NKA Mudhouse Design Jatra ArchitectureBRIO HMPL1 Urbanism Study TOYStudio CasinoLex.Studio Sculpture Photography Installations Paintings
ELEVATIONS
NKA Foundation was developed in 2005 to bring together individuals and groups to engage in localglobal humanitarian activities through use of the arts .
RAMMED EARTH
KEY
A. Great Room B. Patio Garden C. Bedroom D. Bedroom E. Bedroom F. Kitchen G. Bathroom H. Task Room I. Laundry Area J. Kitchen Garden
WOOD SLATS
N
VENTILATION
SECTIONS + LANDSCAPING
passionflower
impala lily scrub
sansevria
mimosa pudica
LANDSCAPE
THE LANDSCAPING OF THE SITE (BESIDES WHATEVER IS INHERINTLY GROWING) COMPRISES OF FOUR CATEGORIES: TREES, VERTICAL GARDEN, PESK CONTROL AND KITCHEN GARDEN. THE VERTICAL GARDEN COMPRISES OF PASSIONFLOWER, IMPALA LILY SCRUB, SANSEVRIA, AND MIMOSA PUDICA.
LEMONGRASS IS PLANTED IN SPECIFIC LOCATIONS OUTSIDE OF BEDROOMS AND WITHIN THE SEATING AREA TO CONTROL MOSQUITOS. Bombax Tree
lemongrass
THERE ARE TWO SPECIFIC PLANNED TREES TO BE PLANTED ON SITE FOR THEIR MEDICINAL PURPOSES AS WELL AS CONSUMPTION: THE MORINGA TREE AND THE BOMBAX TREE.
Moringa Tree
THE KITCHEN GARDEN CONCEPT IS INTENDED TO ADD AN ELEMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY AND ACCESIBILITY TO THE FAMILY’S LIFE.
PRECEDENCE
The settlement at Murbad is a highly clustered fabric of houses formed due to waves of migration from the surrounding regions. The reasons for migration of families to the village majorly have been to aid in deforestation to the British government, job opportunities in the village itself, and trade. The result of such a migration is a strong clustered, highly divided settlements, where there is no real interaction between the clusters. Though each cluster has a distinct identity based on the family who inhabits the cluster and the skills found in the cluster. The village comes together for festivals like Ganesh chaturti and Dashera, but apart from these two days, the village resembles a social stagnation. The mythological history of the village points its origins with the breaking of the Shiva curse and establishment of the Waghdev temple by the Kumbhare family who are also considered to be the original family of the village and are one of the most prosperous. The village is an amalgamation of varioous social movements seen in one fabric. This has posed a serious problem towards the unity of the community. The 71 famiies continue to live as 71 individual units, which has led to a vulnerable community.
THE UMBILICAL CONNECTION PROGRAM The program was planned in the village of veti Murbad, where myself as well as my partners, Pratik Dhanmer and Shardul Patil lived in our local studio on weekends. We were aided by several student volunteers from Mumbai’s Academy of Architecture. We worked to rediscover the layers in the village, collecting important data with respects to the fabric, architecture and sociocultural morphology. This data collected later gave birth to the partcipatory planning program now initiated in the region. Engagement with the village and with the lifestyle was key in this program. Each weekend, my collegues and I travelled 3 hours outside of where we lived in Mumbai via train, bus, rickshaw and motorcycle to our Murbad studio made of local building methods and techniques. Local skills and abilities were documented, problems were realized and solutions were discussed. The ďŹ rm is now in the process of step by step participatory planning towards a self sustained village and a healthy local economy.
The watershed, rich in resources and water, can be a bases of a generation with a strong eco system practicing the design economic policy.
The hamlet of Murbad, where the program is to be implemented, is a village of 71 families and a total population of 360. The settlement has 3 handpumps which supply water to almost 70% of its population and the other 30% possess private handpumps near their homes. The 71 homes are made of a vast array of material including; bamboo, cow dung, mud mortar, brick and cement. This settlement is the next target of Indira awas yojana as 63% of the existing houses fall in the “kacha” category. Like other settlements, there is a limit to the expansion of Murbad due to the limited presence of rocky hard strata. Also spread through out the fabric of the settlement are nodes which are strategically chosen to landscape in order to id the household in the production of the village (i.e. vegetables, herbs, animal feed, bamboo for house repairs)
The first wave of exploitation to the water shed was with the advent of the British, who for the construction of the city of Mumbai, deforested most of the teak forests found in the region. The tribals regained their right to their once rich forested land due to the abolishment of landlordism by the Indira Gandhi government. Since then, the tribals have exercised their right on their land in the form of rice monoculture, which has ended up decertifying the flat landscape of watershed.
