Architecture Portfolio - Amrita Goyal

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2019-2022 Amrita Goyal

Student of Architecture

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Amrita Goyal

X-206 Regency Park 2 DLF - IV, Gurgaon - 122009

Architecture Student

+91 9971 9979 80 amritagoyal06@gmail.com

I enjoy analytical research and creative writing, architectural photography, and making collages. I am also a pianist and an avid reader, and I love nature.

Experience

Unit Secretary / Z223, NASA India

Being a part of various teams as a leader and a member has helped me develop a strong work ethic, incorporate different perspectives, and manage deadlines without compromising on quality.

The secretary of my college at NASA India, the largest architecture student organization in the world, with over 200 associated colleges and over 60,000 members.

As a student, gaining on-site experience has been a valuable contributor to my understanding of construction and technology.

JUNE 2021 - JUNE 2022, AHMEDABAD

Participant / Bamboo Design & Building Workshop JANUARY 2022, SUNDERBANS

A hands-on workshop to design and construct disaster-resistant a structure in the Sunderbans. Helped develop a strong material understanding of bamboo as well as work on site.

Social Media Associate / @anantu_studentlife MARCH 2021 - SEPTEMBER 2021, REMOTE WORK

As a content specialist for the university instagram page, I helped organize and edit content to increase interaction with students,

Editor / ANUVacha, AnantU DECEMBER 2019 - SEPTEMBER 2021, AHMEDABAD

I helped curate content and coordinate between different teams for the monthly university newsletter.

Education

B.Arch / Anant National University

I enjoy research-based subjects and try to consciously apply the learnings in different studio projects.

ISC (12th Boards) / The Shri Ram School, Moulsari

Competitions

Annual NASA Design Competition / Z223, NASA India

As the Unit Secretary, I was responsible for overseeing other NASA India competitions, which has given me exposure to landscape design, research, debate, product design, & sustainability.

AUGUST 2019 - PRESENT, AHMEDABAD APRIL 2017 - MARCH 2019, GURGAON

BOTH 2020 AND 2021

2021 - designing a mobile shelter for construction workers (Top 24) 2020 - designing a COVID-19 responsive bus stand (Top 100)

Writing Architecture / Z223, NASA India NOVEMBER 2020

A competition about how design and architecture can create a more equitable world (Participation)

120Hours / 5 Day Design Challenge SEPTEMBER 2020

Raising awareness about water pollution by design (Participation)

Skills

Graphics

Modeling

Rendering

In addition to working with softwares, I am a good model maker, and also skilled with media such as watercolors, alcohol markers, and shading.

Adobe Suite

AutoCAD

Lumion

Rhino / Grasshopper

Twinmotion

Sketchup

VRay

(Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, Lightroom)

Procreate

Revit

Contents

Analysis Community Canvas Perusing the Pavilion

Design House-Us, A Community Housing Ambawadi, A Student Center

Art The Descent Into Hell, Unmasked Pandemic: A Collage Manipur: A Village Study Uffici B&B Italia: A Structural Collage

Writing The Panoptical Gaze

Model and collage studies of Manipur Gam, Ahmedabad.

ANALYSIS

Community Canvas A detailed study of a sample area undertaken to understand the layers of physical and psychological aspects that create a sense of community in a neighbourhood.

LAND USE

STREET SECTIONS Residential Institutional Utility Road Semi-Public Private

Humans inhabit the spaces inbetween the trees. The main institution, a temple, binds the community.

VOID & MASSING G+3 G+2 G+1 G Road Open Spaces

Voids are given life by the trees. Commercialization led to a G+3 structure in a low-rise neighbourhood.

ACCESS POINTS Household Community In-between

Understanding access and the idea of threshold - as a barrier, a gathering space, an invitation, and a rejection. Trees breathe life into every interaction. Scale also affects perception.

SCALES OF INTERACTION Studying how organic and inorganic elements create spaces conducive to the three scales of interaction; solitude, intimacy, congregation.

SOLITUDE Solitude was seen where people felt sheltered and safe, in small spaces.

INTIMACY Intimacy was created by elements that brought 2 people closer together.

