A R C H I T E C T U R E P O R T F O L I O HRUSHIT
SUDHIR
THAKKAR
A collection of the works done in my academic and professional career.
WORKS Professional STUDIO MUMBAI ARCHITECTS 561/63- Saat Rasta Design execution on site
SAMIRA RATHOD DESIGN ASSOCIATES Township Master-planning Karjat, Maharashtra, India
Academic reARRANGING URBAN RHYTHMS Research and Design Thesis Mumbai, India
reTHINKING INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT SPACES A Model Workers Village Bicholim, Goa, India
OPENING UP THE SCHOOL
Institutional building for I.I.T. Bombay Powai,Mumbai, India
11500 FT ABOVE SEA LEVEL Measure drawing and Interpretation Old Town, Leh, Ladakh, India
A GARDEN OF DESIRE Street of Crossed Destinies Mumbai
Professional Works
STUDIO MUMBAI ARCHITECTS
561/63- Saat Rasta Design Development + Project Management
561/63 Saat Rasta Status: Ongoing Position: Project Architect Posting: On site Drawings + Project Management + Design Development September 2013 - August 2014 (Present) Area: 28000 Sq ft
While employed at Studio Mumbai Architects, I handled 561/63 Saat Rasta, which is a unusual development in the city of Mumbai. Surrounded by High rises and old chawls, seven houses slip into the old run down warehouse, right in the heart of South Mumbai. Retaining the skeletal 21" walls of the old ware house, the houses are separated by 9" partition walls in burnt brick masonry. Each of these units draw the light and ventilation through the courtyards. These
courtyards bring in the sky inside the houses. Built in wood framework, the task at had for me was making design development drawings, communicating the decisions taken by Bijoy Jain to the craftsmen and coordination & management of the project so as to meet the deadlines. Working with the carpenters, masons, stone masons, HVAC consultants, structural engineers has imparted to me the sensibilities involved in the process of construction
from various vantage points, and the balance that is to be achieved between design, possibilities embedded in a material, aspirations of the clients and a response to the climate.
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section
Unit A- Images
Unit A- Images
Unit B- Images
Unit C- Images
SAMIRA RATHOD DESIGN ASSOCIATES Township Master-planning Representative Drawings
A representation of the Master plan for 20 houses, in a landscaped site
Academic Works
"Manhattan is so antagonistic to the fundamental needs of the human hear that the idea of everybody is to escape. To get out. To avoid wasting one's own life and that of one's family in that hard implacable atmosphere. To see the sky. To live where there are trees and to look out on grass. To escape forever from the noise and racket of the city..." Le Corbusier On his visit to United States of America
reARRANGING URBAN RHYTHMS Research and Design Thesis
The rhythms in life are constantly cyclicalThe events that occur sequentially everyday, are in a larger perspective cyclical, coming and going, Birth and Death, to arrange themselves in conscious and unconscios rhythms. These are then personally classified as per one's understanding as Chores and Escapes.
RHYTHMS AND RITUALS The thesis begins with looking at the rhythms in a city. The book RHYTHMANALYSIS- by Henri Lefebvre(1992) is at the base. The interest is in everyday life and the extra-everyday. To study diverse spaces and diverse temporalities - rhythms in the concrete. To live in the diversity made up of subjects and objects (subjective states and objective figures)... Where opposites find and recognize each other in a unity both more real and more ideal, more complex than its elements. Rhythms are the music of the city, a picture that listens to itself. No camera...can show these rhythms Rhythms are also interesting because of a struggle between a measured, imposed and exterior time, and a more endogenous time.) (Rhythmanalysis) The everyday is like a Film strip, with various episodes of acts- eating, dancing, playing, working, travelling, etc. Rhythmanalysis The study of Rhythmanalysis can be classified into three parts 1. The everyday life 2. The escapes from rhythms 3. Rituals and Rhythms
