Landscape Architecture Graduate Portfolio by bhavika

SHARMA

Landscape Architecture I University of Toronto

BHAVIKA

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READING THE RIVER

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT + CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS

AutoCAD/illustrator/Photoshop

Comprehensive Studio I instructors: Alissa North and Todd Douglas Studio Collaborators:Friends of Smythe Park

In Collaboration with Jessica Palmer Winter 2023

The landscape of Smythe Park conveys numerous stories.

Streaked with sediment and moss, the channelized creek’s concrete banks contain a fraction of the riverine’s former meander. Basement flooding and makeshift backyard reinforcements speak to the failure of existing infrastructure.

Murky water explains the presence of combined sewer overflow; arching, burling willows suggest the site’s constant duress. Foreboding signage along entryways point to the site’s present neglect. While Slapdash event flyers, friendly chatter, and online forums speak to the neighborhoods’ rigorous involvement, enthusiasm, and daily activism.

Conceptual

Series of Plazas

Conceptual Plan and Site Context

Plazas and Pathways along Dechannelized Riverine

This proposal considers a series of paths and gathering spaces that facilitates landscape literacy in larger capacities. Through dissasembling the channel and choreographing a series of interpretive trails, park users are further immersed in Smythe Pathrk’s embedded histories and ecologies

Our proposal de-channelizes the Black Creek at Smythe Park, through the creation of major bridges at Jane Street and Scarlett Road. Referencing the TRCA’s proposal for flood mitigation at Smythe, the banks are regraded with the recommended bank width to accommodate the riverine during high-intensity storm events, and slopes are reinforced with a series of deep-rooted plantings, live stakes, and revetments to support erosion control.

Smythe Park’s strong neighbourhood presence is reflected in the abundance of existing community events and programming. This proposal envisions bank-stabilization as a community led event.

Natural Infrastructure Detail + Perspective

Slope Regrading Strategies and Live Staking Details

Ranging From local historian walks, citizen science workshops to advocacy for wildlife and water quality, public programming events at Smythe Park suggest outdoor learning and gathering spaces as a high priority.

Increasing connectivity for both sides of the park, our design proposes a web of pathways converging as plazas that reflect the curvature of the river and bring visitors throughout the site’s gradient of wet and dry ecologies. Behaving as meeting places, the plazas accommodate various types of community workshops, events, programming, and gatherings while placing emphasis on immersive learning.

Circulation Detail + Perspective

Pathway Plaza Conergence and Seating Detail

HONOURABLE HARVESTS

RESEARCH DESIGN PROPOSAL + FOREST MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Revit/illustrator/Photoshop

Research Design Studio: Hart House Farm I instructors: Liat Margolis

Studio Partners: Hart House, Bruce Trail Conservancy, Credit Valley Conservation, Waakbiness Institute for Indigenous Health, Niagra Escarpment Commission.

In Collaboration with Giuliana Constanzo Fall 2023

Since its purchase by the University of Toronto in 1949, Hart House Farm has been molded to be a productive farm. From our field observations and ongoing conversations, it became clear that inherited ideas of farmland and farming greatly influence Hart House Farm’s identity. Problematizing this inherited emphasis on productivity at Hart House farm, we ask:

How can we reimagine sugar maple production and management on the site? As the condition of the sugar maples on site continues to diminish, our research looks to increase the existing sugarbush’s biodiversity and resilience. How can Hart House Farm expand existing outdoor gathering spaces and increase the potential for Indigenous-led cultural resurgence?

Archival + Precedent Research: Site Programming and Former Harvesting Techniques

With access to the on-site sugarbush that spans approximately 15 acres, a long-standing practice of sugar maple harvesting persists at Hart House Farm.

The process of making syrup from maple trees holds great significance for many Indigenous communities in the Great Lakes region. The archaeological remains of boiling arches outlined the extensive technologies and site-level spatial organization Anishinaabe maple production required.

Site Plan

Proposed Gathering and Harvesting Spaces

Forest Management Perspective

Phasing Plan and Planting Strategies to Minimize Disturbance

Conversation Pit Axonometric Drawing

Accessible Gathering Space and Outdoor Kitchen for Community use

Community-led Tapping

Borrowing from the typologies of dry-stone wall structures present on site and 19thcentury boiling arches, a new gathering space is proposed adjacent to the existing sugar shack. Situated at the outermost edge of the sugar bush, the location of this gathering space redirects foot traffic to minimize disturbance in the sugarbush and facilitates open-air fire sap-harvesting.

Accommodating up to 40 people around a fireplace, this circular pit is designed for flexible programs such as classes, workshops, and ceremonies

Forest Management + Phasing

To increase the sugarbush’s resiliency, a series of small interventions carried out in several phases over a decade are proposed. During the three to five-year mark, sugar maples that are over-tapped and remain in poor condition, such as severe defoliation, can be gradually removed.

FEEDING THE F U T U R E

LANDCAPE URBANISM PROPOSAL + MASTER PLAN

Rhino/illustrator/Photoshop

Integrated Urbanism Studio I instructors: Fadi Masoud and Robert Wright

In Collaboration with Negar Ferdosi, Xushan Liu, and Yangpengpai Wang

Fall 2022

To supplant Toronto’s strained food system, heightened by regional droughts and heatwaves, decentralizing food resources and increasing hyper-local food access is necessary.

