Nidhi Hegde - Architectural Portfolio by Nidhi Hegde

PORTFOLIO

Nidhi Hegde Architectural portfolio

CONTENT 01

SEADOGS

GULOO GULU

OUR URBAN KAMPUNG!

Masters Thesis

Option Studio 1: Form Axioms

Core Studio 3: The Future of Housing

04 EQUAL

Core Studio 2: The Proto-cemetery

05 OPEN

Core Studio 1: Satellite SUTD campus

06 WAFFELHAUS

Core Studio 1: Vietnamese shophouse

FLOAT

INTERNSHIP WORKS

Daylight and electric lighting

Masters Internship

ABOUT ME Hi, I’m Nidhi. I’m an M.Arch Graduate from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Architecture for me is a way to tell stories. Ones that echo our changing world, respond to future anthropocentric emergencies and ones that give us hope. I enjoy discussing approaches to sustainibility through the medium of architecture and hope to be part of change in the future. Politics, cinema and good coffee are what get me excited.

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SEADOGS Masters thesis project

The oceans are dying The thesis explores the future of coastal fishing communities in Peru in the year 2100, as climate change and other extractive industries intensify. Coastal communities are struggling to get by due to rapid increase in global demand and overfishing. Rampant unemployment and food shortages make it a struggle for them to get by. Climate change will intensify climate trends and cause rapid sea level rise leaving coastal communities vulnerable. Other industries like offshore oil extraction offshore cause oil leaks polluting the environment and adding onto the problem. The effects of global seafood and oil demand, are felt directly by the poor coastal fisherman who have nowhere else to turn to. How do vulnerable regions be leveraged to create new climate resilient prototypes?

Growing global demand 2.12

Global fishery catch by sector

3.13 3.35 4.74 5.11 5.32 7.17 7.22

TOP 10 FISHING NATIONS IN 2018 (IN M ILLION M ETRIC TONS)

2.49

source: FAO Factbook

14.65 fisheries exploited

Peru; a proxy Peruvian waters contain some of the most highly productive ecosystems in the world, due to the Humboldt Current, it’s one of the most inportant fisheries in the World. Northern Peru is the region of the country hit hardest by anthropogenic effects. The weather effects of El Nino are most significant here due to the geographic exposure of this area, causing flooding and landslides. It is also here that another extractive industry operates. Oceanic oil extraction is almost exclusively done in the Northern areas of Peru, causing multiple oil spills along the coastline. seadogs uses Peru as a test bed, imagining a city of fishermen in 2100 who reclaim their seas, with a new non extractive economy

A wasteland; how do we survive now? Unprepared for the flooding and landslides caused by El Nino, Oil corporations spilled poison poured into the ocean, creating a wasteland of death and destruction trailing all the way down the coast, poisoning our entire ecosystem. Fishermen who were previously scraping by, now are at their tipping point. After being exasperated by the lack of law enforcement and governmental support, and constantly fighting with mega corporations and technology like trawlers that cause overfishing. Oil contaminates fish species and as the oil blocks sunlight from reaching the bottom of the ocean, preventing the growth of phytoplankton. This worsens the problem of el nino Fish industry collapses in Peru, as the fish is now largely inedible.

what now? We cannot let mega corporations and foreign actors dictate the Peruvian way of life. Our oceans and our people come first and this is the plan for change. We have demanded compensation from the Oil industry and will use it to reset our seas. Algae will be used for bioremediation and the cleaning of our oceans, Funding will be directed into the development of synthetic fish alternatives to feed our country. The Coastal Fisheries Plan will prepare us for the devastation of El Nino events caused by climate change, ensure communities are not displaced and provide jobs and food for all.