Rhythms in everyday life Bodies (alive and human, walking, feet, pedestrians, alone, groups, crowds, stretching out, hurried carrying, nonchalant meanderings, encounters, see and meet each other, looking, going home, leaving home, appearance of faces in windows, also dogs); Daily rhythms (rush hours, late evening, nights, dawn, schedules, times with prohibition, regulated time; preparing food, sleeping); Gestures (hand-in-hand, waving hands - messages not being signs, - conventions, ways of being, chewing and eating e.g. gum, sandwich, hot-dog; mannerisms, habits); Movement and traffic (pedestrians, cars, traffic lights, flows, comings and goings, passers-by, stopping, drifting); Exchanges of all kinds (material and non material, objects and words, signs and products); Sounds (tongue, speech, noises, voices, mumblings, rumors, cries, calls, words, silence, different languages); Sudden events (accident, explosion, fire engine); Festivity (opening, adventure, games, agitation); The extra-daily (dancing, singing, making music) Ritual;
Rhythm of moods (calm, melancholic, sadness); Seasons (trees, flowers, lawns, plantations, leaves, seeds, fruit; spring, autumn, winter; the time of each being); Weather (downpour); Built environment and urban functions (streets, junctions, avenues, houses, facades, monuments, places, squares, courtyards, gardens - including their aging; doors, windows, balconies, terraces, fountains, (little) bistros and shops, shop windows, workshops, markets, attics; meeting places, scene settings, spontaneous popular theatre; closed and enclosed; public and private, outside/intimate; room, apartment; areas; palaces, churches; steps and stairs); Light and darkness: Colors (Grey, multicolored, white, green); Smells (stink of fumes); The present-absent (money and its circuits, the omnipresent State, logic, division of labor, leisure as product, opacity and horizons, obstacles and perspectives); What one hides /shows/goes to see outside
(based on Henri Lefebvre's Rhytmanalysis)
Mapping of the everyday rhythms-In view of the longer rhythms- village-home-work-everyday spacesleisure
EVERYDAY RHYTHMS I look at my neighborhood, a residential district in South Mumbai, Khetwadi and the adjoining district of peela house. The built form and the various user groups. The metal traders, residents, migrant workers. The migrant workers work mostly in the informal economy like housekeeping, hamaal, hawkers, and barbers; therefore are important contributors to the economy, but the infrastructural redevelopment in the neighborhood is not addressing these migrant laborers. There I select the community of my study. A study of the everyday lives of these migrant laborers reveals the rhythms embedded in them, their work places and the leisure places,the spaces of escape, the early, monthly and daily rhythms. With the money they earn, they cannot avail even dignified basic facilities. Also, they are neglected by the government; therefore the infrastructure is absent, leaving them to find for themselves
ple from the basic facilities for living. The main escapes for them constitute the Waters, the water front, beach, corners, paan shops, streetmost of which are available to all for a minimum or no cost. The theaters show old, B grade and Bhojpuri Movies, for 10 to 25 rupees. However,with movies being easily downloaded into multimedia "smartphone," the need for theaters is fast decreasing. The theaters, which formed their previous leisure spaces are now underused and under threat of being converted into private real estate (Minerva theatre, Novelty, Taaj theatre, Moti, Alankar Theater, New Royal Talkies, Gulshan Theater, Dreamland. Silver, Naaz theater). The site was designed by the British as an entertainment district by constructing 19 theaters in and around the Play House, now known as Peela House. With the closing of these theaters, the nature of this neighborhood is changing from being a public area, which invites peo-
all around the city into a completely residential area, open only to a certain class of the society. THE LAYERS OF SITE Peela House is the historic entertainment district of the city. Carved out of a sprawling graveyard it was demarcated as the entertainment district - Play House, in 1850. It lies sandwiched between the inner city bazaars to the south, the mill lands to the north, the docklands to the east and the luxury apartments of Malabar Hill to the west. The neighborhood is a location for the intersection of desires emanating from all these surrounding spaces and its labyrinths. Cinema theaters line its streets showing films for classes forgotten by the multiplexes. Most of these halls were originally used by traditional Parsi drama groups and were subsequently transformed into cinemas.
