Internship Report - Vastu Shilpa Consultants LLP

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING REPORT

SANGATH - VASTU SHILPA CONSULTANTS

JAN - JUNE 2022

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The internship opportunity I had with Vastu Shilpa Consultants at Sangth was a great chance for learning and professional development. Therefore, I consider myself as a very lucky individual as I was provided with an opportunity to be a part of it.

Bearing in mind previous I am using this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude and special thanks to the principle architects , Prof.Ar. B.V Doshi and Ar.Rajeev Kathpalia along with Ar. Pranchal Shah , Ar. Raghuveer Kathpalia , Ar. Sourav Chatterjee who in spite of being extraordinarily busy with their duties, took time out to hear, guide and keep me on the correct path and allowing me to carry out my project at their esteemed organization and extending during the training.

I would like to extend my gratitude towards sister foundations at Sangath - Vastu Shilpa Foundation and Studio Sangath, the fellow interns and architects who have contributed towards my outstanding and holistic professional practice experience

I perceive this opportunity as a big milestone in my career development. I will strive to use gained skills and knowledge in the best possible way, and I will continue to work on their improvement, in order to attain desired career objectives. Hope to continue cooperation with all of you in the future,

Thanking Prof. Jyoti Pandey Sharma ( Internship Coordinator ) at School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi for her support.

Sincerely, Evana Sajan Pallivathukkal A/3145/2018 SPA New Delhi

The plan of Sangath - drawn from memory as a part of spatial learning exercise with Ar. Rajeev Kathpalia

ABOUT THE OFFICE

Vastu Shilpa are Sanskrit words denoting the Art of Built Environment. Established in 1955, VSC holds a reputation of being worldwide leaders in the fields of Architecture, Planning and Urban Design.Today the Sangath establishment led by Balakrishna V. Doshi stands as the sole Pritzker winning multi-disciplinary practice in India.

The establishment is working as three units:

Vastu Shilpa Consultants - Large scale, Institutional, Urban Planning & Design

Vastu Shilpa Foundation - Restoration , Publishing and Archives

Studio Sangath - Medium to Small scale, Residential, Galleries

In Vastu Shilpa Consultants, each project is dealt in a unique manner & approach, and perhaps that is why most of our projects today stand as benchmarks in the profession and are used as examples in academic circles, besides being recipients of several national and international awards.

NATURE OF WORK

Sangath houses a variety of projects differing in scale, typology,budgets and language. The office is predominantly an architectural practice, its influence and expertise runs into other fields of academia, research, art, product design and sustainability.

Over the internship period I have gained exposure to the following aspects over many projects, old and new by the firm

• Designing, Site Planning, Municipality Sanction Drawings

• Working Drawings, Construction Details,

• Structural Drawings , Interior Details

• Services details

Plumbing and Sanitation Drawings, Electrical,Air Conditioning, Lift Details, Fire Fighting Services Estimation and Costing

• Involvement in meeting with the Clients, Office Management

• Site visits and Documentation

OFFICE CULTURE

Vastu Shilpa Consultants is a firm that works primarily on an institutional scale, with the institutions covering housing and residential clusters along with an academic or administrative belt. The office doesn’t enforce strict rules about what to do and what not to do, but entrust its employees with the job of disciplining themselves . Even though there are general timings, the office believes in enforcing self discipline and time management as individuals towards work.

The office boasts of a young workforce which is always alert, alive and fresh with new ideas with one to two associate and senior architects too guide us overall. Even though there is a underlying hierarchy , it doesn’t affect the communication as all levels of architects interact with each other. Even I have worked with the partner, Ar.Rajeev Kathpalia personally on an assignment as an intern .

The office works from 9 30 am till 7 30 pm and off on weekends. The office doesn’t encourage you to take your work home and promotes a work life balance which was an extremely healthy practice in this profession and to be promoted by a firm handling such mammoth projects was impressive. There are tea and lunch breaks with tea provided in the morning ensuring the body and mind is taken care of in long hours of work .

WORKING AS AN INTERN

Sangath is often looked upon as the rite of passage for any aspiring Architecture student. It was in equal parts exciting and intimidating to be working for a firm with a mammoth size and reputation. This is exactly what I also experienced .

The Vastu Shilpa Consultants hire about 15- 20 interns at any given time. At the time of my internship, the studio was 60 people strong with around 15 interns together . The Vastu Shilpa Consultants has a sister foundation, the Vastu Shilpa Foundation (VSF), that additionally undertakes research and publication of BV Doshi’s work along with Studio Sangath which takes up the residential and small scale projects

The office in itself is an exemplary example of zealous architecture and one of the first things we did as interns was to be taken on a tour around the office understanding the details of campus planning, climatic response, aesthetics, sustainability and spatial innovation. It was the perfect start to the journey.

