Urban Design Portfolio Ruju Joshi | UD4516
Ruju Joshi_UD4516 B. Urban Design Program Faculty of Planning CEPT University, Ahmedabad ------------------------------Vertical Studio, 6th Semester
Urban Porosity_Rethinking Boundaries
Shweta Ranpura, Shilpa Mevada, Dweeta Dawda
The project begins with an exploration of the urban through experience design and the user at the centre of a design concept. The premise of the project lies in creating porosity within an education district/neighbourhood through design intervention. The project creates an active interface between the public and private, driven through the experience of the urban space as walkable, networked and a space of chance encounters. The project formulates urban design strategies and elements that re-imagine the spatial manifestation of an edge as an active interface connecting various institutions, creating networks and suggesting programmatic elements to enable collaboration and interaction. The project also considers institution as a building typology to establish inside-outside relationship as a means to create/identify spaces within the campuses.
01 Democratic space | Experience _ Freedom 02 Site Layout Gujarat University Area, Ahmedabad 03 Sensory Mapping Gujarat University Area, Ahmedabad 04 Patch Details 05 Space Making _ Design Iterations 06 Design Strategy 07 Site Analysis Spaces | Elements | Experience 08 Site Analysis Movements | Elements | Experience 09 Design Details
01 DEMOCRATIC SPACE | EXPERIENCE _FREEDOM
INTRODUCTION The exercise was a basic introduction to ‘what is a democratic space?’ What are the factors that restrict a space from having certain characteristics? It was followed by taking into consideration an experience to understand how are spaces and its functional behaviour related to human experiences. Parti diagrams of the same were an output of an individual’s understanding.
LEARNINGS Through this exercise, Differences / similarities between spaces, places, public spaces, democratic spaces, open spaces, bounded spaces, compounded spaces, etc. were identified. Through the understanding of a democratic space and freedom as an experience, it was recognised that human experience is a key principle to any urban intervention.
02 SITE LAYOUT GUJARAT UNIVERSITY AREA, AHMEDABAD INTRODUCTION This studio exercise was about mapping and documenting the physicality of the entire site of Gujarat University, Ahmedabad wherein types of land uses, building heights, types of compound walls, streets and street elements (footpaths, median, carriage way, sign boards, signals, street lights), transit nodes (bus stops, auto stands), trees etc. were mapped.
LEARNINGS Through this exercise, physical characteristics of the site such as different types of edge, interfaces and boundaries abutting education campuses, building height, building use, building function and its relation to its edge and its implications on the adjacent street were identified.
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03 SENSORY MAPPING GUJARAT UNIVERSITY AREA, AHMEDABAD INTRODUCTION This studio exercise was about mapping and documenting the experiential character of the entire site of Gujarat University, Ahmedabad wherein different types of spaces with different functions were mapped. Noise, light and smell were three main tools to capture different activities and human experiences of the site.
LEARNINGS Through this exercise, human activities of the site were mapped and overlapped with its physical characteristics. It helped in understanding the human behavioural pattern through the spaces created because of both its physical and experiential character.
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04 PATCH DETAILS
INTRODUCTION This exercise was about mapping and documenting both physical and experiential character of a specific patch from the site wherein different types of edges and its correlation to the building plot and street edge functions were mapped.
LEARNINGS Through this exercise, human activities on the patch were exhaustively identified with its physical characteristics of a specific edge. It helped in understanding the spaces for chance encounters and underutilised spaces taking into consideration several human behavioural patterns.
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05 SPACE MAKING _ DESIGN ITERATIONS
INTRODUCTION This exercise was about creating different types of spaces for a set of users, driven through all the understanding of edges, spaces and functions which gives different human experiences. Several sets of identified elements from the site / context were used to create enclosures.
LEARNINGS Through this exercise, and understanding of ‘how is a space created’ with different types of elements such as walls, trees, change in ground levels etc. create different enclosures was developed. Also, it was recognised that human experience is a key principle to any urban intervention.
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06 DESIGN STRATEGY
The project begins with identifying the urban through experience design and the users (students, professors, residents of the surrounding areas) at the centre of a design concept. The premise of the project lies in creating an interactive edge within an education district/neighbourhood through design intervention. The project creates an active interface between the public and private, driven through the experience of the urban space as walkable, networked and a space of chance encounters. The strategy and elements re-imagine the spatial manifestation of an edge as an active interface creating a smooth transition between the street (public) and private institution, creating networks and suggesting programmatic elements to enable collaboration and interaction. The project also considers institution as a building typology to establish inside-outside relationship as a means to create/identify spaces within the campuses.
LEGEND Unpaved Construction Paved Parking Dump Courts Playground Food Hostels/PG Transit stops Vendors Footpath Strategy Lawn Trees
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07 SITE ANALYSIS SPACES | ELEMENTS | EXPERIENCE The drawing shows an understanding of how different types of spaces and elements come together and create an experience of a space which justify the existing human behaviour patterns on site. It shows different types of open spaces (paved, unpaved, parking, dump spaces, in between spaces), playgrounds, green spaces, under utilised spaces, plot entrances, plot edges, wall types, building entrances, types of compound walls, streets and street elements (footpaths, median, carriage way, sign boards, signals, street lights), transit nodes (bus stops, auto stands), origins and destinations (food spaces such as restaurants, canteens, vendors and residential spaces such as hostels, PGs, flats etc) generating user specific (students and professors) pedestrian movements, vendors, etc.
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08 SITE ANALYSIS SPACES | MOVEMENTS | EXPERIENCE The drawings shows an understanding of different pedestrian movement patterns of the users (students) that are driven through a specific motive and a certain type of experiential space. It gives an understanding of insufficient street infrastructures like (deemed / not functioning street lights at night, dead edges, insufficient shade , non-continuous sidewalks, absence of sidewalks, vehicular oriented streets etc. , boundaries or walls in between campuses that demotivate or divert the users to follow certain pedestrian routes to reach from the origin to the destination at specific times.
Morning 8 am - 9 am
Afternoon 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Evening 6 pm - 7 pm
Night 9:30 pm - 10:30 pm
09 DESIGN DETAILS
As a response to the existing site condition, here are the following approaches taken into consideration in the final iteration: 1) Introducing continuous sidewalks in the underutilised spaces of the ROW (which are currently used as garbage dump spaces) 2) Increasing width of the existing sidewalks such that increases its usability, considering the concept of street vending (based on current activities on site), which enhances the mundane character of the street with high walls and dump spaces on either edges 3) Reducing the carriage way to make the street more pedestrian friendly than vehicular oriented with only institutional buildings on its both the edges 4) Small changes in wall types that make the edges more porous (visually/physically) and ensures safety to the adjacent institutions as well as gives an open space back to the city on specific days
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