Creation This act has an incredible power to steer society, impacting the way people live on a daily basis. For every problem that arises, a creative solution exists, hidden among seemingly unrelated ideas. There is no shortage of obstacles, the climate is on the attack, bigotry and mistrust continue to divide us, and poverty still exists. The list goes on. I have never lived in one part of the world for more than 10 years at a stretch, and this made me realise one thing. The key to finding solutions for a future lies within the past and the communities around us. When I looked, I discovered the power of art, music, writing and architecture, for these tools have been profound in shaping our world. Being inspired at an early age by civil rights movements, I took part in clubs that reached out to communities, spoke to munincipalities and used art to send messages. My fascination with technology, its history and the evolution of cultures through art has led me to discover the potential in architecture. Architecture in particular, sets a background for life and an identity for people. Through my research and personal experiences around the world, I find architecture is not simply about building a shelter. I am convinced it will help me shape a future, allowing me to tackle social and environmental issues.
If what we build can be likened to a living body, architecture would be the soul.
Azmhuq@gmail.com | +44 7460 054843
SELECTED MASTER’S WORK Kent School of Architecture, the University of Kent MArch RIBA II Canterbury, Kent, UK
Feuerle Collection Rendering, Reflection of unit trip to Berlin
COMPENDIUM of RADICAL CAMDEN
The
Masters Design Thesis - 2018 - in progress Supervising Tutors: Matthew Woodthorpe, Alessia Mosci, Ben Corrie & Lawrence Friesen Camden, London, UK
Design Manifesto
Identity Crisis
Locals had enough and began occupying what was seen as the last remaining refuge of their community: The abandoned rails. A standoff between the conglomerates and the people kicked off as more residents stubbornly propped up makeshift habitations in defiance, swallowing the Camden Road Station and eastern industrial sector of the site. In fact as an added affront, many began to illegally produce and sell cannabis; individuals even planted a variation known as hemp which they used for the creation of construction materials and other commodities. Eventually Community Leaders and Government Officials recognised the need to take collective action on the situation. They recognised that Camden suffered from its own success, and realised they could turn the problem into the solution.
Early Conceptual Section: Community of Rebellion
Camden in the 70s
Eventually Compendium Books closed down, and was replaced by a franchise selling boots...
RTS Demonstrations
Introducing Camden, London's hub of counter culture, and the birthplace of punk rock. Its spirit given life by the Situationists in 1960s Europe, a group of Marxist/ anti-capitalist/ antiestablishment rebels, who envisioned a creative city, situational city, one dependant on moments and on people. They embraced the new and the radical, however rejecting the cold brutality of modernism. These ideas percolated through music, art and activism in Camden, resulting in an epoch that has all but disappeared today. This story can be illustrated through the story of a local cultural centre, a shop, Compendium Books. It was more than a bookstore, it was a concentration of Counter Culture that survived episodes of Punk Rock, Reggae, Brit Pop, and various forms of alternative subcultures, yet it too was unable to compete against the Capitalist Powers that extracted Camden’s local culture for its own benefits, alienating its authors while appropriating the fiery spirit.
HYBRID
A [Pilot Project]
Early Appropriators
Combining “Grass Roots” initiative with “Top Down” design.
The council creates conduits of infrastructure, providing a framework that allows locals to build homes and businesses into, in exchange, the people and businesses become part of a conduit of Tourism. Hemp can be grown easily and used to create an array of products. The burgeoning hemp industries around the world are argued to be as lucrative as the tech giant, Apple. Over time, locals may gain economic leverage against external developers and will be able to take a stand.
Using concepts of Self Build, Archi-Tourism and Situationism, the proposal aims to repurpose the existing railway from a virtual No Man's Land into a Bridge between two demographics. The community and the government see an opportunity in using Camden's historic unifying symbol of resistance, cannabis specifically HEMP, to help create an economy for locals that benefit from tourism and provides a means to tackle the issue of illegal drug sale.
