DESIGN PORTFOLIO
NISHANT SAMIR MEHTA
COLUMBIA GSAPP WORKS 2015-2016 + PROFESSIONAL WORKS 2013-2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS
GRADUATE WORK
PROFESSIONAL WORK
UNDERGRADUATE WORK
COLLECTIVE WATERSCAPES
TO THE CORE
WATER AS A CATALYST
SPRING 2016
FALL 2015
SUMMER 2015
BETEGAON RESERVE
CLUBVIEW APARTMENTS
2014
2014
REJUVENATING THE BAZAAR 2013
01 COLLECTIVE WATERSCAPES
WATER URBANISM STUDIO, SPRING 2016
TEAM GUANGYUE CAO | LEE YAN SHUN | NISHANT MEHTA | ZIYANG ZENG
“Collec tive waterscapes� envisions Paraiba Valley cities as unified players for improving the water and health quality of the greater region of Mina Gerais, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. To address the region’s pressing water issues, this proposal establishes a landscape framework for future waste water management by maneuvering surfaces and implementing simple placemaking strategies. We believe that access to clean drinking water is not only a daily necessity, but an asset which will become the driving force for a healthy and resilient environment. By providing local actors with the tools and techniques to implement waste water treatment microinfrastructures into the city fabric, a new urbanity of culture and living will emerge from the water systems that sustain it. 5 [SPRING 2016]
6
Focusing on household sewage, stormwater and the water in Paraiba do Sul, our intervention consists of a multiscalar approach organized along an urban tributary that flows into the Paraiba River. Through embedding water cleaning infrastructures into new surfaces and landscapes, our proposal restores on a larger scale the existing ecology of the tributaries as well as add layers of social spaces and public amenities accessible to the local community. Using the spatial concepts of gradient and cascading in combination with technologies of biodigesters and phytoremediation, the new water-cleaning landforms also serve as urban tools defining public and private edges, creating shading devices, generating spaces for new economies, as well as giving a new identity for communities.
27 FAMILIES
// 15L of rainwater collected per day
60.7
RESENDE
FUNIL
To test our proposal, we chose an urban splice of Resende, one of the oldest and fastest growing city in the region. The city is characterized by monoculture housing and a lack of public open space. As an asset, Resende is in close proximity to Itatiaia Park, a national park that can be leveraged as part of the health water network.
50.0
55.1
DOMESTIC WASTE
BARRA MANSA
68.6
PORTO REAL
A collective waterscape
INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
DOMESTIC WASTE
DOMESTIC WASTE
INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
DOMESTIC WASTE INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
DOMESTIC WASTE INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
TO SAO PAULO
INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
DOMESTIC WASTE
OVER FISHING
DOMESTIC WASTE
Funil Reservoir
INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
DOMESTIC WASTE INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
3 1 TREE + 100m UNCOMPACTED SOIL // permeable paving infiltration rate 70-80%
CATCHMENT SURFACE // 220L per 1m per day 2
PHYTOREM
// maximum phy at 60 days of cul
Hybrid public amenities
maximum phyto STREET LIGHTING Greywater re-use
15m 3 biodigester
Soil water storage rate : 0.5inches/hr
// 3,600L of household sewage per day CITY POWER GRID
SCALES OF WATER CLEANING 7 [SPRING 2016]
reduce runoff pollution
groundwater recharge
3
75m biodigester
53.7
60.2
VOLTA REDONDA
BARRA DO PIRAI
52.7
DOMESTIC WASTE
OVERFISHING
OVERFISHING INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
DOMESTIC WASTE
DOMESTIC WASTE
DOMESTIC WASTE
DEFORESTATION DOMESTIC WASTE
INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
DEFORESTATION INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
OVERFISHING DEFORESTATION
DOMESTIC WASTE
OVER FISHING
DOMESTIC WASTE
DOMESTIC WASTE
INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
DOMESTIC WASTE
INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS
DEFORESTATION
OVER FISHING
DOMESTIC WASTE
DOMESTIC WASTE
RIO DE JANEIRO METROPOLITAN AREA
DOMESTIC WASTE
ETA Guandu
Lajes Reservoir
146,000L/s
WATER CASCADES
// 5.5 acre cleans 230,000L water/day
MEDIATION POND
ytoremediation rate reached lture AERATION TANK
ANAEROBIC TANK EICHHORNIA CRASSIPES DUCKWEED REED CAT’S TAIL AEROBIC FLOW
oremediation rate reached at 60 days of culture PLANT BED/PONDS
CLEAN WATER
O3 O O O3 O3
3
O3
3
O3
O3O
O3
3
OZONE PURIFICATION FISH PONDS
Canal
8
Pollution in the region According to World Health Organization (WHO), the headwaters of the Paraiba River is highly contaminated. Toxic bacteria in the water level are at least 25 times greater than WHO standard. Despite the poor water quality, six million people living in the river basin, including the eight million residents of the Rio metropolitan region, depend on Paraiba do Sul for potable water.
