AOA IN A NICHE 2022-23

ONCE UPON A TIME

AOA! It is not just a name, but a way of life. 500 students, and a bunch of faculty embark you upon a journey of 5 years where you learn all your skillsets including jugaads. Academy is a 66 year old legacy that inspires you to be your best self. Get set, because even though the college is in shambles, you will be learning the most out of it!

Here's a quick historical fact about the college logo! The initial students who applied sat under the banyan tree and started their journey to become architects and designers! Interesting right? Well, enjoy your lit up and ventilated studios. Welcome kiddos!

Dear Freshers, A warm welcome to AOA, your home (literally) for the next five years!

First of all, Kudos to yourself for making to where you are today, we know it's all because you have worked hard till now, well there's definitely more to come, the real journey begins here, so embrace yourself for this one hell of a Rollercoaster ride ahead. The First year is the best year of all. Period. The weekend days working in college with the music by your side; enjoying every bit of the song and working! Ever heard of such a college?! Well soon y 'all will be experiencing it! Enjoy it to the fullest while you can. Try balancing out your assignments and all the shenanigans’ freshers are known for….and please don’t miss out on the fun part!

The course demands your sheer will and determination and might feel overwhelming sometimes, but trust us, it gets better. Learning is a continuous process and don’t miss upon any opportunity that AOA provides. This is the best year for exploration and learning so don’t shy away from doing so.

Buckle up as y’all are going to embark on a new chapter of your life, an exhilarating and joyous ride with its ups and downs. So just keep going for whatever comes to you, because you never know how the things would turn out, but having a good team holding yourself upright and not giving up is how you survive. Always remember you are the only one to acknowledge your own efforts so never look down on yourself even if it feels you are lacking somewhere. You will definitely make through this. Also don't hesitate to ask for aid from any of your seniors, we are super friendly (as you might have experienced in you orientation week) and will always be there to guide and help your way out. Looking forward for a lively and interactive junior batch!! Best wishes!

Your Sophomores, Batch of 2021!

Hey Freshers!

Welcome to AOA. You are embarking upon a roller coaster journey. So fasten your seatbelts and hold on tight. Your first week in the college will teach you to expect the unexpected. The good news is that this is precisely all you need to know to get through the next five years! Architecture holds the ability to open your eyes to infinite number of things. Allow yourself to take it all in and you will emerge out of it as a better version of yourself. Life at Academy is going to be unlike your academic life. Here you will find inspiring and approachable faculty, super cool seniors and an inexplicable bonding with your close friends. Ensure to make the most of your time here!

Ab aate hai kaam ki baat pe, inform your parents you will be busy for the next five years pursuing your dreams. Throw away all the extra stuff you have from your cupboard, kyuke models kidhar rakhenge bro. Get a large jug of coffee and a mug to support your sorrows. Also get a friend to get through this, cause this is going to test all your emotions for sure. And don't forget, you have all the help available, don't hesitate to contact your seniors at any time or even your friends for that matter. Chalo ab don't get scared and jor se BOL ACADEMY HALLA BOL!

Welcome to Academy Kids!

The Niche Team 2022 23!

Local Train

From catching a local when you haven't slept at all during the night to sleeping and travelling till Churchgate, architecture will give you all the experiences of the local. Learning from the coolies on how to pick up your models in the crowd to protecting your precious sheets from the pouring water from the roof of the train during monsoons, ekdum sahi experience hai bro! 2 minutes of silence for all the items we have lost in the train. P.s. please take care of your belongings.

se station miss hota hai.

Bus Ride

For students living far, this bus ride is the final impediment that stands between you and AOA. Why worry when Bus 118 frequents kabootar khaana every 2 minutes. Just ensure that you keep your 6 rupees handy to be shoved into the conductor's palm. Once inside, if you see that the seats are occupied, spare no time and leap for the rod. Hold on to it with all your might till the bus conductor yells " Chala chala, Siddhivinayak. " Believe me, with the number of things you will be carrying, it will take all your muscle strength not to knock over the person in front of you, every time the bus makes an abrupt stop.

Two-Wheeler

For students living close, remember we have the best college campus in town so if you get your two wheeler, you need to worry about it getting towed. Learn this, 4 baje take college ke side, uske baad saamne wale side, otherwise our respected BMC will be picking up your two-wheeler like a 100 ruppees awaara note on the floor and take it opposite the Indiabulls building. Also gather all your balancing skills, cause you will be getting your models in the front boot, while carrying your scroll over your shoulder and navigating your way through the potholes and gusts of wind! Tricky task indeed.

