KARAN GUPTA architecture graduate
PERSONAL PROFILE
I’m an ambivert anxious spirit looking for an opportunity to contribute to the design community by offering perspectives never explored before.
CAREER EXPERTISE
Architecture Design Visualisation Content/Research Writing Fresh Perspectives Strong Communication Skills Fast learner and Efficient Player Collaborative and Multidisciplinary Team player Languages: English, Hindi, French
PERSPECTIVE “For me, architecture is not just an art form. You don’t paint your art on the world, rather you design the perfect canvas for people and hand it over to them. It is a selfless service to the mankind.”
CONTACT DETAILS
Mob: +91-8929566792, +91-9971293239 Email: karang6@gmail.com Portfolio: www.sangrahalay.wordpress.com Instagram: karan_1729 LinkedIn: karan-gupta-aab91b129
PROFESSIONAL HISTORY Architecture Journalist /Public Relations Creative Group Architecture Studio, Delhi (June ‘19-Present) Content Writing/ Article Writing / Research Writing for publications Preparation of Presentations / Award Layouts / Boards Event Managment/Artworks for Projects Design of publications / newsletters / posters/Media kits
Editorial Intern Rethinking the Future Online Journal (September’19 Present) Content Writing/ Article Writing / Research Writing
Architecture Design Intern Atelier Arcau, Vannes, France (Jan ‘18 - June ‘18) Worked on projects of varied scales from construction details to urban design Prepared presentation drawings / publication drawings 3d Modelling / 3d Visualizations / Physical Modelling/ Client drawings Created Feasability Reports / Detail Drawings / Space Planning layouts
Freelance Writing - Architecture Design Competition | Archdux Design Concept Partners, Noida, Delhi Content Writing Competition Brief and Website Content
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, India Bachelors in Architecture 2014-2019 Ryan International School, Vasant Kunj, Delhi, india Central Board of Secondary Education 2000-2014
SKILLS AND SOFTWARES
Core Skills Architectural Writing | 3d Modelling | Architectural Visualization | Conceptualization Visualization Skills Hand sketching | Pen and ink rendering | Digital sketching | Digital rendering Conceptualisation Skills Parti Sketching | Physical massing | Digital massing | Written communication 3D Modelling Trimble Sketchup | Blender | 3ds Max | Rhino BIM / Drafting AutoCAD | Revit | ArchiCad Visualization Adobe Creative Suite (In, Ps, Il, Pr) | VRAY | Lumion | Autodesk Sketchbook
MY REFERENCES Prof. Dr. Sanjeev Singh Professor & Head of Department of Architecture, School of Planning & Architecture Bhopal B.Arch (GCA, Lucknow), MA (Uni. of Melbourne, Australia) , PhD(National University of Singapore)
Handloom Weavers’ Village
The Interlink Tower
Mixed Use Rural Development
Mixed Use Tall
Architecture Graduate Thesis
Building
The Stone Age Centre Interpretation and Exhibition Center Academic Design Studio
Sha Re
Gro
Aca Architecture Design Competition
The amiyana esidency
oup Housing
ademic Design Studio
Hotel Green Habitat Business Hotel Academic Design Studio
House of Music
Urban Habitat Node
Museum cum Residence
Urban Design
Heritage Documentation
Academic Design Studio
Project Brief/Understanding The design thesis aims to study the socio-cultural aspects of vernacular architecture/spaces of handloom weavers across India. This further develops into interwoven concepts between handloom weaving and architecture which is ultimatley manifested into a vernacular contemporary settlements for the welfare of this creative cultural industry.
HANDLOOM WEAVERS’ VILLAGE Architecture Graduate Thesis Best Thesis Award by School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal Location: Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, India Typology: Mixed Use Rural Development Year: 2019 Purpose: Academic Design Thesis
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN HANDLOOM WEAVING AND ARCHITECTURE
Tactility | Organic character | Permeability
Temporal variations and multiple uses of the same spaces.
Process oriented approach instead of product oriented.
Continuity | Contextualism | Spatial Continuity
Layered formations of traditions, spaces and knowledge skills
Community involvement
Abstract
Organic Planning
Open Dyeing Areas
Stepwell
Community Center
Social Heirarchy
Gathering Hall
Sense of enclosure
Library
Dyeing Studio
Loom Hall
Carpentry Studio
Mutual Shading
Warp/Weft Studio
Exhibition Centre
Market
Contour Modulation Incubation Centre Terrace Gardens
Stepwell Permeability
Site Axonometric View
Steps as Social Spaces
Heirarchy of courtyards
Cluster Plan
Interwoven community spaces lead to enhanced community interaction, surprised encounters with other villagers, To enhance collective learning, to enhance awareness and exposure with contemporary trends thus uplifting the weaver community.
