ARCHITECTURAL PORTFOLIO
SAMAD VAHORA
CONTACT DETAILS Email: svahora@hawk.iit.edu Phone no : +1 312 530 5114 ABOUT ME : At the end of my undergraduate career, I was awarded a Gold Medal for my academic excellence; I maintained a 4.0 gpa throughout my undergraduate career and received the highest marks in all of my classes. Throughout my career, I have had the pleasure of becoming an interior designer for my startup company in India. I would manage projects by communicating with my client’s needs on a daily basis. As a graduate student pursuing a masters degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology, I had the opportunity of becoming a teaching assistant for the architecture undergraduate department and a proctor for the Materials Lab at IIT. I am a talented designer, bright leader, and determined individual. I will continue to show my dedication towards my profession through my projects and ideas for years to come.
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City in the Sky: A Study in Lightness
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China Town Market
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Understanding Proximity
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The Urban Mosque
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Related Study Program
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Dwell Workshop
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House of Dreams
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The Hanging Garden House
Spring 2022
Spring 2021, Public Institution
Fall 2021, Hybrid Housing
Research Based Design dissertation, 2019
Documentation
February 2020
Executed 2018
Executed 2019
CONTENTS
City in the Sky: A Study in Lightness Spring 2022
All wood tower rising two miles that can accommodate a population of 100,000 inhabitants to achieve a new typology for collective housing/community within the urban setting of Miami, Florida. Last semester, the studio investigated how one could live in the clouds, defining conditions that make a space desirable, both physically and emotionally. They developed one example of a community, complete with housing and shared spaces within one strand of the wood structure. This semester, students will focus on the macro scale of the tower, including the infrastructural requirements need to capture both a humanistic position and organizational hypotheses. This will also include a masterplan for the City in the Sky and how it relates to the specific context.
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Agriculture Lightweight hanging bridges span the center of the Strand. The bridges pro vide anchorage for the agricultural banners as well as a means for workers to access them. The banners consist of a lightweight cable net system, interwoven with systems that support the growth of a variety of edible plant life.
Wood Production Bamboo is grown over much of the tower’s height. Its speed of growth is an advantage. The bamboo is pro cessed into fiber pulp and extruded in order to grow the tower.
Algae Cultivation Algae is grown in shallow pools of water so that it may capture sunlight. The algae is transferred from one pool to the next according to its speed of growth and the inputs required at each stage of its life cycle. The pools are arranged vertically so that the algae cascades from one to the next, aerating it and evenly distributing the mixtures. Algae is highly nutritious and is one of the most efficient means of creating nutrients for human consumption.
10 ft Scale Model
China Town Market Academic year 2021
The proposed China Town Market will serve as a Translucent screening between the CTA station and the inscrutable neighbourhood context. The market is situated to the south of the crowded intersection and the uncongested street to the north. So as to provide the market carter with breathing room for the mixed personalities. The notion of metamorphosis would highlight the perception of evolving traditional and new shopping values. As a location surrounded by the CTA line and residential area, it will offer a large variety of travellers and commuters. We were attempting to provide the spaces with versatility and transition. Screening will be seen in the form of transparent wall frames, as sequences of shifts, from open to enclosed, kiosk to serene, will be presented throughout the site.
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Materials and Details The enclosure is made of operable louvers. These louvers act as sun shading devices. The enclosure is made of two layers. The first is the louvers and the second is the glass curtain wall. The bottom part of the louvers is top hung and the upper part is a central pivotal. The glass wall has openable sliding folding panels and the upper segment of the wall is an openable window.
CONCEPTUAL IDEA The Design started with the primary concept of understanding and exploring the changing nature of spaces. So the big idea was exploring metamorphosis and to achieve this concept the strategies adopted were infusion and layering. The concept of metamorphosis was the key aspect of the design of the enclosure. The walls open up during the summer and close during the winter. This idea of change is expressed by the opening and closing of these walls
Understanding Proximity Academic year 2021
The beginning of this project started out with three different versions of proximity. Proximity to the urban context; Proximity to each other; and proximity through screens and the response to the covid 19 pandemic. These were all incorporated into the strategy. The main focus became incorporating the building into one neighborhood. The basis of this came from the book Life Between Buildings by Jan Gehl. The removing of a corner of the building starts at the ground level. This opens the building to the urban fabric of the neighborhood. The building is separated into groups of four floors. This is the largest distance a person should have to travel for their needs. Each one of these groups of floors has a portion cut out for an amenity. The cut outs rotate around the building to connect the spaces visually to the surrounding context of Chicago
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es from
Detailed Wall section
pical Corner Detail
Lvl: 6
Lvl: 5
Lvl: 4
Lvl: 0
CONCEPTUAL IDEA The structure of this building went through many phases. The beginning was a center core with supporting wall and columns. This was supposed to inform the floor plan. When the floor plan needed to be changed, the core had to be exploded. The wall still give the building much of the necessary support but are on four sides and not in the core of the building. The columns have stayed on the exterior of the building throughout this entire process. Diagonal supports were added to help the columns support the cantilevered areas of the building.
The Urban Mosque Research Based Design dissertation, 2018
Muslims are spread throughout the world. The word Muslim means surrender to the will of God. In order to surrender to God’s will, the is a term called Ibadat in Islam. According to which there are many ways of doing it. Namaz (salaat) is one of them. Hence Namaz (salaat) being an act, a space was required to perform it which we called mosque. Mosque having a simple definition and purpose, it has been evolved and explored throughout the world. Mosque had a greater regional influence throughout the world. But in the later times mosque was not only a place of worship, it has become a mix of function and served as a community place in the society.
