Portfolio 2022

Fruit of the Loom - Rethinking the Mills of Central Mumbai as a Centre of Production

This Graduation Thesis Project deals with the inquiry of imagining the Mills as a center of production thus making a model for the re-purposing loop at the Heart of Mumbai. The layers tackled are the collaboration with NIFT, making the node a Green Lung, and the expansion in terms of Informality integrated in the project

The dualistic notion of third world urban economy has long been prevalent. The dichotomy is based on various criteria, which are reflected in the following classifications. Modern vs. tradition; capitalist vs. survival; big or small? However, despite the widespread use of double-sided classification, the distinction was not always clear or feasible.

The concept for the thesis thus evolves through the soft-edge of student collaboration thus combining NIFT Proposal + On-site Informality + Existing Re-purposing Loops.

CORREA - PROPOSED PLAN

CURRENT SCENARIO

Correa and the Study group proposed the area to be 30% commercial and 10% open - where some of the mills would be retained. This is not viable however anymore to carry out! The next step thus became understanding how to conserve the existing biodiversity and the walls of the dilapidated Mills holistically.

Of Mumbai’s total workforce is engaged in Informal Employment

>400M MYTHS OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR

Of Mumbai’s total workforce is engaged in Informal Employment

It is only marginally productive?

Informal sector is the traditional and temporary economy that will fade away with modern, industrial growth?

Informal sector is disorganized and illegal?

Buildings to be Conserved

Cool Winds from North-East Trees to Conserve Possible Access points to different Hubs Harsh Winds from West

- The Major Tree Buffer

ANALYSIS SUBSUMATION

Sources : Bombay the cities within by Sharada Dwivedi, Rahul Mehrotra; TU Delft Housing - Urban Design Studio; Sharit K. Bhowmik - Street Vendors in Mumbai; Hawkers and Vendors in Mumbai, India R.N. SHARMA AND K. SITA; TISS Vendor Report

WASTE GENERATION LOOP RE-PURPOSE LOOP

The concept has thus been developed through physical modeling and edges of the existing site wherein the various hubs and integrations that seem to pop-up are further explored for the final design.

The development followed the nonlinear approach and the forming of networks - of green spaces, public spaces and linkages of inter-hub nodes. The re-purposing has been considered on site for the largest consumables for the area - Plastic, Metal and Cloth- which further aid collaboration.

HOUSING CLUSTERS

The loops thus worked on in the project are - Mobility (people and how they arrive/ interact with the node), Waste loop (the generations and current linear approach for Mumbai), Proposed loop / Re-purpose loop (the final body of works proposed as models to be adapted in Mahalaxmi, Curry Road and Lower Parel).

INDUSTRIAL CLUSTERS

Out of the 4 hubs proposed in the 30 acre. site, under the scope of the thesis the hub designed was the one for NIFT collaboration called “The hub for creative economy” or, Fruit of the Loom.

The details in the subsumation of the research on 8 domains to find the genesis in the hub has also been shown in the form of a chart (left) where the designing of the edge has been shows below.

RESEARCH SUBSUMATION

Developed from materials recycled and procured from site, the work is made to set an example of circularity through the representation itself.

The model on the left represents the vision of the node as made in the physical model with the proposal of consumerism and production coming together in the Hub - making for the “prosumer” (as said by Armoar Revi),where the conserved mills are shown in acrylic (transparent).

The model on the right details out the various nodes of reuse (Metal, Plastic and Cloth) and the linkages between them.

These sketches further illustrates the various spaces created by the design, where the plan (below) highlights the notion of “street above streets”.

STRATEGY OF PLAN DEVELOPMENT

The hierarchy of spaces and their interactions has been illustrated in the model (above) which has been incorporated in the design.

BREAKING OF ENTRY - PARKING REINTRODUCED

MOVEMENT THROUGH HIERARCHY OF COMMON SPACES

THE DESIGN PARADIGM

The design has evolved as a production center (shown in the sketch to the left) to a center for the creative economy. Here, I explain the design as a public space and economic intervention for the people of Mumbai - where the dynamics of the spaces created has been explained thoroughly in the exploded isometric (far left).

The spaces create interesting voids that vary in height according to use of spaces, with bridges linking varied parts and staggered courts, FotL forms a multi-user and a temporal space well suited for the city. With the mills as its’ USP, through conservation and generous interventions the node remains the green lung for Mahalaxmi.

MOVEMENT AND SPACES - EXPLODED ISOMETRIC

Internship Overview Studio PKa (July ‘21 - Jan ‘22)

Positioned as the only Architectural Intern, I worked on various phases of different types of projects with a focus on humane and sustainable practices. This involved onsite groundwork, architectural drawings, modeling for built structures, renders, hand renders, sketching and design development for the projects involved, media and outreach for communication, working on media content, website development, and catalogs, etc.