CONGREGATION People congregated at places that were lively and comforting.

SPATIAL MARKING OF EVENTS Studying the effect of the pandemic on everyday events and interactions. Did spaces themselves transform with COVID-19? Or did we begin using them in different and more resourceful ways?

PRE-COVID Large groups of people came together in spaces to gather and play. A sense of carefreeness was always present.

POST-COVID Interaction took place only in open spaces, and there was a surge in resourcefulness and responsibility.

ANALYSIS

Perusing the Pavilion A contextual study of Mies Van der Rohe’s masterpiece, the Barcelona Pavilion, by analysing its structural, spatial, and social aspects, and the cornerstone ‘less is more’.

SITE PLAN

ZONING

A balance of the covered and exposed.

MOVEMENT

Oriented in the NE-SW direction, it is a thoroughfair to the Spanish Village from the main road - anyone wanting to cross it would experience the carefully curated journey.

MORGEN A cast replica of this sculpture lies on the reflective pool. Reflected in the water and on the walls, she is visible from many places, appearing to move.

BARCELONA CHAIR Uniquely designed for the pavilion, the chair was based on a Roman ‘Curule’, and was initially a seat for royalty at the exhibition. It has since been extremely popularised.

The path is curated by the play of light.

SPATIAL CHARACTERISTICS

Path, place, & transition are balanced.

LIGHT & SHADOW

Exploration of different light intensities.

DRAWINGS The design explores a free plan - 8 slender columns support the flat roof.

The pavilion’s genius lies in the position of the walls, which direct movement and play with light. A low roof allows framing of views.

COLUMN DETAILS

WALL FINISH DETAILS

COLUMN Machine Screw Fasteners MARBLE FACING

BRICK/ CONCRETE

The materials are extravagant - Onyx from Algeria, Travertine from Tivoli, and Marble (Tinos & Alpine).

Chrome Plated Column Cover Structural Column (4 bolted RS angles)

BRONZE GLASS STOP WINDOW FRAME BASE

RELEVANCE THROUGH TIME The pavilion is truly the epitome of surviving the test of time - having been built for an exhibition, dismantled due to its high cost, and rebuilt over half a century later, in recognition of its architectural relevance.

Bolt Fastener Mortar/Fixer CONCRETE WALL (cladded) ROOF SLAB STEEL I SECTION (supports roof)

Marble Cladding

DESIGN

House-Us, a Community Housing A housing complex with two unit typologies designed for 24 families, with emphasis on spaces for interaction at different levels, as well as community spaces on the site.

STUDYING THE SITE Organic Village

Highway Access

Organized Societies

Lake Access

Lake

Societal Access

Fields/Open Spaces Dense Trees

The site, located in Manipur Gam in Ahmedabad, is richly contextual - this has been artistically explored. It is accessible from each of the five surrounding features. The southwest corner becomes the primary point of access.

MASS-AMASS Exploring massing to scale with both unit types.

Understanding the scale of usable open spaces and voids depending on the % ground coverage.

Also seeing the difference between space and void.

SITE PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT As the design development of the units was resolved into a longitudinal block, the site was planned taking into account each block’s orientation, interaction, ventilation, and zoning.

MIRRORED UNIT FLOOR PLANS |

Sheltered Spaces

|

Open Spaces

|

Public Spaces

GROUND FLOOR The smaller unit (82m²) is a simplex, for a family of 2-3 people. Each unit has a balcony and a courtyard, as well as shared foyer access.

FIRST FLOOR The larger unit (130m²) is a duplex, for a family of 4-6 people. The first floor of each unit has two balconies, shared foyer access, and a shared terrace.

SECOND FLOOR At the second floor level, there is a private terrace and some mixed-use multifunctional spaces.

Openings are carefully placed to maintain privacy.

DESIGN | House-Us, a Community Housing

AXONOMETRIC STUDIES In three dimensional space, units were articulated to balance the covered, semicovered, and open spaces.

Openings adequately ventilate each space in the unit.

All roofs are either pitched or terraced.

SECTION Illustrates the play of levels, open spaces, and multi- level interaction encouraged by the structure.

