Graduate Portfolio - Anumol Thomas

THE BEACON

Chicago River walk, UIUC / Fall 2021 / High Rise and Habitat Studio

The project is designed to explore a high-rise building’s relationship to a complex physical context while engaging issues of detail and construction in expressing architectural ideas and concepts. This project is to design a high-rise hotel tower for a site that is a prime location for additional hotel and housing units given its proximity to the Loop,Navy Pier, and the Magnificent Mile along North Michigan Avenue. The site is located in Chicago’s Streeterville District, on the north bank of the Chicago River immediately to the south of the NBC Tower, and is bordered by North City front Plaza Drive on its western edge,North Water Street on its northern edge, and North Columbus Drive on its eastern edge. Towering at over 1200 ft tall, The Beacon is a landmark for the residents of the city as well for the visitors. It will be a structural and architectural marvel bringing in the missing open green pockets that the vertical city needs along with the luxurious amenities and facilities this tower offers.

An aerial view taken above plaza level

CONNECTIVITY I FLUIDITY I TRANSITION

The magnanimity of the building is seen along with the modest scale of the podium and the plaza levels which connect human to the spaces. The Louvers enhance the inherent verticality of the building.

The fluidity in the landscape that is translating to the building form makes the structure infinite. It connects spaces at various different levels. This building provides a setback from the hustling city of Chicago and gives a much needed visual break in the densely populated neighborhood of Streeterville and Downtown Chicago.

GREEN POCKETS I TACTICAL I NATURE

The River walk Level connects the majority of the buildings in the vicinity and creates a vehicular free pathway for the pedestrians This walkway gives an opportunity for various urban activities like cafeterias, street music , seating spaces, restaurants. It creates a pause in the fast city of Chicago and gives spaces for the pedestrians to roam along the River Chicago. The view from both the sides of the river proves to be an important vanity point to the The Beacon. The curvilinear shape of the river walk creates fluidity and connectivity between the building and the pedestrians.

This high rise residential and hotel building stand tall looks over the mighty city of Chicago. It offers exhilarating views of the city from all sides and dominates the architectural character on the Columbus Drive. The curve shape of the building maximize the views on all sides with flowing spaces giving a view of the horizon on all sides.

Rigid site boundaries with orthogonal edges and axes connecting the River walk and the Coloumbus drive.

Fluid edges at the River walk Level and connects the building to the river.

Bringing in the vehicular traffic from the north side for the drop- off for the residential as well as for the hotel users.

PROGRAM AND FLOOR PLATES

OUTER COLUMNS AND BRACINGS

STRUCTURAL SYSTEM AND FACADE RIBBON

STRUCTURAL SYSTEM DETAIL AT MECHANICAL FLOOR

CENTRAL CORE CENTRAL CORE AND COLUMNS

URBAN MOUNTAIN

Shibuya City,Japan/ UIUC / Fall 2021 / Tokyo Studio

Shibuya is a dense, bustling district in Tokyo similar to New York City’s Times Square, complete with hundreds of neon signs and video billboards. To counter the somewhat oppressive density of the area, this proposal aims to breathe new life into Shibuya by offering a totally public vertical park at the site of Shibuya 109, a popular shopping center. The vertical park utilizes stacked volumes which step up and away from the Scramble Square to the east. This allows for more open air areas throughout the project and creates an “urban mountain.” Additionally, the separated volumes are linked by fully-accessible ramps which further incorporate green areas, providing all visitors with a green, hike-like experience.

OCULUS VIEW FROM THE PLATFORM

1 50mm Japanese Cypress Louver System

2 Green roof assembly: Composite steel floor system (130mm concrete decking on W10 beams), 50mm rigid insulation, drainage membrane, 500mm soil, grass

3 Double-pane curtain wall system with low-e coating

4 Wall assembly: 20mm gypsum wall board, 140mm metal studs with batt insulation, 20mm sheath-

PROJECTIONS

RAMPS

VIEW FROM GLASS CORE

PLATFORM

SUNKEN GARDEN

GLASS CORE

DAMASCUS OCULUS

Damascus/ UIUC / Fall 2022 / ACSA Competition Studio

This project located in Damascus targets residents affected by the war. When refugees returned to their demolished apartments, they suffered from a lack of social, ecological and commercial space. Ard Al Diar essentially the traditional courtyard is used here as a perfect model for a social - environmental place with heating and cooling techniques. Public green spaces,vegetable garden, green roof and the water canal zone ( directs the water from river Barada )are oriented around this courtyard could also possibly resolve the shortage of food and water in Damascus. The introduction of a new smart ecological system along with the incorporation of Kerto LVL slabs and columns which is a fully integrated system, this design proposes to reconstruct only the damaged elements while maintaining the other elements which are good status.

