AKSHAR GAJJAR architecture portfolio
2019
PROFILE Name Akshar Gajjar Date of birth 02.12.1998 Nationality Indian
EDUCATION
DOCUMENTATION PROGRAM
DZ patel highschool HSC GSEB, 2016
WORKSHOPS
Vrajbhoomi International school SSC CBSE, 2014
CEPT University Bachelor Of Architecture Semester VI
Languages English Hindi Gujarati
DIGITAL SKILLS
Email akshargajjar1998@gmail.com
Intermediate Autodesk Autocad Sketchup Rhino Grasshopper
Address ‘Sakshar’ Plot no. 766 opp. Anshul apartment Vallabh Vidhyanagar Gujarat, India +91 9408462562
Advanced Adobe Photoshop Adobe Indesign
Basic Adobe Lightroom
HAND SKILLS Sketching Model making Hand drafting Hand rendering Painting
Village street of Chanderi Related study program, 2016
Design + Build Bamboo workshop at Majuli, Assam Earth construction Hunnarshala, Bhuj Exploring Modular aspects of hyperbolic paraboloid form. Form and material Elective Models as tools to design Elective
INTERESTS
Reading Sketching Music Wandering Stitching diaries
ACHIEVEMENTS
Program level nomination for Honors Exhibition Studio V: Butterfly sitting on a rock. Selection at Hamada Children’s art museum The wonderful world of the pond : Permanent exhibit
This portfolio is a cumulation of my work across the first five semesters of architecture. It reflects the decisions taken, questions asked and problems faced across the initial journey of architecture.
“I sat there gazing as the light entered from the jali battling with the stagnant cold from the last night.� Sarkhej Roza, Charcoal on jute board.
CONTENTS
“Lift the curtain O’ Dear it beholds the truth you fear!” Wall Mural, Acrylic paint
Tectonic Operations:
Bath House: Butterfly sitting on a rock Third Year: Monsoon 2018 Project type: Extension, Working Drawings Project site: AES hostel block Ahmedabad Project programme: Bath-House Built up area: 150 SMT Brief: The program being a Bath-house much thought was given to the physical as well as cultural context. In order to do justice to the program’s cultural and technical requirements a radical departure is made from the existing built form. Existing building is acknowledged by creating a similar expression of heavy base of stone cladded masonry walls. As this program uniquely brings human body and surface finishes in direct contact a wide plethora of finishes ranging from seamless terrazzos to flawless white marbles are used to generate a sensorial experience.
Design Evolution
Study models for roof.
Study models for column roof junction
Final design model showing rugged stone walls w
with thin glass windows and hyperbolic roof atop.
House for brothers:
four
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First Year: Spring 2016 Project type: Joint family house Project site: Mithakhali village, Ahmedabad
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4 brothers : 4 Architects
Second Floor Plan
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Project programme: It is a house for four brothers with common family business hence a dwelling plus business space had to be designed by four architects. Brief: Hand and machine embroidery was taken as the family business. The dwellings are private enough such that each one gets their own rangoli space but on the other hand open enough so that the spirit of a family staying together isn’t lost.
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Common family business First Floor Plan
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Dense site : Mithakhali village
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Ground Floor Plan
Strong cultural context
Short section cutting through the elder brothers living and sleeping spaces overlooking the common terrace.
Long section showing the private entrances at lowest level, stepped common terrace on upper level and overlooking living spaces above.
Elevation showing the shaded entrances and terraces and living spaces jutting out.
Sewa 2030:
Moving with the time, Staying with the spirit.
Offices aren’t limited within walls Extension from Admin Head’s office.
Second Year: Monsoon 2017 Project type: Institutional Building for “SEWA”
Margins left aren’t unused spaces!
Institution was imagined as a set of formal, semi-formal and informal spaces.
(Self Employed Women’s Association)
Project site: Sabarmati Riverfront Project programme: Learning spaces, exhibition spaces, Living spaces and gathering space Site Area: 1800 SMT Built up area: 900 SMT Brief: The idea was to understand ideology of SEWA as an institute and reciprocate them in the built environment. Hence an institute was designed which was private enough to let the ideas from lower segment of society grow and public enough to give those ideas a platform for exposure. The central courtyard created an inner world for the workers and also lead to the larger stepped gathering space.
Ground Floor plan
The building responds to the river at its front and road at its back.
Physical context
The road being on the south-east makes that side the most heated one.
Not all spaces are for participants and visitors Informal sit-out for the employees of SEWA
Not everything can be learnt inside!
When gardens are classrooms
Central courtyard: an epicentre for open discussions and brain-storming
The class spaces spill out into lush gardens
Model Photograph: The southwest facade and the semi-open spaces.
Model photograph: Top view of the institute
SEWA as a context.
Programmatic context
Facade Treatment
North-east
South-west
Opening up the classrooms towards light and view.
Staggered walls to let in air but not heat.
DESIGN EVOLUTION
Massing of the building: river < road
Juxtaposition of classrooms to give directionality.
Long section cutting across the central courtyard and the gently lowering gathering space.
The courtyard gives one a glimpse of the river.
The final mass and void configuration.
Short Section cutting across the class room spaces overlooking the river front promenard.
Atmosfaira: city of Ambiences Live|Work|Play Second Year: Spring 2017 Project type: Tall building (Visualisation Studio) Project site: Hypothetical Project programme: Work, live and play spaces in a world of Ambiences in â&#x20AC;&#x153;2030â&#x20AC;? Brief: During the studio a lot of thought was given to the temporal context of 2030 rather than the physical context. As the world is moving towards flexible spaces a context was imagined where spaces are no more function specific but are Ambience specific. A tall building was designed without using conventional design tools like plans and sections. To understand the temporality first we time travelled to 1930 and then to 2030.
