Curriculum Vitae
Name
About me
Creative individual with an affinity for art and illustrative graphics, possessing an escapist yet pragmatic sense of design. Under the moniker of “Moodgrass“- my avatar, I create surrealistic, colorful landscapes and characters.
My journey in architecture, up till this point, has been filled with ups and downs but has never stopped being a source of mental growth, which has morphed me into a highly adaptive, collaborative person whose intent is to further evolve by gaining experience in the workplace of a variety of different fields.
Link to online portfolio: issuu.com/moodgrass/docs/storybook_20-_20rayhaan_20issuu
Education
2017 - 2022 : Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) - Rizvi College of Architecture, Mumbai, India.
2017 : Junior College - Lokmaniya Tilak College of Science, Mumbai, India.
2015 : Primary School - Seventh Day Adventist ICSE School, Mumbai, India.
Professional Experience
2022 - Present: Architect Hafeez Contractor - Full time, Architect – Mumbai, India
2019 – Present: Moodgrass- Self Employed, Freelance Illustrator – Mumbai, India
Art Handle
Highlights:
-Held Workshop/Seminar for ARCHFEST
2020, on “Art Style, Tools to Develop your own Visual Identity”
-Illustrations and cartographic maps for an exhibition by Bombay 61 Studio, Mumbai. -Illustration for Landscape Journal November 2021 article.
2020 - 2021: Design Ni Dukaan Studio - Architectural and Design Intern - Ahmedabad, India
Highlights:
-Produced photorealistic renders on Blender and illustrative storyboards/views. -Logo design, character design and animation for classical music band ‘Iktara’.
2019 - 2020: Walking Lab Initiative - Core Team; Graphic designer – Mumbai, India
Highlight: Artwork, and the initiative featured in an article in Mid-day Newspaper (Jan 29th, 2020)
Software Proficiency
Other Skills/ Hobbies
Video Documentation/ Editing
Frame animation
Wacom tablet proficiency
Storyboarding and writing
Watercolouring
Rural Housing
Press Club
Cultural Center
Academic Work
Urban Housing
Cycle-Friendly Sector
Faith-Neutral Shrine
Residential Bldg
Freelance/Collaborative Work
Walking
Gig’o Records
Miscellaneous
Moodgrass Artwork
Art of Bamboo Weaving
Competitions
Abode
The Martian
Academic Work
Rural
Shanag, a village in Himachal Pradesh, now lacks the resources that set the standard of Himachal archi tecture; i.e - Kath Kuni, hence facing a crisis due to desensitized concreting; overtaking throughout the land. This shift of construction technique is due to the restrictions put on quarrying stone and the cutting down of Deodar Cedar for timber. Kath Kuni construction was introduced to counteract the seismic activities in the Himalayan plane, by means of a scissor mechanism of stone and wood.
So the design challenge was to provide a housing unit and typology, which was extremely effective in seismic resistance, as well as thermal insulation, yet uses materials from the very site itself. The result is structures that take form of domes. Which, physically, is the most stable shape. The new extended village ends up looking very different but follows the same principles of living that the villagers used to have.
The brief was to design an extension to the existing village, consisting of 4 units of houses, a school, and community spaces.
Semester Subject Tools Guide
4 Architectural Design Watercolour and ink Ar. Shaurya Chauhan
The School
Extended House
Community Spaces
Construction Technique
The dome classrooms give off the feeling of familiarityPress Club
Azad Maidan, which literally translates to “ground of liberty”, is a ground used for protests, riots, and gathering of freedom fighters, during and after the British colonization of India. The square-ish site for this project is of about 1300 square meters, attached directly to one side of this triangular ground, in the Fort area of Mumbai.
The design aims to not take away from the importance and boldness of Azad Maidan but rather act as an organ extending from it, embodying the ideals of the common public that gather there, and allow them to freely explore and walk through the various paths in the press club, leading to and from the maidan.
It would include spaces that allow transparency, and direct visual axis from the street to the maidan, as well as be an invitation to the public to learn about the Mumbai press. Hence encouraging public in teraction with journalists, voicing their opinions which would be given more power by means of national/ international press.
Ground floor plan
With a press club design that is 70% public, there is a web-work of movement patterns including intersection points, of the jour nalists and the public, between various spaces.
To simplify this, two characterspersonifying a member of the press club and a passerby are set up. These characters are taken throughout the press club to see the various activities and interac tions they can take part in
First floor plan
Multipurpose Hall Indoor Games Area
Both spaces can strike an
and the
Accommodation
The accommodation structures for the journal ists, has a room with an opening that overlooks Azad maidan.
