Undergraduate Architecture Portfolio | Riddhi Agarwal | WCFA

portfolio architecture undergraduate

selected works (2019-22)

riddhi agarwal

wadiyar centre for architecture, mysuru

riddhi agarwal

d.o.b: 09/11/2001

email: 2019_riddhi.a@wcfa.ac.in

phone: 6353784102

languages: english, hindi

I’m intrigued with the interlink of human behaviour and architecture and through the four years of this course, I’ve been trying to learn and understand the vastness of architecture as a tool to enhance human life as well as its limitations when used to satisfy the human ego.

education drafting

2007-2017

2017-2019

2019- present

Loyola School, Dhanbad, Jharkhand

A-one School, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Wadiyar Center for Architecture, Mysuru, Karnataka

experience

ANDC design competition (2021)

Interiors for a restaurnt in Mysuru (2022)

College Poetry club head (2021)

Wall Illustration painting (2022)

Bamboo workshop (2022)

ANDC fashion trophy (2022)

additional skills

Illustration

Writing

Diagramming and analysis

Hand drafting

Model making

Layout and presentation

Autodesk Autocad

Autodesk Revit

modelling

Trimble Sketchup

Autodesk Revit

Rhinoceros

rendering

Enscape

Lumion

Vray

post production

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Procreate

01 fibre to fabric.

small scale industry

07 sem I autumn 2022 I 12 weeks

individual work

The intent of the semester was to understand the typology of a small scale industry in the semi rural context of Anegundi, Karnataka. Based on a site study to The Kishkinda Trust, an existing banana fibre centre, where women worked individually from their own houses, the idea was to try and accomodate for all of the production and processing of the fibre under a single roof. Looking at banana fibre as a raw material, this project looks at the transformation of it into fabric, using traditional handlooms, thereby reviving the craft and sustaining the farmers as well as the women of the community in the given cultural context.

Anegundi is typically a hot and dry area but the site developed it’s own micro climate because of the presence of the tungabhadra river on the East. With sustainability being one of the major area of focus in the semester, the underlying behaviour of materials, varying climatic changes and the idea of comfort were some of the key elements explored.

Location: Anegundi, Karnataka

Site Area: 10,000sqm

Built up Area: 5500sqm

Studio Guides:

Prof. Prashant G Pole

Prof. Anand Krishnamurthy

Prof. Shrutie Shah

Asst. Prof. Asijit Khan

Assoc. Prof. Surendran Aalone

The semester evoked us to try and understand new mediums. We started with developing our own intents and representing them through physical models which were then converted to charcoal sketches. Futher, certain organization and massing iterations were looked at to decide our response as well as where our interventation could potentially sit on site.

The design takes an untangled and simplistic approach to breakdown the linear process of conversion of banana fibres into fabric. With the ground floor housing various activities, the first floor becomes a platform providing for shaded drying of the fibres and accommodating around another 20 looms. Two relatively smaller basement areas for storing the stems and a block printing unit have been incorporated. The organization of the built, frames and opens up the view for the people towards the river on the East. The South serves as the public plinth for the village shaded from the harsh light by plantations, thereby also defining the site edge.

The project uses locally sourced, cost effective materials that are ecologically sustainable like CSEB for construction of the walls with a lime plaster, timber fenestrations, CLT beams and recycled corrugated GI sheet for roofing. The idea was also to look at local construction techniques to benefit and sustain the larger community.

1. Banana stems Splicing

2. Washing and Dyeing

3. Making of Yarn

4. Handlooms

5. Washrooms

6. Retail store

Riddhi Agarwal 4CM19AT055

Riddhi Agarwal 4CM19AT055

Riddhi Agarwal 4CM19AT055

Corrugated GI sheet roofing

Exploded Axonometry

CLT beam

Clerestory window

CSEB Pier 450x150mm

CSEB WALL 300mm

Pivoted timber shutter

Intermediate floor slab

Handlooms 1800x1800mm

CSEB WALL 300mm

Pivoted timber shutter

CSEB Pier 450x150mm

Cross-woven banana fiber

Suspened banana fabric

Section BB’

02 cultural cooking culinary

institute

06 sem I spring 2022 I 12 weeks individual work

The semester traversed on the design of an institution located in Nashik, Maharashtra. The brief was to design for a client who is a third-generation farmer, and wants to build a culinary institution from nature’s point of view, the concept being “field-to-fork”. The program would include harvest, storage, processing, packaging, sale and consumption of food, with a strong focus on the production of local food for local consumers. The studio focused equally on the built (the institute) and the unbuilt (the farm) both in terms of area and significance.

Nashik has a tropical climate and is hot year round. The 2 acre site is placed in a comparatively residential neighborhood with almost 1 acre of it being solely dedicated to farming. Easy and sustainable construction methods were used to create a responsive architecture and generate engagement with the local community.