Below : The render gives the view of a post-war damaged building which is in fairly good shape and the demolished portion is reconstructed with Kerto LVL slabs and columns. The structure forms the unique part in this design.

The Syrian refugees after being displaced is thriving to get back to life. The social environment space includes activities such as farming. This farming in turn has an impact on the community by sharing surplus resources for the residents of the building. Damascus Oculus is reversed for its farming economy. About 50% of the post war damaged building is covered with vegetation improving air quality and the local ecosystem.

OCULUS

Below : A proposed section layout illustrating the water canal, courtyard and the green terraces. A smart technology with an integrated network system of water filtration is the innovation here. Grey water is filtered through the columns and reused for irrigation purposes. Also, the integration of canal system from the river Barada helps mitigate water shortage problems.

DESIGN FOR DISCOVERY

Kerto LVL slabs which is an excellent material for load- bearing applications is placed on the massive lvl slabs to form a vertical courtyard system. The column performs as self - efficient system which includes water pipes for rain harvesting, water filtration and grey water recycling. The overall structure is of great ecological value as one of the main property of Kerto Lvl SLabs is reducing the carbon dioxide emissions. This unique system along with the green terraces becomes the lungs for the post-war damaged building.

Right : The image shows the per-formative nature of the building. The column is cut through to show the filtration technique.

PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

Transparence Competition Studio/ UnderGraduate / 2017

The challenge was to dictate the basic elements of performing arts ie. Performer & Audience - People, Time – Pace and Space – Place. The activities of the area program should justify the performing art forms. The scope was limitless. However, the minimum requirements were: Total built up area : 35,000sq.m to 40,000 sq.m, consider accommodating at least 3 different kinds of performing art forms. At least 3 different kinds of stages for different scales of audience and different kinds of performing arts, restaurant/ cafe,at least 2 other activities other than performance- for e.g.: classrooms, workshop spaces, lecture halls, cinema hall, exhibition space etc .Depending on time of day, the space may adapt itself for different kinds of activities. While designing these spaces, we need to give special attention to the people and pace of the performing arts. Whether it is the flooring, the ceiling, the acoustics, proscenium, distance between audience and stage etc. they all require a detailed study and understanding of the art forms itself. Moreover,the culturally and historically rich site of Pragati Maidan, New Delhi which has been playing the part of a convention centre since its inception in 1972. I chose Music,Aerobics and Magic as the key performances

AMUSEMENT PARK

I completed my bachelors in architecture by taking up Illusions in architecture as my dissertation and final thesis topic. Being an abstract topic,the main challenge I faced was in the creation of the form or the shell of the park. I gave emphasis on visual illusions in the exterior of the structure. To explain ,illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the human brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation&visual illusions (optical illusions) are the best-known and understood. The emphasis on visual illusions occurs because vision often dominates the other senses. Then I focused on Illusion in motion by translating this into an architectural device, the focus becomes how to construct and overlap a series of moments in order to give the sensation that space is continuously moving and shifting. Moreover,hyper reality and virtual reality leads to phantasm in us.

Saadiyat Island, U.A.E / Thesis/ UnderGraduate / 2018

Virtual reality can be experienced in theatre whereas hyper reality in amusement parks. Through this thesis,I have tried to incorporate illusions within theme parks giving rise to an architectural amusement park. The chosen site is considered to be the cultural district of UAE,and proposing this park will enhance the present island in numerous ways. Form inspired from the golden ratio,and the shell was developed in rhino and hexagrid designed in revit.

ELEVATIONS

URBAN DESIGN

Rajasthan ,India/ Undergraduate Studio / 2019

A collaboration project done by a team of 6 members. As a team we focused on the city of Jodhpur,also called the Blue City of India. Urban designing for this city which had a lot of contoured sites was quite challenging for all of us.

One of the main attraction was the Mehrangarh Fort which symbolises the city, and enhances the beauty of Jodhpur.T he view towards the city from the Mehrangarh Fort is a treat to the eyes. One can see the blue city cascading along the contours. Jodhpur lies along the geographic centre of the Rajasthan state,which makes it a convenient base for travel in region much frequented by tourists.

