PORTFOLIO SELECTED WORKS 2016-2019
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PORTFOLIO DEVANSHI GAJJAR
DEVANSHI GAJJAR 18-03-1999 devanshigajjar18@gmail.com +91 9825149236 339, Saraswatinagar, Nr. Azad Society, Opp. Himmatlal Park 2, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. PIN: 380015 A hard working student. Always keen on learning and looking out for new experiences and opportunities. Gifted with efficient management skills, I strive to give my best to every possible challenge.
2014
2016
Grade 10 Prakash Higher Secondary School, Ahmedabad.
2019 Currently, 4th Year, Bachelor’s of Architecture; Institute of Architecture and Planning, Nirma University, Ahmedabad.
Grade 12 Prakash Higher Secondary School, Ahmedabad.
INTERESTS & ACHIEVEMENTS Reading Music Writing Volleyball
Founder, Editor & Composer of MERAKI (Official Newsletter of Institute of Architecture and Planning, Nirma University).
Assistant| Minor Research Project Green Audit (For certification of IGBC), Nirma University (On Going)
Training uptil ‘Prathmik Purna’ in Indian Classical Music.
SOFTWARE SKILLS
LANGUAGES
AutoCAD
Adobe InDesign
English
Revit
Adobe Photoshop
Hindi
Google Sketchup
Microsoft Office
Gujarati
CO M P E T I T I O N S & W O R K S H O P S Button Masala Marsception Competition 2018, by Volume Zero Construction Technology- Hands on Workshop Reschool Competition 2019, by Volume Zero Barrier Free Design Creative Writing Urban Condensers at Superior Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM), 2019 Stage & Set Design Film Appreciation
ARCHITECTURAL TRIPS
D O C U M E N TAT I O N
Central Europe (Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest): 2017 Spain: 2018, 19 Pune, Maharashtra, India: 2018 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India: 2019
Luni, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
C O N T E N T S
INSTITUTIONAL STUDIO
02
HOUSING STUDIO
06
MATERIAL STUDIO
10
MEASURE DRAWING
14
URBAN CONDENSERS
22
RE-SCHOOL
26
BUILDING STUDIES
30
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS
34
INSTITUTIONAL STUDIO AHMEDABAD, INDIA
/Reconstruction design for a government primary school in Nava Vadaj locality in the city of Ahmedabad/
SITE & DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Located amidst the lower middle community, the site sits between a dense fabric directly connected to the Nava Vadaj circle, where the traffic flow is most concentrated. The site is encircled by buildings from all the sides. Responding to the site edges and site shape leaves a better scope for open spaces. The current site, being surrounded by a dense fabric, didn’t have a community space. Thus, there has been an effort to cover minimum ground and use the land as a community space during the non working hours. The built part of the proposed design, has one primary corridor that then leads to other spaces, like a cluster of four classrooms that share a courtyard. It is important for any school to have open spaces at a smaller scale for the students to interact and mingle with each other. Thus, there has been an effort to do the same. The corridor serves as the main circulation and the other corridors are secondary circulation.
Photos from the 1:100 scale model.
Wall section, cut from the west facing facade, depicting the use of niches in cavity walls. INSTITUTIONAL STUDIO
Circulation
Administration
Classrooms
Services
Graphic to depict the uses of space.
C
Working Drawing: Ground Floor Plan and Sections
Primary circulation. Secondary circulation. Intersection of the two circulation types. Enclosed spaces.
Concept Diagram
A
A’
B’ B
C’
Site Plan
Section AA’
Section BB’
Section CC’ 04
HOUSING STUDIO VARANASI, INDIA
/ Low Income Housing in dense fabric of one of the most holy cities of India. /
SITE & PROGRAM
Varanasi, also called ‘Banaras’ is one of the oldest city of India. Majority people in this city work on spinning and weaving fabric. The building typology of this city is extremely organic and congested. Small, yet extremely vernacular houses, narrow streets, plinths and nodes acting as gathering spaces. The program was to design 60 housing units of three different types. The units shall accommodate 3 to 6 people. Site Area: 4028 m2.
Type A: 1 BHK; Area: 40 m2
Third Floor Plan
Sketch showing edge condition of an open space along the organic fabric and how the amalgamation of the two.
Type B: 2 BHK; Area: 65 m2
Second Floor Plan
Type C: 4 BHK; Area: 110 m2 First Floor Plan
Sketch to indicate the edge condition of site with the existing context.
Ground Floor Plan
View from 1:200 scale model
HOUSING STUDIO
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
B
The concept was to continue the street like character inside the site, at the same time provide breathing spaces to the fabric, common to the community. The site doesn’t have boundary walls in order to merge the design with the fabric on the left. Their absence also makes room for development of parking, pathways, cycle tracks etc. One major street across the site connects main road to the widest street of the old fabric. Every block is connected to the open spaces via the shortest connections possible.
A A’
B’ Site Plan showing the appropriate context.