Various facade elements face a pedestrian street lined with trees and flowering plants.

Landscaped and shaded areas act as community spaces for children and adults alike.

Terraces are also cultural connectors - for example, for Uttarayan, a kite flying festival.

DESIGN

Ambawadi, a Student Center A student center designed in the heart of a mango orchard, woven between the trees, intended as a recreational space for the students of an educational institution.

A DIAGRAMMATIC STUDY A derived diagram was used as the conceptual basis for this design. Spatial exploration of the drawing, as well as placement in the orchard, were guiding factors during development.

The biggest challenges were building in the voids of the forest without cutting trees, and simultaneously being able to create the desired functional spaces. The design process was moulding the diagram itself.

BETWEEN THE TREES The site was artistically explored and the diagram was integrated with it to best fit the voids between the trees, followed by the detailed study of a mango tree.

DEVELOPING & MOULDING The form was articulated through continuous development, seeming to ‘grow’ in the dense mango forest.

MASSING MODELS To understand the spaces sectionally and three dimensionally, iterations of simple block models were made, exploring proximity, light, and scale.

SITE PLAN Masses were placed to best fit the voids of the orchard, so that students could experience the learning center while being in nature.

DESIGN | Ambawadi, a Student Center

GROUND FLOOR PLAN The student center comprises - 2 club rooms - a library - a cafeteria - a swimming pool - an observatory Emphasis is laid on both the visual and spatial connection with the natural context.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN At the first floor level, there is - a multipurpose hall - levelled terraces - a continuation of the library Here, one interacts with the fruits, flowers, and foliage of the mango trees.

A-A

SECTIONS & PERSPECTIVES B-B

Sectionally, the design explores - plinth level - floor height - vertical connections As a result, the created spaces are all qualitatively unique. Two spaces; the library courtyard, and the corridor outside the club rooms, have been explored in perspective as well.

C-C

ART

Creative Explorations Four artistic pieces created at different times over the past three years, using various different media and softwares.

The Descent Into Hell, Unmasked Autodesk Sketchbook

Before coronavirus, life existed in an incredibly large fashion. Vast seas, long mountain ranges, being connected to the entire world by air and rail, seeing architecture reach astonishing levels of ‘massive’. The earth wasn’t enough, humanity even left the confines of earth to explore outer space.

Pandemic: A Collage Adobe Photoshop

Coronavirus transformed the scale of human existence.

Suddenly these monumental events; the entire universe existed within the confines of our homes. This did not hamper creativity or imagination; instead, it caused a paradigm shift, paving the way to a new form of expression.

ART | Creative Explorations

Manipur: A Village Study Alcohol Markers, Brush Pens

manipur

Uffici B&B Italia: A Structural Collage Procreate, Adobe Photoshop

WRITING

The Panoptical Gaze A paper that discusses the current societal functioning of the ‘Panopticon’, a prison designed by Jeremy Bentham and extensively analysed by Michael Foucault in 1975..

In his analysis of the sociocultural and theoretical mechanisms behind the changes in the western penal systems, ‘Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prison’, Michel Foucault discusses two contrasting sides/ concepts of power, using the changes in the penal systems in France. The first is a gory and extremely graphic description of an ‘amende honorable’; a form of public punishment in France, in 1757. It describes, in gruesome and exacting detail, how the prisoner is to be punished; with the flesh torn from his body, molten substances poured over his wounds, and his body then drawn, quartered, and burnt at the stake. The second is a time-table from a prison in Paris, eighty years later. Each time of the day, down to the hour, is defined meticulously and the prisoners are assigned tasks and jobs; rising, eating, working, and school. The summer day starts and ends an hour earlier than that of the winter day.