BEING MENTORED

Since the office had a certain hierarchy to organize the large scale projects that the office undertakes. But that didn’t in any ways undermine the skill and knowledge acquiring of any individual is n the office. Interns were especially given care and made to understand the design, the story , the process and ideation behind every project they work on.

Since some of the projects have been going on for years many of us come and go in between the project progressions. Since there are many projects going on simultaneously , the concept of one mentor doesn’t really apply and we keep switching from one project to another depending on the need for the workforce. In that sense from the principle architect to the intern, we all end up managing different projects over a short span of time.

I was guided by Ar.Pranchal Shah predominantly during my first half of the internship and Ar.Raghuveer Kathpalia during my second half, with smaller stints with Ar.Sourav Chatterjee and Principle Architect Rajeev Kathpalia. There were weekly classes from B.V. Doshi sir and Rajeev Kathpalia sir, regarding their experiences, the ongoing projects, past projects which have earned international acclaim and inside stories to it. Because an internship is just more than sitting in front of a system and finishing your work mechanically for them.

IN DIALOGUE WITH RAJEEV KATHPALIA

Every once in a week , all the interns have a round-table discussion with the Principle architect and partner of Vastu Shila Consultants, Ar.Rajeev Kathplala. He takes time off his busy schedule to discuss and share his experiences.The topics of discussion ranges from discussions regarding earlier projects to the future of architecture as a profession. Every week we took turns to select a project the firm has done over the years, study it, visit ( if it was possible) and share our thoughts of what we understood of the deign, critique it and explain the design. The firm had an in house library that gave information to all the projects and other vast variety of topics regarding architecture and planning. The projects included classics like Amdavad Ni Gufa, Kanoria Arts Centre, LIC Housing, IIM Banglore, CEPT University etc. Then Rajeev Sir would share his experiences and inside stories behind the projects.

One of the most memorable experiences was explain the stories behind the making of Amdavad Ni Gufa, the jugalbandi of sorts but with art and architecture between Doshi and M.F Hussain. The engineering brilliance behind the structure of Gufa. Another recent brilliant example was of the Nalanda University, its ideation and Net Zero Concept. The idea of Sustainability that the firm approached was more appealing to me because it was in terms of pure design and spatial considerations and not in terms of calculations and mechanical optimizations , staying true to architecture in its purest form.

The discussions often extended to many other topics , often suggested by the interns themselves regarding, the architecture profession, the approach towards deign, the inconvenience of architecture that makes us stay true to understanding it. Even the Metaverse and virtual architecture.

Sir often took off on discussions based on sketches we did on our travels during our day off in and around Ahmedabad and introduced us to conscious sketching, These lessons but not letting go of your old school techniques to keep us grounded is invaluable and rare to find in a modern office

IN DIALOGUE WITH B.V DOSHI

Pritzker Prize winner, Balakrishna .V. Doshi is the founder and Principle Architect/ Partner at Sangath and is a master of Architecture. Having been widely acclaimed not only in India but also internationally, he is a legend himself.

Having a chance to even have a conversation with him is a dream for many. But Doshi sir, is an extremely humble and energetic personality who always entertains and provokes out thinking with his numerous stories. He takes extreme interest to interact with the interns (especially) and hold talks not about the many technicalities of the professions but the intangible, holistic and creative, ideation process, his life stories which always had something to take away for us.

INTERNSHIP PROCESS

My internship process started off with learning the office software, ArchiCAD 24. The software was completely new to me and the first two days was watching the tutorials and doing some practical learning lessons to familiarize ourselves with the software. The third day I was introduced to the project by the in-charge architect Ar.Pranchal Shah. The project was Shiv Nadar Public School , in Chennai.

Client: Shiv Nadar Foundation Type: Instituional Budget: 450 Crores Site Area: 230 acres Phase: Ongoing Construction Consultants: Sameera Rathod Design Atelier (Interior Design),Manjunath and co. (Structural), Jhaveri Associates (Services),Ravikumar and Associates (Landscape).

The first step he took was to make me familiarize with the project, its intentions, for that I was made to study the client presentations, conceptual renders, physical models made etc. Later he explained it to me in his own words. Details about what part of the project we were currently dealing with and the kind of drawings I am expected to produce. Currently the first phase of the construction process is over, I was given the approved drawing set to refer to and I was given the job of creating similar set for the senior block of the campus.

The process was to study the working drawings produced for phase I and use it as reference to create my own drawing s along with other intern for the Senior Block of the campus. The basic drawing set included set of plans, interior elevations and exterior elevations. We were explained the major deign considerations and why it was done the way it is. We were allowed to design windows, door leaves, proportions of rooms, toilet layouts etc.

