AARUSHI KALRA PORTFOLIO
01-02 SPIN & WEAVE The Infinitesimal Duration Royal College of Art, 2018
03-04 ARO-MORY Across RCA Royal College of Art, 2018
07-12 MY STORY OF THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS Entrance to a Christmas Museum Royal College of Art, 2019
13-16 MISS INFORMATION’S ARMS Post Brexit Pub Royal College of Art, 2019
17-22 HERITAGE Mens-wear Boutique // Delhi, India Professional Work, 2016
23-28 THE GOOD SUIT CO Bespoke Menswear Tailoring// Chandigarh, India Professional Work, 2017
29-30 HSJ Jewelery Store // Lucknow, India Professional Work, 2017
31-36 GUGGENHEIM, HELSINKI Museum// Competition Entry Internship, Semester nine
37-42 ADAPTIVE REUSE OF RAJ GHAT POWER PLANT Fashion Hub // Delhi, India Design Studio, Semester Eight
43-46 UTKENDRA WORLD CULTURES Cultural Centre // Gurugram, India Design Studio, Semester Four
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SPIN & WEAVE The Infinitesimal Duration Spin & Weave: An Exploration of the Themes of Nationalism, Social Fabric & the Circularity of Time Royal College of Art Masters // Term 1 Year: 2019 Individual Work
“Think globally, design locally� Rodney Fitch
In 1909, in an anticolonial move towards Indian self- sufficiency against the British, Gandhi decided to revive a craft many saw as already dead: the hand- spinning of cotton into thread, using the Charkha - the Spinning Wheel of India. Through this assignment I am interested in investigating how a symbol so intrinsically part of my own culture, can be revived to interact with present-day global occurrences. The spinning wheel that once spun the fabric of unity now spins the fabric of division. In this project, I explore the ideas of unity and division through the choice of white and black yarn and through the convergence and divergence of thread. With the choice of paper, I question the notion of boundaries without them being a rigid entity.
03 04 ARO-MORY Across RCA Royal College of Art Masters // Term 1 Year: 2019 Group of five
‘Smell is a personal magic. It is a first impression and a lasting recollection.
Inspired by Jinsop Lee’s design for all 5 senses, we believe that in the future, people will be eager to experience more than we do now. While augmented and virtual reality are beginning to offer new, immersive sensory experiences, they are largely limited to sight and hearing, and are applicable in a relatively small range of scenarios. What if, instead, we could develop products, interactions and objects for daily use, that immerse us in and expand the potential for experiences in other senses? In this 5 day workshop, we were to create a narrative and physical intervention offering different responses to the senses of “Touch” and “Smell” within different speculative or future scenarios Touch “Some of the most memorable moments in our lives are composed of tactile and olfactory experiences. These memories are unaffected by time and stay in our minds forever.” Smell “The nose is one of the most sensitive organs, and smell is among the senses most intensely connected with memory. The area of a human brain that reacts to smell is also the part that deals with human emotions and memories.” Can we instrumentalise this effect to create richer and more meaningful experiences? Through different arrangements of spices and scents, we aimed to evoke scenes from memory. Wearables are designed to give the experience of living in the memory of a scene.
Aro-mory Aromatic Memory Ever travelled back in time? No? Not even when you`ve smelled something familiar? The smell of freshly baked cookies your grandmother baked or the fragrance of old books in a library, some fragrances simply stay with us in our memory. We often might not smell the same fragrance over again, but when we smell a familiar scent of something, we are immediately reminded of an event, place, person or simply a phase in life. These aromatic garments are a journey through some of the touching memories that one might have been through and a means of communication that allows one to share their experiences using the senses. Walk. Pause. Sniff. Go back in time.
Aarushi Kalra David Sappa Kiyohiro Izumo Malvika Bhasin Vyjayanti Girijala
Sense ability
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07 08 MY STORY OF THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS Entrance to a Christmas Museum Royal College of Art Masters // Term 1 Year: 2019 Individual Work
‘The blank page gives us the right to dream.’ Gaston Bachelard, Poetics of Space
Being a Hindu from Delhi, Christmas is not a festival inherent to my culture. For me, there are two things that define Christmas - the holiday chaos within the city and the happiness of unwrapping a secret santa present. By chaos I mean everything the day brings, the pollution, the traffic and parties everywhere. It almost makes me not want to leave my house. Yet, strangely, there is a warm sense of joy and satisfaction in the air, the same as when a friend stops by to surprise you with a present. For me the challenge was to design this experience of a cheerful unwrapping of gifts in a chaotic environment. To travel the chaos while evoking similar emotions as those while unwrapping the gifts, I deconstructed and strategised the whole experience into a maze like formation reflecting curiosity, anticipation, surprise and satisfaction. The spaces play with various scales and perspectives ranging from the curiosity of confined areas to framing glimpses of the site (106 commercial street) to gradually disentangling and revealing as the fabric walls become solid to translucent , to an unexpected happy surprise on entering into a bright pink space to the resultant satisfaction and the space opening onto the main entrance of the museum Location: London, UK | Site Area: 100sq.m
Exterior Facade View.
