Architecture Portfolio 2015

PORTFOLIO 2015

Abhiram Sharma C-II, 161 Satya Marg, Chanakyapuri New Delhi, India 110021 +91-97170-01604 abhiram.sharma@gmail.com

Contents

ACADEMIC

PROFESSIONAL

PUBLISHING

02

National Museum of Architecture

16

Petrol Station Canopies

23

Counting on Architecture

08

Quad Core Housing

19

Solar Powered Site Office

24

Curatorial Assistance for Exhibition

12

Youth Hostel

25

Delhi Dossier

26

Politics of the Pritzker

Undergraduate thesis project

High-density high-rise housing

First architecture studio exercise

Personal competition entry

For the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur

Paper presentation

At the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi

Delhi’s Nomination to UNESCO World Heritage List

Undergraduate dissertation

1

ACADEMIC WORK

National Museum of Architecture Undergraduate thesis project New Delhi, India 2012 (10th semester) Guide: Prof. Sambuddha Sen (ssenandassociates@gmail.com)

The quest in this exercise lay in resolving an apparent paradox: of designing an architecture for exhibiting itself. The focus here was also on the design of a National Museum—a source of pride, and reflective of a national identity. An underutilized plot (Princes’ Park) bounding India Gate was chosen as the site. The design solution arrived at was to create a nonbuilding. A democratic public park with open air exhibits, that sheltered beneath its mounds the museum’s gallery spaces.

The figure ground below shows the site with relation to New Delhi’s grand central vista. The buildings in immediate proximity to the central hexagon are institutional in nature.

2

Design Logic

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2

3

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In order to emphasize in built form the belief that architecture—as a reflection of philosophy—intangibly underlies all human activity, it was judged appropriate to design the museum building as the foundation and form-giver to the park above it.

The first diagram shows the geometry of the 9 acre site and its immediate surroundings. The south facing site borders the public greens of the Central Hexagon. Developmental regulations set limits of F.S.I at 1.0; the setbacks are as shown in the diagrams, and a height restriction of 24 meters is in place. In addition to meeting these quantifiable constraints, the design intent was sensitive to the inherent character of the site in terms of its colonial history and urban context.

To create an earth berm, the largest possible circle the site could afford was charted- as shown in Figure 2.

Keeping within this form allows for a larger area to be built underground with lesser perimeter of retaining structure.

Figure 3 shows the bearings that were taken from the center of the circle along the three major axis- (1) of approach, (2) direction of India Gate, and, (3) the North-South axis.

The desire to create a place that was truly inclusive and democratic dictated the decision to create a boundary-less open public park. It is seen as a continuation of the greens surrounding India Gate.

Figure 4 shows the schematic site plan, with the skylights on the mound reflecting the forces that influenced the design.

3

Internal Space Division The exhibition spaces are laid out in chronological order, and at the same time the configuration also allows visitors the flexibility of choosing their routes. In the attempt to derive an efficient layout that would appropriately allow for the display of the sub-continent’s architectural history in an accurate manner, the proportionate arrangement of different galleries was conceived as if it were the arrangement and structure of the chapters of a book on the subject. The proportion of areas proposed for each era of Indian architectural history is based on the average of pages devoted to these areas in scholarly works covering the subject from both Indian and Western points of view.

The pie-charts alongside display the proportion of content attributed to each era and the average drawn from this data is presented in the bottom-most pie. The charts spread the contents of their respective books across 160-degrees so that the resultant graphic most closely mirrors the plan of the museum. This method only provides an approximate indication of how the historic architecture could be displayed.

The temporary exhibition spaces and galleries of postindependence architecture as well as futuristic architecture are on the upper floors of the portion of the building where an orthogonal grid is followed. This marks their departure from the logic followed in the underground galleries, as that method could not be applied to regulate these spaces.