Section AA’
Section BB’ 08
MATERIAL STUDIO AHMEDABAD, INDIA
/Designing a research institute-cum-residential building via the medium of material exploration/
SITE & DESIGN DEVELOPMENT CEPT University Ahmedabad ni Gufa
Gujarat University
LM College of Pharmacy
Vikram Sarabhai Science Centre Exhibition
Administration & Library
Site Model
The building is designed to be constructed in dholpur sandstone. The design follows a parallel wall system with barrel vaults over it. There has been an effort to create hierarchy in open spaces. The vault directions are NorthSouth to get maximum light. Areas facing south have recessed entries to cut the direct afternoon sun of Ahmedabad. The site has 2 accesses. One from the west, along the main road and other from the east which is the service entry for loading and unloading of stone.
Workshop
Functions of the program
Residence
Diagram showing the access to site.
Views from the model
MATERIAL STUDIO
A
B’ B
C’
C
A’
Plan
Section AA’
Section BB’
Section CC’ 12
MEASURE DRAWING INDIA
/Measure drawing documentation of traditional, vernacular houses of Jaisalmer, Banaras and Ahmedabad/ Luni, Jaisalmer- 2016 Project Partners: Charu Mittal, Shrey Tatamiya, Tanyaa Trivedi Varanasi-2017 Project Partners: Devanshi Khant, Radhika Bopaliya, Ridham Aghara Ahmedabad- 2018 Project Partners: Devanshi Khant, Riya Makwana, Rutva Trivedi
LUNI, JAISALMER
The typical long compounds with cow sheds at the rear end.
Wooden Entrance door Compound and underground tank area
Details showing storage spaces and the roofing system
Cross Sections of three houses MEASURE DRAWING- JAISALMER
Elevation of the houses
Ground floor plan
Luni is a small village near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The houses here have long compounds with cow sheds and storage areas for hay etc at the end. These have maximum 3 rooms and the structure is limited to the ground floor. The plinth area at the entrance is used for underground water tanks, cooking areas and during the nights, people sleep here. The plan depicts three houses adjacent to each other. The building usually consists of a living room, a bed room and a store room. Constructed in stone, and covered in lime plaster, these houses also use dry grass as a roofing material.
Longitudinal sections of the houses 16
DASHASHWAMEGH GHAT, VARANASI
View from the courtyard
Interior of the house
Entry and entrance plinth
Varansi, the older part of the city has developed very organically and is similar to the Pol Houses of Ahmedabad. The house was of 4 stories. The entrance plinth of about a meter, and an octagonal courtyard were the striking features of this house. It was a composite structure, constructed of stone, brick, concrete, wood batons. This showed that it had been renovated from time to time. The circulation was strange yet unique. The external stairs would lead directly to the terrace from the first floor. To access the second floor, one had to use the stairs inside the room.
View from the terrace, overlooking the courtyard
Street section MEASURE DRAWING- VARANASI
Floor Plans
Longitudinal section
Cross Section 18
DHAL NI POL, AHMEDABAD
Entry door
Wood carved column capital
Jali door elevation MEASURE DRAWING- AHMEDABAD
Elevation of the house
Ground floor plan
World Heritage City, Ahmedabad. The city’s Pol Houses are the oldest forms of community living in the city. Constructed majorly in wood, these structures are more than a century old. Intricate carvings, climate responsive building elements and the amount of interaction they allow, are the three features these houses are famous for. The documented house was around 150 years old, and was a 3 storey structure primarily constructed in wood. It is situated near Astodia Darwaja. The house has a courtyard that allows wind circulation. Currently, it has been rented out to different families and the ground floor is used as a godown and storage area by a paper distributor.
Longitudinal section of the house cut across the street 20
URBAN CONDENSERS MADRID, SPAIN
/A short studio exercise about revival of Plaza del Carmen in Madrid, Spain. Hosted by Superior Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM)/
Project Partners: Dheer Talreja & Eshanpreet Kaur
SITE & PROGRAM
Plaza del Carmen, Madrid, Spain. As the name suggests, it is supposed to be a plaza: a pause point. But, in the existing situation, it is simply being used as a transition space. This proposal tried to retain the same use, yet make the space lively and add value to it. The design proposal is a flexible, modular structure, that can be assembled or dismantled as and when required. Each module is 3m x 3m x 3m in size. Parking facilities below the plaza have been retained. The structure has an open grid on the ground, that is, it doesn’t accommodate any function on the ground. Thus, it still serves the purpose of transition. The same space could be used as exhibition galleries. Landscaped terrace gardens, seating spaces, working spaces and other such public facilities might attract more number of people to this ‘vertical open structure’.