Housing Structure - The stand, occupants building their lives into an infrastructure system.
FINAL SECTION AND ELEVATION DRAWINGS
Rising from the Rails - Iteration of Stru cture
1. Layered system of facade and structure reduces visual weight, despite the mass.
2. Layers are stripped away vertically and horizontally to remove the impression of a solid edge, instead offering a more ethereal quality.
3. Breaking the geometry with sweeping curves that divide the mass into two distinct sections helps to alleviate the perceived weight and offers more functionality
Forests of man, Forests of Nature
1. Urban Morphology of Camden is that of manmade structures interspersed with foliage. There is a forest of brick and concrete intersecting with a forest of trees. 2. However there are few open green spaces for retreat.
3. The railway cuts accross , the new super structure is a forest of steel intersecting its own forest of foliage, however it is zoned vertically, allowing for a continous length of greenery, retreat and leisure.
4. The undulating intervention helps to create emphasise (tall) in areas of importance, and is the result of practical considerations and micro contexts. Lower heights when bridging over roads and for vistas, taller where context permits
Residents Rise up, take the railway, make a stand
Developmental models and sketches - exploring the relationship of the unifying framework with individual assets
Development - Working Model
Development - Working Model
Street View Undulation offers opportunities for minimized scales where appropriate.
Rooftop View A vessel sailing above rooftops
Structural Philosophy
Democratic and unabashed. The Scheme provides a regular system of services and structure that allows for a continuously evolving and growing organism. The organism being the people of Camden who occupy the spaces in between.
Facad Study: Exploring how the faces of the building can communicate the dynamics of the people within, and how it can affect the community. Southern Facade: This elevation adopts foliage to soften the urban realm. It is also a response to resident complaints of once communal greenery becoming owned and privatized by developers against the wishes of the locals. The locals can now enjoy neighbourly connectivity through the gardens, which also take advantage of the sun during most times of the day. The top of the scheme is a programmed sky park that ties the communities of Camden together, from which panoramic views to London can be enjoyed by anyone.
200mm ‘HEMPCRETE’ HOLLOW CORE PRE-CAST SLAB
COLD BRIDGING - EARTH TO FLOOR INTERFACE - MOISTURE PROTECTION DETAILS TO BE DEVELOPED...
The North Face: The northern elevation celebrates the active movement of people and the act of communal building. The scaffolding like structure allows users to load goods up and down and build their homes as if orchestrating a performance. This performance is an active statement of ownership by locals, visible from miles around London, and in close visual range to new high end developments.
COMPENDIUM of RADICAL CAMDEN
The
Masters Design Thesis - 2018 - in progress Supervising Tutors: Matthew Woodthorpe, Alessia Mosci, Ben Corrie & Lawrence Friesen Camden, London, UK
PERSONAL UTOPIAS Masters Stage 4 Project- 2016/2017 Supervising Tutors: Diana Cochrane, Matthew Woodthorpe The Pullens, Elephant & Castle, London, UK
Axonometric of South West Block
Architecture to Empower?
This project begins with a question that ultimately informs architectural concepts. Increased Competition, Less opportunities, less cooperation, disenfranchisement. In ever increasingly volatile world, one potential solution lies in empowering others. What if, Architecture, could become a vessel for opportunities, cooperation and break the cycle? This project, Located in Elephant & Castle, is imagined as a series of communal spaces, which encourage informal interaction, allowing people to come together, form networks, and share their ideas, innovations and craft with eachother and the world beyond. It is a hub which fosters leadership, creativity and exploration. As Nilles Julles Sorensen once stated, "We must build systems, not products."
Cities boomed during the 20th Century, in size, and height. They were getting ever more crowded and required new solutions. Utopic ideas emerged, one was to seperate work from home and link them through highways, hoping for vast open greens linking towers. Ironically, this led to highly congested and pulluting highways, infact this system is one of the main factors promoting global warming. It also creates dangerous roads that do not respect the human scale, leading to ever increasing social crises within cities, from poor housing quality to lack of open public spaces within an urban context. The aim now is almost a U- Turn, a movement led by pioneers like Jan Gehl to revisit the iea of city centres as intimate spaces of diversity.