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Hence my inquiry is understanding the act of praying ( namaz ) in a mosque in contemporary times by rejuvenating the idea and concepts of Islam and translate it into architecture.
the site which was called ajab Tawhid (Oneness)
nity)
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bric
Oneness through program and Spatial Configuration.
Th po pe sh Th ex ve
road Network Adālah
(Justice)
ry road Justice Network to existing context and topography.
road Network
try
Primary Axis
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am ’of gn rn hat ne ce. ns” ns
to se on he he ts
y a n s w t a
En
Muslim Population Nubuwwah (Prophet-hood)
En try
Primary Axis
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Imāmah (Leadership) Re-shaping madras and Islamic education
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Qiyāmah (The Day of Judgment)
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Kabristan as a 4 Square garden of heaven and a final resting place
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Secondary Axis
Secondary Axis
Following the words of prophet from hadith to space planning
Kaaba
Kaaba
Site Plan The site plan is in response to the pillars of faith. In response to the existing temples on the site, they became the axial points determining the position on mosque and its Fortified City, Old city ancillary spaces.
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Section AA’
Section AA’
101
101
City Illustration
Th pr ha la a as to de as
Sl (P
O (N
K (S
Z
these ast.
Parapet Wall Skylight- Central bay Skylight-
2nd Floor Plan
3rd Floor Structure
on to were
Female Praying space
1st Floor Plan
Mehrab Jali Wall
Outer Structure Double Height space
ace. of it.
2nd Floor Structure Male Praying Space
Jali Wall 4 Square Sahan
lling
Stair cases 1st Floor Structure
Column
all
lling
rth
g
CTION
Entry Portal
Exploded View 0
3 6
15
Part Section AA’
Entry Facade
30 MTS
Part Section BB’ & DD’
Kaaba
Part Model
Site Model
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1
14
2
5
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1. Masjid ( Mosque ) 2. Upper Sahan 3. Madrasa 4. Lower Sahan 5. Library Axonometric6.View Gallery Spaces 7. Passage The Spatial order of( Based the mosque is Story” ) on “Moses same as the traditional mosque. Also 8. Gateway there was a need of ( re-evaluating As frame for Temple ) tradition elements9. like minarets, Shiv Temple gateways, kibla wall10.and sahan. One Screen wall of the key part of 11. this proposalInscribed was slabs to understand the centralized idea of (100 names of Allah) mosque as a complex12.(“markaz”). Thus Dargha understanding its importance as an Bawa ) ( Arab-shah institution for socio13. cultural activities Hanuman Temple 14. Sitting Plaza
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Legends :
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1. Masjid ( Mosque ) 2. Upper Sahan 3. Madrasa 4. Lower Sahan 5. Library 6. Gallery Spaces 7. Passage ( Based on “Moses Story” ) 4
8. Gateway ( As frame for Temple )
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9. Shiv Temple 10. Screen wall 9
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11. Inscribed stone slabs (100 names of Allah)
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12. Dargha ( Arab-shah Bawa ) 13. Hanuman Temple 14. Sitting Plaza Kaaba
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N
3
6
15
30 Mts
Kaaba
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Related Study Program Project Year 2015
Related study program is an optional program in which every year a group of students have to visit a village, town and city to document significant build environments. This helps in better understanding the aspects of space making. The programs I was involved in 3 programs during my academic study. The collages mission is to document the places in Gujarat state first. To better understand the culture we belong from. Thus all the place visited during this program are located in Gujarat, India. 1. Documenting vernacular houses of bunni grass lands 2. Town context of wadwan. 3. Town houses of Dhrangadhra
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Dwell Workshop Project Year 2020
This Design is based on a workshop I attend at Charles Correa Foundation. The aim of the workshop was to understand the housing and its parameters at a urban scale. Based on the learnings from the workshop this design was developed as a part of workshop culmination. The design addresses the ideologies of Ar. Charles Correa and trying to address those ideologies in current context. The workshop was divided in three parts 1. Macro level site planning 2. Mezo level cluster detailing 3. Micro level unit detailing
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Multi functionality
Sources : Sketch by SV
Cluster Design & open space
Public open spaces
Pg : 4
House of Dreams Executed in 2018
The First Built Project, The first built project is always something special. It holds a special place as it is the raw expression of what one thinks of architecture at a primary level. Then the sense of space making evolves and gets refined. This is the first single family home that was executed in 2018, in Banglore, India. The dynamic with the client was very unique as the client himself was the contractor of the project. The site is located in the most remote part of bangalore. It is a weekend home and a farmhouse. The land holds a sentimental value to the client as it was his ancestral land and he wanted to pass down this house to his daughters when they grew up. This story itself was the motivation behind the design of this family home.
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Model Images
The Hanging Garden House Executed in 2019
A traditional family, who are into bakery business decided to expand their single storey home to meet their new needs and aspirations. In a neighbourhood stifling with glassy boxlike commercial expansions, it was thought to bring some respite to the streetscape with a dominant earthy green façade. The house exhibits a character of openness through it cascading terraces blending in a tall lift tower anchoring a wrapped staircase around it At upper level of the house is seen a prominent semishaded space with a green roof, that makes a soft skyline. This is meant to serve as the outdoor hobby hub of the family for pursuing music, fitness and cultural communions.
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Proposed Render Image
Under-Construction
Contact Details Email: svahora@hawk.iit.edu Phone no : +1 312 530 5114
For more projects scan or visit :
https://samadvahora.myportfolio.com/