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Allure : Play of scales
Curiosity : Unwrapping the building
Curiosity : As the journey progresses, more and more of the building unfolds.
Surprise : A brightly coloured space that springs as a shock at the end of the journey.
13 14 MISS INFORMATION’S ARMS Post Brexit Pub Royal College of Art Masters // Term 2 Year: 2019 Individual Work
‘Too often we underestimate the power of misinformation.
One of the major criticisms of the Brexit campaign is the number of misleading and false claims. Both the political sides have been accused of running deeply flawed campaigns with spurious reports such as money streaming back to the NHS in the event of Brexit. In this age of digital media, the news spreads like wild fire so how does one differentiate between what is and what is not? Through this project, my aim was to recreate the idea of ‘mis-information’ through a play of severe contrasts and illusions. In terms of form, I inserted an ultramodern structure in contrast to the traditional 200 year old building. It builds a false expectation of being what it isn’t through it’s facade to someone unaware of its insides. Mutiple platforms helped create a false sense of privacy, but the question is if it’s really private when you can always peek through to another platform. The space replicates the confusion in navigation of information, a few coloured frames are inserted that not only guide the movement but are also a play of illusions, questioning the reality. It makes the visitor initially feel like they are approaching a coloured room only to realise that the frame fragments into many planes as they walk further towards it. In terms of function, the space is designed to enable a spread of information and opinions with an instigating spark, then through communication and finally through dissemination. This is done through various elements such as glass screens that allow visitors to write on and microphones travelling through floors that allow them to anonymously communicate. As one writes another reads, as one speaks another listens creating an active and passive means of communication and information exchange. This space eventually converts into an amphitheatre that enables the act of dissemination where one is allowed to reach a wider audience. Location: London, UK | Site Area: 200sq.m
1:20 Model
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17 18 HERITAGE Professional Work Firm: Ravish Mehra Deepak Kalra Year:2015 Work Handled: Conceptualizing design Preparing Working drawings in a team of three.
“Think globally, design locally” Rodney Fitch
The concept revolves around the name HERITAGE, recreating the weaving environment using typical detailing, enticing the customer into a dramatic shopping experience. The elevation makes a bold statement in an organic market space. A logo in copper dominates a façade made of burnt bricks. As one enters they are greeted with a multilayered screen of threads and letters of the word Heritage, translating the art of weaving into interior hardware. Beyond this, one walks into an environment that allows each garment to be experienced as a piece of art. Close attention has been paid in detailing using all materials in their honest formrusted iron, reclaimed wood with elements of copper to support the theme. The atmosphere is further enhanced by using parts of old Looms, suspended to weave the display with its threads. A solid reclaimed wooden counter sits in the center under a large customized light installation. The store was envisioned to invoke a strong feeling of contemporary design, Indian influences and classic timeless materials. Location: New Delhi,India | Site Area: 200sq.m
Exterior Facade View.
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Brickwork Antique Finished Paint Wood Work Cement Floor Cobblestone
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1. Reception 2. Refurbished Looms 3. Couture Wear 4. Try Rooms 5. Suiting Section 6. Prett Wear 7. Shirts Display 8. Tailoring Section 9. Entrance Screen 10. Bust Display
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Multilayered screen of threads at the entrance.
Reclaimed wood counter sits under a large copper light.
Detail of rusted iron and copper fixtures at the staircase.
Refurbished old looms define the retail space.
All elements are used in their true and honest form.
23 24 THE GOOD SUIT CO Professional Work Firm: Ravish Mehra Deepak Kalra Year:2016 Work Handled: Conceptualizing design Preparing Working drawings Site Coordination in a team of two Role: Managed and Handled the project from inception
“People are always going to go shopping. A lot of our effort is just: ‘How do we make the retail experience a great one?” Philip Green
The store has been designed in an interior language that’s a mix of extravagance and modernity. We studied the brands inspiration source from Italy while aiming to infuse the premises with a solid dose of modernity to signal the advanced creative trajectory of the fashion house. The palette is meticulously layered, rich in detail, and brilliantly balances the past and the future at the same time. The store’s decor is a mix of neoclassical opulence and sleek mid-century designs, rendered in a modern style. The key element of the store is its classical vaulted ceiling, combined with paneled walls and a rich parquet floor. Each of the three vaults is ornamented by delicate handmade paintings along with a chandelier. This decor is further defined by sleek metal fixtures, oak wood tables, blue velvet upholstery, classical cabinets rendered in a royal shade of blue. The blue not only adds the spark of color but also becomes the central theme to the store. Location: Chandigarh,India | Site Area: 150sq.m
Interior View of the Central Section showcasing a plush scheme with sleek designs.