Pedestrianized village derived from the context of maheshwar to enhance community interaction, sense of belonging with the open space to prevent pollution for a healthy working environment and a freedom of movement.
Community common open work sheds to expose the ‘process’ to the guests and tourists.
Common community dyeing, drying and washing activities, post loom activities, street facing loom sheds, winding streets to evoke a sense of curiosity in space.
“We don’t sit on chairs, we don’t like to eat on a dining table, we worship the floor, we clean it everyday, we apply mud plaster over it mixed with neem oil to keep away pests from ruining our months of effort in weaving a single saree. All we need is place under the shade, a court to relax in in, a terrace to talk to our neighbors, a verandah to discuss our designs with our guests, an angan to learn from the master weaver, a backyard to dye our yarns and a comfortable and a cozy loom hall with sufficient light and air to spend our mornings in. ” - Weaver in Ahilya Vihar Colony, Maheshwar.
View of Stepped terracing and gardens as social spaces to cluster
Handloom Household Typologies Unit Designs
“The essence of living in a village lifestyle lies soleley in boundary less spaces. Spaces with no imposed boundaries. Spaces left open to community to design and shape their own social spaces. Spaces with no defined edges impart a sense of community belonging and thus tends to evolve as per the patterns imposed the community themselves. There is no concept of private space in Indian villages.�
A cascade of roofs, a labryinth of pathways, plethora of terraces, the sound of neighbors’ looms and place in the shade all break the monotony of everyday routine of a handloom weaver.
View of Stepped entrance to cluster
Social Spine Cluster Plan
Dyeing/Drying/Washing Studio
Handloom Hall
Carpentry & Graphing Studio
Warp/Weft Studio
Weavers’ Handloom Library
Exhibition Center
Incubation Center
Community/Exhibition Center Axonometric Section
Weavers’ Market Axonometric Section
The community center serves as a beacon for connecting the past and the future of development for handloom Weaver’s in Maheshwar. It can incorporate spaces specific to the needs of handloom Weaver’s in Maheshwar. It should give them spaces to explore their lives not only as a Weaver but as part of a cultural community. It should make them realize that they are no longer laborers but are human beings with a will to explore their creative abilities. They need innovative spaces never seen before by them because they’ve always been neglected by society. the architectural manifestation evolved from a single basic unit of weave which transformed into interwoven volumes thebey creating a labryinth of woven built and unbuilt masses and voids thus creating a pltheora of opportunities for weavers to design their own spaces.
View of the social infrastructure
Apart from all the weaver households and their interstitial social spaces, the weavers need a complex of institutions where they can learn and grow amongst themseleves and with the help of outsiders. They nee d an institution within the village following an inclusive and endogeneous approach which can train the weavers and uplift their livelihoods. Imagine a space within the village where weavers can come in at any time of the day to access the facilities alongwith someone’s help to gain knowledge about new techniques and practice them too. Imagine a cluster of institutional blocks designed specifically according to the context and as per the aspirations of handloom weavers. The design of the social spine evolves from designing individual spaces for specific purposes designed as per the character of the activity performed without much design interventions but a simple approach towards manifesting the traditional elements of maheshwar’s local architecture into a contemporary manifestation through forms and spaces.
Project Brief/Understanding Objective of this project is to interlink new and old parts of Bhopal. The building will serve as an intersection for locals at the two ends of the city to interact and exchange modern as well as traditional cultures, both symbolically and functionally.
THE INTERLINK TOWER Architecture Design Competition Location: Arera Hills, Vidhan Sabha, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Typology: Mixed Use Tall Building Year: 2017 Purpose: Competition Entry for Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Student Competition 2017.
Weaving old and new fabric of the two different sides of Bhopal dominated by two different eras.
Linking through layers of countless urban and rural fabric which provide an identity to the city as a whole.
Providing the structure to the conceptual idea through structural framework of standard tall buildings.
Vertical Zoning of the necessary functions required at the site which lies at the intersection of old and new bhopal yet without any facilities.
Basic form developed by combing the functional layers as well as the cutural layers at the core.
Double skin facade of Jaali a traditional element present throughout the built fabric of Bhopal.
