A R C H I T E C T U R E
P O R T F O L I O
RISHI.N.SHAH
Telephone - +91-9909947374 Email Adress - rishishahn@gmail.com
“There’s a reason, architecture isn’t taught using textbooks”
Curriculum Vitae Education - GSHSEB - HSC : St.Kabir School, Naranpura, Ahmedabad (March 2010 - March 2012) - B.Arch : Institute of Design, Environment and Architecture, Indus University, Gujarat, India
Work Experience Student Editor (May 2016)
Publication - Building Dreams in Mud
Documentation of Workshop done with Center of Science for Villages, Wardha.
Rajesh Suthar Architects (Aug 2016 - Sep 2016)
Architectural projects - Kuldip Singh Vihol Residence, Gandhinagar - Prakash.Patel Party-Plot, Kudasan, Gandhinagar - Vraj-Gopi Greenz, Palodiya, Ahmedabad - Ratibhai Patel Residence, Pratham Bunglows
Internship - Thumbimpressions Collaborative (June 2017 - Nov 2017)
Architectural projects - Dhum Residence, Parle Point, Surat - Rupawal Farmhouse, Navsari - Vijay Vaidya Residence, Surat - Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, Dang
The LOG STORY - Furniture designing - Drawings and execution
Conducted Worksop - Bamboo Workshop, S.A.L college, Ahmedabad
Related Study Projects 1. Ludia, Kutch, Gujarat
Documentation of local Houseform (Bhunga)
2. Himachal Pradesh
Documentation of settlements of Naddi and Bal village
3. Wardha, Nagpur
Learnt construction techniques used at Center of Science for Villages, Wardha Built 1:1 scale structure in college premises
4. Polo Forest, Gujarat
Study and documentation of temples and carving details
Skills
Workshops
Software
Hand skills
- Photography workshop
- Autocad
- Model making
- Teracota workshop
- Rhino
- Deployable strucutures workshop
- Sketchup
- Sketchup and 3D max
- Vray for Sketchup - Twin-motion - Adobe Photoshop
- Rammed-earth and CSEB workshop
- Adobe Indesign
Co-curricular activities
Languages
- Photography - Writing narratives - Poetry
- English - Hindi - Gujarati
Content
Urban Insert Studio - House form Typology Analysis - Mapping the City - Anganwadi Primary School, Jodhpur
Heritage Conservation Institute - Program Formulation - Site selection criteria - Form Evolution - Design Strategies
Research Thesis
Perception of scale in relation to Organization of spaces - Scope of study -Methodology - Analysis
Internship Work - Dhum residence, Surat - Rupawala farmhouse, Navsari - Furniture
Related Study Project - Building dreams in Mud - Documentation of settlements of Naddi and Bal
Material Exploration - Bamboo workshop - Rammed Earth and CSEB workshop - Stone
Urban Insert Studio
Houseform Typology Analysis Study here shows the understanding of different typologies of house forms in the old city of Jodhpur. This analysis was done as a part of a group project between three people. This study helped us understand what were the design strategies used in the earlier times, based on the material availability, context and other factors. This analysis also helped us understand how topology played a major factor affecting the design of these houses as some of them were situated on a steep slope.
Floor Plan
Envelop
Plinth
Stairs
Courtyard
Openings
Terrace
Mapping The City Jodhpur as a city is filled with cultural heritage. As a result, major economy of the city is based on tourism till the present date. These extensive mapping exercises were carried out by our whole batch in order to understand the spread of urban fabric of the old city of Jodhpur. This included an understanding of building use, street connections, the interdependency of heritage buildings and residential fabric, the terrace connections in such a steal topology of the fabric, the relation between the public open spaces and the built fabric. etc
Street Street connections intersections
Open space usage map
Building Heights map
Open space analysis map
Building Use map
Nolli’s plan
Anganwadi Primary School, Jodhpur
Site Justification There are three major public open spaces around the site, but no open spaces where children in the area can play. The open space of the Anganwadi can cater to these children as a play area.
GOLNADDI LAKE
Due to the existence of maximum residential area in the context, children attending the Anganwadi can come from the nearby area of the school itself. The interdependency between Gulabsagar lake and Golnadi lake diverts maximum vehicular movement on the primary street. Secondary and tertiary streets connecting adjacent to the site are used just for pedestrian movement, which makes the site safer for children. There are several cul-de-sac conditions on both sides of the site. As Anganwadi can be accessed from both primary and tertiary street, these cul-desac conditions increase the flow of pedestrians from the school.