Peela House, Mumbai
Theaters
Residences
Open Spaces
Brothels
ROYAL TALKIES Started: Early 1900s Former name: Rippon theatre Initially used for: Plays Time Schedule: 10:30 - 12:00 Adult C grade movies, 12:00- 24:00 older Bollywood Masala films Marketing/ Promotion: Hand painted as well as printed posters Ticket: Rs. 15 - 20 Capacity: 750 people Audience: Migrant daily wage laborers and workers who work in shifts
ALFRED CINEMA Started: Early 1900s Former name: Rippon theatre Initially used for: Plays Time Schedule: 10:30 - 12:00 Adult C grade movies, 12:00- 24:00 older Bollywood Masala fi lms Marketing/ Promotion: Hand painted as well as printed posters Ticket: Rs. 15 - 20 Capacity: 750 people Audience: Migrant daily wage laborers and workers who work in shifts
NEW ROSHAN Started: Early 1900s Former name: Elphinstone theatre Initially used for: Plays Time Schedule: 10:30 - 12:00 Adult C grade movies 12:00 -24:00 old masala films Marketing/ Promotion: Hand painted as well as printed posters Ticket: Rs. 15 - 20 Capacity: 668 people Audience: Migrant daily wage laborers and workers who work in shifts.
GULSHAN Started: First quarter of 20th century Land ownership: Sharing the land with beetle-leaf seller Initially used for: Movies Time Schedule : 4 shows daily: 12-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12 Movie typology: 2 weeks Bhojpuri fi lms, 2 weeks Bollywood films Marketing/ Promotions: Hand painted posters Ticket: Rs. 6 - 15 Capacity: 680 Audience: Migrant daily wage laborers and workers who work in shifts.No female audience
KHETWADI The neihborhood undergoing a rapid transformation to reconstruct it self into a highrise community
NISHAT Started: First quarter of 20th century Initially used for: Drama Time Schedule : No morning shows, 4 shows daily: 12-3, 3-6,6-9, 9-12 Movie typology: 2 weeks Bhojpuri films, 2 weeks Bollywood films Marketing/ Promotions: Hand painted posters Ticket: Rs. 15 - 20 Capacity: 690 Audience: Migrant daily wage laborers and workers who work in shifts.
To Byculla
View of the street leading to the Entertainment district- Peela House
The Street is a parking space for the Victorias or Horse Carriages. These Carriages ferry throughout the city- Fort, Nariman Point etc
KHETWADI This rapid redevelopment is at the cost of transformation of the surrounding buildform and thereby its culture.
To Bhendi Bazaar
Panoramic view of the skyline in the neighborhood
Interaction with the Street Allowing the movement of the masses through the Street-Building
A street that allows to Celebrate Everyday life
Allowing for the Temporary and essential street infrastructure
A structure in the Garden
A gateway leading to the space
Approach Block Shops Parking for Hand carts Water fountains A Garden Street for Interaction
Conceptual models
South
Work Learning spaces Metal Fa and other Voca Libr
Terraced Surfaces
Two Blocks
This strategy allows for a lot of spill out spaces that open into the open sky, which are available for use almost 8 months a year
The site is an amalgamatio of land cut across by a bu The programs are arrange basis of their nature rec resurrection
Approach to the space
The Gatteway as the metaphor
Bathing as the religious act v/s chore
Community Kitchens and Dining Areas for Hygienic eating conditions
Hostel Facilities
Celebration of the Bathing ritual
Block
North Block Recreation Rituals Hostel Health Facilities Bath House Dining Community Kitchen
kshop s for Carpentery, abrication ational Courses rary
on of plots usy street. ed on the creational/
Bridge A smooth connector to the two blocks- it also allows for the informal encounters
North Block-Recreation Where the spaces are meant to facilitate the events and chores of everyday life in a dignified manner. The Bathing, Eating, Recreation, Mess, Health Clinics - all theses allow for a certain section of the society to lead their own lives in a respectable manner.
Process Model
South ApproachShops for Everyday life South Block-Resurrection
Process Model
Where there are opportunities for learning and growing, that with which a man has the chance to transform and re-build one self- which is a school, to learn vocational activities through a process of apprenticeship and reading- workshops and a public library, that allows the mixing of the different layers of the society
Programs MEDICAL FACILITIES Medical facilities provided to these people are the least In case of emergencies and accidents, they loose most of their savings and have to start from scratch once again. Subsidised medical facilities therefore becomes an imperative.