SPACES CONVEYED THROUGH DRAWINGS

LINE-OUT DRAWINGS FOR SITE

The following drawings are from the stage of designing with PK, to documentation with the senior architect, to my own interpretation implemented into the project - the Loft. Here I worked on furniture drawings, electrical/mechanical/flooring/services drawings, the ideation/designing for problems encountered on site, and the final presenting of the work.

n w h N u d v e e d CHAP

N RODUCT ON

App a o h p c owa s n u d s g u Em a Em a h n e a o k p e v o n p e e a n m e d o n mp p a x em mp n a g w h n a d m s w n o e e T m o a h n mem o u e s d e h g n n n o a g q g n w n o m o n w e n w h h o ma n p o d h n d N u -d v D a N u - e s d s n m a m o a h g n mp m b v n d v n w y o e a e s n c g w h w a o n h m T m a h g g h m n p s mu w y a w h em o b d d n o e e g n n n wa d o e g h o b e m a d F m p p v h e me n d mo d o a N u o- e g n y s ve q o o

The Loft required me to be directly placed under the architect to co-manage the site with daily back and forth between drawings and designing in the adaptive re-use project.

The intent was to preserve the essence of a 100 year old Victorian Building, while accentuating spaces with a natural palette.

The scanned images (on the left) serve as the examples of documentation first done on site of changes and note to referred in the studio, while images on the far left are the drawings made for design communication.

E s v o n u n T e w x n d b n d g u o n u a o q e n e a p o u o d v d n a a n e e n How e p p w d s p p w u c e e n m d d o g m g n e a d d e x c o m y c u v e p k ME o o s p e e w u d v a q h e p e p u a o p e H n o m s o y w h e o u c u v e o o a h o e ma d g o p q p o v d n a c mmu c o m -s o me a e u e h p e e s c d e n b n n h m e m T e a s h c h m e m

D n a d E e e e o e e g n mmu e o e d e h n h h n d c mm n a o m o d o e b p n e ma m e e g n e a nm e e n n om

In this collaborative CSR project with ReReeti and IME Bangalore, I was placed under Ar. Shivani Shah as an Architect/Designer to make the already built museum more inclusive for two groups of children - those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, and those with neurodiverse needs.

With the research team, I worked on developing the spaces and the map for the volunteers, while also illustrating the handbook to be given to volunteers and the fliers for the events. The project pilot was successfully launched in late 2021 where more than 150 visitors were left with a more enriching experience due to the redesigning :)

RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENTATION

Site Documentation September 2021

Site Documentation October 2021

Site Documentation December 2021

Site Documentation November 2021

Site Documentation mid-October 2021

What is the mandate and vision of Urban Design?

In this portion I showcase the various different kinds of presentation styles undertaken by me during the internship according to the project requirements.

during the internship according to the project requirements.

The projects showcased are Prodigy Offices (left), 6 AM Luxury Mansion (right), Loft (below) and Urban Design articles (bottom of page).

Why are social movements important in Urban design?

NHM Bhopal - Solar Decathlon India

Through this project, we aimed to endorse an easy-tobuild, affordable, user-oriented NZEB government office with a target EPI of 32.35. With our collaborations, the team worked on making a better environment all around for the workers as well as a resilient and a net-positive building (in operations) for the city. Here I worked on designing, HVAC + Water optimization, innovation and app front-end, and calculations/simulations for the same.

INCORPORATED STRATEGIES

This project created an innovative and energy-efficient solutions by engaging the team in an architectural design process, which accords to ample avenues for the incorporation of latest design ideologies and technologies; and their avant-grade applications. The collaboration with ARCONS and NHM through solar decathlon gave us our aims for optimization and resilience which were achieved and are summarized here.

The designing starts with bundles designed by me with a team of two, where we then arrived to comprehensive strategies to implement in our design (shown right and above). These then expanded to iterations in design modules through zones, comfort analysis to achieve the goals we set for us and the final EPI goal (next page and right corner).

DESIGN OPTIMIZATION

WATER AND HVAC OPTIMIZATION CALCULATIONS

In this section I have shown a few steps taken to optimize the selected arrangement developed by our subteam of three. In this step I worked on developing the occupational and consumption charts for water, HVAC and electricity through which I designed the radiant cooling system with ARCONS.

steps taken to optimize the selected arrangement developed by our subteam of three. In this step I worked designed the radiant cooling system with ARCONS. with the optimization process snippet (right).

The passive strategies used (like jaali designs) have been shown below with the optimization process snippet (right).

JAALI DEVELOPMENT THROUGH WIND ANALYSIS

JAALI DEVELOPMENT THROUGH WIND ANALYSIS

SEASONAL TEMPERATURE COMFORT MAPPING

The final design yielded 93% spaces as comfortable during warm months and 74% spaces comfortable during colder months for Bhopal.

ELECTRICAL LAYOUT

The Design is IS-456 Code complaint, which implies the building strength is evaluated to last a 100 years.

By utilising the existing trees, creating jali walls and water edges a cool microclimate is developed around the building.

The building is designed to offer resilience to natural, man-made as well as social calamities and threats.

help during grid disruptions and blackouts.

The multilayered, non-porous tile acts as a heat resistant layer on the rooftop, vastly protecting the building during heat waves.

Jaalis, Light shelves and courtyard can provide ample lighting and comfort through natural ventilation to work

Bioswales concentrate and convey stormwater runoff while removing debris and

Permeable cement pavers are placed on top of layers of gravel, and sand bed, with pebbles packed in the spaces between the pavers.

Excess availability of water and use of renewable water resources allows storage

2.

3.

1. Staircases overlooking inner courts

2. Self Shading Space frame covering main courtyard

3. Chajjas designed according to the sun angles for the sandstone cladded wall

4. Shaded corridors with louvers according to directions

pollution

Installation of local PV Roof panels