Polluting cities along the paraiba 9 [SPRING 2016]
OUr thesis Instead of centralizing resources on mono program and large infrastructure, what if we distribute waste water micro-infrastructure into the urban fabric as public spaces, through policies and a shared sense of responsibility? Our proposal is a future water management framework for AGEVAP to insert itself within the current jurisdictions and collaborate with stakeholders at various scales.
L
L
L TRIBUTARY
PARAIBA DO SUL
S
M
XL
S
MID PARAIBA 5.6 MILLION PEOPLE
L URBAN 125,000 PEOPLE S S S
M 5 NEIGHBOURHOODS 1,000 PEOPLE
S
S 27 FAMILIES 108 PEOPLE
scales of agevap 10
L
Scales of cleaning water Part of this framework is to negotiate the local landscape, and the culture and socio-economic dynamics that come with it. To implement this vision we focused our design on the creation of new urban centralities through the synergies between water infrastructure and socio-economic spaces. Driven by the design principle of manipulating surfaces and landform to make the processes of water more visceral and visible, a series of spatial typologies are grafted onto water infrastructures to create social and recreational spaces. Most importantly, these considerations will become “locally rooted� through decision making and participation at the community and municipal scale, allowing residents to foster a healthy relationship with the river. 11 [SPRING 2016]
M
S
Site with a lot of vacant land, an existing natural forest and a public school and water treatment facility
Site along the tributary which has an existing water treatment plant surrounded by vacant land
Site with monoculture Minha Casa Minha Vida housing
12
S
COMMUNITY SCALE
WATER HARVESTING ROOFS AND BIODIGESTERS
FOLD + PITCH ru n
7.5m
10m
10m
INDEPENDENT HOUSES
13 [SPRING 2016]
off
COLLECTIVE ROOFS
DIVERT + RE-USE/ STORE
Divert + Re-use Divert /+Store Divert Re-use+/ Re-use Store / Store
SHADE + GROW
Shade + Grow Shade + Shade Grow + Grow
GATHER + MEET
Gather +Gather Meet +Gather Meet + Meet
14
M
26m3 of earth
SCOOP + FILL
NEIGHBORHOOD NODE
6m
6m
COLLECTIVE WATER FILTER
UNPRODUCTIVE MEDIAN
15 [SPRING 2016]
3m
PUBLIC SPACE
6m
UnproductiveUnproductive median Unproductive median median
LEARN + EXPERIENCE x1 26m3 of earth
26m3 of earth
x1 26m3 of earth
x1
6m
Public space Public spacePublic space
GATHER + PLAY x2
x2 13m3 of earth
6m
13m3 of earth
x2
x3
13m3 of earth 7m3 of earth
x3 x5
REMEDIATE + MEET x3 x5
7m3 of1m3 earth of earth 7m3 of earth 1m3 of earth
x5
1m3 of earth
Learn + Experience Learn + Experience Learn + Experience Gather + PlayGather + Play Gather +Remediate Play + Remediate Meet +Remediate Meet + Meet
16
L
RIVER EDGE PARK
FLOOD MITIGATION & EROSION CONTROL
STITCH + POOL
10m
5m
DISCONNECTED RIVER EDGE
17 [SPRING 2016]
INTEGRATED RIVER EDGE
m
m
m
5m
CONNECTION TO RIVER
Integrated Integrated river Integrated edge river edge river edge
6.5 00
m
5m
Para
iba
m
m
5m
0.0 00
6.5 00 m
6.5 00 m 0.0 00
Connection Connection toConnection riverto riverto river
0.0 00
m
Disconnected Disconnected Disconnected river edge river edge river edge
Education Education Park Education Park Park
EDUCATION PARK
Para P iba araiba Do Do Do Sul Sul Sul
Dynamic Dynamic land/water Dynamic land/water edge land/water edge edge