The geomorphology of this watershed differs from the other watershed as it serves as the catchment for the river Surya and it does not lie in the flood plate of the river. Due to the geomorphology, a number of riverlets cause minor indentations in the otherwise flat form of the watershed. The riverlets are seasonal and are used for agricultural purposes. The government has termed this region as drought prone and has built two dams for irrigational purposes. These dams do not serve the watershed at all but act to provide the electricity of nearby Dahanu and Kasa, which are significantly populated in comparison. The irrigational canal driven out of the Dhamni dam is constructed in a way that the water cannot be harvested without the use of electrical pumps in most of the watershed fields. This has resulted in the whole dam and canal becoming and absolute failure. The geomorphology of the watershed is like a flat vessel surrounded by mountains. The watershed enjoys an all year round high ground water table due to its geography. The forest surrounding the water shed are deciduous, which were once rich in flora and fauna. The watershed has a layer of fertile black cotton soil on a volcanic basalt rock layer which is visible in some regions and has enabled the settlement of villages. The villages are small hamlets under the grampanchayat of Murbad. They are further divided into three subdivisions, i.e. Vangarja, Pimpalshet and Murbad, each comprising of 5-7 pada’s. Gaty pada is the chief pada in the watershed which houses the Grampanchayat and the Ashram school for the neighboring pada’s. This program (The Umbilical Connection) is based in Gaty pada.
ELEVATION
SECTION
PLAN
ROOF PLAN
AXON. SECTION DETAIL
The extensive research carried out by the methodology described earlier generated the following statistics. OCCUPATION: Even though there exists a wide array of skills in the settlement, and very few sets of people are actually engaged in activities apart from farming and physical labor. This is due to the so called economic value assigned to the above jobs and the disregard for the value of the existing scale set. Also, the unavailability of resources required to practice the traditional skills has caused the staggering imbalance in the occupation chart. The miscellaneous occupation which include cattle hearing, wine making, toddy tapping, bamboo art, warli painting and making sustainable houses out of natual materials is reduced to a mere 1% population. AGE: The age graph shows a able population between 20-40 which can be tapped into a beneficial program for the watershed. The chart is relatively balanced which points towards a balanced program if community involvements is to be achieved. The program provides for development for a sports ground, a node for kid’s play area as well as community spaces like ampitheaters and ‘sitouts’ along with highly work based production workshops. EDUCATION: The education chart indicates a high rate of illiteracy and a high number of people who are just primarily educated. This shows a typical disregard for tribal communities towards the modern education system. They consider the system useless and even more so degrading for their children in the pursuit of achieving life essential skills. Thus after the basic literacy level is crossed, the education of a child by western method is seen as a waste of money and resources.
STREET ELEVATION
STREET SECTION
Total Area of the site - 4000 sq. ft. Total Area for the shrine (covered) - 30 sq. ft. Area for the library - 60 sq. ft. Garden Area (ecological restoration) - 2615 sq. ft. Area of the circulation and compound walls - 1230 sq. ft. Area of the well and the pavilion - 95 sq ft. A temple designed to be located in Kasa (nearby Murbad) in reverence to the late Sai Baba. Kasa is a location quickly increasing in physical and population density. The design was created with the intention of fulfilling the people’s need for a temple to honor Sai Baba while also creating public green space for its own use as well as the surrounding school and apartment which would otherwise become too crowded. The design was heartily accepted by the local people as an ecologically positive nod to Sai Baba’s natural philosophy and was approved for construction. Construction was halted when friction began over whom the land actually belonged to.
BIODIVERSITY IN THE HIMALAYAS
2013
SEMBLANCE A SMART FACADE
Through the use of thermo-bimetals, the solar heating of the metal shingle facade creates a bending reaction to the top and bottom corners of the individual shingles. Thermo-bimetal is a combination of any two compatible sheet metals, ech within different expansion coefficients, and at various thicknesses which can produce a variety in ranges of deflection of the merged material. Depending on how directly or indirectly the sun hits them, a variety of patterns are created on the exterior facade walls. This creates a uniqe interior condition when the sunlight passes through in beams.