Introduction to Indian Architecture

1: Courts

3: Post-Independence

9: Storage Area &

1a: Entrance court

3a: Upper level

Service Lift Lobby

1b: Internal court

3b: Lower level

10. Fire Escape

1c: Kund- O.A.T

4: Colonial Period

11. Toilets

5: Islamic Period

12. Souvenir Shop

2: Foyer

6: Hindu, Buddhist and

13. Auditorium

2a: Introduction

Jain architecture

14. Administration

2b: Main foyer

7: Early Indian

15. Library

2c: Auditorium foyer

Architecture

16. Workshop

8: Temporary Exhibition

17. Cafeteria

Area

18. Unloading Bay

4

A Global History of Architecture

by Francis D.K. Ching 10

7 6b

Encyclopedia of Architecture in the Indian Subcontinent

by E.B Havel

18

9 Masterpieces of Traditional Indian Architecture by Satish Grover

15

6a

17 1 11

10

16

10 5b

5a

8

1c 16 1

Legend-

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Introduction Post Independence

Resultant chart of averages drawn using the above texts

4a

10 4b

15 3a

2b

1b

2a

11

3b

Colonial

2c

Islamic Period Hindu, Buddhist, Jain Early Indian Architecture

10

Schematic Layout Diagram

1a

1b 11

12

13

14

Floor Plans: Second Basement and Lower Ground Floors Legend 1. Entrance foyer 2. Visitor Counter 3. Museum Shop 4. Auditorium 5. Administrative section 6. Library and documentation 7. Workshops / laboratories 8. Cafeteria

5

9. Gallery space 10. Temporary gallery 11. Fire escape 12. Toilets 13. Storage / services 14. Parking 15. Courtyard 16. Loading/unloading bay 17. Open air theatre

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11

13

16

13

13

13

9

4

13

13 12 12

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7

11

13

9

10

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13 7 16 13 16 9

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6 1

2

15

14

5 15

11 3

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Sectional Views

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“In this connection it must be remembered that at no period did Indian architects try to build with a nostalgic look back into their past. The makers of Khajuraho built in the style of their own age, not attempting to build as the architects of Sanchi did; the artists who created Konarka did not try to copy the cathedral of Karle; the Mughals made their forts without attempting to do something on the lines of Buddhist monasteries.�

-Charles Fabri, 1963 In An Introduction to Indian Architecture. pp 56.

7

Quad Core Housing

8

High density highrise housing Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, India 2011 (7th semester) Guide: Prof. Vinod Gupta (vinod@space-design.com) The exercise was carried out in a group of three where I was involved in all stages of design development and creation of presentation sheets and models. My role was that of group leader, which involved taking on the responsibility of delivering work on time at every stage.

In the housing semester of college we were presented with the brief for a live project that was to come up in Unnao—an upcoming town on the Delhi–Agra highway. The developerclient had obtained permission to achieve an F.S.I. of up to 4.75 and had also decided on the number and size of housing units that would be required in order to ensure the financial viability of the project. Besides these constraints imposed by the clients, there were additional restrictions placed by building regulatory authorities. This meant that there was a 50% limit on maximum ground coverage, but no height restrictions on the built form. The plot was a part of a parcel of land that was to be developed as part of a new town-ship.

The site being akin to an empty slate offered the chance to focus on the qualities of design that create a sense of place. The design prioritized the generation of an ‘inclusive community’, through the structuring of its dwelling units.

This proposal relies on the belief that the form and spaces of the building will create the identity of the community of inhabitants. Therefore the effort was to step beyond the typical isolated towers—of repeating units stacked one above the other—and in its place create a consolidated built form that reflects a holistic shared community of individuals.

Although initial attempts were directed towards reducing the apparent bulk­(for aesthetic reasons), over the stages it became clear that the density should be utilized to generate its aesthetic rather than being hidden.

Photograph of model by the author.

Organization The lake-fronting plot can be accessed from only one side as shown in the diagram explaining site features below: 40m

Lake Mahua

100m

n sio te n n e gh ic Li Hi c tr Ele

0

The functions were then placed on site as per individual requirements. The commercial use faces the bounding road while the recreational spaces are on the lake facing sides.

Residential areas are well connected and in the center.