North Block Hostel Health Facilities Bath House Dining Community Kitchen
AWARENESS INSTITUTES The lack of awareness regarding safety in the workshops and hygiene makes these people most vulnerable to sexual diseases and accident prone, as well as creating unhygienic environments around them. LOAN BANKS The basic necessities of their livelihood, like tools, haathgaadis, etc are expensive. ( A haath gaadi costs 150000rupees). A loan bank for this can help these laborers in pursuing whatever fields they may want to. TV ROOMS The people gather outside the shops and saloons installed with television sets, as buying the television sets is unfordable. During matches a large number of people gather outside any shops with televisions.
South Block Workshop Library
BATH HOUSES A bath house becomes a necessity, in the absence of proper bathing facilities. It becomes a common gathering space and a resting space.
Ground
LODGES/HOSTELS The basic right of shelter of these migrant laborer is not looked at by the authorities in the city. This has forced them to resort to living on the streets, living in unhygienic and pathetic conditions. Lodging facilities and hostel facilities must be provided for the people in the precinct.
Model
COMMON KITCHEN Since the whole day passes in laboring, and hailing goods in the market, the food can be prepared in the common kitchen. MESS A mess where all the laborers can come and eat their meals. It acts as a meeting space in the absence of other dedicated meeting areas.
Model
View in the Hostel Unit
View of the North Block
Hostel
View from the Bridge
Circulation Block
Central Staircase
Common Kitchen
Recreation
Dining Spill out
Common Dining
North Block Sectional View
Workshop from the Street
Street View
Hostel
Health Clinic
Communal Bathing
Dining Area
Community Kitchen
Above:Acrylic Models of the Design Below:North Block Sectional View through the Central Staircase
Impressionistic view of the spaces
Level 0 Plan
Level 1 Plan
Level 2 Plan
Section AA
Elevation AA
Elevation BB
Section BB
Elevation CC
Section DD
Section CC
Bicholim A trading town
reTHINKING INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT SPACES A Model Workers Village Bicholim, Goa, India
THE ARGUMENT WHAT Retaining the native skill set and finding an interphase between the city and industrial sector. Promoting growth of micro industries to generate commerical revenue WHY The Skills possesed by the native population is decaying due to migration of the youth out of the town. Inclusion of the artisans in the Industrial area has isolated them from the town. HOW Targeting small scale industries like Pottery Tile painting Cane Weaving Temple Sculpture Brass Works MASTERPLAN STRATEGY Peripheral Housing units for immigrant communities employed at the GIDC NATURE OF SPACES Exhibition Space Display and Sale Area Training Center WHERE Located betweeen the Old Town and the Industrial Area To link the town's history to its current scenario, the site must be situated within the limits of the city. It is surrounded by informal settlements of the immigrant communities. Resentment from the local population towards immigrants makes the site ideal for its distance from the residential parts of the town.
BICHOLIM, GOA, INDIA Bicholim, a trading town in north Goa is inhabited by a class of people, living in the peths. the three main peths, sonar peth, budhwar peth and Mining constitutes a major chunk in the economy of Bicholim with about 36% of the population working for a single iron ore mine owner As of 2001 India census,[2] Bicholim had a population of 14,913. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Bicholim has an average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 84% and female literacy of 75%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. Bicholim Industrial Estate Set up by the Goa Industrial Development Department, the Bicholim Industrial Estate located at Honda is home to more than 50 industrial workshops and manufacturing units specializing in a range of products and services
such as aluminium and steel fabrication, plastics, mining equipment, roll ing mills, bus body, etc. Adil shah acquired a part of land from three villages, namely, Borade, Maye and Pilgaon. This part of land is now known as Bicholim and was used as a military base. However, slowly it was realized that they did not require a military base in that part of Goa. Eventually, Bicholim came to be used as a port. Trade became popular. Thus, major settlements of families carrying out trade or trade related activities took place during this period. During the Portuguese rule in Goa, mining was introduced as an occupation. Initially a few families were engaged with this occupation, however it’ s popularity grew with time. In the year 1961, the central government took over the mining industry. Seza Goa and Vedanta became the
two major mining companies. Today, mining, as an occupation is very aggressive.