Exhibition
The public can explore around a maze like space with walls holding exhibits of awards, newspaper clippings and the history of Mumbai press.
Basement plan
Arcade concept
The arcades of the buildings around the site, provide shade from the sun and monsoon, and at the same time provide shops and hawkers to interact with. The design uses this module and sensation in mind.
Material Exploration
Library
A large volume of earth is excavated out to build a basement parking. By using a sustainable building material technique called Pouring Earth, based on Turkish Alker, walls can be casted out of earth and would not require any special form of labour.
It is composed of 20-30% Portland cement with sand mixed with earth which can then be casted like concrete.
Workspaces
The first floor consists of a wooden overhang that overlooks the arcade spaces and leads to the media room.
N
Industrial pre-cast steel truss-less system, with G.I. roofing sheets.
Cafe/Dining
Spaces enjoying the shade of the roofing sheets.
Casting/ moulding slabs of various ma terials for comparison tests.
specimens
Cured Alker specimen, retains strength and hardness of concrete, to an extent, while negating the brittleness of regular adobe.
A
Cultural
of
as
and its
and
in the middle of
still respect these places of worship
old colonial churches,
the settlements that formed here eons ago,
means of
of
and
Kochi is also home to similarly diverse art forms and festivals, but many of these are dying in today’s day and age, because it takes many years to learn and perfect these forms; but, in return, there’s not enough income. Some of these dying art forms include, Tholpavakoothu shadow puppetry, Villu Pattu, Mapilla songs, Mural paintings etc.
So the design challenge was to create a spiritual hub, and research center, with the purpose of educating and reviving the various religious traditions of Kerala by activities on site. This is done by creating spiritual structures and spaces that emulates a religious structure on the street, but would be a unified, and secular place of worship as well as an exhibit for dying festivals/art forms.
Semester
Urban Housing
Masina Hospital in Byculla, is the former home of Sir David Sassoon, one of the most significant figures in the formation of the city that is called today as Mumbai. Situated in the same Parsi Trust land as other housing colonies like the Rustom Baug and Jerbai Baug on its adjacent sides, it maintains a hierarchy of short, rustic buildings.
The site of about 8000 sqm, divided by the entry road, is situated in the open area in front of the hospital. This space is currently used as parking, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, a quarantine zone for the patients.
The brief was to design a housing for doctors which would make use of this accommodation during emer gency times similar to the pandemic. So, the design challenge was to shelter 100-150 doctors, and their families; but at the same time design a system of modular housing that could modify its spaces as the tenants change.The design solution to this was to come up with a system of modular housing that could modify its spaces as the tenants change, yet keeping the 3 storeyed height level to match the surrounding context. By designing a framework composed of steel girder pads and columns, along with a stud wall system that can easily be shifted, each housing module gets immense freedom of customization. For example, by introducing retractable balconies on the first floor, or custom open spaces for yards, there could be hundred possible layouts for each house - tailor-made for the needs of each family member, not just the doctor of the house.
Semester Subject Tools Guide
7 Architectural Design Revit, V-Ray, Photoshop Ar. Samir Bagdadi
Building Technique
Cycle-Friendly Sector
A group project of three, the site chosen to study was Sector 17 of Vashi. A sector planned in a grid-iron fashion with dedicated shopping and commercial areas severly lacks in informal social spaces as well as street furniture, which leads to a lack in pedestrian movement despite wide and well shaded footpaths. This lead to an intervention that operates on a macro and micro scale, with a cycle track network that ties everything together. On the macro scale, there has been a redevelopment of a decrepit commercial complex, which acts the gateway to the rest of the interventions. And on the micro scale, a cycle and pedestrian track network that runs throughout, as well as smaller architectural interventions to enhance the existing sector.
Three zones of development are named as follows,
-Neo Big Splash: A decrepit commercial complex redeveloped into a gateway for the cycle track that lets in pedestrians and cyclists into an informal yet bustling public space, the rest of the complex has been redesigned to retain all existing activities.
-Green Corridor: A path in between two parks that would introduce the cycle track, make use of the dense canopies shared by the parks, and bring in street modules such as eateries and furnitures.
-Transport Hub: Currently a rat-infested, filthy offset of a highway, this space is used as a waiting area for Interstate buses and cabs, redeveloping this zone with cycle stalls, waiting area modules, busstops, and store modules would benefit the public arriving and exiting the sector
Semester
Subject Tools Guide
9 Architectural Design Autocad, Sketchup, Photoshop Ar. Jai Bhadgaonkar
View of the shaded amphitheatre with opens up
the flea market.