Zoning legend 1. Commercial Use 2. Residential - general 3. Economically Weaker Section 4. Recreational

4

SITE 7.1 acres 28,732sqm F.S.I = 4.75 Maximum Ground Coverage= 50%

2 School

Building form ensures that the majority of units and public spaces are offered views of the lake. The placement of units also provides privacy as the units do not face each other.

Schematic showing the possible configurations of units (in gray) around a core, shown in orange. The core functions to provide space for circulation and building services.

2 units

4 units

6 units

8 units

3

1

The green public spaces have three levels of hierarchy: the road-facing buffer greens (1), the lake-facing recreational spaces (2), and the central children’s play area (3).

8 units Alternate arrangement Arrangement of greens 1. Road-front buffer 2. Recreational spaces 3. Children’s play area

2

3

1

The relation between cores produces a floor-wise framework as shown above. Another layer of detail is added to this framework when the individual unit plans are developed for this model.

9

Distribution of Units in Built Form

Majority of one bedroom units appear on the lower portion of the built form.

The chart shows the number and variety of dwelling units required and how they were interspersed around the cores.

The form was conceptualized by stacking the four types of units together in a manner that would allow for a large number of possible configurations on each floor and also ensure that publicly accessible terraces were within five floors of every unit. These terraces are used for community activities- such as sports and recreation.

60 sq m One Bedroom Unit

170 units Two bedroom units predominantly kept on the lower portion.

95 sq m Two Bedroom Unit

192 units Three bedroom units occupy the central region of the building 135 sq m Three Bedroom Unit

190 units Four bedroom units are placed higher on average and make up most of the built volume.

190 sq m Four Bedroom Unit

173 units

10

“Certainly, a building five stories high, perhaps even six, might work if it were carefully handled. But it is

11

difficult. On the whole, we advocate a four-story limit, with only occasional departures, throughout the town.�

-Christopher Alexander, 1977 In A Pattern Language. pp 118.

The high number of dwelling units required on the site necessitated the creation of a high-rise building. But care was taken to increase social interaction spaces and provide public terraces that were within four stories from any floor. Providing a larger number of units per floor, and consequently a larger common lobby on every floor, also increases social activity.

4 Bedroom unit (lower level)

The units have been designed for stacking in any order required, by keeping the structural and mechanical systems fixed across floors, and only changing internal layouts of dwellings. This allows for a large number of permutations in floor plans across floors. The inter-mixing reflects in the outward appearance and gives the project its character.

3 Bedroom unit

2 Bedroom unit

1 Bedroom unitType B

1 Bedroom unitType A

Unit Stacking All graphics presented here as part of this project were produced by the author of the portfolio.

Youth Hostel Tourist facility amidst the ruins of a temple town Hampi, Karnataka, India 2008 (2th semester). Presentation drawings in 2014 Studio Head: Prof. Manoj Mathur (mmmath@gmail.com)

12

The project was an exploration in the use of stone alone as a building material in a historical setting. It is an attempt to understand and translate the language of the ruins to facilitate contemporary usage. While the spaces are designed for use by young back-packers, the building seeks to engage with its users at a basic material level. It is the weight of the stone that shapes its every element and space. This weight gives the building its character of permanence.

The functions it caters to are segregated from each other to create a complex of interconnected structures. These structures are planned as airy colonnades and are mostly semi-open where they serve public areas. The dormitories function as the more private spaces. Toilets are the most private inward looking areas.

Ground Floor Plan

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10

9

4

4 5

9 6

Structural Framing

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2

0

1 4 3

4

8

2m

5m

Legend 1. Entrance foyer 2. Visitor Counter 3. Store 4. Toilet 5. Boy’s dormitory 6. Girl’s dormitory 7. Kitchen 8. Dining Area 9. Back-yard 10. Service Space

Section through the Girls Dormitory

Dining area + meeting hall

Girls Dormitory

14

Corridor to kitchen

Girls’ dormitory

Toilet and bath

15

PROFESSIONAL WORK

Petrol Pump Canopies Winning entry in New Delhi Municipal Council competition Connaught Place, Delhi, India 2014 Produced in partnership with Abhinav Gupta.