Legend Cal-de-sac conditions Public open spaces
Pedestrian movement Vehicular movement
Site
Process
Concept -1
Concept -2
Concept -3
GULABSAGAR LAKE
Design Sratagies The design here is formulated keeping in mind the playful nature of children attending the Anganwadi. Hence the stairs, ramps and the overall circulation of the Anganwadi has been designed in such a way that remains as vague and playful as possible. But it has also been kept in mind that a person does not have to climb more amount of stairs.
The most important aspect of the city, ie. the organic nature of its urban fabric which is the resultant of the topology of the city, has been incorporated in the design. Hence the levels here are dealt with, in such a manner that no two classrooms or spaces have been kept at the same level except for the services of the building.
Apart from the organic nature, one more factor that is affected the most by its topology is the grain size of the individual buildings in the context of Anganwadi. Here the Anganwadi has been designed in such a way that each of the classrooms is an individual space in itself and none of them is adjacent to each other.
Class- 3B Play Area LVL +5700
The immediate context of the site is the residential buildings. Because of this, the narrow site does not offer the opportunity to create a sufficiently large area for the children to play. Hence the classrooms have been designed in such a way that each of the classrooms open up to its play area, for children to play.
Class-3B LVL +5700
Class- 3A Play Area LVL +5100
Class-3A LVL +6000
Class-4A LVL +5400
Class- 1B Play Area LVL +3000
Class-1B LVL +3000
Class-1A LVL +2400 Boys toilet LVL +3000 Girls toilet LVL +3000 Class- 1A Play Area LVL +3300
Class-2A LVL +3750
Class- 2B Play Area LVL +2400
Class-2B LVL +2700
Administration Office LVL +300
Principal Cabin LVL +300 Junior Kindergarnden LVL -300
Boys toilet LVL +600
Girls toilet LVL +600 Senior K.G Play Area LVL +00
Senior Kindergarnden LVL +00
Staff Room LVL -300
Assembly Area LVL -1200
Heritage Conservation Institute
Heritage Conservation Institute, Jodhpur
Heritage Walk Route
Section Model -Site -Heritage buildings
Jodhpur as a city is filled with rich cultural heritage and regional art. Also, a substantial part of its economy is run by its tourism. But even though Jodhpur runs much on its tourism, there are no efforts taken by either the ASI or INTACH. To conserve the identified heritage buildings and give them an active function, the Heritage Conservation Institute has been proposed. In the current scenario, these heritage buildings are given no importance and have become the residual part of the urban fabric, which is destroying the buildings and the social hygiene of the city. This institute here would take the charge of cleaning maintaining and conserving these heritage buildings, which would in return improve the economy and hygiene of the city.
-Heritage walk route
Materials used - Rammed earth - Exposed brick and concrete
Program Formulation Library storage-30 m2 Lightwells incorporated to reduce direct sun-light in the building because of extremely hot climate
Services120 m2 Users-35
Workspace-50 m2 Users-22
Exhibition storage-40 m2
Workshop and lab-200m2 Users - 30
Storage120 m2
Workshop storage-50 m2
C or e
Cafeteria-60 m Users - 30
il l An c
Divided the building into two parts and used completely different maertial inorder to fit into existing grain-size
2
ar y
or ting
Program Requirements Su
pp
Administration-60 m2 Users-12
Pesentation area-35 m2 Users-21
Exhibition-100 m2 Users-30
Library-120 m2 Users-30 Level difference given to further differentiate them as two completely different buildings
Site Selection Criteria
A. Requirement of site1. Extrovert nature - Served by busy street on north side. 2. Introvert nature - Served by the dead walls of hospital, Mahila baug jhalrah and the adjacent commercial building.
B. The participants can work hands-on on the nearby built heritage to learn the conservation techniques.
C. The existence of major commercial edge on site creates a larger grain size for the site to respond.
Form Evolution
Design Sratagies 1. No level difference or threshold has been used to mark the boundary of the building. As a result of this, the street in the building which is leading to the jhalrah naturally becomes part of the surrounding street network.
Consider whole building as a singular mass.
Extending the street through the building, resulting in dividing it into two parts.
Giving a central expand the street.
court
to
Keeping the street width same throughout, to maintain its character, making the street entrance wider.
