2018 Design Portfolio l Ashish Bhandari l Architecture l Taubman College l University of Michigan

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PORTFOLIO

ASH ISH BH AN DA R I

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Ashish Bhandari Jan 2018 - Present

GRADUATE STUDENT INSTRUCTOR, Ann Arbor, Michigan

May 2017 - Aug 2017

ALBERT KAHN ASSOCIATES, INTERN, Detroit, Michigan

_Helping teach a drawing course

_Worked on Construction Documents _Created Presentation for Award Submittal

DOC SKOOL ART RESIDENCY, INTERN, Kathmandu, Nepal _Oversaw the Design and Construction Process _Drawings Finished on Autocad and Revit

Jun 2015 - Aug 2015

SHANGO ASSOCIATES, INTERN, Warren, Michigan _Measured and Modeled a Building _Used Autocad + Revit

Sept 2014 - Present

FREE LANCE, Ann Arbor, Michigan

_Dederich Clinic, Logo and Business Cards _Chosen Hearts Detroit, Logo

Education UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Michigan

2013 - Present

ashishbh@umich.edu

Awards / acomplishments

Experience

Feb 2016 - Mar 2016

734.935.0934

_Master of Architecture _Bachelor of Science in Architecture

MESA STUDENT ORGANIZATION FOR DIVERSITY PROGRAMMING, Ann Arbor, Michigan _Won $500 to Host Lecture at Taubman College DOW DISTINGUISHED AWARD FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY SUSTAINABLITY, Ann Arbor, Michigan _Won $40,000 For Studio Project in Brazil FORD COLLEGE COMMUNITY CHALLENGE, Ann Arbor, Michigan _Won $20,000 through the Ford Community Challenge for Semester Project

ALBERT KAHN FELLOWSHIP FINALIST, Ann Arbor, Michigan _Top 2 Finalist for the Fellowship

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Michigan _Taubman Scholar _Comencement Speaker at Taubman College _Honors _MLK Spirit Award Nominee _Invited Juror for: Arc Prep Studio, Undergraduate Mid-review Studio, Undergraduate Transfer Studio Final

WASHTENAW COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Ann Arbor, Michigan

2011 - 2013

_Math and Sciences (Transfer)

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

2009 - 2011

_Art and Design (Transfer)

Extra Curricular

Published / Exhibition

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, NOMAS, Ann Arbor, Michigan

2017 - Current

_President Oct 2014 - Apr 2015

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, AIAS, Ann Arbor, Michigan _Public Relations

Sept 2014 - Dec 2014

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, TEDx, Ann Arbor, Michigan _Design Team

Oct 2014 - Feb 2015

DESIGN FORUM, TEAM MEMBER, Ann Arbor, Michigan _Compete in Architecture/Urban Design Competition

Skills Digital Rhino 3D, Vray, Revit, Sketchup, Adobe Illustrator, MAYA, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premire ArcGIS, Autocad, Microsoft Office, Grasshopper Hands-on Model Making, Welding, Woodworking, Zund Machine, Laser cutting, Waterjet, Photography, Videography Languages

English, Nepali, Hindi

KNOT, Ann Arbor, Michigan

_Essay Published on School Newsletter

THE ARCHIOLOGIST, Ann Arbor, Michigan

_Middle School Project Published in Magazine

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Michigan _MLK Symposium Exhibition _TEDx Pavilion Installation _Bodhan Soroka Exhibit DOCSKOOL/EWHA COMMUNITY HOUSING, Kavre, Nepal _Community Housing for Artists in Nepa ASSOCIATION OF NEPALESE AGRICULTURAL PROFESSIONALS OF AMERICAS, Detroit, Michigan _Logo Design for Non Profit

DEDERICH DENTAL CLINIC, Edmonton, Alberta _Logo Redesign for Dental Clinic

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Michigan _Bodhan Soroka Exhibit Publication

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CONTENT

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ARCHITECTURE

FABRICATION

PHOTOGRAPHY

1. The Playground

1.Bohdan Soroka Exhibiton

1. Architecture

2. Housing Network

2. Inflatotecture

2. Portraits

3. The Middle Middle

3. re-Routed

3. Landscape

4. Memorial To Victims of War

4. Lamp Shade

5. Feeding the Machine 6. Capturing Motion 7. Above the Trees

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1 ARCHITECTURE

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1. The Playground 2. Housing Network 3. The Middle Middle 4. Memorial To Victims of War 5. Feeding the Machine 6. Capturing Motion 7. Above the Trees

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THE PLAYGROUND GROUP MEMBERS: CHRIS CAMPBELL, BENNY CRUZ, DANIEL SEIDMAN The Playground is a community hub for the dense residential neighborhood by the new waterfront branch of the Belt line. The Playground is mixed-use with transit, living, shopping, and leisure areas. Our site links downtown Detroit to residential areas on Jefferson by railway (J-Line) and by completing the river walk to Gabriel Richard park.