DYNAMIC LAND/WATER EDGE
18
02 TO THE CORE
DIVERGENT NARRATIVES STUDIO, FALL 2015 TEAM MARSHALL ALLEN | ELENI GKLINOU | CHENXING LI | NISHANT MEHTA
“To the Core� seeks to leverage the prolific industry of apple production and processing in the state of New York, in an attempt to catalyze investment and broader economic growth in the Hudson Valley region. Building on the growing regional food and beverage industry, we propose the creation and branding of a local center in the Hudson Valley. Newburgh is ideal for such an endeavor, due to its convenient location on the intersection of Interstates 84 and 87, as well as its affordable industrial and commercial real estate and a labor force awaiting employment opportunities. The project assumes a phased approach with a public private partnership. It involves the creation of an artisanal cider house, the setting up of a demonstration orchard for apples. Future interventions include the setting up of the Newburgh Institute of Pomology and the pedestrianization of Washington Street that facilitates pedestrian movement. 21 [FALL 2015]
22
[SARATOGA SPRINGS]
[ALBANY]
[ATHENS] [HUDSON]
[KINGSTON]
[NEW PALTZ] [POUGHKEEPSIE]
[WALDEN] [NEWBURGH]
[BEACON]
[CORNWALL]
[PEEKSKILL]
[OSSINING]
REGIONAL STRATEGY The regional strategy involved leveraging the position of the city of Newburgh to take advantage of the prolific apple production in the Hudson Valley. It involved the setting up of apple processing center that was absent in the Hudson Valley region. The city of Newburgh with its connection to New York city and access to good infrastructure, was reimagined with a new identity, that of apples. It was envisioned that the city would become the apple capital of the region. 23 [FALL 2015]
[YONKERS]
[NEW YORK CITY]
FRESH-MARKET FRUIT ORCHARDS
SORTING
FRESH APPLES
PACKAGING
CRUSHING
CIDER VINEGAR
PRESSING
WASTE
PRE-FERMENTACLEAN| DRY| WE LL L IT
BOTTLING
WA SH IN G| BR
CL
STORAGE
FLIGHT S
PRE-PROCESSING
PROCESSING
CORING PRESSING
WASTE
APPLE SCRAPS
DISTRIBUTION
DIRECT MARKETING
BY-PRODUCTS
SLICING DEHYDRATION
BAKING PACKAG-
ESSENCE & ALCOHOL
STORAGE
ADDED VALUE PRODUCT
INDUSTRY
APPLE CIDER
KS UC TR
NG NI EA
NG NSI EA |CL NG HI US
SORTIN G
COLD STORAGE
FERMENTA-
INNOVATION & EDUCATION
IMAGE
STEWARDSHIP
BESTFOODS BAKING NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY
HUDSON VALLEY LIGHTING PEPSI COLA OF HUDSON VALLEY
NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY
GAMS TECH MAGNET SCHOOL
DR PEPPER SNAPPLE GROUP
MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE
BISHOP DUNN MEMORIAL SCHOOL
SITE 1 NEWBURGH CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
BEACON [15 MIN. FERRY RIDE]
SUNY ORANGE
NEWBURGH ARMORY UNITY CENTER
NEWBURGH BREWING COMPANY
WHY NEWBURGH? The system of apple processing was carefully studied and suitable sites were found in the city of Newburgh to kick start the apple industry. 24
MASTERPLAN The design involved turning the hill in the city that had faced urban renewal into a demonstration orchard. A craft cider house was to be setup in a rehabilitated factory building. Abutting the orchard, new research institutions were setup along with greenhouses and community orchards.