Public Exhibitions
Promoting the tribal art and craft of old bhopal.
Art Galleries
Promoting the works of contemporary artists in bhopal.
Public Library
Access to city’s heritage through print and visual media.
Food Stalls
Serving traditional cuisines as in the streets of bhopal.
Theme Restaurant
Serving local mughal cuisine with a modern twist.
Urban Park
Connecting the human soul with nature at great heights.
Project Brief/Understanding The center aims at granting an experience of the eras long forgotten by human history i.e. surviving as a caveman, living the hunter-gatherer lifestyle within the naturally carved out cave shelters. To revive the significance of Bhimbetka Caves through contemporary interpretations.
THE STONE AGE CENTER Architecture Design Studio Location: Near Bhimbetka Caves, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bhojpur Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, India. Typology: Interpretation and Exhibition Center Year: 2016 Purpose: Academic Design Studio Semester V
Bhimbetka Caves Conceptual Parti
Amidst the lush green hills of Ratapani wildlife sanctuary, The Stone Age center sits as a memorial to millions of generations passed by since stone age and as a beacon of modern world where distances and inaccessibilities have vanished.
Functional Programs with Circulation Parti
Amalgamative Interpretation Concept & Function Aerial X-Ray View
Ancient writings, heiroglyphs and symbolic typography depicted on cloth panels. Depiction of Tribal paintings from various regions of Madhya Pradesh on cloth panels.
Performing arts theatre with a seating of 200 and sufficient green rooms.
Replicas of paintings from the Indian Stone Age as done in Bhimbetka Caves.
Movie screening theatre for live walkthroughs of Bhimbetka caves with Virtual Reality.
Lecture theatres and lecture halls for guest lectures by famous historians and archeologists.
Sculptur of Stone depict t a
ral transformation e Age paintings to their daily lifestyle and objects.
Public exhibitions to try their hand at tribal art and craft and displaying them.
Theme restaurant based on a fusion of local and tribal cuisines of Madhya Pradesh.
Ancient manuscripts, Books and archeology archives depicting the discovery of caves.
Formation of tensile structure with PTFE over rust textured tube framework for a cave-like experience .
Formation of tensile structure with PTFE over rust textured tube framework for a cave-like experience .
Workshops organised on tribal craftwork by local artisans and craftsmen.
Plans
"Architecture is not about replicating the form, space and order. It is more than that. Here it is resurrecting an era long forgotten and speaking to our contemporary lifestyles,"
Entrance Interior
Project Brief/Understanding The word ‘Shamiyana’ is indicative of the Indian ceremonial tent or awning. Evolving from this cultural practice is the design of a social housing project responding to the local context through design concepts of mutual shading, social spaces, sunken courtyards, arches and jali screens.
SHAMIYANA RESIDENCY Architecture Design Studio Location: Arera Hills, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India Typology: Social Housing Year: 2018 Purpose: Academic Design Studio Semester IX
Elevation of triplex residences
Axonometric Section of 3BHk Cluster
Axonometric Section of 2BHK and 3BHk Mixed Cluster
Axonometric Section of EWS Apartment
Axonometric Sections of Triplex Residences
View of Street amongst triplex residences
Project Brief/Understanding Breaking away from the typical business hotel designs to growing an urban green habitat as place of retreat and contemplation for the stressed out businessmen and the ever enthusiastic tourists.
HOTEL GREEN HABITAT Architecture Design Studio Location: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India Typology: 5 Star Business Hotel Year: 2017 Purpose: Academic Design Studio Semester VI
“5 Star or 7 Star or 10 Star Business Hotels have been developing since the 19th century as energy guzzlers to serve the rich class utilizing every inch of natural resource to provide for a sanitized environment with exceptional luxury. We need to come up with commercial development that diverts the focus from revenue generation through glass box air conditioned luxuries to natural habitats within the urban fabrics of our modern cities. We need to revamp the whole design typology of commercial architecture to integrate greenery and offer the visitor a serene experience of not only looking over natural habitats but to live within the same.�
Entrance View of the hotel
The conceptual block responds to site layout. Boundaries are broken and typology of hotel is re-defined.
The ancillary functions in hotel are placed on ground with voids to be filled with interior landscapes.
A level above healthcare facilities with primary function as a service floor is treated with green floor cover, short root landscaping along with louvre facades.
Green roofs are spread above restaurants and above entrance lobby. The landscaped floor is shaded by the floors with hotel rooms and corridors.