The orientation of our buildings creates a visual connection between Jefferson and the river and invites residents from the street into the retail-lined linear park. The site and first two floors of our buildings are intended to be used by the public in the neighborhood.

Within our building we have the mews,which is a multi-story interior yard and playground for residents that is lined by two-story town homes. The mews is intended to be a shared space for kids to safely play, and for the public to relax in and enjoy year-round. The facade reflects also the transition from public retail to private living above by a gradient in the metal screen that makes upper floors more opaque. The riverfront continues from downtown to our site, and at our site the riverfront curves in to provide a resting place, and areas for markets, exhibitions, and performances.

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LEFT: The Diagrams on the left explain the approach to the site Step 1: Bring the existing road down and divide the site Step 2: Add public spaces Step 3: Shape building to align for view corridor Step 4: Divide the site to allow for easier access Step 5: Connection to the River Walk TOP: Render of the project from Jefferson street looking towards the Detroit river. The visitors are welcomed by a sculpture to mark the entrance to our site.

RIGHT: Rendering from the River Walk to the Playground. As you enter the site from the River Walk it steps up and creates spaces for leisure or amphitheater for performances.

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HOUSING NETWORK

Located in the Grajaú sub-municipality, one of the poorest in São Paulo, Ocupação Anchieta started as a land invasion four years ago. As a result of the occupation, has suffered severe deforestation and the pollution of the natural springs in the area of environmental protection that crosses the site. Today, more than 800 families live in the site, with precarious housing conditions and the lack of basic infrastructures. Out of many problems, housing is what I chose to focus on. The project Housing Network addresses the needs of infrastructural and spatial upgrades to the existing housing stock in Ocupação Anchieta. Presented as an easy-to-assemble kit of parts, the proposal includes a step by step guide to tackle the immediate housing needs of the residents, while addressing the needs for decentralized sewage treatments, improvements in the water and electric supply systems. From the domestic scale to the collective community spaces, the proposal works in an incremental and flexible manner, addressing the needs for adaptable spaces and the construction of a sense of community among the residents.

With the help of facutly and fellow collegues, this project has been awarded multiple grants as part of a bigger project and the funding will be used to build and test the prototypes shown below.

Grants awarded: Dow sustainable seed grant, First place in the Ford Community Challenge and First place in the Dow Sustainability fellowship Grant.

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Ocupação Anchieta (the Occupation) is a four-year old land occupation located twenty nine kilometers southwest of the São Paulo city center in the Vila Nascente neighborhood of Grajaú District. This water-rich district is located between the Billings and Guarapiranga Reservoirs, which are key water supply resources for the city and contain important Atlantic Forest reserves.

In recent decades, impoverished families migrating to São Paulo who cannot afford to live near the city center have been occupying available land in Grajaú. The fast pace and intensity of urbanization puts pressure on the environment and compromises residents’ access to infrastructure and the provision of urban services.

This research targets the problems of unsecured tenure, precarious construction methods, socio-economic vulnerability, and issues of housing affordability. The recommendations tackle residents’ immediate housing needs, while considering decentralized and communal sewage infrastructure and different funding sources, including micro-saving schemes. The housing prototypes present an easy-to-assemble kit of parts with simple construction methods and affordable materials that are stronger than those currently used in the Occupation.

Housing Network discusses housing issues in Ocupação Anchieta and provides recommendations to address them.

The housing issues in Ocupação Anchieta are exemplary of the general problems throughout the City of São Paulo.

Interestingly, this area also includes a conservation area protecting the main drinking water source for the city.

However, the residents of the Occupation are much poorer than those in other upgraded favelas such as Paraisópolis.

In terms of housing, all these circumstances make the place unique and require more creative approaches. The Taubman College Team classified the housing issues into four categories, and suggests recommendations with new housing prototypes.

TOP: Location of the occupation in relation to rest of Sao Paulo. The occupation is located in the southwest corner near virgin Atlantic forest.

RIGHT: Collage of the current housing conditions in the Occupation integrated with the social housing condition of Brazil FAR RIGHT: A collection of images highlighting the current housing condition of the occupation.