Walking

And lastly for students who come from a PG nearby, y 'all need to keep basic survival kits at your behest, be it the sandwich wala's large umbrella or an innovative technique to carry the thousand things that you get to college! Otherwise, y 'all are saving on the most precious time by not travelling, usse istemaal karo and baakiyon ke kaam mein help kardo, dhanyavaad!

Stationery

Stationery will be your best friend for your initial few years in this realm of architecture. Be it those large A1 sheets that will help become a blanket for your short friends to those tiny A5 sketchbooks to sketch the toilet layouts of every space, you are not getting rid of these basic ones! No matter how small or heavy your bag is, don't forget to keep a 5m measuring tape with you!

Also, gather all your savings, cause these materials aren't cheap, but if you are good at bargaining, you win at life! Storage of your sheets inside the scroll and under the bed is the safest whereas storage of your model items inside the cupboard will be the safest.

Before your jury arrives, make sure you have enough sheets, enough tissues to wipe your tears and enough Allfix to fix your broken models and dreams. Your triangular scale can also aid your laptops in the future to become a stand allowing the fans to let out air. Also do not even dare to cut directly on your drafting boards, itna himmat toh Singham bhi nahi karta bhai!

Printing

It doesn't matter how much time you got to complete the assignment, you will be running to get the prints at 7:15 am on the day of submission, unless of course you rock at time management. You will see your worst fears realized when you meet your entire class crowding at the shop. This is the one time when being patient might not reward you. Squeeze your way through the hullabaloo and start yelling "Uncle!!!!! (Your Name), Maine aaj subah hi bheja haiii"

When you finally succeed at grabbing his attention DO NOT fail to repeat each and every detail about your print- What size, Which paper, Black and white or colour, etc, lest you will end up showering him with more money than you intended to.

As you wait restlessly, you will feel your classmates' eyes shooting daggers at you for getting your work done early . A smile of innocence is your only shield in this moment. To ensure that you can sprint for the college as soon as you have the prints in hand, keep your cash ready or Paytm!

PS: Put your best foot forward to develop a rapport with the owners of these shops to streamline the cash flow. Get in touch with your seniors to learn who exploits you more.

Do's

Explore! Explore More! Explore Further More!

This is all your faculty will be telling you in your first year . Don't get scared to go beyond your way and do something new. Speak out your mind everywhere, your opinion does matter. Look after yourself when you feel it's getting too much, and also after your friends, cause they are the ones who will call and wake you up during an all nighter, don't mess that up!

Explain your ideas to the faculty like you would to a two year old child, with a lot of passion that is. Remember to create an energetic playlist for your class so you can vibe together and also a playlist that keeps you awake cause of course ab toh aapko pata hi hai! Another helpful tip is to complete your work the day you get it, lol, we all started laughing, nevermind.

Don'ts

Do not even dare to wear shorts in Parameshvar sir's lecture. Do not skip the lecture because you couldn't produce work. Do not keep your tea cup on the board where your sheet is taped, or be ready to produce a stained sheet. Do not keep your phones on the desk or dare to use it in ketaki maam ' s lecture you will regret it later.

Do not think you'll wake up in 5 minutes. Do not scare your juniors that you'll have to pull all nighters (Oh sorry, we did not intend to). Do not carry food in the elevator. The most important one, do not change your designs a week before jury, you will regret the decision! Thank us later!

i !

B r o k y a v i b e h a

Yeh design ko mirror kardo :)

D o n ' t s i t o n y o u r m o d e l b y m i s t a k e .

E x p l o r a t i o n i s t h e k e y t o s u c c e s s !

Personalising class is the new trend.

Y

a a

Label all your stationary please!

Sorry sir, I was drinking coffee and woh neend mein rakh diya sheet pe

Do not flip your plans while making the model.

Sir so my concept is

Knock knock. Who's there? Last Minute Changes. No get lost.

Khaana leke aaya tu lift mein? Daring bro!

r t u s p o t i f y k h a r e e d l e p l e a s e k y u k e k i t n e d a t e s k h a r a b k a r e n g e y e h a d .