Keeping the connections between the two buildings minimum.
Existing blank walls shared by the site.
Introducing light shafts to have diffused light inside building throughout the day.
Keeping the walls facing the primary street blank.
2. The street going from within the building leads directly to the jhalrah. And because of this narrow scale of the street, the scale of jhalrah is enhanced to a major extent which acts as an element of surprise for the visitor as well as for the local people.
3. As the inner street becoming the part of the street network, the building gets visually divided into two blocks. Here two different materials have been used to make the building fit in the smaller grain size of the surrounding fabric.
Research Thesis
Perception of scale in relation to organization of spaces In the case of Gandhi Labour Institute
Scope of Study Abstract Every space has a certain kind of experience to offer, this experience might be planned by the architect or it could be just the resultant of the built environment. Though experience is a subjective thing, there is always an opportunity created by a space, to experience it in a certain manner. Here the study aims at analysing, how the spatial organization of a built form can affect the visual perception of scale of individual spaces. Although each space individually has certain scale of itself, but this scale might completely change when another space is brought adjacent to it. Hence arrangment of spaces plays a major role. There are three spaces selected in the case study and two different paths leading to each space. Further the results obtained from analysis , have been compared to observe the changes in the perception.
1.8 m
2.3 m
As we can see here. Though size of human in both the figures is same, scale of the door in fig-2 is extremely dominant, which makes human in fig-2 appear to be smaller in size than the human in fig-1
Fig - 1
1.8m
3.2 m
N.T.S
Fig - 2
Methodology Aim
To understand how sequence of spaces helps in perceiving scale in a builtform. Decode the role of scale in the formation of spaces in a built form.
Objective
To understand the effects of built elements on the judgement of scale. ` Find out the relation between the sequence of spaces and judgement of scale. What is scale in relation to architecture Ways to perceive Scale
Literature Study
Gestalt’s laws of visual perception Relation of movement pattern and scale Form
Analysis
Focus
Approach/entry to the building Treatment of fragments in overall form Cone of Vision Relation of foreground and background Depth
Parameters Axis
Sequence
Visual character and proximity
Approach/entry to space The orientation of the space Relation of part to part Relation of part to whole Size, position and distance of a spatial element from the viewer Relative value and absolute value of spatial elements
Identification of Visual frames and movement pattern Analysis of Visual frames Comparing the analysis of the selected paths Observations Conclusion
Analysis Elements affecting the scale of Entrance Cone of vision Eye Level
Scale is perceived smaller because of the sequence incorporated by following factors – 1. The difference in plaster of vault and wall, also the termination of the vault is not on the edge of the wall; rather it is recessed in, separating the identity of wall and vault. 2. Doors and windows to the auditorium and seminar hall are pushed inside. 3. Semi-open space before the entrance door. 4. Provision of skylight to the seminar hall.
Transition form open space to closed space
0
2
6
10M
- In the above frame, the scale of the vault above entrance foyer is perceived to be relatively small because of the dominance of other elements around it. - But when the spectator enters the foyer, the same vault suddenly feels very huge, because of its blankness and approach to space.
Elements affecting the scale of Central court
The smaller scale of the court also adds to in the judgement of the scale of passage. This judgement of scale comes from the following factors – 1. Horizontal lines of groves in the wall. 2. of
Recessed passage
pockets on
in the
the parapet first floor.
3. Recessed opening and pushed out balcony on the first floor in the foreground. 4. The floor is divided significantly using thick red lines, and the use of different flooring materials. 5. The scale of trees compared to the scale of space.
Difference in approach to Garden area Here in first section as spectator is approaching the space from same level, there is not much variation in perception of scale of the garden area. But in second section as a person goes from terrace to the garden, scale of horizontal surface of terrace acts as a factor of comparison to horizontal surface of garden area.
Internship work
2200
UP
UP 100
A’
665
4875
4875
2410
1230
375 150 450
530 70
1695
70
1060
150 450
1450
3875
150 450
600
115
3630
230
375 150
150 380
150 450
600 115 150
900
375 915250
1050 280 280
DN
230
3025
2560
DN
150
230
1215
1330
1050
480 150
115
2515
830
1105
3415
280
695
695
150
535 165 150 150 250 150 415
1710
2230
2385 3230
3230
3515
50 550
4575 4010
900
3480
4875
150
180
1715
750
1095
750
1565 665
900
280 280 280 280 280 280 280
115
1900
100 10050
135
1215
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150
115
980 1230 115 115 600 330380 150 600
830
150
280 280 280 280 280 280 280 280
300
3875 150
1360 250
115
250
1950
4875
A
1360
480
150
375 150 450
B’
10425 2400
1900
900
1925
370 230
3875
10425
5195
150
230
5645
THIRD FLOOR PLAN BUILT UP AREA- 38.8 sq. m.