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To address the above-mentioned problems, Network Housing is presented as an easy-to assemble kit of parts, the proposal includes a step-by-step guide to tackle immediate housing needs of the residents, while addressing the need for decentralized sewage treatments and the formalization of water and electric systems in Ocupação Anchieta.

On the domestic scale, the proposal for community spaces is more incremental and flexible. It seeks to address the needs for adaptable spaces, and the maintaining of a sense of community among the residents. This toolkit illustrates the process of housing construction and requires that Occupation members and the Association coordinators work together to support the project into the future.

These proposals deploy simple construction methods suitable for stronger materials than those currently used in Ocupação Anchieta. Housing prototypes 1 and 3 use wood, while prototype 2 uses brick facing a busy street and helping formalize the Occupation.

Kitchens and toilets are incorporated in each housing design. Wastewater plans envision that housing units located at the border of Ocupação Anchieta will be connected to municipal sewage, while housing units in Interior sites would be connected to septic tanks or communal decentralized sewage treatment systems.

Regarding temperature control, the housing design planned for the cooling of buildings through ventilation and windows that ensure crosswinds. As a result, the new houses would be more structurally stable, especially when built with materials that are more durable and appropriate for the residents’ needs.

RIGHT: The diagrams on the left explain the approach to the housing Step 1: Acquire a lot of land divided into 3m x 5m Step 2: Build structure of preferred size house Step 3: Add walls and piping Step 4: Finish with siding and roofing NEXT PAGE: This axon shows the breakdown and materials of the house.

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958mm x 3658mm tin roof

Gutter

Windows

25mm x 150mm pine siding

Second floor addition

6mm thick, 1220mm x 2438 mm gypsum board

Water tank for the house

Inflow piping into the house Out flow piping from gray water adajacent into garden Biofilter / rain garden Out flow piping from toilet leads to septic tank 50mm x 150mm floorbeam 300mm x 300mm concrete foundation 200mm x 200mm studs Size of Plot: 5m x 15m

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The materials designed to be used in this prototype is a brick and mortar system for the longevity of the housing.

The sewage and water infrastructure will be connected directly to the city line through the major street thus relieving the occupation of some of the sewage.

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The first test site is located on the west side of the community which focuses on the integration of the busy street adjacent. The two story mixed-use housing were developed in order to take advantage of the street to create income for these families. The location of the site allows for the commercial interaction between the street and the household and further also creates space for public use.

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To work with as much detail as possible, I selected different locations within Ocupacao Anchieta to test out the housing prototypes. The two locations selected are near the border of the community in order to test out the porosity of the site.

Institutio Anchieta Grajau Parque Sao Miguel Jardim Novo Jau

Urban intervention allows for porosity Rain water is disposed of through the gutter on the side Mixed use housing with resturant on bottom floor

House in process of upgrading

Houses by street is connected to the city sewage

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The second site I designed a prototype for is the north border condition. This border looks as a slower residential street with a steep topographic drop. The site aims to tackle the harsh site condition while providing the families with more private houses which can be upgraded overtime as the family gets bigger. The concept of modular housing which can be upgraded over time is essential because a lot of the families tend to grow over time thus allowing for more flexible housing for the residents.

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Institutio Anchieta Grajau Parque Sao Miguel Jardim Novo Jau

Houses placed on stilts to work with topography

Space under house can be used for storage

Urban intervention allows for porosity to the Site

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Bedroom [Surface area of walls] 23 sqm

Toilet [Surface area of walls] 10 sqm

Kitchen + Living [Surface area of walls] 29 sqm

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Everyday life.

This resembles the average family partaking in their daily lives. The child enters the home after playing outside with their friends. Two adults watching television to pass the time. The father taking care of the chihld in the children’s room.

THE MIDDLE MIDDLE The Middle Middle is a middle school design in Ann Arbor. This concept focused on five main programmatic elements dictating the interior of the school. Gym, Library, Cafeteria and the auditorium act as anchor spaces to create the “middle� space where the rest of the progam is fit into. The exterior of the school is black in color but the interior spaces are designated with different colors to indicate the different programatic areas. The middle school was also designed to have multiple uses which could be inhabitated by the community during the after hours or the weekends.

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MEMORIAL TO THE VICTIMS OF WAR The National Mall in Washington DC is a location for memorials to commemorate victors of war and iconic figures. We tend to see only one side of war, the spoils. This project is a criticism of our war-loving society. I researched the glorification of war in the America and focused on and memorializing the victims of war rather than conceive another devoted to the glories of war. This memorial is designed to enlighten our society of the other side of war, the side that is rarely heard, let alone seen. We tend to think of memorials as a physical site to visit where our emotions will be brought out of us. Like Aiweiwei’s sunflower seeds, this memorial is designed to use the vastness of the site and the characteristics of one material to bring forth the issue. The way this memorial is designed, the individual visiting the site will be participating on a ritual. The ritual can be compared to the likes of the process of entering the airport terminal, the steps taken during our advancement through the TSA line which can be argued as the real memorial to 9/11.