(Drawings that were produced along with team-mate have been marked as such)

16

The design competition called out for proposals that would suitably address the heritage value of Connaught Place. It was to be a modular design that could be tailored to fit each of the seven gas stations in the commercial business district.

These structures are much smaller than what is covered by the Delhi Master Plan and hence current developmental control norms do not apply to these.

The entries were judged by members of the Delhi Urban Arts Commission, and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

Graphic by the author.

Our design response was to create a structure that is unobtrusive and minimal so that it does not contribute to the visual pollution. The canopy is designed for lightness—both in weight and appearance—by the use of simple steel sections, for all its structural supports. These hollow steel sections also serve to conceal the systems for lighting, and fire-fighting.

The aesthetic is derived not only from its immediate context, but also matches the character of urban street furniture and signage structures that the Municipal Council has previously implemented across the city.

17

Framing Plan

Section Drawn by Abhiram Sharma and Abhinav Gupta.

Glazing Plan

Elevation

18

Graphic by the author.

Solar Powered Site Office Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur upcoming campus Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India 2013 Office: Studio for Habitat Futures Principal: Sanjay Prakash Studio Head: Mayank Mishra Role in team: Architect in charge of producing design iterations, presentations and construction drawings.

Co-ordination of work between consultants for structural, environmental, and mechanical services.

Photograph by Abhiram Sharma.

19

The Indian Institutes of Technology are prestigious institutes that carry a reputation for producing the best engineering graduates in the country. The new campus to be developed in Jodhpur seeks to find solutions to problems of constructing in the desert and sourcing its own energy.

The site office is to act as a model structure for the upcoming buildings of the campus. It is designed with sensitivity towards the climate, local traditions, and energy consciousness.

The layout is inspired by Jodhpur’s settlement pattern.

Modest and unintimidating, its roof merges with the earth and windows peep out through pockets in the berm. It is iconic and unconventional.

Photo-voltaic thermal hybrid solar collectors used for generating electricity. Total roof mounted PV grid is expected to produce 70kVA peak output.

Layout

20

Director’s Office Offices Canteen

Keyplan

Toilets

The layout is inspired by Jodhpur’s settlement pattern. The experience of walking through the building attempts to mirror that of walking through a street. The rooms are staggered and the veranda is interrupted so as to avoid monotony.

All drawings and photographs shown as part of this project are by the author of the portfolio.

Section AA

Details

The site office is an inward looking building with courtyards that create a micro-climate and enhance user experience. Shaded ventilators and windows mostly open out to the courtyards. Windows that open to the outside are few and far apart. Surface area of external fenestration is only about 10% total area of exterior face. Cross ventilation is facilitated by maximizing the operable windows towards the shaded courtyard.

The building is sunk into the ground and thermally coupled with the earth and earth-berm so as to increase thermal mass. This helps in reducing air-conditioning loads.

The verandas break the openness of the courts and bridge across to the rooms on the northern half of the office. This configuration increases the self shading achieved. Much shading is also made possible by the foliage within the courts and the fabric suspended over the court from hooks on the surrounding walls, as can be seen in the section above.

A

A

Keyplan

21

22

PUBLICATION WORK

Counting on Architecture

23

Paper presentation Citation: Sharma, A. (2014). Counting on Architecture.

In S. Bahga, & A. Singla (Ed.), Conference Proceedings of the Neo-International Conference for Habitable Environments (pp. 599-604). Ludhiana: Indian Institute of Architects (Chandigarh-Punjab Chapter).

Figure 1: Frequency distribution- Age of institutes

This study looked at the increase in undergraduate student intake of Indian colleges of architecture with focus on the five years from 2009–2014. The architectural profession in India is witnessing an unprecedented growth in the number of prospective students and schools, and the enormousness of this change relative to conditions was presented. The analysis was primarily carried out by filtering data recorded by the Council of Architecture (CoA), on student intake and yearly architect registrations. To widen the frame of reference, comparisons were made with other professions in terms of their student enrollment and professional market. The paper then argued the case for more architects to play a role in the academic side of the profession.