Street Food

What do you mean you only eat mehenge hotel ka khana, hamara street food kisi 5 star se kam he ke? When you have to save money and still fill your tummy with some delicious food never worry we have too many options available. From frankies to sandwiches, from vadapav to panipuri, from chai to fruit juice we have it all. After working in studio for hours the only thing you need is some pocket friendly food. So just get out with your friends for a break, grab something to eat and enjoy the architectural journey.

Don't forget to explore a little with your options, it might seem sometimes a little unhygienic, but come on, you also know that those taste the best! Another pro tip, make sure to shout out your order in a crowd. Thank us later!

Restaurants

Let's assume you finish your jury and it is time to celebrate your design be its failure or success, you won't be going to your local restaurant and shout out Bhaaya. Instead, you will be going to a restaurant and calling the people by Excuse Me, right? So these are the restaurants for everyone where the price range begins from a 3 digit number!

Our college is surrounded by these restaurants and joints, make sure you visit them cause someone after a point kitna hi sandwich khaa sakte hai? Thoda American sandwich bhi khaana chahiye kabhi kabhi (Why did we start promoting Subway all of a sudden? Nevermind.).

Pro tip, if you are a foodie, explore everything, because if you live to eat then that's the best life you got there!

A few Menu Cards for y 'all!

Nakshaa

College Events

Dekho woh aagaya! That is exactly how you will be waiting for the events in Academy! The excitement increases when the dates keep coming closer, literally and figuratively as well. During these times, grab a hold of your parents, beg them to give you some money, cause com eon you will have to buy a new outfit for these utmost awaited events! Itna sab bola, but events pata hi nahi kya hai?

Well so the events of AOA include your very own Fresher's which will be super formal dress code wise and super fun experience wise! Then of course there is the Garba Night specially for the non gujjus to embarrass themselves while playing garba. Then there is Confluence, which is the annual event of the college to showcase and show off how amazing our work is! Ahhh we are so stoked about that! Further which there is ASSA which is annual sports event, so gather all your sports equipment cause it'll be a sportifying event! Apart from these there are design dialogues, Independence day and many such events coming your way!

Are you excited yet? If not, then well reread all of it again!

Dress Codes

You're in AOA and you are studying architecture which is a creative field so ofcourse you are expecting creativity in your dress codes as well! Be it wearing all the 9 colours of Navratri and click pictures as a class with your co ordinator on the staircase where the shorties are made to sit ahead to dancing around in your traditionals and falling for the girls in sarees, you'll experience it all!

You also get a chance to be Babu Bhaiyya or Circuit or Michael Scott or any character you admire on the Character Day! Along with that guess what? You get to wear your pyjamas! Crazy right? You anyways don't sleep, now you don't even have to take a bath! But ofcourse if you don't sleep and wear the first pair of clothes you find in your cupboard, then mismatch day is made for you! Wear your papa ka lungi or mummy ka pallu on a crop top or shorts and kill it in the ramp walk! And ofcourse you get to wear your choice of dressing for the remainder of the days!

AOA Houses

Did you say that Gryffindor is the best? Wait a minute, do you know that this year a new concept for Academy but a regular concept in our schools, Houses have been introduced? Now these houses weren't introduced such that you could buy those coloured clothes and get on a ramp with that colour, but to increase the vertical interaction between the classes! How perfect is that? Now let us tell you what do you actually do being a part of these houses. Firstly you get to participate in a number of events and games and what not! And secondly, you get to compete with the other houses, kyuke best house toh hume hi chahiye, hai na!

By the way, just so that you know, you will have a sorting session. Remember the sorting hat? Well we have our AOA's own sorting box! So get excited, cause you will soon join the process.

Let us at least give you a glimpse into what houses exist in AOA: VIOLET HOUSE PINK HOUSE BLUE HOUSE GREEN HOUSE YELLOW HOUSE ORANGE HOUSE RED HOUSE BLACK HOUSE

Construction

Did you also hear the gurgurgurgur noise when your class was going on? Oh hey! Us too! We all are aware of the current situation in college and the construction work taking place. We know it's a lot of chaos, dust, and noise but hey! let's look at the brighter side of it and know that we will have better equipped studios in the near future.

Like most of your teachers will tell you, we happen to be the luckiest batches that get to experience the numerous ongoings of a construction site within the campus. Make sure you look in all directions as you move up and down the staircase. With a keen eye and good observation skills, you will learn about every detail right from the beam reinforcements to the floor finish. Observe, observe, observe!!!

college, kidhar hai?