St. Patricks Church
VOCATIONAL INSTITUTE
SUNY Orange Washington Headquarters Monument
Newburgh Brewing Company
NEWBURGH CIDER COMPANY
NEW JETTY
25 [FALL 2015] 4 [SPRING STUDIO]
SUNY Kaplan Hall
COMMUNITY ORCHARD
NEWBURGH INSTITUTE OF POMOLOGY
DEMONSTARTION ORCHARD
26
NEWBURGH CIDER COMPANY
Newburgh Waterfront
27 [FALL 2015]
Newburgh Cider Company
COMMUNITY ORCHARDS
Community Orchards
Liberty Street
28
2.2
ES
MIL
2.2
2.2
1
P R I V AT E I N I T I AT I V E + TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
2
TA S T E N Y C + NYS BEVERAGE
3
CITY OF NEWBURGH + MTA
ES
MIL
ES
MIL
PHASING STRATEGY Driven by a public private partnership the project assumed a phased approach. The first step is to launch the Newburgh Cider Company, the second to create the Newburgh Institute of Pomology and the finally to setup a new ferry launch for the city. 29 [FALL 2015]
SEASONAL APPROACH The demonstration orchard was envisioned to be used throughout the year. The tourist season begins from the spring season when the trees blossom, and peaks during the harvest season between July and September. 30
03 WATER AS A CATALYST
FIVE BOROUGH STUDIO, SUMMER 2015 TEAM NISHANT MEHTA | FEI XIONG | ZIYANG ZENG
The lower east side, by virtue of its low-lying location, suffered massive destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy. This warranted the construction of a protective berm to keep the storm surge from inundating the area. Thus, in addition to what is being planned for the lower east side, we have the opportunity to plan for a rain event and subsequently to re-plan the NYCHA campus. The NYCHA campuses in this region are underserved and are isolated from the surrounding neighborhood. The campus along with the FDR Drive is a visual and physical barrier to the denizens of the neighborhood from accessing the East River Park. Thus building off the East Coast Resiliency Project, we propose to extend the berm over the FDR Drive, and integrate it into the NYCHA campus. The integration of the under used green space in the NYCHA campus to a larger green belt provides an opportunity to activate the campus landscape. 33 [SUMMER 2015]
34
MASTERPLAN The design is a channel holding filtered rainwater cutting through the campus, integrated along which is a public spine that ascends to the berm. It also combines the flows of pedestrian and water circulation thus creating a band of public activity.
35 [SUMMER 2015]
36
SECTION THROUGH THE PUBLIC SPINE The public spine has three primary nodes, the entrance plaza that attracts people from the neighborhood. The larger central plaza space that incorporates public recreation amenities and the connection to the larger landscaped berm.
37 [SUMMER 2015]
CONNECTION TO THE BERM
CENTRAL RECREATIONAL PLAZA
ENTRANCE PLAZA 38
OUTDOOR CAFE
SECTION THROUGH THE PUBLIC PLAZA 39 [SUMMER 2015]
SUNKEN RECREATION PLAZA
PATH ALONG PLAZA
COMMUNITY KITCHEN
40
04 THE BETEGAON RESERVE RANJITSINH ASSOCIATES, 2014
TEAM VIVEK GOUR BROOME | PRADNYA MAHAJAN | NISHANT MEHTA | VANDANA RANJITSINH
The preservation of the cow is intrinsic to Indian culture; this was an impetus for the project to create a sustainable ecosystem. The farm was modeled as an innovative development to foster economic, social and aesthetic change. The Reserve seeks to preserve an old tract of grassland, rich in embedded lore and memory, as a definitive marker in a region with rapidly changing land-use. The design of the Reserve puts in place self-renewing systems of water collection, fodder generation and waste management. A dedicated ecological remediation is the mainstay of the project. It is architecture of comfort and the horizontal, and settles in the land in long distinct bands of airy buildings. Use of locally sourced materials with low embodied energy innovate forms that build upon efficient practices and skills, evolving a climate friendly and sustainable design language and identity. 43 [PROFESSIONAL WORKS 2014]
44
MASTERPLAN The master plan aimed at the preservation of the exisiting heritage cattle farm whilst integrating it with a regenerated sustainable ecosystem. It involves the preservation of the land and the adjoining community as an interdependent synergy cycle that mutually benefits one another.
45 [PROFESSIONAL WORKS 2014]
46
COW SHELTER PROTOTYPE The cow shelters are designed to promote the freedom of movement of the cows, while creating distinct zones for rest, feeding and perambulating. The shelters are airy, dry and made from indigenous materials.
BAMBOO JOINERY
BAMBOO MESH MATS
JUTE FLOORING DETAIL
47 [PROFESSIONAL WORKS 2014]
CATTLE PENS
BIRTHING PENS
REJUVENATION PENS
LAYOUT OF THE COWSHED
BULL PENS 48
THE ‘COW’ RESEARCH FARM The research farm is located centrally, to facilitate better human-cow interaction. It was conceptualized with the cow as the nucleus of the system. Ancillary programs like birthing sheds, health facilities, grasslands and an arboretum surround it. 49 [PROFESSIONAL WORKS 2014]
RECYCLING OF COW DUNG The cow dung collected from the cowsheds is harvested in biodigesters providing electricity as a co benefit to the farm.
SECTION, OF THE RESEARCH FARM The building is designed with a open ground floor plan and vertical shafts to facilite better ventilation and provide ample shade.