BIOMIMICRY
ENTRANCE PAVILION FACADE
Generally, a creek is a small to medium sized natural stream. Sometimes navigable by motor craft and may be intermittant. It is a tidal inlet, typically in a salt marsh or mangrove swamp, or between enclosed and drained former salt marshes or swamps. In these cases, the stream is the tidal stream, the course of the seawater through the creek channel at low and high tide.
While mangroves are various types of trees up to medium and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics. Mangrove swamps protect coastal areas from erosion, storm surge (especially during hurricanes) and tsunamis. The mangroves’ massive root systems are efficient at dissipating wave energy. Likewise they slow down tidal water enough so its sediment is deposited as the tide ebbs in this way, mangroves build their own environments. The unique ecosystem found in the intricate mesh of mangrove roots offers a quiet marine region for young organisms.
LANDSCAPE The site is situated within the curves of a creek, a lake, and numerous patches of wooded area (both natural and manmade) This creates a place rich in biodiversity, equiped to harbor various forms of flaura and fauna. If its potential were cultivated even further, the site’s biodiversity could expand as well. Action has already been taken through the planting of numerous palm tree sapplings. Nearby is the Sagarashwar farming research center.
Surrounded by a semicircular range of hills with lush green foliage mainly of cashew, mango, coconut, and different kinds of berry trees; the hills of Dabholi, Tulas, and Mochemad respectively lie in the north, the east, and the south of Vengurla, while the Arabian Sea is located on its west.
350 year old Dutch trading post used to launch an attack on the Portuguese in Goa. In 1638, the Dutch had a trade settlement at Vengurla, where they kept their ships during the eight month blockade of Goa. A small British factory was established at Vengurla some time before 1772. In 1812, the town was ceded to the British by the Ran of Savantvadi. Amongst the more unusual remains of European colonialism on the sub-continent are the ruins of a Dutch commercial settlement in Vengurla. The settlement served two About 3 km from the Vengurla town and near the jetty is the key purposes: trade and a position Vengurla lighthouse, reached via a winding path perched from which to launch an attack on the on a hill, the Vengurla lighhouse offers a spectacular view of Portuguese in Goa. All that is left are the sea below stretching far into the horizon; the jetty and the crumbling remainsof the Dutch its boats; the palm fringed coastline to the left, and a creek fortified factory that once stood here. far away trailing out to th sea. To the right is a sheer drop down to the sea past jagged cliffs. To the north-west are the Vengurla Rocks, also called, Burnt Islands. The path to the lighthouse is through a long winding path of foliage and greenery. The flat plateau on the top of the hill provides a memorable view of the shore and beach below.
In 2008, the CoD launched “River Cities,” a multi-year design and development project that proposes to address the problems of economic decline and job loss in Kentucky “river cities” by partnering with local municipalities, developers and business to develop transformative projects. The purpose of this project was to design a reuse for an abandoned coal power plant in Henderson, KY. The hope of the city is that the renovation of this building will bring a new life to the city which has a severely declining economy and consequently, population, but an ample amount of abandoned industrial real estate and a valuable waterfront. Before the design process began, we met with Henerdson citizens, government officials and investors to discuss what the envisioned this building becoming. Countless suggestions were made. However, it was clear that whatever was done, it had the potential to revitalize the city, due to its location, size, history, and uniqueness. It was also clear that the true purpose of this project was not so much in deciding on an exact purpose and floor plan for the building, but rather to inspire the city as to its potential. In doing so, we could give the citizens hope and excitement for the possible future of their city. This could only be done by opening the studio doors to the citizens and creating a discussion... a visual discussion.