Above: Neighborhoods with their respective typolgies
PETHS Meaning The Peths are traditional markets. Old towns are often dotted with these peths- which are also important cultural and economic centers. They're names are derived from very simple sources- quite often the days on which these markets function- like Budhwar Peth, Shaniwar Peth or the commodity which is a speciality of that marketlike Sonar Peth. The Four Main Peths in Bicholim areBhaili Peth, Sonar Peth, Athil Peth, Sunder Peth Typology These peths are the traditional expression of Live + Work relationships.The Streets play an important role in the market and the front of the house is the semi public area that receives the market. Typical Section
Mining Belt of Goa The mining belt of Goa covers approximately 700 sq. km and is mostly concentrated in four talukas namely, Bicholim of North Goa district and Salcete, Sanguem and Quepem of South Goa district. Mining and associated activities have greatly affected the natural landscape in and around these areas, which is characterized by the presence of pits and waste rejects. The mining belt of Goa is divided into three regions based on the concentration of the iron ore, namely, Northern, Central and Southern Zone. Usgao River is the dividing line for northern and central zone and Sanguem River between the central and southern zone. The maximum area under mining is in Sanguem Taluka followed by Bicholim, Sattari and Quepem.
Kumbharwada The Kumbharwada, literally means the potters' district. It lies in the Northern part of the town. Consisting of narrow streets, flanked on either sides by small houses, each opening up its semi public space to the street and the living happens right behind
Mining
Street T
Typology
Figure Ground
Plots
Sunder Peth This Peth consists mainly of the Trading houses- many of which are still active in the same old fashion.
Bhaili Peth This peth mainly dealt in spices, collected from the neighbouring regions and it sports some of the biggest houses in the old town
Site Athil Peth The Peth derives its name from its location- inner, which is called Athil in the local language. Lined with Jewelery shops on either sides, its old shops are now being taken over to make way for new typologies
GIDC
GIDC THE GIDC WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE GOVT. TO PROMOTE SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. THE UNITS IN THE GIDC ARE PRIVATELY OWNED OR LEASED BY THE GOVT. TO LOCAL CRAFTSMENS IN GOA. A TRAINING CENTER HAS ALSO BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR THE SAME. THE ARTICLES INCLUDE CLAY POTS, PAINTED TILES, CANE BASKETS, ETC. MOST OF THE PEOPLE EMPLOYED HERE ARE IMMIGRANTS FROM KARNATAKA AND MAHARASHTRA. THIS IS THE REASON FOR THE LACK OF WORKING OPPORTUTINIES FOR THE LOCAL POPULATION. SETTING UP A BUSINESS IN THE GIDC DEMANDS A LARGE INVESTMENT NOW AVAILABLE TO THE RESIDENTS OF BICHOLIM THROUGH CREDIT SOCIETIES SET UP BY THE BENEFACTORS OF THE RAMPANT MINING ACTIVITIES HERE. THE GIDC HOUSES MANY SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES LIKE THOSE MANUFACTURING SPARE PARTS FOR VEHICLES, VARIOUS ARTS AND HANDICRAFTS WORKSHOPS, MANUFACTURING OF COMMON HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS AND HOUSE BUILDING TOOLS AND MATERIALS, PLASTICS, PAINTS ETC.
Shanti Durga Temple, Athil Peth This temple is one of the biggest the town has and it brings in pilgrims that contribute to the economy of the city, The streets surrounding this temple are lined with shops that serve to this temple.