Oil spill mapping simulation using Culebra

The movement of the oil booms are simulated, in an abstract representation of how they would exist in constant fluid motion These oil booms and algae, allow us to wonder What if landscapes could be transient? How would they inform a different way of inhabitation, one with movement of constant flow. These flexible landscapes, allow us to generate a new productive tissue in the sea—

Protypical structures - repurposed oil rig In the rig, the material flow starts with the harvesting of algae. It is brought to the base, then processed into biofuel. The rig that was previously the site of desctruction, spilling poison into the seais now infrastructure that the fishermen reappropriate to turn into a new productive core. The material flow begins at the seas, fishermen use boats to collect dried algae, this is then put in the base of the rig where the gravity clarifiers are located. After being processed, its pumped up into the scaffold, powering up the synthetic fish labs. These provide people with jobs and an alternative, non extractive food source. 43L/ m^3 / yr of algae , 3.583L monthly is needed. For 1000 pax, 2051 L of biofuel is needed monthly.

synthetic fish labs Algae is used to produce plant based synthetic fish, the main export and food source. It is also processed as marine bioplastic, a clean packaging. These function as labs for innovation and research. It creates a new productive economy in the oil rig, allowing the community to use it as a good to export. The synthetic fish becomes a source of capital flow into city. Output per module: 30 kg every 12 hours Per Capita consumption in Peru: 47.53 kg/person/yr 0.1302 kg/person daily Biofuel consumption: 67.75 kwh/ monthly, 6.3 L monthly. 30 synthetic fish labs needed to feed 1000 people daily.

Translucent shells in the scaffold

housing Inhabitation is redefined in the sea, a structural frame is designed for people to build their own houses inside them. It provides a structure for an informal and communal way of living. The frames are modular and stack on one another, with a maximum of five floors. Each frame has a diameter of 50m with an outer decking. Each housing module accommodates 300 people with a cluster reaching 900. The structural frame is a productive machine which extends into the basic necessities onto tralating inhabitation on water. The productive skeletal machine is what is the backbone, for a informal commune to form.

housing The funnel at the top collects rainwater for drinking, which then fills up the tank underwater. This weight distribution ,allows the inhabitation module to be buoyant. The frames function as bioreactor pipes for more algae production. This is used in the base module for wastewater cleansing. The base module is a hybrid module of the biofuel module, using the same gravity clarifier. The base of the housing is a deposit for the algae to flow down and process the wastewater in order to be repurposed.

Translucent shells in the scaffold

People build their own houses, rules of space occupancy in the frames are imposed to ensure circulation and light penetration. While, the housing is meant to be informal in nature, space occupancy rules needs to be imposed as a structure for it to work in a modular and efficient way. The frames are first subdivided and beams and columns are placed every 10m.The columns act as a basis for houses to attach. The first level centre fills up, leaving corridors every 4 subdivisions. Followed by level 2.Current houses then extend with smaller ones also slotting in. Only when the first 2 levels centres are built, does the perimeter develop, it is initially left as an extension of the outside space.

Seaweed cultivation A flexible seaweed system is created in order to feed the community. The system uses the logic of branching, with different angles tested for productivity, fitting into different space constraints. The seaweed is system is created to be able to branch out and adapt to current and angle changes. Production: 250 kg every 3m

INSTRUCTORS Eva Castro and Frederico Ruberto SUTD TERM 6 4 Months GROUPWORK Members: Wesley Koh, Benedict Tan Kelly Yeo, Heong Kheng Bhoon

GULOO GULU Option Studio : Form Axioms

South China Sea In a world of rising sea levels, coastal cities will ﬁnd their living spaces slowly sinking. This increase is at about 8 inches since 1880s, a rate that is accelerating currently. There is a correlation between climate change and the rate of rising sea levels. Guloo Gulu imagines a ﬂoating city 100 years into the future in the region of the South China Sea.

The world is sinking, where do we go? 2035, The government in Manila has decided to tackle plastic waste by offering to trade rice for plastic waste in order to properly dispose of them. There is an experimental sea-steading project that wants to create a permanent settlement on the sea to inhabit displaced Filipinos. Golo Island was selected due to its relative size of arable land and access to the open sea. The Island is slowly developed to allow easier transport of resources within the island, including the build-up of basic port structures to allow the simple collection of plastic in the open sea.