During this time the announcement for a competition call for the Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Campus, Almora, India was here. The firm had decided to participate for the same. Architects working on the team was decided and they began work on it.

Since all of the work happens in the one big studio, chance conversations were one of our most unconventional methods of learning things. One could overhear a group discussing their thought process, reasonings, the others cross questioning it, agreements and disagreements in the ideation process and before we know, we are also a part of it.

I was given the job of helping with the walk-through render as well as developing the conceptual renders, post production, site study graphics. It helped em develop my Presentation skills and go to use softwares like Enscape, Adobe Photoshop, IndDesign etc. I got to work with a different team of Ar. Raghuveer Kathpalia, Ar. Keshav Akkitham, Ar .Anandita Rangarajan etc. Working with a new team itself helped me gain new perspectives and understand the amount of care and thought put inro each render during post production, and presentation tactics to most effectively covey your information.

The hours of the competition was the most hectic with some long hours into the office to meet the deadline. But the architects made sure all of us had fun and the hours just flew by effortlessly.

Flame Univesity , Pune was nearing its completion with the new academic block. As the campus comes to near completion, I worked with Principle Architect, Rajeev Kathpalia to create some presentation graphics of the campus for the publication that the firm publishes for every project. The exercise helped me realize how to approach different graphics differently according to their function . The colour schemes, the details, the way you can make the graphic look cleaner without losing its complexity etc. Working with the Principle architect had its added pressure with a tight deadline., but he was gentle and understanding while I learn to do it all 2D graphics in a predominantly 3D software. Furthermore, I was asked to work on some interior render with refrence to the existing finished interior works done during Phase 1 construction. along with Ar. Sourav Chatterjee..

Second half of the internship was mostly working with Ar. Raghuveer Kathpalia, firstly with the Administration Block of SNS , Chennai. This included plans, sections , lighting layouts and reworking of the toilets.

Shifting from the large scale administrative projects with highly optimized, modular design decisions to a residential project has been a good learning curve. Dealing with both scales, the amount of details, the design considerations, the attention to details are very different. Mall Residence, in Gandhinagar headed by Ar. Raghuveer Kathpalia The project was in revision stages. I was assigned to work on almost all of the architectural drawings, starting from sections, to details, flooring, toilet detailed drawings.

Another major part of the project understanding was the opportunity to do the services resolution of the project. Electrical schedules. Electrical layouts, HVAC details along with detailing out the toilet elevations.

Unlike other projects which where in different parts of the country, I worked on a project that was in state. And was an opportunity for site visit. The interesting part of the project was the vaults that was a learning experience to be seen built on site, different from the conventional structural exercises.

I also attend some meeting from service providers giving mock up fro the automated media room sound systems. It was a new experience for me.

SOME ANECDOTES

Our learnings in the studio wasn’t just limited to the softwares, big projects and discussions. We applied it to daily lives at the studio. While the Studio Sangath team had to shift their office temporarily to the outhouse, The whole of the firm got together to re-purpose some of the doors designed by the firm from the CEPT University into table tops. We put together two leaves to one big table, with a glass top and steel framing that all of us helped make during our chai breaks. The leaves were laid out in such a way that the openings in it made a good table top design.

Once we made origami flowers for the celebration o f Dr. Doshis RIBA Medal Receiving Ceremony, and at other times it was trying to understand the anthropometrics of the furniture design samples of chairs that we used in and around the office. Consciously made aware of our comfort and discomfort and made us think about both.

The interns are entrusted with the job of conducting in-house tours of the office when visitors are there. The interns took turns to educate and enlighten the may foreigners, architecture students and other architecture enthusiasts about the office and Doshis work and philosophy. This was a great learning experience fo us as we learn with teaching as well.

LEARNINGS FROM AHMEDABAD

During the weekends, the junior architects and interns get together to go around and visit the famous architecture in and around the place. Since a number of iconic buildings are built by the firms, its an added experience. Our learnings from the office, and with prompts to what to observe and look out for from Kathpalia and Doshi sirs guidance, we would take our sketchbooks, go on Heritage tours explore not just buildings but neighborhoods. Go on little bigger tours to Siddhpur and Modhera, with its Sun Temple and even the Step-wells famous in Gujarat.

Spanning a duration of 21 weeks, my internship with Vastu Shilpa Consultants have given me invaluable memorable experience with the country’s best architects and young workforce. My learnings have gone beyond that of just technical knowledge but onto understanding the intangible and philosophical meaning to what architecture i and is meant to be. While deeply explored in the previous pages, some of the learnings can be listed basic and condensed in the table below:

This Internship experience helped me to regain ground on the very essence of architecture, i.e being sensitive and observant to the space and the rest is gonna follow. Doshi sir always reminded us to be kids. to go back to childhood, the memories and the attitude for the hunger of curiosity to learn and not being afraid of mistakes.