Parking
Entry
Plaza/ Chowk
Viewing Deck
ENTRANCE STRUCTURE Roof Plan
Working Verandah Space
Live + Work
Living
Kitchen Bed Room
Work Living
Work
Living
TYPOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT ANATOMY
To Bicholim, Old Town
Bus Stand
Entrance
ENTRANCE The Structure is the location where the Moel village shakes hands with the Old Town. It also becomes an opportunity to Explore
To GIDC
It houses a Plaza or Chowk, A Viewing Deck, and a Cafeteria that further enhances the intersection of the Old and the new Display area Shops
Workshop
Housing
Workshop
SITE PLAN
Section AA
Section BB
Section CC
A
A
Dorm B
B
C
D C
E
D
F
Wo
rks
GROUND LEVEL PLAN
E
hop
F
Section DD
Section EE
Section FF
Kitchen
Cafe
Workshop
Workshop
MEZZANINE LEVEL PLAN
OPENING UP THE SCHOOL
Institutional building for I.I.T. Bombay Powai,Mumbai, India
Learning The School is not a building with dark spaces. It is a collection of Rooms and Voids opens its self to the nature around it To the Sun and Sky Labs and Classrooms are interchangeable The built and unbuilt are interchangeable Classrooms are where lectures are conducted But the learning happens elsewhere It occurs in conversations with friends and teachers In contemplation It happens beneath the banyan tree
SCENARIO FOR THE CAMPUS The IIT Bombay- being one of the prestigious Educational Institutions in the world- is Alma Mater to several Renown scientists, industrialists and genius students. Located in the Green belt of the densely populated city, IIT is an equivalent of oasis. Connected to Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the Landscape of IIT has several Rain trees and local species. This, combined with the neighboring Powai lake
gives it the most astounding campuses in comparison to the educational institutions in India. However, the Match box architecture of the 70's, when the IITs were conceived of- does not respond to the rich landscape ready to its disposal. The proposal is an questioning of the mode of learning in the schools. Should the class rooms be like caves- holed into the concrete boxes?
Is there a possibility, of opening up of the institutes- in terms of its learning process, to simultaneous learning- where the classrooms/ Workshops/Laboratories/Libraries boundaries are diluted to a bare minimum?
Sports Ground
Departmental Buildings
Powai Lake
Sattellite image of the Campus
Illustrated Visitors' map of the campus The Campus is one of the densiest green areas in Mumbai Credit- IDC
Process The Existing Mechanical Department Building is under consideration for Re building, since it is old and over occupied. I have redesigned the Mechanical Department Building
Old Structural Grid
Doubly loaded Corridor
Voulumes
Lecture rooms
Lecture rooms
Labs/Classrooms
Structural Grid
Built / Un built
Built / Un built
Waffle Slabs
Structural Grid
Volumes
Ground Floor Massing
First Floor Massing
Second Floor Massing
Built/ Un Built
Built / Un built
Built / Un built
Workshops
Labs + Lecture rooms
Labs + Lecture rooms
GROUND LEVEL PLAN
SECTION AA
FIRST LEVEL PLAN
SECOND LEVEL PLAN
SOUTH ELEVATION
SECTION BB
SECTION CC
11500 FT ABOVE SEA LEVEL MEASURE DRAWING AND INTERPRETATION Old Town, Leh, Ladakh Group Work
MEASURE DRAWINGS Leh Located at an altitude of 3500 meters above sea level, Leh is a city of some 30,000 inhabitants. The population doubles in size during the summer tourist season, when people from all over India come here looking for work. To protect the Ladakhis from economic competition that they might not be prepared for, the government has made it impossible for outsiders to acquire and, and even opening businesses or working requires permits without a Ladakhi partner. Thus the Ladakhis are benefiting more from tourism than their cousins in Tibet. Howev
er, 50,000 tourists (in 2006) wanting regular showers and flush toilets and producing non-degradable garbage (water bottles, food wrappings, toilet paper etc.) are putting a severe strain on Ladakh’ s fragile economy. There are worries that in another 10 years of uncontrolled sprawl and degradation of the natural environment, Leh will begin to resemble the polluted Kathmandu valley. The history of the Ladakhi capital of Leh still remains to be written. In the 15th century king Tragspa
Bumde (Grags pa bum lde, r. ca 1400-1440) built three Maitreya temples in Leh, located respective ly at the lower and upper edges of the town and high above town on a ridge. These have been important religious focal points of the city, and are the oldest surviving structures. Only a few Buddhist stone carvings arguably bear witness to the beginning of Ladakh’ s recorded Buddhist history in the 10th century. King Senge Namgyal (c.1570-1642) then transformed Leh into a proper royal capital, by building theoyal palace Leh-chen Pelkhar, a nine-story
Overall Plan
stone structure erected in the early 1600s in the Tibetan style made famous by the slightly later Potala Palace in Lhasa. He is also said to have built massive rammed earth walls around the original residential area. Leh today is still dominated by the former royal palace, which is now owned by the Government of India and restored by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). There are altogether eight Buddhist temples and monasteries and three mosques in Leh. The old town consists of roughly two hundred stone, mud and timber
houses sandwiched between a few remaining portions of the rammed earth city walls. Located on the slope below the palace, the old town is still partly accessible through ancient stupa gateways. The architecture of both town houses and temples is comparable to that of Lhasa. Since Lhasa has recently undergone a very dramatic transformation, Leh is now the best-preserved ensemble of urban Tibetan architecture in the world. Nevertheless, an incoming road has already begun to transform the lowest section of the old town.