Admission to the undergraduate program in architecture is decided on the basis of a mix of scores obtained in school leaving examinations and specific entrance examinations. The available number of seats in colleges is 21,109 as of 2014. This almost matches the numbers in the United States- where each year nearly 26,000 students enrol in architecture programs.

In terms of student intake, a detailed look at the figures shown alongside reflects the factor of growth. Figure 1, on the top right, shows the frequency distribution of architecture colleges based on the age of the institute. It can be seen that the number of colleges that have opened up in the last five years are almost double the rest.

What this implies is that almost half of the students today are at institutes that have not produced a single batch of graduate architects. While the prestige of an institution does depend largely on the quality of its faculty, the influence of well trained and connected alumni on current students should not be underestimated. Students of these newer colleges do not have the support of seniors or alumni to guide them and are at the hands of a set of newly collected faculty.

Secondly, if one was to make the admittedly safe assumption that students inducted to architecture programs aim to work as architects, one would expect that registration for licenses for a particular year would reflect student intakes from five years prior to that year. Figure 2 showing architect registrations alongside student intakes (years 1985–2013) proves this expectation invalid.

Lastly, it is a matter of greater concern that there is an acute shortage of faculty to teach the growing number of students.

With a teacher-student ratio fixed at 1:8 by the CoA standards of Architectural Education, we require a teacher strength of over ten thousand for the 80,179 strong student population across five years (figure arrived at on the basis of student intake to colleges of architecture, as provided by the CoA).

This implies that one in every five architects would have to hold some form of teaching position if the increasing intake is

Figure 2: Student intake vs. professional registrations

to be met. Note also that although this is a simplistic view of the requirements, it is a conservative figure arrived at without taking into account the additional faculty strength that colleges require to provide post-graduate courses.

Conclusion Findings from the analysis point at a strong requirement for architects to take up teaching positions in colleges.

The requirements of an eighty thousand strong student population must be met by the outnumbered registered architects. The situation at this point is not likely to repeat itself again, and in the apparent crisis is an opportunity to play a highly effective role in the education of our future generation of architects.

Curatorial Assistance for Exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art Assisted the curators, Prof. A.G. Krishna Menon and Rahoul B. Singh, in the production of exhibition material that was on display at the NGMA, New Delhi from April-July 2014. My role in the project involved research assistance, graphic design, and general co-ordination of work towards the exhibition catalog and Biographical Timeline.

The retrospective exhibition, titled ‘Raj Rewal: Memory, Metaphor, and Meaning in his Constructed Landscape’ was the first of its kind in the country where a single architect’s work was recognized by a cultural institution of national importance. This has helped lay the ground for upcoming exhibitions on the works of other leading Indian architects, such as Doshi and Correa.

While working on this project, I had the opportunity to study the life and works of the architect to a degree of closeness that might not have been possible any other way. What I took from the exercise was an insight into how deeply a person’s character and personal history influences the output. These are areas generally neglected in the study of design, but have great potential in helping us better our understanding of design responses.

24

Delhi Dossier For nominating Delhi to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Cities 2013-2014 Office: Delhi Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Convenor: Prof A.G. Krishna Menon Team: Swapna Liddle, Ajay Kumar, Nitika Agarwal, Abhiram Sharma, Mallika Passi, Niharika Singh, Sarmishtha Chatterjee, Prayash Giria.

INTACH Delhi Chapter has been actively involved in nominating Delhi to the UNESCO World Heritage Cities (WHC) list since 2011. In the period I worked at the office I was involved in research assistance in connection with the case for nomination, preparation of drawings for the nominated area, and graphic design of the dossier and accompanying material.

As a young professional, being involved in matters regarding the regulation of the city’s heritage, the project gave me the opportunity to learn about the governmental machinery and its various bodies that are stakeholders in the process. What I gained from the project was the insight into the internal working of various departments within the government, and the efficiency with which our Convenor, Prof. Menon, would work around issues that the governmental machinery was prone to generate. It became clear by the end of a year’s work at the INTACH office that even complex projects such as these are the result of the determination of a few key people that are focused and calm in the face of adversity.