Upon my return from India, I chose to participate in an architecture seminar which studied and discussed city planning. The purpose of the course was to develop an understanding as an architect of why a city has the form that it does. What are the factors that drive or change the physical formation of a city? A portion of the seminar was directed towards specific urbanism philosophies, such as, Italian Futurism. In my effort to relate my interest to Indian urbanism, I asked the question, “How would a Futurist Architect respond to today’s boomming Indian cities?” This question led to many interesting discussions with my professor and peers, which led to the suggestion to express this in a more physical form. Based on my experiences in Chennai, India, combined with my research on Futurism, I decided to focus my model on the exploration of systems of movement, and the layering of life through structures which had a form derived from their response to these systems of movement. The model includes arbitrary representations of Chennai’s road, bus, train, and metro routes. The proposed metro route was drawn on the computer in Rhino software and then drilled into a large piece of wood with a CNC machine. Also drilled out using the CNC machine is a representation of descending topography in the form of ridges which harbors further layers of infrastructure and transportation means; merging above ground and underground expansion. The road, bus, and train routes were then placed as independent systems which then begin to form relationships with the other systems. Structures begin to form where needed most, at transportation stopping stations. The closer you are to a transportation station, the greater the density of the cluster of buildings. This means that each cluster of buildings can be read as a “hub” or “hive”, which has relationships with the other “hubs”/”hives” through the layering of transportation. Cut off the transportation and you cut off the relationship.
Urbanism Study
Solar panels collect energy from the sun which helps power each hive. Air flows through the road opening. The hot air rises and exits through the central vent. Roads criss-cross throughout the hive, creating connections between the interior and exterior buildings. Below grade The thick earth walls keep the interior cool.
Natural light well and air vent
Internal and external roadways hug the curves of the hive ridges, weaving tightly around the buildings, landscape, and mural walls.
Natural runoff water collection and reuse system
elaboration of initial model
Each hive acts as a train, bus, and metro station. This allows for a separation between private and public means of transportation, relieving some congestion and safety issues.
Transportation such as trains, buses, and metro use these units as stopping stations. The goal is to relieve some congestion and increase safety for pedestrians.
Each hive is placed according to need and availability of space. This also determines the size and height of each hive. The area surrounding the hives is filled with existing roads and buildings. The hives adapt and mingle with the existing conditions. The hives are created from the earth that will be dug up to create the underground metro system.
The underground metro system will use the interior floor of each hive as a stopping station while train and bus stops will be on the exterior floor of each hive.
The foot, bicycle, and small vehicle transportation which will take place in and around the hive currently suffers greatly due to monsoon flooding. Hopefully this topography will help to relieve this.
“Prongs” and “Talons” allow for gripped hold in cut pattern of rubber. The purpose of this studio was to understand the relationship between the computer design process and the process of constructing. We were instructed to design a “toy” with the understanding that a “toy” could be defined as an item which exists for the purpose of being interacted with. We were also instructed to include a mechanical element so that we would learn to keep iin mind all required facets to creating a mechanical device, such as housing for wires, hinges, and batteries. Everyone in the studio was left the freedom of interpreting this. I decided to interpret it as a musical instrument. I created an instrument which demands an exaggerated amount of bodily interaction. This intention was executed by designing the instrument, in the form of a rubber brace, to be directly attached to the human leg. Attached to this brace were several “clickers” which were designed to form the variety of curves of the leg while the “legs” of each clicker fit snuggly into the design of the rubber brace. This gives the musician flexibility in deciding where to place the clickers according to location on the leg as well as location to the miniature microphones which are also attached to the rubber brace through “x” shaped slits. This is important as this determines the strength of the sound of each clicker. Each microphone is attached to a variety of delay and effects pedals. The variety of pedal attachments allow the musician an unending number of options for layering and varying the sound of each clicker. Finally, these pedals are attached to ann electric guitar amplifier which projects the resulting layered sounds out into the room.
Central hole holds the 1/4” plastic tubing which creates a flexible yet resilient connection.
A videorecording was made of local musicians interacting with this instrument. This testing resulted in my decision to change aspects of the design. This video was shown at the final studio presentation to explain my design process. Straight form of bottom lays across flat surfaces, such as top of shin and thigh. Curved form fits more comfortably to curves such as the thigh or calve.
TOYStudio
_INTENTION_ To reconfigure the physical and formal nego tiations between the existing building and my manifestation by playing on their tension.