The project is a Co-Live Co-Work Scheme, where bedroom units are clustered around studio spaces. Each studio space is interlinked, the idea being that the people who live immediately to one studio are not bound to it, thereby promoting interaction and exchnage of thought. These
These spaces occur on the upper floors (from first floor and above). Below are heavy workshops that relate to exhibition spaces, galleries, performing arts venues, piazzas, and restaurants. This creates a dynamic vibe that attracts artistic communities, and creates a destination on the easily accessible ground floor plane.
Design Manifesto: Creating Opportunities for People to Create their Own Utopias
Hence, this project is a critique of old notions of utopia, and explores the possibility of creating a system that encourages the creation of personal utopias. Each tennant creates culture, spreads ideas and encourages engagement with the public realm. These actions invite people from outside this community to participate in a dialogue that benefits the greater context, and can lead to future opportunities for personal or career development of the tennants within. Such a scheme can have numerous positive impacts on economy, culture and the street.
1. Embrace History Highlight the historical foot print of the now nonexistent portion of the Pullens Yards & Morphology, use history to foster identity and spirit. This may lead to the Pullens becoming listed, thus tying the contemporary rendition to what remains of the original, perhaps safeguarding this bit of history in future.
2.Run Urban Fabric through the Site Important pathways continue Circulation emphasized by views & flow, creating zones in the site
3. Identify Key Nodes
4. Public Spaces
Resulting pathways form intersections and urge for visual links through points of interest throughout the site. These will inform locations of public spaces, streets and service points.
Major intersections become public spaces, outdoor spaces and recreational zones. Existing park is disperesed at these zones, becoming incorporated into the daily life of the tenants.
Section showing the relationship to The Pullens to the West
Urban Arteries The site is strategically located to offer a perspective change from the commercial emphasis of Walworth Road to one which embraces the lost historic identity of the site and relates to cultures of the community. It can maintain a neecessary distance from the High Street yet take advantage of the proximity for internodal connections, thoroughfares and major links both pedestrian and vehicular.
SELECTED UNDERGRADUATE WORK City School of Architecture, affiliated with UWE Bristol BSc, RIBA I Colombo, Sri Lanka
Boat House Lower Ground Plan
Physical Model + Photoshop An escape into a natural world: This project is intimate with Battaramulla's lakes, rivers and marshes, yet mindful of its growing civic prominence.
DIYAWANNA OYA BOATHOUSE Undegraduate Stage 2 Project- 2012 Supervising Tutors: Yudish Ganesen Colombo, Sri Lanka
Elevation - Hand Drawing
Sections - Hand Drawn
TEMPORARY PERFORMING ARTS PAVILION Undegraduate Stage 2 Project- 2012/13 Supervising Tutors: Yudish Ganesen Galle, Sri Lanka
This Project, aims to fundamentally break down social barriers. Conceived as an implosion of the Fort, from a century of disuse, due to changing needs. The idea is to set a stage that will spark a dialogue between Fort and non-Fort denizens, bringing them closer together, through Performing Arts. The walls of the fort converge to a focal point, from which many axes link the fort visually to the surrounding Galle Region. This main pavilion is linked to smaller pavilions by a sinuous timber pathway: An experience of Visual and Performing Arts of Sri Lanka, as well as the rich craft found in the Fort. It morphs into theatre seating as needed. Free and open to all, the pavilions are fundamentally un-walled steel structures, wrapped in fabric-like membrane, contrasting in nature to the Fort. The spaces, informal, encourage the prospect of impromptu performances. People in the fort show their talent to those outside. Those outside engage in the spectacle, and show their own talents. The landscape is a linked network of parks, awareness, art and trade
AutoCad + SketchUp + Photoshop This project explores how commerce can incubate public interaction, art & innovation through entrepreneurial opportunities.