Jodhpur had very little data on the internet about the street and various other data required to collect for urban design. A live study was done in this city for 3 days to collect the information about the city. The density of the population and buildings were high. We had to make use of the space available to design better pedestrian access. Building regulations were stringent in Jodhpur and to work around it was a challenge. I have detailed only the two urban interventions,where I was assigned to work in this studio. I also worked on the site study on the urban scale ie about urban morphology ,landuse and mobility & urban intervention map sheet.

URBAN INTERVENTIONS

LEKHU ART

VIEWING DECK-MEHRANGARH FORT COLLONADED SPACES

TOORJI KA JHALRA

AUTO STAND

STREET SECTIONS AND GUIDELINES

MULTI-USE INTERACTION ZONE, GULAB SAGAR

ADAPTIVE REUSE OF THE GHANTA GHAR MARKET

Creating a promenade overlooking the smaller catchment. Enhancing a pedestrian friendly character of the adjacent walk ,through the introduction of the promenade.

Amphitheatre seating as an Interactive zone

Amphitheatre to enhance the view towards Mehrangarh Fort ,which is provided with an elevated seating inspired from Toorji Ka Jhalra ( Step Well)

Creating a visual connection between the two water catchments .A geometric fountain is placed along the bridge,which opens its character and encourages activities.

Restoring of boating deck along Gulab Sagar

Enhance the boating for the tourists expeience provided alongside a shaded structure for viewers to wait.

ADAPTIVE REUSE OF THE MARKET PLACEGHANTA

GHAR

Sardar Market is an area characterised by strong social values due to the presence of the biggest market of the old city. Its a central location characterised by rare phenomenon of indigenous appreciation by the local community. Criteria for the selection is due to the exceptional nature of the area and consequently the interesting solutions in adaptation by the local people.

THE CORE OF THE REUSED SYSTEM

THE CHAOTIC BACKSIDE OF THE MAIN MARKET

EXISTING PLAN OF THE MARKET

THE INFORMAL MARKET BAR

PROPOSED GHANTA GHAR PLAN AND TENSILE MARKET ALONG

ADAPTIVE REUSE OF TERRACES ON MARKET

PROPOSED SERVICE BLOCK FOR ADAPTIVE RE-USE

THE PUBLIC ACCESS OF THE CLOCK TOWER

RECONSTITUTION OF THE MARKET FOR RETAIL SPACES

ROOF

VANTAGE WARDS

EXISTING ELEVATION OF THE GHANTA

GHAR MARKET

GHANTA GHARCLOCK TOWER

SARDAR MARKET MARKET KEY PLAN

EXISTING PLAN OF THE MARKET

THE INFORMAL MARKET

PROPOSED GHANTA GHAR PLAN WITH ROOF TOP DINING AND TENSILE MARKET ALONG WITH SIDEWALK EXTENSION

ADAPTIVE REUSE OF ABANDONED TERRACES ON MARKET PROFILES

EXTENSION OF SIDEWALK TO ORGANISE HUMAN VENDOR TRAFFIC

Segregation of sidewalk extension into two separate and clear extensions to bring about organised chaos into the market.

RECONSTITUTION

PROPOSED ELEVATION OF THE GHANTA GHAR MARKET

VENDOR MARKET

PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY ZONE

ROOFTOP DINING &LOUNGE

KEY PLAN MARKET KEY PLAN CLOCK TOWER

TENSILE MARKET IN LINEAR ALIGNMENT WITH THE MARKET PROFILE

NATIONAL HERITAGE MUSEUM

Abu Dhabi, U.A.E/ Professional - Broadway Malyan / 2021

This project was at RIBA Stage 3 submission and I was part of the BIM team of Broadway Malyan. Since its still an ongoing project and is currently in the DD stage, the details regarding the project are meant to be confidential. The conceptual package was initially done by Meccanno wherein the project from the concept level was taken over by Broadway Malyan.

This project tries to bring the culture and heritage of the place. The unique location with the water edge environment ,with the building envelope and landscaping within the building with the setting up of planters was a thoughtful idea brought in this project. The facade is simplified with a textured off white panels which even gives the museum a contemporary feel.

Below : View of the Natural History Museum from above Jaques

Chirac Boulevard with the Saadiyat Bridge in the Background. This angle captures the car parking and the arrival area leading to the main entrance and Wadi.