Location: Nashik, Maharashtra

Site Area: 8000sqm

Built up Area: 4000sqm

Studio Guides:

Prof. Ryan Thomas

Asst. Prof. Akash Rai

Assoc. Prof. R Kiran Kumar

Asst. Prof. Surendran Aalone

Prof. SG Srinivas

Asst. Prof. Kavana Kumar

ground floor plan

Case study: Viettel Academy, Vietnam by VTN Architects

How does the constant horizontal changing vertical affect the visual?

first floor plan

second floor plan

third floor plan

The design is like a village, broken down into units and does not only help in providing also dictates and brings design as a single project.

A study of the Viettel Academy in Vietnam was done to understand the institutuion. Takeaways from the project were, understanding of the relationship the built and void and how one celebrates it architecturally, the working vertical plane varies with the constant horizontal and the idea of an accessible helping to keep the majority of the built shaded and regulating the micro region.

These learnings were translated into design ideations, with the help of where the massing was first broken down into clusters with super roof fragmented built.

How do the voids celebrate

understanding of the super roof

understanding of the grid

Riddhi Agarwal

The voids in the Viettel Academy looked at as negative spaces, a result of the built, rather connect.

How does the constant horizontal changing vertical affect the spatial visual?

The voids here enhance the the green trees and the brick reflected on the water surface, architecture a thoughful

The design is like a village, fragmented broken down into units and the super does not only help in providing shade also dictates and brings together design as a single project.

How is the regularity of the down in the project?

How do the voids celebrate the built?

The voids in the Viettel Academy aren’t looked at as negative spaces, achieved a result of the built, rather they become connect.

The voids here enhance the built around the green trees and the brick facade reflected on the water surface, making architecture a thoughful space.

The grid here dictates the but does not overpower it shifts in the grid helps achieve corridors/open spaces and subtraction makes it appropriate accomodate different functions. principle reflects in the elevation unorganized windows break the otherwise monotonous

How is the regularity of the grid broken down in the project?

The grid here dictates the spatial quality but does not overpower it entirely. shifts in the grid helps achieve corridors/open spaces and slight addition subtraction makes it appropriate to accomodate different functions. The principle reflects in the elevation where

diagramming

the typology of an relationship between working of the grid, how the accessible super roof, micro climate in tropical diagrams and models helping in tying up the

a single built mass

carving the built according to functionality

fragmenting the built super roof unifying the fragmented diagramming iterations development of massing

The project aims at a communion of the farm and the institution. A mindful decision about the crop cycle was made to ensure year round productivity and regulation of the mineral contents in the soil.

Programs were grouped and organized in clusters based on functionality for all stakeholders including students and the community, under an accessible super roof in the intermediate level. The communal access allowed for people to walk through the entire farm and gain an understanding of the institute’s ideology and priciples while availing facilities of the library, workshops and the student run restaurant.

To maximize the use of locally available materials and employ building techniques which would help maintain thermal comfort, 400mm thick rammed earth construction was done using the reddish brown laterite excavated on site along with a reinforced concrete structural system.

1. Lecture rooms

2. Skill test Kitchens

3. Cold Storage

4. Washrooms

5. Student Accomodation

Section AA’

Student’s accomodation

Culinary kitchens

Demonstration labs

Student’s accomodation

Skill test kitchen

Lecture rooms

Student’s lounge

Restaurant

Student’s dining

Admin block

Processing & packaging

Exploded Axonometry

Library

Section BB’

03 modern mantapa

public pavilion

05 sem I autumn 2021 I 12 weeks individual work

The brief of the semester was to design a pavilion or ‘mantapa’ in Srirangapatna. A Mantapa is a pillared hall with no specific function, the structure being nothing more than a floor, roof and columns. The specificity of the function comes from the manner in which the user engages with these three elements. The mantapa is essentially a mere container which embodies the void. In an Indian context, it is usually associated with temples, open on all four sides with a very distinctive plinth and roof. Its essence lies in its modularity(its potential for multiplication) and adaptability(in terms of function and regional construction techniques).

The context for intervention is on the assumption that the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple plans to expand a portion of its public functions into the maidan in front.

Location: Srirangapatna, Karnataka

Site Area: 9000sqm

Built up Area: 1500sqm

Studio Guides:

Prof. Anand Krishnamurthy

Asst. Prof. Akash Rai

Assoc. Prof. R Kiran Kumar

Asst. Prof. Shreyas Baindur

Asst. Prof. Shashank Satish

Asst. Prof. Asijit Khan

GRID EMPTY CENTRE RITUALISTIC PATHWAY

GRID EMPTY CENTRE RITUALISTIC PATHWAY

GRID EMPTY CENTRE RITUALISTIC PATHWAY

Gandhi Ashram Ahmedabad

Bharat Bhavan Bhopal

grid empty centre ritualistic pathway

Jawahar Kala Kendra Jaipur

To understand the public realm, a few projects done by Ar. Charles Correa were looked at.