View of the double heighted green terraces.
View of the open ground which leads to the archway.
A view of the main entry of Neo Big Splash overlooking the fountain.
Neo Big Splash Gr Floor Plan
View of the rear entrance looking towards the community farms.
Mid-Section
The central green avenue acts as a spine for the plot. The spaces flow into each other seam lessly in a way that it connects each and every space.
Sectional View 1
The Green avenue is a pedestrian friendly zone which slides straight through the plot giving a bold statement of walkable neighbourhood. Cycling through the green ave nue you pass through the central fountain, amphitheater and organic community farms.
Sectional View 2
The idea was to achieve a free flowing horizontal greenscape that fuses multiple levels which makes it more interactive and experiential. The circular decks overview the vast green lawns and flea market, it also doubles up as an extension to the shops.
Stage
Stepped
Faith-Neutral Shrine
In my research, argue that the role of religious buildings today has significantly changed from what it used to be. These changes are primarily due the drop in religiosity, rise of a bureaucratic lifestyle, and a critical questioning of the role of religion today. As a result, the archetypical contemporary place of worship reflects these changes by means of commodification. I believe that a solution in the form of faith architecture can be looked at from a lens that acknowledges these changes.
The concept of the intervention was influenced by the idea of a “fear of the unknown” a narrative akin to H.P. Lovecraft. A fear of not being able to comprehend notions beyond our ability. Faith has had its inception on similar grounds, and still does today. Natural forces like lightning and fire being incomprehensible once, was worshiped then. Today the idea of death, the possibility of afterlife, the endless cosmos, or the fear of a divine form of justice still hold strong value in religion and the faith world as a whole. The idea was then to architecturally translate this form of fear, by making one feel absolutely minuscule in the cos mic scale of things.
The solution takes place as a Shrine that is both a critique as well as a celebration of the faith world. The site in Sagar Vihar, Vashi, would utilize its seclusion among a mangrove forest and its creek, dividing its activities within three sections: an entrance hall, a trail, and a sanctum. The entrance hall, would be the welcoming portal that introduces visitors to the rest of the intervention and an adjoining event/festival space for various faiths. The trail of about 150 meters in length would include sculptural monoliths that narrate tales from various religious scripts. The sanctum would have a space of self reflection and inter nal prayer, making it a space open to all everyone, including the religious-nones.
Semester
RoofSculpture Trail
Residential Building
Freelance/Collaborative Work
2019 - Present
Midday newspaper article featuring personal artwork and the initiative.
Walking Lab
2019
A heritage walk initiative in collaboration with Rizvi College of Architecture, Bandra, Mumbai. Produced various posters for the walks in different locations of the city as well as produced artworks of the respective places.
Design Ni Dukaan
2021
Architecture and design firm by Ar. Veeram Shah situated in Ahmedabad, India. In collaboration, produced nine architectural illustra tions, as well as logo design, character design and album art for a classical band called ‘Iktara’.
Illustrations of the band members
Bombay 61 Studio
Architecture studio by Ar. Ketaki Tare and Ar. Jai Bhadgaonkar, based in Mumbai, India. Collaborative narrative artwork for the digital photo exhibition on the indigenous fishermen community, called “Through the Eyes of the Kolis: A reflection on Mumbai’s Past, Present and Future”.
Gig’o Records
- Ongoing
Studio based off in South Korea by a group of startups, the project includes various ongoing illustrations to be used as wall-art and album art.
2021
Artwork for Mr. Nikhil Acharya, Karnataka. The banner and character design was in tended to reflect the interests of the client, and the softwares he uses.
Logo Design
2022 Logo Design for Mr. Thomann, Germany.
Miscellaneous Graphical Map
Illustration
2022
Artwork for Mr. Kieran Creeg, United Kingdom.
2021
Graphical map illustrated for the November 2021 Landscape Journal article called “Wilderness at Bay” co-written by Ar. Esa Shaikh and Ar. Amrita Slatch
Moodgrass Artwork
The Cure Indigo Warfare Long Shadows Grave of the Patient Hunter BeachCompetitions
2020 - Present
The Craft of Bamboo Weaving
All Abode
Participant of Tiny House Competition for the Design of a house of not more than 30sqm.
Year Type Tools
2020 Group of 3 Autocad, Revit, Photoshop
The Martian
Shortlisted entry of Archdais’ Mars Calling for the Illustration of a science fictional walk across Mars Landscape. Year Type Tools 2021 Individual PhotoshopThank you.
Social Media Handles
instagram.com/moodgrass_ behance.net/rayhaanalbuque