3.3 | PROJECT VISUALISATIONS: AERIAL 3

Brief narrative of the view

View of the Natural History Museum from above Jaques Chirac Boulevard with the Saadiyat Bridge in the Background. This angle captures the car parking and the arrival area leading to the main enytrance and Wadi.

BUILDING ORIENTATION AND OPERATION

2715500.1849 236925.2949 N 2715433.4839

2715493.3095 236894.4875

Visitor and staff arrival circulation strategy - The image below demonstrates the key arrival sequence on arriving at the Museum site. All routes are en couraged to travel through the landscaped ‘Wadi’ between the two main building structures.

TIMELINE GARDEN IN PROGRESS

N 2715461.8957 236854.4603

2715446.0966 236835.0109

(FOH) CIRCULATION (BOH) CIRCULATION - GF LEVEL

(BOH) CIRCULATION - FF LEVEL

236869.9103

2715432.8912 236988.3092 2715382.0954 237027.7156 2715285.0891 237103.4827 2715236.0499 237141.5411 E 237130.0692

BUS DROP-OFF

NHM CAR PARKING NHM CAR PARKING

TAXI DROP-OFF

236876.2812

N 2715303.4487 E 236805.5602

2715295.8414 236794.5148

2715285.1739 236785.3097

N 2715257.1672 E 236775.3143

N 2715227.4406 E 236776.0972

SCHOOL GROUP ENTRANCE MAIN ENTRANCE STAFF ENTRANCE

237085.3104

2715210.6394 237072.8382

237065.3123

JACQUES CHIRAC STREET PROPOSED BUILDING BY OTHERS

2715182.8010

BUS/TAXI DROP-OFF

2715137.2923 237018.1662

237013.2309

237008.0584

(FOH) CIRCULATION - FF LEVEL (FOH) CIRCULATION - SF LEVEL BASEMENT ACCESS SECURITY CHECK POINT- 02 BASEMENT ACCESS

237138.0587 N 2715221.6469 E 237120.8020 N 2715219.0654 E 237110.3985 N 2715172.8598 237063.3758 2715165.8185 N 2715152.0268 237033.2736 2715143.4524 2715128.4390 2715112.8501 236991.9732

N 2715133.4969

2715120.8734

ENTRY EXIT WATER BOADY AND MARINE STATION 2715081.6490 N 2715200.1712 E 236787.4811

In this project both the landscaping and architecture strategy has devel oped to ensure the initial vision and concept design is retained. The illustrative master plan explains the integration of the landscape within the building facade and roof a landscape/architecture/structure planter typology has been created to ensure the constructibility of the design.

This section of the report demonstrates the elevational treatment. A simple layering of the information has helped build the elevational treatment and provide a very simple solution to the architectural massing. The first image shows the section straight from the BIM model which adds texture and color to the facade. At this scale the chosen texture and panelization is not visible. This section also adds the landscape treatment to the various planters which are integrated into the building facade.

DIAMOND MULTIFUNCTIONAL CENTRE

Nur

Sultan City ,Kazakhstan / Internship/ KEO / 2018

The project is a mixed-use development adjacent to the NurSultan City Expo site. A collaboration project which included a team of 6 members.

The brief required four distinct components including a 5-star hotel (20,000m2), serviced apartments (30,000m2), office (25,000m2)and retail (20,000m2) for a total GFA of app. 95,000100,000m2 above ground level.

From KEO’s initial massing and tower prototype studies, the client wished to further develop the 2-tower scheme which embraces a central sunken plaza that is connected to the main retail mall via an air conditioned walkway.

Program is vertically stacked by function, driving the tower form. A break in the stack is introduced to indicate a shift/transition in program. Conceptual massing of the building, basement parking with grids,ground floor, developing typical unit plans,rearranging them,developing sections,area calculations and creating design presentation were my task in this project. The views were specifically generated by different discipline. This is one of my best design projects which was approved after the concept stage and currently in the RFI stage.

SECTION B

SECTION C

SECTION D

MALL OF QATARSCHOOL PROJECT

This school project was a part of the entertainment phase of the Mall of Qatar project. I was part of the concept team and this project made me dive into the design and drawings of the school. I was part of the initial planning design and soon was able to develop some final interior drawing details for this project. The transformation of the program diagram into tangible forms takes its cue from the basic idea of building blocks. Building blocks are rudimentary shape toys that enable children to develop spatial skills as well as creative and divergent problem solving skills. The same conceptual approach physically manifests the program in the form of building blocks, which faciliate program grouping and arrangement.

