 8” x 8” Wood post Wood mullion extension custom element
8” Exterior rammed earth wall panel Steel rebar (reinforcement) Rigid insulation
24” Rammed earth wall
4” Rigid insulation 1/2” Steel reinforcement 6” Drainage pipe Compacted granular fill
Stone finish on 3” concrete base
11 Church wall section
Maple floor, Glued and oiled Heating/Cooling floor screed PU Membrane - Waterproofing membrane Thermal insulation Concrete floor slab
Church cut-away corner 12
13 Light study model
Light study model 14
2 15
COUNCIL GROVE LIBRARY A modern day third place
The library of 21st century poses a deeper question to its existence and its newfound functions. They have certainly moved the library, as an institute, a step further allowing it to become an unmatched third place. The essence of this third place lies in a place just to exist and be part of something bigger than yourself, all while exploring your very own depths. This thesis is what becomes the central idea of the space - where the tectonics of the building and the small town community come together to form a fabric which connects them and celebrates their existence.
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Second floor
1. Young adult space 2. Young adult general reading space 3. Tech room 4. Maker’s lab
First floor
5. Computer lab 6. Audio|Visual stacks 7. Self checkout 8. Kitchenette 9. Staff work area and book drop 10. Public meeting room 11. Community classroom
Basement
12. Craft space 13. Children’s section 14. Adult space 15. Group learning space 16. Central adult open space
17 Floor plans
Exploded Axon 18
19
Section AA 20
(Above) Main street as seen from inside 21 (Below) Double story reading spaces
(Above) View of the library from main street (Below) Corner view of the library 22
23 Site model
Section model 24
3 25
ST. LOUIS CREMATORIUM One last journey for love
Crematorium may be considered cultural places of death and remembrance. For better or worse, along with every other facet of life, death went into crisis with onset of industrial revolution. The result is lack of ritual that marks the transition of every humans exhaustion of sacred time. The design here explores the possibility of introducing rituals inspired by traditional Viking cremation ceremony.
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27 Conceptual section
Concept models 28
2 1
4
First floor
3 6 5
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1. Hearse arrival 2. Abatement 3. Office spaces 4. Ceremony hall 5. Gathering spaces 6. Committal chamber 7. Columbarium
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13
Basement
10 11
29 Floor plans
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8. Exterior waiting spaces 9. Waiting hall 10. Chamber for final procession 11. Sorting area 12. Crematorium 13. Enshrinement
Exploded Axon 30
31
Building Section 32
(Above) View inside the light tower 33 (Below) Ceremony hall as seen at arrival
(Above) Entry sequence of crematorium (Below) Space for final ritual of cremation 34
35 View inside the light tower
(Above left) Light tower (Above middle) Cremation ceremony hall (Above right) Natural light in ceremony hall (Below)Site model 36
4 37
TIME
Space for a common man The site for the temple for Burning Man presents itself as a place to rest and meditate for the weary travelers, and as a sanctuary. One feels like they are one with nature immediately upon entrance in this proposal. The temple is the vessel through which to find the common man in all of us. Over the course of seven days the temple changes and evolves similar in the ways every person part taking in the festival.
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Burning Man is cultural movement based on nine practical principles. They are, Radical inclusion Gifting De-commodification Radical self-reliance Communal effort Civic responsibility Leaving no trace Participation Immediacy
39 Rules dictating the project design
Site - Burning man temple Burning man
Camping grounds
Site map 40
Earthwork
A lattice of 2x4 wood board connected with hinge join forms the floor.
Counterweight - I
Additional wood board on the outside creates the canopy and acts as counterweights
41 Assembly diagram
Enclosure
Vertical wood boards are inserted in between the floor planks.
Counterweight -II
Wood planks on the inside form structural strength against shear.
Initiation
The Perfect Cuboid, with the beginning of festivities, starts to change the space it defines.
Breaking Free
The lack of sand in the end creates causes the structure to open up to its full potential
Change as seen at approach 42
43
Sectional change over time 44
45 Model detail
Start of Burning Man festival.
Last day of Burning Man festival.
Design model 46