THE GOODS MARKET Undegraduate Stage 3 Final Project- 2014 Supervising Tutors: Peshali Perera, Nandika Denipitiya Pettah, Colombo, Sri Lanka
This project aims to Introduce much needed interactive public spaces .Use commercial hotspots as nodes which attract people from transportation routes through the site and vice versa. It creates a space for people to exploit, for sales, expos, art, exhibitions or performances. Improved safety, hygiene and ease of access to encourage investment in the context. Lastly, it helps create and embrace an identity, which embodies the local history.
Mount Cinnamon, Mirissa Hills Photograph taken by author
SELECTED OFFICE WORK Colombo, Sri Lanka
C. Anjalendran Year Out - 2014 to 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Anjalendran Studio
Many characteristics of his designs developed from his years of work with SOS Children's Villages in the country, where low cost but high quality homes for orphans were needed. The SOS Village in Galle is considered to be one of the most well designed and atmospherically beautiful orphanages in the world. He has built extensively throughout Sri Lanka for over 30 years, and also has some projects in Pakistan. Many of his projects are concerned with high homes and villas, having recently completed a project for Sri Lanka's current Prime Minister (as of 2018).
However he believes firmly that good architecture is like good art, which does not change weather it is for the rich or the less wealthy. He has recently built a low cost home for his domestic, making no sacrifice in the quality of the spaces created. His recent book, "The Architectural Heritage of Sri Lanka", is a curated collection of drawings commisioned by Anjalendran over the course of 30 years, and is in many cases the only preserved memory of some of Sri Lanka's oldest buildings (due to disrepair or demolition).
Anjalendran’s Live-Work Studio Photograph taken by author
Anjalendran is a regionally acclaimed architect from Sri Lanka, who has worked closeley with Geoffrey Bawa1 (for 10 years) and Minnette De Silva. His work is the result of collaboration with artists and local masters like Laki Senenayake, Ena de Silva, and Barbara Sansoni, and has developed a close relationship with his clients and contractors. He is well known for his deep understanding of Sri Lankan Vernacular Heritage and is a receiver of the Golden Award for Global Contribution in Architecture (A+D/Spectrum foundation)2.
1. Received the Agha Khan Chairman Award for Lifetime Achievements in Architecture. Sri Lanka's most prolific architect, a major contributor to South Asian 'Tropical Modernism' with high profile projects like the Kandalama Hotel and the Sri Lankan Parliament building. 2. Member of RIBA, SLIA - Received 4 SLIA Design Awards. Received Herman Gmeiner Silver Medal in "Appreciation and Thanks" for SOS Villages. Received South Asian Architecture Commendation Award for SOS Anuradhapura. Was Teaching Fellow at the Aga Khan Program for Islamic architecture at MIT in 1986.
Beach Cottage Mirissa, Sri Lanka Having worked on a number of project ranging from kitchen layouts to villas, perhaps among my favorites is the proposed Beach Cottage for Miles Young. Miles Young is a client and close friend of Anjalendran's, who made the Mirrissa Hills Estate and Mount Cinnamon possible. The Beach Cottage in many ways captures the essence of Anjalendran's simple and practical approach to architecture. At 2,000 sq. ft. it was a small enough project for me to oversee it on my own, from the initial stages to the final drawings. Of course, all work done is conceptualized, and closely monitored by Anjalendran. This project was in municipal approval stage at the time, however drawings had been issued to the contractor.
Anjalendran sketched (to scale) the general plan, for which I was tasked to produce construction drawings and later Electrical Layouts. By this stage I had become familiar with many of his principles and worked out the layout, particularly addressing issues of the roof and floor levels due to the site's slope. The drawings were revised at regular stages to confirm or make changes and eventually given to the contractor within three weeks. This particular contractor has worked closely with Anjalendran over the years, hence no detail drawings were necessary for this project.