Major takeaways were learning how certain principles like the grid, the empty centre and the ritualistic pathway are applied in architecture of different scales and yet their essence stay the same. Correa’s idea of the ‘ritualistic pathway’ was interpreted, attempted and carried forward into the design iteration to form the public pavilion in the town of Srirangapatna.

navigating the pathway

Plan at 900mm

The pavilion sits as a public passageway, an off shoot of the existing street for people to traverse through. The built folds and unfolds, re-arranging itself around the corridor or the ‘ritualistic pathway’ connecting people to all the various programs whilst facilitating movement. It thereby, also creates pockets of spaces for the rural community of Srirangapatna to gather around. At the heart of the project is a water courtyard inspired from the temple kalyani, which currently remains closed and unattended, to create a break away space for the visitors to relax.

To contextualise the pavilion with the existing temple, materials used in the project are locally sourced granite with the internal walls done with RCC. The street or the Southern facade uses a porous jali granite wall which has large thermal mass to create an enclosure while also making people inquisitive about what lies inside.

04 working drawings

housing project

06 sem I spring 2022 I 14 weeks group work

Studio Guides:

Prof. S G Srinivas

Prof. Manoj Ladhad

Asst. Prof. Gregory M Anto

Asst. Prof. Surendran Aalone

Asst. Prof. Thyagrajan C

3 BHK unit plan

05 interior design

wcfa exhibition and pantry space redesign

The brief for the interior design studio was to relook and redesign the existing exhibition and pantry space in the WCFA campus. A study of the light quality, colour and material palette became our inspiration for the moodboard. The project not only looked at the built environment but also focused on the moods of the students on campus. The outcome was an adaptible and multifunctional space with revolving panels, allowing for ease of acess whilst accomodating for student works across each semester.

Interior design

07 sem I autumn 2022 I 12 weeks group work

interior design

anish bhargav neha d riddhi agarwal ankitha macha

through the lobby, exhibition space & pantry

anish bhargav neha d riddhi agarwal ankitha macha

anish bhargav neha d riddhi agarwal ankitha macha

anish bhargav neha d riddhi agarwal ankitha macha

interior design

anish bhargav neha d riddhi agarwal ankitha macha

through the lobby, exhibition space & pantry

research and documentation

measure drawing

07 sem I autumn 2022 I 04 weeks group work

A study and measure drawing of the the traditional houses in Anegundi, Karnataka which have been repurposed as workspaces for the weavers of Kishkinda Trust.

fibre

fibre (spliced or rope)

Table mats, Cushion Bags mat weaved by them is inches.

Crotchet needles or crude sticks are banana fibre rope The banana fiby using water

theory of architecture

03 sem I individual work

The idea of this assignment was to identify the different ‘theories’ of architecture in any existing project and represent it through diagrams. Analysis of a total of six such buildings were done including our design project of the given semester.

07 sem I group work

The assignment in the elective was to talk about ‘failure’. In groups of two, we were asked to design a zine based on the failures of a professional course. We decided to tie up certain lose comments often heard in architecture schools and what is often considered failure.

HOW TO BE AN ARCHITECT AND OR HAVE A HEALTHY LIFE

The Screen Pavilion, through the articulation of screens creates a state between occlusion and opening The screens extend beyond the perimeter of the built space coexisting with nature thus establishing the connection between the internal space and the external natural environment. The materials with different permeability presents the poetic aspect with architectural materiality in turn also providing a good sense of internal privacy and security.

Screen Pavilion, China

Ray and Emilio Studio Visual Connection

The Screen Pavilion offers multiplicity of views and spatial complexities like chinese gardens. It establishes a strong visual connect between the spaces; from built to the landscape, architecture to nature and also among the users, allowing them to visually capture a perfectly marked view through any frame.

The pavilion, through the articulation of screens creates a state between occlusion and opening. The screens extend beyond the perimeter of the built space coexisting with nature thus establishing connection between the internal and external natural environment. The materials with varying permeability presents the poetic aspect in turn also providing a good sense of internal privacy.

Visual Connection

Screen Pavilion Hangzhou, China, 2020 Ray and Emilio Studio

It offers multiplicity of views and spatial complexities like chinese gardens establishing a strong visual connect between the spaces; from built to the landscape, architecture to nature and also amongst the users, allowing them to visually capture a perfectly marked view through any frame.

Riddhi Agarwal

3D Diagram

2D Diagram