Floor slabs are extended to form bands of niches for vegetation. The niches in between room arrangments covered with trellis to form green walls with scaffolding.
Finally wooden louvres are placed for passive shading. Clerestory windows are fitted in lobbies and banquets for daylighting. Green habitat is concieved.
The lobby is attached to an interior landscaped garden which is semi- open till three floors and provides the guests with a contemplative space to experience in an urban setting. The clerestory type windows on the roof slab of lobby brings in the south sun by diffusing it into an ambient environment inside.
View of Entrance Reception flushed with daylight and interior landscape
View of Interior Landscaped Service Floor
View of Indoor Swimming Pool
Project Brief/Understanding In Indian Classical Music, the lineage of musicians singing a particular style belong to a specific Gharana (Home) forming a family bound by music.The Tansen gharana, one of the oldest Gharanas in India has its roots in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. The family of Sarod Ghara, taught by the disciples of Tansen followed the culture and gave rise to Sarod Gharana. This documentation focuses on the links between architecture and music.
SAROD GHAR
HOUSE OF MUSIC Architecture Documentation Location: Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India Typology: Heritage Museum Year: 2017 Purpose: Competition Entry for Nariman Gandhi Trophy’16, NASA, India
"In this building, wherever you look, there is rhythm and sound." -Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, India's Sarod Maestro.
View of the interior courtyard initially used for social gatherings now used for temporary performances.
View looking downwards from the internal jharokha or Internal balcony overlooking the courtyard.
“There is a peculiar relationship between music and architecture. Like music, architecture evolves from the principles of rhythm, repetition, movement and harmony. Much like a musician, an architect crafts the individual elements and plays with them in a manner that soothens the soul. Though music is limited to the sense of sound, architecture is limitless affecting the user via tactile, visual, and all other senses�
Front Elevation of Sarod Ghar
Entrance Threshold
Movement Stimulus
Lower Window Sill
Internal Balconies or Jharokas
Courtyard Planning Rhythmic Floor Patterns
Sculpting the ground
Rhythm in Stairs
Parti Diagrams
Documented Projection Drawings
“Music is a language that doesn’t speak in particular words. It speaks in emotions and if it’s in the bones, it’s in the bones” - Keith Richards, Rolling Stones.
View of the overlooking internal balconies
View of the overlooking internal balconies
“Music is liquid Architecture, Architecture is frozen music.� -Von Goethe
Project Brief/Understanding We’ve always city centres or urban nodes as a chaotic flux of vehicles and people running around without ever stopping. This design proposes the future of urban nodes as one that caters to the theme of health and leisure within the city. To divert the design effort from optimising vehicular traffic to offering the space solely for the pedestrian’s welfare.
URBAN HABITAT NODE Urban Design Studio Location: Lalghati, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India Typology: Urban Design of City Centre Year: 2018 Purpose: Academic Design Studio
Aerial View depciting urban interventions for an ecologically sensitive and humane centric urban node design
Opening up the ground with pyramid like green filters symbolizing the natural fabric of the city and to create porosity within the two vertical layers. Establishing the central function as Botanical research facility to promote environmental sensitivity and offering stepped gardens as a social infrastructure. Appreciating the essence of community centers as spaces for social gatherings under the shade instead of privatizing infrastructure for commercial greed. Reimagining the temple as a social institution within the Indian context and acting a generator of cultural activities on the urban square, Breaking the grand pedestal edge into a contoured exercise park with stepped landscaping and a visual connect with the surroundings. Connecting the varied functions of exercise, dining and reading through the iconic corten steel bridge signifying the weathering quality of nature. Forming an urban aquarium cladded with sandstone symbolizing the ecological identity of the place and literal meaning of lalghati i.e. valley of red sandstone. Centralizing the function of dining healthy foods within exercise parks and reading parks to promote holistic healthy lifestyle. Digging out subterranean libraries and reading park at the nodal edge to assist the mental health of public thus providing better social infrastructure. Promoting urban farming within the city to reduce pressure over rural zones and become self sufficient through a healthy urban metabolism. Protecting the urban forests from human interventions by creating a transparent boundary thus appreciating a balance within nature. Transforming the boulevard into a zone to unleash urbanc creativity by providing multiple pavilions as creative urban workspaces. Segregating the vehicular and pedestrian taffic to offer the ground space to public and the underground space for the vehicles.