10050
B
N.T.S
FIRST FLOOR PLAN BUILT UP AREA- 43.6 sq. m.
B’
Second Floor Plan 10425
230
Skylight
2530
5250
sliding folding door
UP
150
665
2415
Terrace
A’
850 150
light from above
250
230
115
280 280 280 280 3675
1100
600 15954725
695
115
3415
1080
2515
4575
1750
150
DN
4875 3230
3745
115 450
1375
900
2115 100
100
1315
2080 900
695
115
1090
375
150
375 150 450
530 70
2660 4400
70
95 370 230
1450
200 115
3630
1900
150
10425
2080
10050
230
3630
150
3415 5645
B
4025 SECOND FLOOR PLAN BUILT UP AREA- 46.6 sq. m.
375 150 450
150
2570
UP
4875
900
250
100 10050
3380
150
900
3245
150
280 280 280 280 280 280 280 280 280 280 280 280 985
115
665
1360
985280
750 250
150
600
665
330
1230
1900 150
4025
300
A
2365
480
150
375 150
250
4400
4875
The residence has two blank walls of the immediate adjacent houses as its context, making intake of natural light a major challenge. Hence lightwells have been provided and front of the facade has been treated with heavy porosity to ensure that every space of house gets adequate natural light.
First Floor Plan
3230
Dhum Residence, Surat
230
N.T.S
Section C-C' A-A’ Section Section Section D-D' B-B’ Section D-D' 1250 2200
2700 2750
1000
375 375
1750 1700
2760 2810
2435
1110
2255
2205
2575
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2255
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325
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80
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2760 2810
1665
2110
2760 2810
2110
230
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2760
2810
475
325
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325
2810
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2580
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1670 1700
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525
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2760
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3395
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600 150
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2200
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13301650
1700
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2255
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2810 1260
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2280 2330
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1750 1700 2580
375 2810
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375 150 150
455 950
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Rupawala Farmhouse, Navsari The Farmhouse here has a context of wideopen land. The materials used are rammed earth, steel and wattle and daub. As rammed earth is a modular material, the span in which its module is designed, is such that minimum amount of shuttering is used at the time of construction and the grooves in the elevation look symmetrical. In order to visually confine the closed spaces towards inside, light-courts have been incorporated in the design.
Floor Plan
Steel truss used as the roof support system Wattle and daub is used as a separator as to divide adjacent spaces under a single continuous roof. Light wells introduced to have the indoor spaces use a minimum amount of artificial light throughout the day time
Bamboo canopy incorporated as a separator to create a buffer between the open and closed spaces A continuous shade roof system supported by a steel truss system is used to cover adjacent spaces
Colour shaded concrete used to match the colour scheme of the rammed earth walls.
Because of the lightwells provided to the primary spaces like the living room and bedroom, the spaces get isolated from the outside open spaces.
Here rammed earth is used through out the project, to re-use as much as soil extracted while digging the earth form foundation.
Furniture Journey of a chair. Pannel here shows the process of evolution of a chair designed at the firm. The idea here is to represent all the minor and major changes that the design has gone through while keeping in mind factors such as member thickness, load-bearing capacity, aesthetics, proportions, comfort, etc.
Swing
The swing has been designed using the materials cane and thread. The visuals below show the weaving details of the thread
Center piece
Tables here have been designed keeping the reference given by the client. The structural details and the material were selected according to the size of the table and its weight in comparison to the overall set.
Dinning table The design of the dining table is such that minimum use of the material is done and to keep the members aesthetically as thin as possible. Here in the base, 18 mm thick solid steel bars have been used to achieve the curve with the help of a single rod on both sides of the table.
Section A-A’
Plan at LVL +50mm
Section B-B’
Detail - B
Plan at LVL +700mm
Detail - A Plan
Section
Here the curve has been designed in such a way that it can take sufficient load irrespective of the fact that there are no secondary supports to the steel rod. The drawings show the details at the junctions and the corners. The plan has been cut at two levels to show how the steel rod gets curved.