Yeh assignment ka kya kare ab? Gaad dete hai college mein.

n e e d s i t , t h e y a r e d o i n g i t t o t e a c h u s A B C M l i v e S h o u l d I c o m p l e t e m y a s s i n g m e n t s o r j u s t j u m p o f f

Jaisa bhi hai apna he

What do you mean model ke lye plywood khareed rahe ho, college me itna sara pada hua he vo nahi use karre Bhaiyya Cement mein Haath daalu?

T h e y a r e n o t d o i n g c o n s t r u c t i o n c a u s e t h e b u i l d i n g

Aaj class hai, kal nahi hoga. You never know!

Websites + Instagram IDs

Case studies? What are those, you ask? Well, let us guide you through a few websites that will aid you throughout your architectural life. These websites are going to provide you with information, images, maybe design ideas (Please we did not tell you this) and also a ton of fun structures around the world. Get registered to their free newsletter and let them spam you with their content daily in your inbox.

If you are ever stuck in some software, or drafting or just having a creative block, yeh websites dekho and yaad karlo! And as we already mentioned, thank us later!

Did you know that our college has an excellent online presence as well? If not, scan the QR code to visit all the profiles. Thoda like aur follow bhi kar lena, bhagwaan aapka bhala karega!

Neha Panchal

First

Year Coordinator( Aided)

Ms. Workaholic Neha, is the mother of the nervous and lost first yearites of the aided section. Whether you have issues regarding your academic life or your social life in college, she is your ‘Life Guru’. An alumnus of Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture and CEPT University, she is very passionate, knowledgeable and inquisitive. She is a perfect balance of the teacher and friend. Make sure to answer the question “Why” in your design to make her accept it!

Nikita Sharma

First Year

Coordinator( Aided)

Looking for the faculty who understands you the best? Nikita is the one who knows all the issues you face as an architecture student and knows the solutions to them. She is the most enthusiastic and humble person and her energy will help you survive through your working studios. Being an alumnus of AOA she will tell you a lot of facts and stories about it. Do your best in work and she will open up her treasure of experience and knowledge for you.

Amit Jain

First Year Coordinator( Unaided)

The 'chill kinda guy ' of section B, you'll never find his lectures boring cause of the jokes he make and his fun teaching style. You can talk to him about anything that comes to your mind, or any idea he'll always appreciate it and help you resolve it. Any doubt you have in any subject let it be AD, ALD, ABCM whatever he'll have a solution for it.

Neha Panchal

Nikita

AOA Core

AOA core is the backbone of this institution. These hardworking people play a pivotal role in the smooth functioning of our college. You will find yourself running in search of these people in the most desperate times and they will come up with solutions to your problems in no time. Be it a huge cup of tea or coffee to help you fight your droopy eyes or help you to push the elevator button when you are struggling to hold on to your models and sheets, AOA core comes to your rescue each time.

They look after the college as if it is their own home and ensure that we don't litter it in any way. So don't be surprised if the staff in auditorium or elevators don't allow you inside with food items in your hand.

They care for you more than you know and will drive you out of the college with big angry eyes if you are seen working beyond 8pm. Don't push your luck past 8pm, lest they will threaten to lock you inside the studio and go home. If that does happen, don't worry! They always do come back!

Clubs of AOA

Ever heard of all work and no play makes jack a dull boy? It is true indeed! AOA Clubs are your cue to find yourself a stressbuster, cause well you know by now that architecture can be stressful. Do not let go of your hobbies, instead try to make some new ones. You do have plenty of options!

These clubs will not only provide you with an opportunity to hone your skillset, but also present you with a chance to demonstrate a multitude of skills and help you get to know your seniors.

Ab aao naacho, gaao, aish manao! Yehi toh hai apun ka style babu bhaiya! Sab kuch karne milega! Thode novels bhi padh lena par padhna zaroor. All in one college hai na?

Know your clubs!

Niche is a fun ensemble that gets together to discuss all the eventful ocassions of AOA. Don't worry! We don't keep all the fun to ourselves. In fact, we take utmost joy in making sure that the talk of the town reaches each and every person. Want to spread juicy news? Head down to niche corner on the first floor Niche. You will find a soft board spammed with engrossing deets. Make sure you add your own touch to it! Have you pieced together yet why we call it Niche?

After reading the magazine and understanding what Niche is, are you also interested to be a part of it? This is it, we are super excited to have you in our team! Scan the QR code below to know how you can be a part of Niche as well! Scan

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