Malalasekara Beach House Bentota, Sri Lanka Roles: Early Design Participation, architectural drawings + Revisions, Physical Model An exclusive 8 unit villa was the main project I worked on during my Year with Anjalendran. I was able to participate, together with other members in the office, in the early design stages, detailed drawings, revisions, meetings, third party consultations and so on. Essentially, I was able to participate or observe every aspect of an architectural project from design to foundation stone. Due to the large scale of the project, the villa was subdivided into sections, with one person focusing on the detailed development of that particular section (after finalizing the general layout). The entire project was under the careful guidance and control of the Architect. We got the opportunity to deal with unexpected regulations, planning policies, client requests and changes, and how these affect the design process.
Malalasekara Beach House Model Photograph taken by author
In particular I had to work out the structural joints between roof planes, rafters and etc., as well as provide a complete set of architectural drawings for the portion of the scheme assigned to me. At the end of the design stage, we were tasked to make a physical model for the client that was divided into 3 sections and had removable roofs, and upper floor.
D Series Drawings The region of the project I was assigned
Hameedia Hall Al Madrasa-Tul Hameedia Hijri 1318 (1900 A.D)
The madrassa interestingly takes cues from Dutch Colonial Churches in the formation of its gable. This stands as a testament to the historical tradition of exchanging knowledge between cultures in Sri Lanka. During the time of the construction of this madrassa, Sri Lanka was under British Colonial Rule, over 100 years after the Dutch have left.
Hameedia Hall Photographs taken by author
A friend, Rasheed Risvi, and I encountered a 100+ year old Madrassa (Islamic School) hidden behind a newer structure in a part of Colombo known as Pettah in 2014. Buildings in Pettah this old are rare and most are thought to have already been recorded. Realising the importance of this, I included my discovery in a historical report that I submitted during my final undergraduate year. Anjalendran, having been my history tutor, took an interest in it and took up a mission to have it recorded after my joining of the office. It has been added to an archive of historic buildings through photographs and careful hand drawings. These drawings were done by Shavendra Goonetilleke and I while working under Anjalendran. My contribution to the drawings are a ground floor plan and 2 sections.
Elevation Hand drawn by Shavendra G.
Plan Hand drawn by author
Dakshina P. Year Out - 2015 to 2016 Colombo, Sri Lanka
AP construction & property development - Kandy, Sri Lanka Digital Model and renders by author
Proposed Resort for Lal- The Chalets Panagoda, Sri Lanka
Under Dakshina, a much younger and smalller practice, I began doing design and development. Working for Dakshina was highly rewarding as I got more involved with design and consistently worked with the architect on projects, ranging from restaurants, bars and shops, to houses, extensions, logo design and furniture design. I have gained a lot of knowledge on detailing as well as having the opportunity to develop concepts into working real world projects. This proved to be a valuable learning experience, giving me opportunities to take on many of the responsibilites of a project architect and lead designer.
Chalet Floor Plans
One of my first tasks was to design a resort. This project contained a reception hall, a large restaurant and 3 chalets as well as a playground and a private pool. The design of the project was primarily under my direction, of course with supervision of the architect. I had to design with the client's budget and contextual restrictions of construction landscape, which ultimately required, given that the site was located in a relatively remote and hilly location.
Exploded Axo
Photography & Art
Aside from playing the guitar and jamming with my friends, I do enjoy the art of photography (though I could never claim to be more than an enthusiastic novice), sketching and drawing.
Independence Hall. Ink, Crosshatched
Dancing Dwarves, Drawing of Historic Carving. Ink, stippled
“City of The Future” Sculpture DEC 2011 Humanity is on an endless pursuit to reach the heavens, and one day become ‘God. In this fast paced quest, built on unstable foundations, the essentials of life are often overlooked, producing weak joints. Yet the achievement is always something to look forward to, and the segments keep getting added. This sculpture, developed by myself and two others (Supipi and Dulini) convey these notions through the visual imbalance and the use of scrap metal. It was sold in 2011 to a client of Anjalendran's.