TYPHOONS

LEGEND Typhoon Instensity

LEGEND Total Distance to the 10 Closest Typhoons (km) 0

500

Typhoon End Position 200

100

200

100

Prototyping systems Pontoon Hybrid System

Pontoon

Breakwater

Hydrocyclone

Gyroscopic Stabilizer

Piping materials to module

Support Live and dead loads

Change velocity Reduce wave of wave energy

Fed Plastics

Vortex created in module

Waves Hit

Gyroscope Rotates

Next module for further separation

Disc spins to create opposing torque

Plastic Sorted

Stabilizes structure

Wave Direction

Breakwater

Hydrocyclone / Gyroscope

Pontoon

1 Entry, 1 Filtration System 2 Entry, 1 Filtration System

Process

No. of Systems 1

Create hydrocyclone system

Breakwater to guide plastics to the entry of the hydrocyclone system

Agglomerate multiple similar systems together

Install breakwaters that guides water away from areas without entry points of hydrocyclone system

Hydrocyclone Module Silo Hydrocyclone Pipe Network Pontoon Shape Breakwater

1 Entry, 3 Filtration System

Prototyping systems Aquaponics Hybrid System

Pontoon

Desalination plant Piping materials to plant

Support Live and dead loads

Aquaponics Piping clean water to hydroponics

Ultra filtration

Plant tank Return water flows down by gravity

Reverse osmosis

Fish tank

Brine Mechanical and Biological Filtration

1 Entry

Process Water intake

Plant tank

No. of Systems 1

Volume: 9090 m Output: 300,000 kg (10,000 people for a month) Fish tank Volume: 20, 000m Output: 20 000kg (10,000 people for a month) Filtration unit

Dimension: Volume: 1198.8 m

Water input Plant tank Fish tank Filtration unit Piping

2 Entry, 3 output

Clean water pumped back into the tank

Physical model of Guloo Gulu 1:2000

Physical model of Guloo Gulu 1:1000

INSTRUCTORS Andrew Lee SUTD TERM 7 4 Months PAIRWORK Members: Wang Qiaorou

OUR URBAN KAMPUNG! Core Studio 3: The future of housing

What does a city mean without roads? Masterplanning a Precinct in the upcoming land reclamation project along the coast of the East Coast, Long Island. The project explores a masterplan for HDB housing 50 years in the future without roads. Transport networks are put underground freeing up land for innovation. Masterplanning includes layers of underground transport, ground, parks, public spaces and a drone network

A self sustainable Kampung Creating an Urban Kampung centred around the idea of self sustainability and urban farming that mitigates the detriments of city life. In the future we envision being prepared for any situation and a creation of an Urban Kampung where in the modern world there is neighbourliness and community. With the housing scheme, people get to know each other well by staying together and practice an active lifestyle with communal gardening. It encapsulates the Kampung Spirit in 100 years.

EQUAL

Core Studio 2 : The Proto Cemetery

INSTRUCTORS Jane Chua SUTD TERM 5 4 Months INDIVIDUAL WORK

Without Death where does one lie? A dystopia where the world has been overtaken by a totalitarian government and where death is insigniﬁcant. All memories and information is stored in a central database. Individual lives hardly matter anymore and personal artefacts cease to exist. It explores the dystopia our current world is starting to see clearer parallels with, one where there is hyper documentation and constant surveillance. This project explores memory of the dead as something that is housed in a central space, with the complexity of the space differing with level of access to these documented memories. The spaces are transformative and exist between the realm of the physical and the virtual world.

Context A dystopia where the world has been overtaken by a totalitarian government. All memories and information is stored in a central database. The overwhelming emphasis is hierarchy. People were split into tiers. Tier 4: Party People who worked for the Party and executed all orders. They had a ridiculous amount of privilege in society. Tier 3: White White collar workers

03 02 01

Tier 2: Blue Blue collar workers Tier 1: Invalids Homeless, elderly and the handicapped. Death was treated as an inconvenience. Bodies were exhumed and their personal artefacts (if any) were destroyed. To remember loved ones is considered a privilege for it is not a productive use of time. Therefore, to recover information in the database and view memories, people could visit the Capsule. The Capsule was set far away from the main city, in a deserted space. According to tiers, certain amount of information was made available. The complexity of the individual’s experience in the Capsule was dependant on the level of social hierarchy they were on.