Related Study Project
Building Dreams in Mud Hands-on workshop A winter programme that provided hands-on learning experience with the material and the technique of mud construction. After gaining a certain level of understanding on our visit to Wardha where the technique originated, we built a 1:1 scale structure on the college campus. Space is now used as an exhibition space for the campus.
China Mosaic
Mortar Layer
Guna Tiles
18mm Dia, 10ft long GI Pipe Centering Truss 9*13 inch Brick Pier 9*9*6 inch Concrete Block 9*9 inch Brick Pier 22*13*6 inch L-Shaped Brick Pier IPS Flooring
N.T.S
Process of Construction
1. Excavation
2. Brick Foundation
3. Plinth
4. Concrete blocks
5. Brick Piers
6. Lintel Band
7. Masonry chair
8. Temporary truss
9. Connecting the tursses
10. Laying of Guna tiles
11. Roof finishing
12. Mud Blocks
16. Mud Plaster
13. Mud Wall
14. Guna Jali
15. Window Detail
17. Pointing
Settlements of Naddi and Bal, Himachal Pradesh The settlements of Naddi and Bal near Mcloedganj in Himachal Pradesh were studied and documented as a part of the winter RSP. This study helped us understand how the topology, climate conditions and the availability of the materials can extremely affect the nature of the space in a region. The documentation was a group effort where each of us had to individually document a house and understand the lifestyle of the residents in order to understand the spatial characteristics of a space, and even though the houses were of similar sizes, the organization of spatial elements was completely different in each one.
House 1
House 2
Ground Floor Plan
First Floor plan
Ground Floor paln
First Floor plan
House 3
Ground floor plan
House 4
Ground floor plan
First floor plan
Material Exploration
Bamboo Workshop This workshop was conducted by Thumbimpressions Collaborative, in SAL college in Ahmedabad. I and a colleague from the firm had conducted and supervised the workshop onsite under the guidance of senior architects at the firm. The workshop was conducted in order to make the students understand the properties of bamboo such as spanning and how bamboo works compared to other materials. The structure here has just two supports and the further structure is cantilevered.
Foundation detail
The MS plates were already anchored to the concrete foundation beforehand to then support the bamboo columns.
MS supports were then welded to the MS plate in the base and then the bamboo columns were screwed to the MS supports.
Details and Joinary
Solid Bamboo joinery.
Reduction in the material to decrease the weight on the cantilever.
Solid bamboo connecting column to the bamboo jali.
Bamboo drilled and attached to a column to use as sitting.
Solid bamboo and hollow bamboo joinery.
Carved bamboo used for the bamboo jali behind the structure.
Detail of inclined members connected to the beam.
Solid bamboo connecting the column to the bamboo jali is then tied up to strengthen that junction.
Junctional detail of the bamboo column and the cantilevered horizontal bamboo.
Rammed Earth
This workshop was conducted in order to understand the construction of a rammed earth wall and to know its technical aspects. This wall was built in three segments in a sequential manner. The white band on the top was made by adding lime to the mixture. Then it was covered by a layer of cement concrete to finish it at the end.
After the ramming of the wall is done in the upper part, the lower shuttering is removed.
After ramming, the course is tested using a penetrometer.
The shuttering was fixed using wooden planks on both sides of the wall.
Edge of the wall is kept chamfered so that it does not crumble after construction.
Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks Process of making
Exploration
After understanding the process of making a CSEB block, we had done experiments with it. We mixed different colours of oxides and lime in the original mixture resulting in some unique and interesting patterns in these CSEB blocks 5. Pushing the block out of the mould.
1. Filling the mixture in the mould. 3. Pushing down the handle to compress the mixture.
2. Detaching latch of handle from compressor.
4. Opening the lead after compression
6. Testing its strength using a penetrometer.
Stone
This studio focused on material exploration and selecting a singular material to understand how it behaves under different scenarios when used as a construction material. Here Stone is selected as a material for exploration. After having an overall understanding of the material, I had then designed an exploration centre with the repetition of the modules.
Junction detail
Module repeatation
Junctional detail of the columns and beams.
The module here can be repeated to achieve multiple levels in a single space.
The modules are designed such that they can be repeated multiple times and used to create multi-functional spaces.
The repetition has been done in such a way that the whole space can be designed using just three modules of stone.