Work on the project was carried out in a multi-disciplinary team comprising of historians, conservation architects, project managers, public-relations managers, web-developers, and editors. The final dossier and its supplementary material that was submitted to the UNESCO in January 2014 by the Archaeological Survey of India was entirely designed by me.

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Name (age) -Year & Popularity bar

Politics of the Pritzker

26 Philip Johnson (73) -1979 Luis Barragan (78) -1980

Dissertation 2011 (8th semester) Guide: Mr Amit Khanna (ak@akda.in) Co-ordinator: Dr Ranjana Mital (ranjanamital@hotmail.com)

Prof. Jaya Kumar (jaya@ajarkidesigns.com) The study began by understanding the organization of the prize committee, and the works and views of the architects.

This was followed by an e-mail interview with the Executive Director of the Pritzker jury, Ms. Martha Thorne, who provided valuable insight into the internal working of the committee.

Data was then collected and organized, on likely factors that might be linked to winning the prize, such as popularity, typology of built work, style of architecture, universities attended, age and nationality.

In order to establish whether public popularity and winning the Pritzker have any correlation, data on Google search volumes was collected. Conclusions drawn in this area of the study rest on the assumption that Internet search volumes are a good measure of popularity. To the right is the search volumes of previous winners listed chronologically. The average search volume of all Pritzker winning architects is 14.57. Comparing this with the search volumes for those that have not yet made it on the list reveals a wide difference.

Data also was collected on the number of completed projects the architects had to their name. It was observed that museum buildings were the common typology in the work these architects carried out before being awarded the prize.

James Sterling (55) -1981 Kevin Roche (60) -1982 I. M. Pei (66) -1983 Richard Meier (74) -1984

Museum buildings are public spaces that celebrate culture. They attract considerable public attention. The third surprising find was that the prize-winning architects had been giving lectures at architecture schools, and mostly in the United States. This move might help them in growing their network, and staying in touch with the academic side of the profession.

Hans Hollein (51) -1985 Gottfried Bohm (66) -1986 Kenzo Tange (74) -1987 Gordon Bunshaft (79) -1988 Oscar Niemeyer (81) -1988

Lastly, all but three of the architects had published matter to their credit. They had all released books dealing with their work and philosophy.

Conclusions The study suggests that there is much in common in the professional lives of previous laureates. The findings point to a professional road-map where one must work at competitions for museum buildings. Continually engage with the media, and publish ideological works/ polemics while teaching at the best American universities.

Now that four years have passed since the dissertation was accepted, some predictions made in its conclusion have fortunately come true­— partially. For example, the statement “Shigeru Ban, Fujimoto [...] could wait a few more years.” would be wholly accurate if Sou Fujimoto is awarded the prize in the coming years. Although it seemed most likely that either Steven Holl or Toyo Ito would receive the prize at the earliest, so far only Ito has been honored.

Frank Gehry (60) -1989 Aldo Rossi (59) -1990 Robert Venturi (66) -1991 Alvaro Siza (59) -1992 Fumihiko Maki (65) -1993 Christian De Portzamparc (50) -1994 Tadao Ando (54) -1995 Rafael Moneo (59) -1996 Sverre Fehn (73) -1997 Renzo Piano (61) -1998 Norman Foster (64) -1999 Rem Koolhaas (56) -2000

Indian architects are still missing on the Pritzker map. An updated version of this study is now in the works.

Jacques Herzog & Pierre de Meuron (51) -2001 Glenn Murcutt (66) -2002 Jorn Utzon (85) -2003

MU SE UM

Zaha Hadid (54) -2004 Thom Mayne (61) -2005 Paulo Mendes da Rocha (78) -2006 Richard Rogers (74) -2007 Jean Nouvel (63) -2008 Peter Zumthor (66) -2009 Kazoyu Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa (49) -2010

Abhiram Sharma

Assistant Professor Sushant School of Art and Architecture India

ansaluniversity.academia.edu/AbhiramSharma www.linkedin.com/in/abhiramsharma yetanotherblogonarchitecture.wordpress.com