“This article will attempt to understand whether the

The public execution and the time-table each define a certain penal style. Separated by less than a century, this was at a time

model of the Panopticon, as during which the economy and structure of punishment was being proposed by Bentham and

reconceptualized, especially in the Western world; Europe and the

discussed by Foucault, aids

United States. Many changes were seen, but the one Foucault

us in our understanding of

chooses to focus on is the disappearance of torture as a public

society today.”

spectacle and the emergence of prisons, schools and even hospitals as disciplinary and supervisory institutions. He

goes on to discuss, with examples, how the disappearance of public executions marks both a decline in the spectacle of executions, as well as a slackening of the physical hold on the body. This leads to a conclusion that Foucault attributes to Gabriel Bonnot de Mably, a French Philosopher; “Punishment, if I may so put it, should strike the soul rather than the body” (Discipline 16). In the new system, “The soul is the prison of the body.” (Discipline 30) There is, thus, a change in the exertion of power; from physical exertion on the body of the prisoner, to psychological; a complex and almost invisible power that serves to reform and re-shape the individual. In the subsequent pages of the book, Foucault discusses Jeremy Bentham’s ‘Panopticon’, an institutional building and system of control, as a representative of society in the 19th century. This article will attempt to understand whether the model of the Panopticon, as

“Architecturally, the base structure is a central watchtower for the guards surrounded by a ring of cells for the prisoners.”

proposed by Bentham and discussed by Foucault, aids us in our understanding of society today.

The Panopticon, derived from the Greek word ‘panoptes’, or all-seeing, is a prison system conceptualized and designed by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. Architecturally, the base

structure is a central watchtower for the guards surrounded by a ring of cells for the prisoners. The cells have windows on both the inner and outer faces; the silhouette of the prisoner is always visible to the central panoptic tower. However, the prisoners themselves cannot see the guards at any time; either because the distance between them is too large or because of venetian blinds on their windows. The cells do not interact with each other, but are always confronted and faced by the panoptic tower.

“Conceptually, the design is based on the idea of constant surveillance. It has the sociological and

Conceptually, the design is based on the idea of constant surveillance. It has the sociological and psychological effect of constant

psychological effect of constant observation.”

observation. A prisoner has no way to know whether, at a particularmoment, he is being watched, but he must believe this. Additionally, the structure of the prison meant a huge saving in costs; just a few guards (or arguably none at all) could manage an entire prison with ease.

Bentham imagined the panopticon as a larger model for the functioning of an ideal society; one wherein the underlying belief of the populace is that anyone can be surveilled at any time. He further went on to say that by creating the atmosphere of constant surveillance, the populace would eventually normalize it and self-surveill; they would watch themselves and internalize the norms. Foucault, in his discussion, elaborates on this, by saying, “He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection.” (Foucault, Discipline 202-203)

“As the panopticon has grown and permeated virtually every part of society, one must study society itself through a panoptic lens, as the eye of the ‘guard’ is on all of us.”

The design failed when it was executed literally; despite the wide interest in his ideas, the physical prison proved to have an extremely deteriorating effect on the mental health of the prisoners. However, the formation of a psychological and sociocultural panopticon in today’s world has been extremely successful. In fact, as the panopticon has grown and permeated virtually every part of society, one must study society itself through a panoptic lens, as the eye of the ‘guard’ is on all of us. This will be

further discussed by elaborating upon the two fundamental aspects of a panoptic society; normativity and surveillance.

What is appropriate? What is ethical, right, proper, and acceptable? What is normal? Wikipedia defines normativity as “the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good or desirable or permissible and others as bad or undesirable or impermissible.” However, normativity is not restricted only to actions or outcomes. In fact, there are clear socio-cultural definitions of a ‘normal’ existence in society; their existence cannot be denied. It may seem like these have barely any effect on us only, and only after we leave home and begin to live in the ‘real world’. But in reality, the panoptical gaze of normativity is observing and controlling us from an extremely young age.

WRITING | The Panoptical Gaze Schools and homes are training grounds for making a child a normal member of society, a duty which, by default, falls to the child’s parents and teachers. They are taught to conform to the norm of everything, from manners and etiquette to appearance, gender, and sexuality. Each of us is moulded and shaped into a normative form that can be controlled; this is the larger panopticon at play. As

“Each of us is moulded and shaped into a normative form that can be controlled; this is the larger panopticon at play.”

Foucault states, “The judges of normality are present everywhere.