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Paint Finish Marble Soft Furnishing Parquet Floor Blue Covering
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Show Window Unstitched Suiting Fabric Accessory Section Prett Wear Section Cash Desk Bespoke Tailoring Section Try Rooms Powder Room Storage
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The blue not only adds a spark of color but becomes a central theme of the store.
The counters have been clad in the same marble as the floor to create a minimal seamless look to the space.
The vaulted ceilings are ornamented with delicate hand made paintings and an elegant chandelier.
The store is a combination of classical elements along with sleek detailing in a contemporary format.
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HSJ Professional Work Year:2016-2017 Firm: Ravish Mehra Deepak Kalra Work Handled: Conceptualizing design Preparing Working drawings Site Coordination in a team of four
Design has been conceived in a manner where art and science break even. The project is all about creativity where intelligence is having fun.
This is the original design proposed for the building. The design of the facade had to be changed mid-way through construction as a floor had to be reduced later, leaving the building as a G+2 rather than a G+3. The design of this building digs deeper into the art of jewelery making drawing inspiration from the process of smelting. The beauty of GOLD as an entity was highlighted as an object of desire. The HSJ showroom is a deconstructivist interpretation of gold-smelting, a key process involved in the fabrication of jewelery. The site for the showroom is an ‘L’ shaped plot with the longer side facing a residential road, and the narrowest side facing the 4-lane arterial road. Thus, the possibility for drawing the crowd’s attention through an architectural gesture was very limited. Hence the design language had to be bold, so as to grab the attention of passer-bies in the narrow window of couple of seconds when the building is in their line of sight. The showroom stands as a cuboidal block with no fenestration, except for the main entrance on the longer elevation. From the outside the building was intended to evoke a feeling of a vault like solidity and impenetrability. This corresponds to the pre-requisite for the security of the showroom. The cuboidal block was carved out along the corner facing the crossroads, which is the only portion of the building visible to the traffic. Location: Lucknow,India | Site Area: 816sq.m
FRONT AND SIDE ELEVATION
FORM DEVELOPMENT
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GUGGENHEIM, HELSINKI Museum // Competition Entry Internship // Ninth Semester Group Work of Four, under the guidance of principle architects Work handled: Research, Form Development, Working of Plans, Diagramming, Parts of Rendering
“What is a museum ? A repository of culture and time. Ability to transform a city.� Competition Brief
MUSEUM = DESTINATION The rich culture of Helsinki is integrated and dispersed through the museum by reorganizing the programs to create architecture which is responsible and sensitive to its surroundings. With its diverse public program, the museum wants to become a destination which is shaped not by its icon but by its culture. The museum digresses from its traditional nature of housing galleries to capture the city and become an environment that is not merely iconic but of sympathetic and complementary relationships. The program typology enriches itself with its association to the city and becomes a landmark not due its mere ceremonial expression but its programmatic evaluation.
FORM DEVELOPMENT
View of the Atrium
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MUSEUM = CITY MORPHOLOGY
The city permeates the site by extending the public program through its connections and greens. This further activates the urban edge of the port. The ground plane is an extension of the city which subsequently redefines the typology of a museum entry.
The new Guggenheim makes the city sentient of its being and takes over as the new landmark for Helsinki in the Nordic Region. The museum marks the city and is suggestive of the destination it is to become.