CasinoLex.Studio “The studio focuses on developing a ‘casino’ for downtown lexington, focusing on particular fragments which would generate specific ideas of interior spaces, or various types of interiority concepts, for example, single or multiple interiorities, with gradient levels of security or mixed configurations; levels of public and private space, levels of security [access], definition of ‘in’, ‘inbetween’ and ‘out’, based on border qualities, definition of the architectural border as a separation element through studies of materiality. The Goal of the Studio will be to keep developing the notion of geometric variations at a level of sophistication so that questions towards beauty and relevance can begin to be understood in a contemporary setting, and emerging paradigms of esthetics, the grotesque and the horrific. Through the investigation into the potential of software to allow for control over sophisticated geometries, we will attempt o negotiate the question of topology within the condition of surface and how the surface condition emerges through controlled expert geometries. The studio will force you to operate within an expertise towards intuition through software and advancement of the discipline through a precise contemporary understanding of architecture’s reliance on surface, performance, and emotion to expand its discourse.” - Erick Carcamo: Studio Head X ATELIER + University of Kentucky
_METHODOLOGIES_ The use of constriction, asphyxiation, stran gling, and compression of vulnerability. _STRATEGIES_ The closing and opening of space through the hooking, wrapping, and tightening of limbs. Adrenaline is the driving factor. The visit to a casino is driven by adrenaline, it teases us, daring us to lose control and move farther into danger. It lures us into its slowly tightening grasp until we are trapped. _RESULT_ The stress and release of spatially asphyxiat ing architecture through the manipulation of space allows the user to feel physically what they are feeling in their minds due to the release of adrenaline. Therefore, complet ing the experience by intensifying their aware ness.
The addition of the new system manipulates the original floor plan of the tower. It expands the floor plan where it bulges and closes it in where the limbs constrict. It overpowers the original building, yet takes from it what it needs. In your gambling game, as the stakes get higher, you move to a higher floor. Each floor is pierced by a central atrium. At the same time, the exterior walls are closing in, allowing less and less floor area as you ascend the building. This means that as your adrenaline is rising, your heart and blood pumps faster, causing your body to feel constriction. Your physical environment is also constricting, making you uncomfortably aware of your situation, urging you to turn back yet daring you to go farther.
The sculpture was designed to convey the balance of support between masculine and feminine in a dance. It was designed so that each facet has its opposite in size, and consequently, weight.
Each curve and point is perfectly contrasted so that the entirety of the sculpture is perfectly balanced. When looking at the sculpture from individual angles, it does not appear that it should be able to stand, especially if you look at the size of its base while considering that it takes 3 people to carry its weight.
The Sculpture was made from ‘Flyash’ which is a substance which is left as a residue lining industrial smoke stacks after burning coal. I had two team members working with me to complete my design which I created in Maya, then translated to Rhino for CNC compatibility. These two teammates were Parahita Ricci and Benjamin McClure. The mold of the final design was imprinted in foam sheats so that it could be sealed and then the flyash substance could be poured into it to harden. When the final mold was made and ready to pour, our professor looked at it and claimed that there was no way the final sculpture could stand. However, when it was removed from the mold and set on the ground, it stood at perfect balance without assistence. Our professor was pleasantly surprised.
No initial measurements or calculations were necessary because I relied on my understanding of weight, balance, mass, and distance as if it were two figures dancing.
Splash is a collection of multiple, physical and virtual, prototypes materialized from an intensive formal series and structure of techniques. All displayed pieces in the gallery will reside in an existing completed location, a house; the thinking tank for all the pieces to emerge from according to its specific use and function.
‘SPLASH’ Photo by XAtelier Architects
“The prototypes explore a multiple paradigmatic collection of methodologies for its formal entities to emerge; primarily the possibility of growth using a ‘fragment’ without specificity and allowing it to reconfigure itself according to its function. The ‘fragment’ develops, evolves, incisions, spreads, bulges as a strategy to gain space and to acquire a proportioned tectonic assembly;
consequently engendering new species from this proliferation, always with the idea of an animalistic assembly to create repetition with extreme differentation, new part to whole relationships, adequate complexities and novel
MAYA model completed by XAtelier Architects
Render completed by XAtelier Architects
Personal sketches of process:
plans and construction details
OPENING RECEPTION MARCH 5, 2010, 7PM @ LAND OF TOMORROW (LOT) http://www.lotlex.com 527 E. THIRD ST LEXINGTON, KY Those who participated in the production and design of the installation: Erick Carcamo & Nefeli Chatziminia (X Atelier) Christa Mueller Parahita Ricci Raleigh Arrowood Joseph O’toole Jeff Guiducci Brian Richter