This design proposal constitutes a transferable lexicon for embedding agricultural capacity within the urban fabric –from industrial-scale projects to tactile interventions. By integrating social and physical infrastructure within the hydro corridors and employment areas, Jane and Finch’s residents become increasingly self-sufficient in the wake of climate emergencies.

Design Development

Axonometric Drawing

Employment Areas and Hydro Corridor into Urban Agriculture Hubs

Considering Community Networks

To address substantial spatial and social needs, our proposal suggests highdensity indoor agricultural production within the existing employment areas and an interconnected web of community networks within the finch hydro corridor.

Situated near York university, the new hydro corridor plan holds opportunities to integrate research, public outreach, and new urban agriculture techniques.

New Pedestrian Circuits

To create a socially engaging landscape for Jane and Finch residents, tech plots, community gardens, and meadows are incorporated into the eastern portion of the hydro corridor. In conjunction with surrounding institutions, publicly accessible plots become educational sites--encouraging local residents and students to engage in innovative planting and harvesting courses.

Hyrdo-Corridor Section Drawing

Integrating Urban Agriculture, Relational Infrastructure, and Stormwater Management

Hyrdo-Corridor Axonometric Drawing

Designing

Pedestrian Circuits and Community Networks

To encourage neighborhood access to the linear greenbelt, our design proposes a new pedestrian circuit. Mirroring the Finch LRT, a pedestrian pathway connects residents from Jane to Keele Street. Encouraging resident mobility, the new circuit connects residents to hydro corridor programming

In the hydro corridor, relational infrastructure becomes an important tool to connect residents with the new food systems implemented within the site. To help secure the viability and longevity of urban agricultural production within Jane and Finch, creating meaningful community webs is essential.

Existing York university buildings surrounding this portion of the hydro corridor, are designed to incorporate interactive greenhouses, research hubs, seed libraries, and workshop sites in addition to vertical farming and food distribution.

new potentials. From a bird’s-eye view, the constructed structures double as a sundial, referencing the festival’s summer solstice inauguration.

DESIGN DEVLOPMENT: Supporting Existing

Site Plan + Pillar Location

Existing Site Condition and Topography in Conjuction with Pillars

Sun/Shadow Study: Pillars as Sundial

Refrencing the Innaugural Summer Solstice Celebrations

Frames + Pillar Design

Framing existing Topography and Pillar Design Development

Development Perspective

Details, Scale, and User Interaction

THE MOBILIZER DESIGN/BUILD

Public Installation

Rhino/illustrator/Woodworking

Design/Build Studio I instructors: Reza Nik

Studio Partners: Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust

In Collaboration with Felipe Coral, Sam Shahsavani, and Zainab Wakil.

Summer 2019

Mo - bi - lizer /mōbelīzer/

A small mobile piece of architecture designed and built to be able to temporarily occupy public space for various functions.

Taking precedent from information kiosks and using the mechanics of Japanese joinery, a mobile structure was designed to be rolled out to a chosen public site, and then unfolded and set up for use. Some other features the mobilizer includes are: folding benches, adjustable wall shelves, and a fold out table. In a small design team, led by Architect Reza Nik and Activist Andrew Winchur of Parkdale’s Neighborhood Land Trust, a mobile structure was concieved to facilitate various

Concept Design + Axonometric Diagrams

Structure Adapting to Various Public Programming Events

Flexible Program

Following informal meetings and consultaion from local residents, a multi-use structure was concieved. Providing public seating in a neighbourhood covered in hostile architecture was another crucial component of this project.

Various Configurations

This installation was designed to be mobile, multi-functional and aesthetically flexible in order to effectively take up space for a variety of functions. The mobilizers act as catalysts that expand and attract beyond their small footprint.

Build + Details

Perforated Facade + Fold-out Table + Modular Benches

Prototypes + Design Development

Considering Materials, Assemblies, and Wood-working Techniques

Site Insatllation + Event Documentation: Spring 2020 Mobilizer Used for Public Consultation Meetings

FLUID LANDSCAPES:

ARCHIVING LAND BASED PRACTICES

Master of Landscape Architecture Thesis Proposal Rhino/illustrator/Photoshop/Mixed media

Thesis Research Studio I Advisor: Elise Shelley Site: Dal Lake, Kashmir Valley

Spring 2024

Former modes, tools, and methods of visual representations continue to construct the Kashmir valley as a desired landscape. The constructed image frames the valley landscape as paradisical; it prefers to omit Kashmiri inhabitants, practices, and in-use settlements. My thesis work looks to instigate a new compendium for Dal Lake.

By dissecting, cataloging, and contextualizing the at-risk landbased practices of Hanzi labourers at Dal, this work uncovers new social and ecological imaginaries for Dal, rooted in local ecological knowledge. Combining typical (plans, sections, axonometric drawings) and atypical (collecting, weaving, boiling, and crushing plant material) methods and processes, new visualizations or “maps of longing” are constructed of the valley landscape.