Sanskritiaalya: Indian Cultural Center Thesis project that re-defines Indian architectural style as a global rendition of architecture. The adaptation of patterns and symbolism in Indian architectural styles culminate to create an Indian Cultural Centre; Sanskritiaalya in the global city of New York.
Urban Tree: Vertical Urban Farming Experimentation of Prof. Dickson Despommier’s ideology of vertical urban cultivation and incorporating residential use to define a new criteria of mixed use. This building will become the pioneer in educating and raising awareness of urban farming in the heart of Chelsea neighborhood.
LA Union Station: High Speed Rail Project With proposals of High Speed Rail underway, this project looks into the re-design of the urban setting of the LA Union station to accommodate the new age transportation. This is also an attempt to redefine and reconnect the broken urban fabric of downtown Los Angeles.
01 Sanskritiaalya: Indian Cultural Center Design Project 01 Sanskritiaalaya is a thesis project that research the art of story telling through built spaces in architecture. Design methodologies of Indian traditional architecture, from it’s site selection, design layouts and materials, have defined story telling for centuries creating timeless structures. Through this project, the same principles are re-introduced as a design ideology in the modern context in an attempt to revive this dying architectural style. This thesis re-defines this theory through the design of an Indian cultural center that explores the rich heritage and history of Indians in United States of America in the heart of the global center, New York city.
Autocad, Revit, Photoshop, Indesign Cultural Center Design
Aligning the blocks around the central courtyard. First Floor
Creating a central courtyard space as an organizing tool of individual spaces to the narrative of the form. Second Floor
Compartmentalizing the form into four divisions to define spaces based on the four cardinal directions. Third Floor
Orienting the structure to face the cardinal axes to implement “Vaastu� principles. Fourth Floor
Height restricted to five stories from ground level. Three stories from highline level to create an inviting and comfortable environment. Fifth Floor
Site Development
Floor Plans
West side Highway
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Site Plan
Detail A Connection between glass roof and beam supporting jali wall.
Detail B Connection between floor slab and slanted beam supporting jali wall.
Detail C Detailed wall section for Jali wall incorporating vapor barrier layer for climate control.
Detailed Section
View of rooftop garden
View into courtyard
View of approach
Elevation on South
Longitudinal Section
02 Urban Tree: Vertical Urban Farming Project 02 The Urban Tree is designed based on the concept of “vertical farming� popularized by Dr. Despommier that claimed mass cultivation of plants in skyscrapers is the sustainable solution to future of farming. due to the limited space available for construction, the building is designed to engage and enlighten the citizens of New York city about the practices of urban farming. It attempts to create an interactive platform where the users can experience different techniques of urban farming and encourage them to implement these in their own urban habitats. The residential part of the caters to the inhabitants, designed to have engaging spaces of living, farming and entertainment.
Autocad, Revit, Photoshop, Indesign Mixed use- Residence and Farming
Detailed Section
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Restaurant incorporated with hydroponic farming, urban farming gallery, administration offices.
Restaurant incorporated with hydroponic farming, Green yoga studio and Spa.
Third Floor Plan
Residential Floor Plan
Community garden with Farmer’s market accessible to public through Highline.
Residential apartments with individual aquaponics farming techniques.
farming
plots
utilizing
Floor Plans
Entrance to the building (Left)
Interior view of apartment with aquaponics farming planters (Top left)
View of gallery displaying hydroponics farming columns (Right)
03 LA Union Station: High Speed Rail Project Project 03 Considering the proposal put forward by Los Angeles to introduce high speed rail, the urban setting of the historic Union station and the surroundings are taken into consideration. The project extends beyond preservation of Union station and addition of a new terminal for the high speed rail, to an urban retrofitting of LA downtown. Key nodes are identified and developed in 3 stages: re-green, re-connect and re-program. The result is an urban fabric that connects the community in a holistic way and redefines the urban setting.
Autocad, Photoshop, Illustrator, 3dsmax Urban design
Dodger Stadium
Large surface parking area and accommodates large audience during games. Require more activities during off-peak seasons.
Historic Park
Barren land in city center area. Lack of maintenance of biodiversity and green spaces.
Brewery Art Walk
Art district with aspiring artists and professionals. Disconnection to downtown area and do not attract major crowds.
Piggyback Yard
Used as temporary storage for train compartments and rails. Urban degeneration due to lack of activities.
Correctional Facility
Central location in downtown area. Compromises safety and security of citizens
Union Station and Alameda Street Lack of pedestrian accessibility. Deficiency of public interaction zones.
Japanese American National Museum
Absence of a major pedestrian connection to downtown area. Walkability of city not utilized.
Major Nodes of Concern
Re-green
Re-connect
Re-program
Re-green and Re-connect
Re-program
Perspective view of new waterfront development along the river
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