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Site Plan and Analysis of the National Mall in Washington DC. This plan lays out the locations of the memorials, White House and Capitol Hill.

Ritual Architecture – Anonymity It’s March 20th 2100, The Conflict Victims Recognition Day, a crisp spring breeze blows throughout Washington DC. We approach the DC war memorial, a memorial dedicated to the lost lives of World War One. We disembark the bus, unload the box and walk to the memorial. This box we carry is important, it contains sand mixed from all 52 states that have donated it to the memory of war victims.

The sand is mixed to represent the unity of the country as we remember the seldom remembered. Although natural resources differ from state to state, sand is ubiquitous among all of them. As we approach the memorial, we observe the pile of sand in the middle of the memorial and an individual who is struggling to keep from blowing away. We set the box down, open it and grab a hand full of sand and walk around the memorial five times in counter clockwise rotation. As we walk we notice it is hard to hold on to the sand as it seeps out from even the tiniest 44

cavities formed by our hands. All the while this is going on, the wind is blowing stronger than ever, the sand from the middle of the memorial is blowing away faster and the individuals are employed to keep the sand contained is now working harder to do their job. After the completion of the turns, we drop the sand in the opposite of the blowing of the wind so it will reach the middle. While the ritual is being performed, nothing is said but what we have in our conscious is important. As this comes to an end we move to the next memorial, World War II memorial. This memorial is bigger but the same principles of rituals are followed. The sand pile in the center of the memorial is bigger than the last and the individual making sure the sand doesn’t blow away is having a harder time containing the sand. We repeat the same ritual at the Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Iraq War Memorial. As we finish we have run out of the sand in the box and we load the box back in the truck, as the same box will be used again next year for the ritual.

The box is loaded on the truck and we head back to the last memorial we stopped at. From there we pick up the sand and put it in whatever things we have brought with us, some have brought containers others put the sand in their pockets this is to signify the hardship of the refugees that have to carry their personal possessions in any way possible. After we have decided on the amount of sand we have is enough, we head towards the White House.

While we are walking, we look at the ground and observe the sand seeping out of the pockets and leaving a streak on the ground, it almost looks like a trail we are leaving behind. We could see the trails taken by other individuals as they took upon the same journey. No one says anything during the journey.

could climb on top of it. After reaching the area we perform the same rituals and stop facing the white house and we pour the sand on top of the existing pile. As we pour the pile some of it is picked up by the wind and taken away while others fall on the pile. From the corner of my eyes we can see a city worker whose job is to keep the sand contained struggle and losing the fight against the wind. After pouring half of the sand we head towards Capitol Hill, the other site of the memorial.

Arriving at Capitol Hill we notice another pile of sand and more people walking around and pouring sand onto the pile. Some have brought buckets on this journey while other have brought a hand full. It is eerily quiet as they pour the sand. At the last stop for the memorial we pour the sand When we arrive in the front lawn of the White House, facing Capitol Hill in silence. We pause and think about the pile of sand is bigger from what has accumulated over meaning of this memorial and the people affected by them. time from the individuals that have been on this journey This journey is complete but the problem still persists. before. The sand pile is big enough as to where people 45

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As the time passes on, the wind will blow the sand throughout the city of Washington DC. This Vignette shows the sand has blown and covered parts of the Korean War Memorial.

The sand has blown and covered parts of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it has not been swept off as a memorial to the refugees.

The sand has covered the National Mall in front of Capitol Hill.

Even though the walkway has been swept, it still resides on the sidewalk.

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FEEDING THE MACHINE This project looks at the issues of individual privacy and the government in collaboration with corporations using my data to serve other agendas. I designed a data center for the NSA that formally supports transparency and in the midst of the program of many American cities and public spaces densely populated with tourists for entertainment.

The slaughterhouses designed by Temple Grandin were an initial interest as I saw the herd mentality of the animals as an analogy to how the public actors have participated in this collection process. The architecture which was influenced by Lebbeus Woods and Daniel Libeskind, is designed in a way where my concept for the project of awareness is intruding the normality of regular architecture. The transparency of the NSA facility on Navy Pier is trying to provide clues to the general public about the wrong doings and the misuse of our information and the intrusion of privacy. The goal is to get to the larger issues of the invasion of our personal information through the conversation of the controversial program of this building.