SECTION
LVL [+1] 11. Visitor center 12. Gallery
LVL [0] 1. Entry 2. Visitor center 3. CafĂŠ 4. Kitchen 5. Open bar 6. Coat check 7. Toilets 8. Locker room 9. Retail 10. Auditorium
LVL [+2] 1. Gallery 2. Office foyer 3. Office
LVL [+4] 1. Viewing gallery
LVL [+5] 1. Gallery
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View of the Museum from the sea
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ADAPTIVE REUSE OF RAJ GHAT POWER PLANT Fashion Hub Design Studio // Semester eight Thesis // Individual Work Softwares Used: Autocad, Sketchup, Rhino, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign “Old Ideas can sometimes use new buildings, new ideas must use old building.” Jane Jacob
This Architectural Thesis deals with the Adaptive Reuse of the Rajghat Power Station, New Delhi to build a Fashion Hub. The aim is to generate a centre for fashion while reusing the soon dysfunctional Power Station. This urban scape is transformed as an icon for fashion and design. The proposed design is the juxtaposition of fashion’s ability to seduce and manufacture desires with the complex structuring of neutral spaces to allow for a multiplicity of users and events. At the city scale, the luminous and dynamic layers of building skin attracts and lures; as users approach and ultimately enter the building, the imagery is transformed into unique atmospheric experiences. This thesis harnesses the glamour of fashion as the medium to ignite the reimagination of architecture’s value and the interpretation of beauty and style, providing the means for experiences to transcend into a world of spectacle. Location: Delhi,India | Site Area: 59,100sq.m
“It is bad enough to throw our garbage, let alone an entire building once its used. �Marc Kushner As one looks around, platforms at various levels can be seen harboring a variety of activities. The environment has been so designed to implicate what fashion stands for - an ever changing environment. It has to be a place where visitors, designers, craftsmen or students take pride in being present. With each new turn, comes a new experience may it be a fashion show against the Chimney, a visit into the studio courtyard to interact with various designers or losing oneself in the sweeping walls of the bazaar.
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Restaurant
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Hall
Exhibition Hall Auditorium Restaurant
Hall for Workshops, Seminars, Exhibitions
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Exhibition Hall
Museum Anchor Shop
Amphitheater
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Workshops Blackbox Theatre Amphitheater Bazaar (Market Space)
Services
Conference Area Admin + Hotel Studios
LVL [0] Restaurant
FORM EXPLORATIONS Part of my dissertation on blurring lines between fashion and architecture, these design models were later applied to this thesis. Inspired from the tying style of the Indian garment-a sari, various explorations were done by pleating fabrics in different ways to form architectural forms. Being a fashion hub, the intention was to draw inspiration for the built form from folds of fabric. Blurring proposes new ways of thinking about architecture, presenting new ideas of what architecture can be. It creates an awareness that architectural design involves more than materials and static forms, it doesn’t necessarily need to have boundaries.
Electostatic Precipitators
Serivice Road
Switch Yard
O & M building
Admin Parking
Turbine Hall
Chimney Visitor Parking
Main Entry
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Bazaar
Coal Mill
Restaurant
Studios
Existing Built Structure
New Built Structure
As one walks up the flight of stairs, a feeling of awe is instigated seeing the stark contrast between the rigid Power Plant woven with an entirely new language. The large skylights, the swooping strips, add a sense of scale to the space, giving an awe spiring yet comfortable experience. Standing by the water body, one can experience the reminiscent of the railway line with a coal trolley. As one looks up, the coal mill comes into focus that has been modified to line with fins that guard it from the harsh sun while maintaining character.
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UTKENDRA WORLD CULTURES Cultural Centre Design Studio, Semester Four Individual Work Softwares Used: Autocad, Sketchup, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign “Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.” Frank Lloyd Wright
Utkendra world cultures is an attempt to strike a balance between reality and theatre, an attempt to bring diverse cultures from across the world together on one platform. This doesn’t just correspond to the idea of pure utility but also generating a thematic and culturally enriching experience for the visitor. The architectural design, with no solid walls in most spaces and walls of glass or translucent partitions instead, has been done to not only envisage enhanced interaction between the visitors and make them feel connected, but also to create interesting movement patterns and views. The programs are chosen to bring about this cultural integration. Through a properly planned and adequately thought over combination of retail, library, gallery and a set of theatres, a wholesome watching, learning and relaxing experience is achieved. Adding cultural element to the identity of Gurugram by making use of its existing identity itself i.e. driving people in by retail but an altogether new experience inside. Location: Gurugram,India | Site Area: 10,000sq.m
GALLERY
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LIBRARY
ADMINISTRATION
BLACKBOX THEATRE RETAIL
CAFE
THEATRE
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View at the entrance
View from the bridge on first floor One enters into the large open court on the ground floor, buzzing with art. One can experience the playful blocking by means of its solids and voids. All the retail stores, cafe, and the passageway to the theaters or the library are through this central space, thus defining this as the area free for all to enjoy art, culture and music.
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LVL [Terrace Plan] 13. Roof top amphitheater
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LVL [+2] 11. Gallery 12. Black Box Theatre
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LVL [+1] 6. Theatre Balcony Seating 7. Backup/Admin Space 8. Open walkway 9. Library 10. Outdoor Reading Area 11. Gallery
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LVL [0] 1. Outdoor Cafe 2. Water body at entrance 3. Restaurant 4. Retail 5. Open Flexible Exhibition Space 6. Theatre 7. Backup/Admin Space
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