Original Photograph
Edited Photograph
Time machine : 1930 A jain temple was inhabited in the 1930 and a story was made.
Digital render of the space depicting the imagined ambience of the temple.
Time machine : 2030 : Same jain temple was inhabited in the 2030
A comic strip was made to depict the life of a person in the imagined context of 2030.
What will 2030 be like! As the world is rapidly moving towards utilitarian building a future was imagined where its the feel and ambience of the spaces that matters. Choose the ambience! For the design project AWE as an ambience was choosen and was designed. For doing so a series of questions were asked across the semester which can be seen on the right. What to design! Work, live and play spaces were designed and to simplify the design process four sizes of spaces was fixed and AWE was designed in all those sizes.
Is Awe sequential or momentary?
How can one generate Awe?
Is sketching enough?
Is your medium fooling you?
How to design! Conventional design tools wereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nt helpful while designing ambiences hence sketches and text were used to evoke visualization of the spaces.
What is feel of a space?
How to be inside a space while designing?
How much of a space do we see?
How does Awe change with size?
How does Awe change with material?
How to design small spaces?
As as aro ac the
sketch essay of 33 sketches was made s the final representation which took one ound the design. Each sketch is ccompanied with a one-liner talking about e feeling of the viewer.
A sketch depicting the quality of spaces designed.
Related Study Program (RSP): Chanderi Madhya Pradesh First Year Fall 2016 Brief: Developing organizational skills and studying vernacular architecture using tools like sketching and measure drawing.
Lakshamana temple, Parmeshwara lake, Chanderi Pen with watercolor sketch
Exercise: A street loop in one of the crowded settlements was measure drawn.
Anup talao and Diwan-A-Khas, Fatehpur Sikri Pen with marker sketch
INDIA
CHANDERI
MADHYA PRADESH
Panch Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri Charcoal sketch
Design + Build Workshop :
Majuli (Assam, India). Third Year: Summer 2018 Brief: Designing and making a school at Banoria Chapori, Majuli Assam using local material and skills.
Conceptual charcoal sketches to understand spatial qualities.
Exercise: The workshop started with understanding local materials and architecture. Later a time problem of designing the school building was put forward. Taking clues from the proposed designs the final design evolved.
Conceptual section of the proposed school design.
Play area below the school building.
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Exploded view of the final design.
Earth Construction Workshop : Hunnarshala Kutch. First Year: Spring 2016 Brief: The workshop introduced students to the sustainable methods of construction. Adobe mud blocks, rammed earth wall, wattle and daub walls and CSEB building blocks were made by the students
1. Pugging the mud mix
Making adobe blocks using wooden frame.
2. Applying the mix on the bamboo weave.
1. Ramming the mix.
3. Wattle and Daub wall.
2. Rammed earth wall.
Feather Pavilion
Fundamentals Of Construction First Year: Spring 2016 Project type: Making 1:1 pavilion Project site: Basket ball court, Cept university Project programme: Designing and making pavilion
Sketch-up model at designing stage.
Brief: A bamboo, paper tube pavilion was designed and made by the batch. Six different joineries were designed to solve the purpose and were tested. Complete pavilion
Visualization and Representation Miniature photography. Second Year: Spring 2017 Project type: Photography Project programme: Use pineapple as a prop and click its photographs such that a new dimension is given to its scale.
Pineapple as a Gopuram: 100 times large
Pineapple as a mining mountain: 50 times large
Sketches, drawings and models From history Second Year: Spring 2017 Project type: Studying temple architecture Project programme: Kandariya Mahadev temple was studies and a base isometric drawing was prepared over which overlays of different architectural aspects were made.
Study of Kandariya Mahadeva temple, Khajuraho
Isometric drawings were made depicting different architectural aspects of the monument.
Building Elements Second Year: Monsoon 2017 Brief: The subject aimed at imparting an in-depth understanding of construction and detailing of various building elements. Architectural elements like toilets, staircases were measure drawn. Also a Vohra house at Siddhpur (Gujarat, India was measure drawn.
Part model, Design project
Drawings of Gadli house Siddhpur
Drawings of toilet at PVR cinemas Ahmedabad.
Lines to surfaces Summerschool exploring hyperbolic paraboloid structures First Year: Summer 2016 Project type: Summer school
Paper hypars were made to understand the modularity of the form.
Project programme: Exploring and making hyperbolic paraboloid forms Brief: Hyperbolic paraboloid forms were studied in depth using precedent studies. A pavilion was designed using the learnings from the exercises and was made at 1:1 scale on campus.
Skewers were used to make the hyperbolic paraboloid form as a curved surface made through straight lines.
Precedant structures were studied and modified to design a pavilion for Cept university.
Skewers were used to make the hyperbolic paraboloid form as a curved surface made through straight lines.
The final design was made into a 1:1 pavilion by the students.
1:1 pavilion by students at CEPT University.
Travel Sketches Ahmedabad, Kashmir, Assam and Arunachal Why sketch? Sketching helps me capture the essence of a space as perceived. My travel journal preserves those impressions and preceptions.
Tawang Monastery Water colour on cartridge
Majuli, Assam Soft Pastel on cartridge
Bamuni hills, Tezpur
Tawang Monastery Graphite on cartridge
Soft Pastel on cartridge
“Veenavani” : Water color on cartridge
AKSHAR GAJJAR
akshargajjar1998@gmail.com +919408462562