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TOP: PHYSICAL OBJECT IN MOTION CREATING INTANGIBLE SPACES MIDDLE: CAPTURING THE INTANGIBLE INTERACTION BETWEEN OUR THE CREATORS OF DATA AND CONSUMERS OF DATA RIGHT: COMPOSITE DRAWING OF INTANGILBE INTERACTION

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CAPTURING MOTION This project dealt with the concept of motion. The site based in Ann Arbor, Michigan was situated in the area where there was a lot of movement. I saw this as an opportunity to use the idea of movement for my project. The program was a tutor center for the community as well as a train station for the city. I saw the idea of motion not only in the site but also in the program, the motion of the train as it passes through the station, the motion of people as they walk through the building, the motion of knowledge being passed from one person to another or from the books to the individual. This project investigated how to characterize motion and capture it into the architecture. This architecture uses motion to spatialize motion and uses it as a basis of design. The design of the building captures the motion occuring in the site and uses it for spaces. In the design, the void in the center represents an anchor that holds the motion occuring in the site together as a way to distinguish motion with something standing still.

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This project is situated in the middle of a heavily trafficked area, the speeding up and slowing down of main street onto or out of M-14, the amtrak line which travels adjacent to the site, the slow river which creates a barrier between the industrial zone and neighborhood to the east. This project looks at the capturing of these motions to create the form of the building.

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In the models above, I was interested in the use of material to capture the sense of motion, the flowing nature of motion can be easily captured by the wrapping of the mesh around the foam block, or the rockite model slowly being transformed over time. After various studies of form, I settled on a form which is a derivative of the bottom right.

The form of the building is shaped by the motion of the surrounding and the void in the middle acts as an anchor the building revolves around.

D: OBJECT BEING ENGULFED AND SHAPING MOTION

The program of the building is a learning community center as well as a new train station for the city of Ann Arbor. The building sits above the site allowing for passage beloe the building allowing for a different spatial experice below the architecture.

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A: ROCKITE MODEL OF THE EFFECT OF MOTION ON A STATIONARY OBJECT B: MODELING MOTION THROUGH MATERIAL C: OBJECT WITHIN THE FABRIC OF MOTION

STUDY MODELS REFLECT THE FORMAL EVOLUTION OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE SITE ONTO THE ARCHITECTURE.

RIGHT: SITE PLAN

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ABOVE THE TREES This project was a two week exercise done in my second semester of school. The program of the project is a ski resort. The site for this project is hypothetical and it was a ski slope covered with trees. To get the best view of the surrounding area you would have to rise above the trees. This project was designed so the ski resort could soar above looking down the mountain. This height allows for a perfect viewing area of below to where you could see animals and other individuals skiing. The building sits on two vertical trusses. The floor plate and the roof plate sadwiches the interior space which has glass around it to give a panoramic view of the surrounding.

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2 FABRICATION

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1.Bohdan Soroka Exhibiton 2. Inflatotecture 3. re-Routed 4. Lamp Shade

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BOHDAN SOROKA EXHIBITION During the University of Michigan visit by the former President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, the school of social work and a group of students from Taubman College teamed up to hold an exhibition in honor of Viktor Yushchenko. Dan Glick-Unterman and Martin Elliot were the original designers who put together a team of Undergraduates.

Group Members: Ashish Bhandari, Joseph Diamond, Ian Donaldson, Martin Elliot, Daniel Glick-Unterman, Nathan Orleskie, Dwight Portocarrero, Roger Salinas

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INFLATOTECTURE In this project we utilized computer modelling techniques, method of translation from 3D to 2D to 3D, polyethylene sheeting. Our primary fabrication tool was the Zund CNC cutter and sealer to fuse the polyethylene sheeting.

Group members: Scott Deischer, Morgan Embt, Sameeksha Gulati, Rachel Hrobon, Lauren Lahr, Dong Li, Adam Mahardy, Gerardo Perez, Nikita Rane, Tyler Schaafsma, Matthew Weinberg, Shujie Xie,

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RE-ROUTED In this project we utilized a grasshopper plug in to develop a 3-dimensional pathway for the cnc router which was then milled from foam.

Group members: Sameeksha Gulati, Dong Li

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LAMP SHADE This project required us to create a lampshade using a water jet cutter. 3/4� metal was cut, bent and riveted [total of 60 rivets were used] to create the lamp shade.

Group members: Scott Deischer, Morgan Embt

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3 PHOTOGRAPHY

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1. Architecture 2. Portraits 3. Landscape

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LANDSCAPE

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