50
05 CLUBVIEW APARTMENTS RANJITSINH ASSOCIATES, 2014
TEAM KRUTI HARIA | NISHANT MEHTA | VANDANA RANJITSINH
The project is situated in Dasve, one of the five self-sustaining towns of Lavasa, India’s first planned hill city. Being situated in the Western Ghat regions of Maharashtra having abundant green coverage, Lavasa is conceived as a self-sufficient live-work microcosm that is ecologically sensitive. The project is planned as a low rise, high-density service apartment complex, which yearns to house the maximum number of people with minimum built up are footprint. Obtaining a view of the large man made reservoir opposite it, is an important driver for the organizational strategy of the project. The basalt stone clad ground floors of the front wings accommodate retail shops that open out to a pergola-covered walkway. The relatively minimal footprint allows the green cover from the hillside to permeate through the project. The apartments range from 1 BHK, 1 1/2 BHK, 2 BHK and Studio flats, meant for single family occupation. 53 [PROFESSIONAL WORKS 2014]
54
55 [PROFESSIONAL WORKS 2014]
56
TYPICAL FLOOR PLAN These construction documents were created and issued to the civil contractors working on site. 57 [PROFESSIONAL WORKS 2014]
58
06 REJUVENATING THE BAZAAR K.R.V.I.A., 2014 TEAM NISHANT MEHTA
The project began by questioning the flexibility of urban environments and their ability to be receptive to change. The diamond trade in Mumbai is one such territorial economy that is undergoing a metamorphosis. Housed, in a dilapidated colonial inner city precinct, it is at a threat of being relocated; hence altering the vibrant urban fabric it operates out of currently. The intervention, a diamond guild house, was developed an interface on the node, that provided an identity to the precinct, reviving the node with commercial and socio-cultural program spaces that tied it to the adjoining temple complex. The intervention is a multi storied hybrid program space, housing programs for the diamond trade and other skill building activities, is lifted of the ground to allow a thriving streetscape to percolate through the building. The volume is puncture by a vertical piazza holding circulation routes, which visually ties it to the streetscape. 61 [UNDERGRADIATE WORKS 2013]
62
63 [UNDERGRADIATE WORKS 2013]
PROGRAM DERIVATION
64
WORKSHOP TYPOLOGIES The current typology of the buildings of the precinct is of a dense mixed-use kind. The buildings have retail on the ground level, with small workshops on the higher floors. These workshops double up as live-work spaces for the employees. 65 [UNDERGRADIATE WORKS 2013]
PLANNING THE PRECINCT
SITE CONSIDERATIONS
A strategy of ‘urban surgeries’ was employed to plan the precinct. The projectdevelops as a node of commerce and social activity, into which user specific programs are clustered and inserted. Exisiting landmarks are used to anchor the project.
Existing historic and urban conditions were important drivers in defining the design strategy implemented. The circulation of people and vehicles were studied to open up the surfaces of the node, rendering it a marker for the trade precinct.
66
67 [UNDERGRADIATE WORKS 2013]
FORM DERIVATION
68
69 [UNDERGRADIATE WORKS 2013]
DELAYERED AXONOMETRIC The intervention is a multi storied hybrid program space that houses programs for commercial interests and skill development. It seeks to accentuate the street edge and provides for the streetscape to permeate through the building. It developed as series of stacked floor plates rising to form terraced spaces at the node. The facade folds along the street edge to accommodate the thriving economy of the streetscape. The Axonometric depicts the zoning of programmatic spaces, their specific materiality and user circulation routes.
70
GROUND LEVEL PLAN 61 [UNDERGRADIATE WORKS 2013]
SECOND LEVEL PLAN
THIRD LEVEL PLAN
The intervention is a multi storied hybrid program space that houses programs for commercial interests and skill development. It seeks to accentuate the street edge and provides for the streetscape to permeate through the building. It developed as series of stacked floor plates rising to form terraced spaces at the node. The facade folds along the street edge to accommodate the thriving economy of the streetscape. The Axonometric depicts the zoning of programmatic spaces, their specific materiality and user circulation routes. 62
VIEW OF THE STREET NODE
SECTION THROUGH THE VERTICAL PIAZZA 63 [UNDERGRADIATE WORKS 2013]
VIEW OF THE FOOD PLAZA
64
‘An idea is salvation by imagination’ - Frank Lloyd Wright
nishantmehta1209@gmail.com | +1 7189165141 | Apt 32A 130 Morningside Drive, New York NY 10027