Generative sketches of a transformative space

Concept sections with different levels of access and screenshot of The Capsule interior (mid review)

Physical positive negative model

Section 1

Section 2

Section 1

Section 2

The illusion of freedom “Please stand near the system so we can scan your I.E.D (Individual Examining Device)” You stand on the platform. “INITIALISING” “Welcome. You have been identified as Tier 3: White. Please put on your headset, you now have 10 minutes. Please use your time wisely. Your next turn will come in 1 year and 13 days from now. Thank you and have a nice day” It’s your first time being upgraded from Blue to White, all those extra hours in the company are really paying off. Beside you is someone from Tier 4: Party, you overhear they have 30 minutes and can return whenever they want to. One day that will be you. “2 MINUTES LEFT. PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT YOU WILL BE FORCED TO EXIT WHEN YOUR

Screenshot of opening sequence

Vignettes of the ﬁnal experience created with Unreal engine

INSTRUCTORS Carlos Bannon SUTD TERM 4 2 Months INDIVIDUAL WORK

OPEN

Core Studio 1: Satellite SUTD Campus

A modern day magic trick, an invisible building

Main access points from traﬃc junctions Existing foliage

This project was to design a satellite campus for SUTD in the heart of the city. This project was meant to address thresholds and ﬂexibility of space for it needed to accomodate a number of programmes. Open is an open concept, urban building that seems to ﬂoat above ground. It keeps everyone visually connected and maintains the element of a small pocket of nature found in the heart of the city

Cafe Outdoor learning space

MPH/Exhibition � area

Experimenting with geometry and heights/widths that would ﬁt programmes and keep the green in the site

Massing model 1:250

Section model 1:100

INSTRUCTORS Carlos Bannon SUTD TERM 4 1 Week GROUPWORK Members: Benjamin Chong, Han Jing Hu Zheng

WAFFELHAUS Core Studio 1: Vietnamese shophouse

Exploring a parametric facade Skinny architecture workshop over the course of 1 week. This project brief was to redesign a Vietnamese tube house with the limitation of 25 sqm. Waffelhaus has a acoustic inspired facade in order to allow light to pass and also minimise Saigon’s noise pollution for a tranquil home. The airwell provides ventilation as well as elevating off the ground level.

Concept diagrams

Driving curve B

Int ermediat e curve

Driving curve A 1

Driving curve A 2

Varying grid size

Facade using Grasshopper

Driving curve B

Final curve

Curves in 2 axes

Perm ut at ion exam p les

Curves t o form a cont our surf ace

Combined curves of dif ferent direct ions

Final facad e

N E W S

8 am

N E W S

1pm

N E W S

5 pm

Axonometric sections with climate diagrams

Physical model

GROUND GROUNDLEVEL LEVEL

SECOND SECONDLEVEL LEVEL 8AM

THIRD THIRDLEVEL LEVEL

THIRD THIRDLEVEL LEVELMEZZA MEZZANINE NINE

1PM

FOURTH FOURTHLEVEL LEVEL

6PM

INSTRUCTORS Daniel Whittaker SUTD TERM 6 6 Weeks GROUPWORK Members: Kelly Yeo

FLOAT

Daylight and electric lighting

An abstract, floating luminaire The concept was to execute an abstract light fixture where the effect would play with the idea of shadows and light. The rings appear to float and gloaw while also creating contrast. The use of materials was also crucial to the aesthetic of the ficture in playing with hard and soft.

Generative sketches to understand the design strategy

Elevation

Plan

Plastic insulated wires

122 mm 220 mm

12V Transistor

Section

Elevation CL

10mm

1mm Wood Veneer

21mm 60 mm 340mm 340mm 400 mm

3mm Plywood rings

10mm 12V LED

1mm Wood Veneer strips 60mm

1mm Black coated Aluminium Sheet

83mm

74 mm 93mm 112 mm 151 mm

Renders

INTERNSHIP WORKS Masters internship

Hand cut 1:100 model of a Semi detached for exhibition (individual work)

Char Yong competition entry

Nidhi Hegde nidhi224@gmail.com +65 91196526