Conceptual Sketch
Vegetable Shops
Florist Shops The concept of ‘Addition’ and ‘Subtraction’ forming the spaceframe URBAN CONDENSERS- ETSAM, MADRID
Balconies
Informal Seating
Toilets
Nursery Program
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
B’
B
Plan of the proposed structure
Site Plan
Conceptual collages and rendered images
Section BB’ 24
RE-SCHOOL
DAHANU, MAHARASHTRA
/An attempt to design educational spaces at locations where education is inaccessible. A competition hosted by Volume Zero, it asks for informal and multifunctional educational spaces./
Project Partner: Rutva Trivedi
Source: The Cooper Union
SITE & PROGRAM
Site Introduction and Indication
‘Spaces have a great impact on the lives of the people that inhabit them, and by designing one that imparts education, many children can be benefitted.’ The competition demands the design of a multifunctional educational space which can also function as an interactive space for the locals post school hours. The chosen site was in Dahanu, Maharashtra. The community here is indulged in farming. View from the interior
Overview of the entire campus RE-SCHOOL COMPETITION- VOLUME ZERO
Site Area: 1690 m2
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT The site is located on the edge of a main road, making it easily accessible. The idea is to construct on the periphery of the site, to leave the area open, yet enclose it with some physical entity. This open area can be used by the community as a gathering space, whenever required. The circulation has been kept minimal. Ramp being the only element of circulation, makes it easier for the differently abled to access the building. The entrance foyer leads to the open courtyard like space, thus giving the entire campus a very minimal and open character.
View looking towards the entry
Plan
North Elevation
East Elevation 28
BUILDING STUDIES /Model Making exercises to understand the structure and construction of those buildings./
NEPALI HOUSE, SIKKIM Project Partners: Shreya Singhi, Charu Mittal Materials: MDF, Corrugated Sheet, POP Bandages Architectural Graphical Skills, Semester II
Nepali House is a traditional house in Sikkim. It is constructed on a stone plinth. The structure is constructed of wooden beams and columns. The flooring system also uses wood. Sloping roofs allow the snow to melt and flow to the ground. The cooking space, Chulha, is right at the entrance of the house. The house also has an attic that is used as a store room.
JEWISH MUSEUM, BERLIN Project Partner: Rutva Trivedi Materials: OHP sheets, Glass, Paper History of Architecture, Semester VI
Abstraction of Jewish Museum. Designed by Architect Daniel Libeskind, this structure is dedicated to the Jews killed during the Holocaust Movement. The building has three main axes: Axis of Exile, Axis of Holocaust, Axis of Continuity. Each leads to the Garden of Exile, Holocaust Tower, and the Staircase of Continuity, respectively. The museum is widely appreciated because of the several sensorial experiences that the architect has created by using building elements.
BUILDING STUDIES
HUSSAIN-DOSHI GUFA, AHMEDABAD Project Partners: Rutvi Vyas, Vatsal Kesaria, Ridham Aghara, Payal Merja, Healik Doshi Materials: MDF, Clay, POP Bandages Structure, Semester IV
Hussain-Doshi Gufa, also called ‘Amdavad ni Gufa’ is a surface active structural system. These series of ferro cement domes were inspired from ‘soap bubbles’. The organic nature of spaces that are formed are used as exhibition galleries. Paintings of MF Hussain have been painted on the walls of the gufa.
REICHSTAG DOME, BERLIN Project Partners: Rutvi Vyas, Vatsal Kesaria, Ridham Aghara, Payal Merja, Healik Doshi Materials: MDF Structure, Semester IV
Reichstag Dome, follows the section active structural system. Designed by architect Norman Foster, the dome is made of steel and glass. This dome is an addition to the Reichstag building, the parliament of Berlin. 32
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS /Compilation of ‘Other Works’ done over the course of Bachelor of Architecture so far./
BASIC DESIGN
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS
ARCHITECTURAL GRAPHICAL SKILLS
36
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY Project Partners: Rutvi Vyas, Vatsal Kesaria, Pawan Sutaria Materials: Corrugated Sheets, POP Bandages, Jute Board Semester V
Model of Folded Plate Structure
Model of Shell Structure
The study of long span structures by the means of models. The structures were designed on the basis of ‘Folded Plate Structures’ and ‘Shell Structures’ respectively.
INSTALLATION
This installation was a tribute to late Professor Sharad Panchal. Made out of 15,000 MDF cubes and cuboids, it measures about 1500 mm x 1500mm. The heights of the cuboids vary according to the colour, white ones being the tallest and the black ones being the shortest. There were three intermediate shades of grey between the two colours. A team of 12 students made the installation possible. Core team: Devanshi Gajjar, Hussain Eralwala, Radhika Bopaliya, Ridham Aghara, Rutva Trivedi, Devanshi Khant.
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS
STAGE AND SET DESIGN
Project Partners: Radhika Bopaliya, Devanshi Khant, Rutva Trivedi
1:20 scale model of the set
Set Design assignment for Dario Fo’s famous play, ‘The Accidental Death of an Anarchist’. The entire play was based on a lot of confusions and misleading characters, thus, the set is also designed on the basis of the words ‘disorder’ and ‘illusions’.
38
DEVANSHI GAJJAR +91 9825149236 devanshigajjar18@gmail.com