Above: Orthographic representation of the Bulding
Tun
Courtyard
Plan at 9.5m
nnel
Storage
Courtyard for Cattle
Passage
Elevation
Section AA
THE SELF A Need to look back, at what I am At what I have become, What I want to be At the simplicity of the Self Complexity of understanding it Of the Love for oneself, to look at oneself To rediscover me. To know me I want to climb on the Himalayas. Sleep under the cool blue moon To dance in the first rain To run away from the monsters here To create a shade in the scorching sun For somebody, from some people To go back to that castle to wear the ornament of my pride To wear the new skin after the old To see beneath what is visible so easily
A GARDEN OF DESIRE Street of Crossed Destinies Mumbai
A GARDEN OF DESIRE
The city is so much more than merely its physical landscape, in its opportunities - economic and social- it is also a repository of desire in the myths and narratives that inhabit its landscape. As these myths and narratives, do not lie on the surface of the city to be easily read, to recover these myths- to be able to discern the way that they shape our citywe have to evolve tools to discover them. One of the ways experimented with the second year design studio was to look at the city through the narratives and meanings embedded in the tarot. Each card with its embedded information, mythologies and meanings can give rise to new ways of reading the city. In this project when the Ace of Pentacles (Inverted) met the Seven of Cups on the Andheri Dahisar Link road, a new way emerged of reading
the space of a slum community on the street. Narratives of the history of the slum, its displacement and redevelopment and the spaces of pleasure and everyday life that had been eliminated emerged in postcards that collected these stories as generators of program and ideas of built form intervention on site.
across the tributary- a dream cherished by human being, stories of the childhood home- of the native land where masses hailed from, in the dream of the better life.
The site, located in rapidly transforming suburb of mumbai, abuts a polluted river tributary- a nalla. it represents a state of work in process- whether being demolished or being built- is left to the imagination of the observer who is a passive witness to the process. The desires in seen in seven cupsare transmuted in the demolition of the existing houses, still being occupied, the new proposed housing
Seven of cups
Ace of Pentacles (Inverted)
Finding the self in various aspects
The Snake- Removing the layers
The Self
A B
Section AA
A B
Plan
Reflected Section BB
hrushitthakkar@gmail.com mob: +91 99 67 013219
RESUME
Details
Education
Employment
Hrushit S Thakkar Age: 24 years Nationality- Indian Contact: hrushitthakkar@gmail.com mob: +91 99 67 013219
2008- 2013 B. Arch Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture Mumbai University GPA: 3.5 First Class
2013 September- 2014 August(Present) Project Architect at Studio Mumbai Architects
2006-2008 Higher Secondary School in Science KC College Mumbai University GPA: 4.00 Distinction 2006 Secondary School St Xavier's Boys High School Mumbai University GPA: 84% Distinction
Design Development + Project Management of 561/63-NMJoshi Marg, Villas in Mumbai May 2013 - August 2013 Undergraduate Internship at Studio Mumbai Architects Exhibition Installtion of Demolotion Series + Design development of a School + Site Coordition of a Villa October 2011 - December 2011 Self Employed Design+Execution of a Director's Office, Mumbai, India May 2011 Summer Internship at Samira Rathod Design Associates Model Making+Rendering of Representational Drawings for Competitions
Involvements
Skills
Awards
2011 Exchange Program with Students of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts(GAFA), China
Sketching Hand drafting
2010- KRVIA Mumbai University- Excellence in Architecture Design
2012 Workshops for Higher understanding of Tensile Structures 2013 Undergraduate Teaching Assistant at Annual Introductory Workshop
Softwares Autocad 2D Rhinoceros Photoshop Indesign MS Office Sketchup Vray- Basic
Languages Gujarati(Mother tongue) English Hindi Marathi
2012- KRVIA Mumbai University- Excellence in Design Technolgy