School Main Drop-Off View

08.02 Concept

08.02 Concept

08.02 Concept

The transformation of the program diagram into tangible forms takes its cue from the basic idea of building blocks. Building blocks are rudimentary shape toys that enable children to develop spatial skills as well as creative and divergent problem solving skills.

The transformation of the program diagram into tangible forms takes its cue from the basic idea of building blocks. Building blocks are rudimentary shape toys that enable children to develop spatial skills as well as creative and divergent problem solving skills.

The transformation of the program diagram into tangible forms takes its cue from the basic idea of building blocks. Building blocks are rudimentary shape toys that enable children to develop spatial skills as well as creative and divergent problem solving skills.

The same conceptual approach physically manifests the program in the form of building blocks, which faciliate program grouping and arrangment.

The same conceptual approach physically manifests the program in the form of building blocks, which faciliate program grouping and arrangment.

The same conceptual approach physically manifests the program in the form of building blocks, which faciliate program grouping and arrangment.

Blocks form clusters around a common open space, as traditional Qatari village often do, with a play of height and rectilinear masses. The combination of a simple learning tool and a traditional planning element projects a rich cultural reference onto a new spatial form.

Blocks form clusters around a common open space, as traditional Qatari village often do, with a play of height and rectilinear masses. The combination of a simple learning tool and a traditional planning element projects a rich cultural reference onto a new spatial form.

Blocks form clusters around a common open space, as traditional Qatari village often do, with a play of height and rectilinear masses. The combination of a simple learning tool and a traditional planning element projects a rich cultural reference onto a new spatial form.

Blocks form clusters around a common open space, as traditional Qatari village often do, with a play of height and rectilinear masses.

The combination of a simple learning tool and a traditional planning element projects a rich cultural reference onto a new spatial form.

FLOOR PLANS

ELEVATIONS

08.05 Elevations

WEST ELEVATION

Elevation A - West

NORTH ELEVATION

Elevation B - North

Placemaking

Cluster D, G+5

Prototypes 1xL, 1xC

512 units, GFA 129,281 m2

as Study, Common, Eating Rooms adjacent to an Open Kitchen and Sitting Areas. eas available on the typical floors as well that provide more natural lighting and ventilation

Building Prototype Distribution

Reception, G Registration, Prayer, Clinic GFA 1,124 m2

6

Hostel Prototype L

Hostel Prototype C

DEPLOYABLE STRUCTURES

Prof. Sudarshin Krishna, UIUC/ Graduate / Fall 2021

The goal of the project was to learn about an innovative structural system that serves special purposes and needs. For example, disaster-relief shelters where ease of transportation and rapid deployment are needed, for roofs of stadia to have all-weather sports, for structures used in outer-space exploration, for responsive facades, for iconic public architecture to enliven a space, and whenever a structure needs to be reused without the burden of dismantling and reassembly. We had to construct a deployable sphere made of angulated scissor units. For that, we selected a polygon of 12 sides, 16 sides,or 24 sides. The model had one horizontal ring as shown below. The number of vertical rings was half the number of polygon sides, i.e., a 16 sided polygon should have 8 vertical rings. The connectors at the poles were designed accordingly. This was an individual modelling project and was completed in a time frame of 1 week.

TENSIONED MEMBRANE STRUCTURES - Dance Pavillion

The objective of this project is to understand the process of form-finding through prestressing and to demonstrate the stiffness and stability provided by prestressing forces to a structure. This project was done in teams of 4 and we designed the Dance Pavillion by Frei Otto.

The structural system of the roof over the dance floor is a typical undulating star comprising six high and six low points and a self-supporting central aperture. The roof surface is composed of twelve equal saddle surfaces, including six mirror-symmetrical ones. The radial carrying and tensioning cables are secured at their inner ends to a ring cable of 6 m diameter and at their outer ends to concrete blocks at the edge of the ornamental pond. By means of securing cables the low points are connected to the edge of the concrete slab (38/1 ). which additionally serves as a counterweight. In the chain model the cable alignments, the cable curves and the slope of the pole were determined.

Prof. Sudarshin Krishna,UIUC/ Graduate / Fall 2021

JAPANESE MINIMALISM

4 x 4 House by Tadao Ando

Prof. Botond Bognar, UIUC/ Graduate / Fall 2022

ART CORNER