We are in the society of the teacher-judge, the doctor-judge, the educator-judge, the 'social-worker'-judge; it is on them that the universal reign of the normative is based; and each individual, wherever he may find himself, subjects to it his body, his gestures, his behaviour, his aptitudes, his achievements." (Discipline 304)

Those that do not conform, sometimes in apparent forms such as rebellions and uprisings, and sometimes as simply states of existences or choices, are disregarded, discriminated against, and shunned by both society and the ‘guards’ of the panopticon. Eventually, one may forget that they even exist.

One harshly striking and defining example of this in the present scenario is the succession of events that took place after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown was announced in India. All airlines were given an extra day of flying, so that the ‘normal’ Indian; an upper-caste, middle class individual; had the opportunity to return to a place of comfort. But the scheduled running of trains and buses was halted immediately. This did not seem to be a problem at first. However, the insensitivity and flaw in this action was made evident when hundreds of thousands of migrant labourers and daily wage earners were left stranded, with no source of income, no place to stay, and no way to return home. In desperation, they began to flock the state borders demanding to be let through so that they could return to their villages.

These labourers and workers are not rebellious or criminal. They were simply forgotten because they didn’t fall under the normative category.

Today's panopticism is more identifiable with the virtual world of data and technology than with the original prison towers.

Constant surveillance, or the idea of it, was discussed by Foucault, and his argument was that it creates regulation in the most minute aspects of daily life. The feeling of constant surveil-

“Today’s panopticism is more identifiable with the virtual world of data and technology than with the original prison towers.”

lance "assures the automatic functioning of power" (Discipline 230). The current culture is carceral in nature; one where the societal model of the panopticon has permeated social organization at each level.

Surveillance may not be tangible, but is very much real, and almost omnipresent. The 'information panopticon'; the virtual panoptical structure of the internet of things, is almost scarily analogous with Bentham's original panopticon. An individual's keystrokes, search history, most-visited websites, location history, and essentially all digital activity is tracked, monitored, and sent to the internet service provider. The individual in this case is the subject from which information is being extracted, with

nothing being divulged. One has no idea how much is known about them and how frequently they are watched. The lack of transparency in the current model of the internet is terrifying when analysed through a panoptical lens.

Recently, the panoptical gaze has also seen a shift from the public to the private sphere. Possibly the most critiqued example of this is the Aadhar initiative, whereby citizens of India are assigned a unique 12 digit biometric identity number. It was first started with the prospect of aiding the poor and lower class with

“The lack of transparency in the current model of the internet is terrifying when analysed through a panoptical lens.”

food rationing. Each individual or group who opposed Aadhar or questioned its ethical basis, or went out of the 'norm', was branded as being an elitist who had no regard for the welfare of the poor.

“The reassuring

Gradually, Aadhar morphed into a corrective mechanism to track both

motto said that there

crime and corruption, tracking everything from mobile phones and to bank

was nothing to fear if

accounts. The reassuring motto said there was nothing to fear if there was

there was nothing to

nothing to hide. Today, various essential and basic services cannot be

hide.”

availed without an Aadhar number.

Panopticism is present even in the significantly more intimate space of a household. A seemingly innocent and unobtrusive object acts as a panoptical instrument; the mirror. When one looks into the mirror, they see a reflection of themself through the eyes of society, through the ‘panoptical gaze’. The action is not only seeing, but observing, correcting, scrutinizing, and moulding themself to fit the norm, and be ‘flawless’. The mirror is used as an object to fit society’s standard definitions of beauty, appearance, hygiene, diet, and productivity. The body of the individual is self-monitored and assessed with reference to a tangled and intricate web of social conventions, norms, and etiquettes. The pano-

“We are, in fact, so deeply immersed in this socio-cultural panopticon that we know ourselves only through its norms.”

ptical structure here transcends the need for a subject and an observer; the same individual is acting as both. It is evident, then, that we exist in Jeremy Bentham’s proposed “ideal” society; one where the creation of an atmosphere of constant surveillance has resulted in the populace normalizing it; they self-surveill by watching themselves and internalizing the norms. We are, in fact, so deeply immersed in this socio-cultural panopticon that we know ourselves only through its norms.

contact 9971997980 amritagoyal06@gmail.com