Perspective depicting the urban creative co-working pavilions amidst the existing dense tree cover. “We don’t need grand urban plazas. We don’t wish to walk alongside heavy traffic. We are tired of climbing up the so called pedestrian pathways which are mostly occupied for vehicle parking. We wish the city to be a part of nature. We wish to cherish the birds chirping in the morning. We wish to get lost amongst the woods. We are tired of our daily work and life routines.”
“Our cities needs spaces with social opportunities to interact, to enjoy, to walk around freely without the fear of getting hit by a car, to play with their families, to contemplate within the gardens, to cherish the identity of their city and finally to have a public place where they can be themselves.� Perspective depicting the urban creative co-working pavilions amidst the existing dense tree cover.
“What is social infrastructure? Since the past decade we have seen development all across the globe particularly amongst developing nations to accomodate the exploding population to generate excessive revenue. In all this rut we have forgotten about designing for the welfare of people. We have forgotten to design libraries, museums, convention centers and other social spaces where people can interact freely. Even if we have designed, we’ve done so in an exclusive manner, rather diconnected from the rest of the city. We as designers need to re-think the contemporary versions of such social infrastructure in order to instill a sense of place to the citizens of the country.�
View of the subterranean libraries, with stepped seating spaces and reading park highlighting the edge of the urban square.
“Our contemporary cities need landmarks to idenify themselves with the character of a particular place. These landmarks need no longer be statues of personalities but abstract interpretation of cities true physical elements.� View of the urban aquarium cladded with sandstone stadnding as a landmark symbolizing the ecological identity of the city.
View of the urban tactile threshold enhancing the experience of walking from the vast urban fabric into the eco-sensitive street. “Thresholds are significant not in a building design but within the urban fabric so as instill a memory of that transition from one quality of a space to another and to experience it with an enhanced sense.�
“Our cities need to be self sufficient in terms of food production so as to reduce the load over rural farmlands. Also we need public access to such urban farms to transform the mindst adn attitude of public towards ecological sensitivity. We need more of watchtowers to contemplate upon the urban fabric so as to instill a sense of belonging amongst the locals and a sense of curiosity amongst the tourists.�
View of the urban farms with pathways and watchtowers for public access.
Beyond Profession Architecture Design is far beyond the scope of a single discipline. To be an architect, one has to be a lot more than what he/she was yesterday. Gone are the days when architects were merely space planners or following an artistic style. Today, living in the age of limitless opportunities, architects can be designers of almost anything in our urban environments ranging from the everyday objects to streets to digital environments to virtual reality games to the communication of design dialogues.
MISCELLANEOUS Photography | Sketching | Typography Internship Works at Atelier Arcau, France
Digital and Hand Sketches
Experiments in Typography Presenting a collection of experiments with various fonts to establish a visual dialogue. The idea is to represent the literal meaning of words from the english vocabulary through the conscious crafting of letters as design elements.
Architecture Design Internship at Atelier Arcau, Vannes, France ( Jan 2018 - June 2018 ) | Projects and Personal Involvement 1. Wolff 2, Residence Design in Vannes, France: Conceptualisation, Presentation drawings, Client meetings, Block massing, feasibility, Building Norms, visualisation, Physical modelling 1:200. 2. Xavier Fraud’s Residence, Residence Construction in Plescop, Gusquel, France: Site Visits, Site Documentation, Working design details, Construction details, Steel Section designs, Material Specifications, Interior Ceiling design, Façade design details. 3. Quai des Indes, Senior citizen Housing in Lorient, France: Housing layouts, Facilities layouts, Section, Digital massing and design, parking layouts Presentation drawings, feasibility studies. 4. Theix-Brestivan Urban Planning and Urban Design in Theix, France: Block massing, Parking layouts, Density Calculations, Application of norms, Developing Alternatives to housing masses. 5. Light Human Hotels Chain, Venaco, Paris, Corsica: V-Ray Renderings, Furniture Selections, Module layout, Lighting Alternatives, Material Texture Testing. 6. Vannes Rive Gauche Urban Design: Site Visit, Site Elevation Documentation, Topography studies, Base Drawings Compilation, Physical Model at 1:2000, Section Renders, Digital Context and Topography Modelling. 7. Patio du Golfe; Fulvia and Caligramme Housing: Presentation and Publication Drawings, Renderings of Elevations, Plans and Site Plans. 8. Intermarche, Mixed Housing and Urban Design: Site Visit, Masterplan presentation drawing, Section rendering, Digital Modelling, Presentation Board, Design Discussions.