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sanah devika rao
design portfolio
2020 — 2022
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personal statement Sanah Devika Rao is an exhibition designer interested in narrating stories through the creation of physical and visual environments with interactive human experiences. She received her Bachelor of Design in Public Space Design from Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, India (2019), and a Master of Design in Interior Studies: Exhibition Design & Narrative Environments from the Rhode Island School of Design (2022).
2020 — 2022
01 hush! southeast alaskan native monuments 4 - 15
02 risd museum 16 - 23
03 two voices, two centuries 24 - 37
04 re frame: intar bi[tri]ennial 38 - 41
05 conversations with lewitt 42 - 59
06 design icons 60 - 69
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Hush! Southeast Alaska Native Monuments Museum Design + Display + Community Narratives
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// Our goal is to support
contemporary discussions on national monuments through a display of indigenous monuments that balance grave subjects with resilience through Tlingit humour.
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We begin acknowledging this exhibit located in Auk’w Kwaán, or the ‘Little-Lake’ Tlingit Village. Their territory is now known as Juneau — the capital city of Alaska. This exhibit creates a site for discourse around ongoing colonial practices in SE Alaska, located on the land of the Auk’w Kwan.
exhibition design
curatorial: Breylan Martin & Miranda Worl, Brown University design: Sanah Devika Rao, Rhode Island School of Design skillset: Model Making / Rhino / VRay / After Effects / Adobe XD
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// context research + concept collage
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conceptual collage Traditional Tlingit Poles reclaim the land in monumental scale, while the underground weaves their identity - the struggle and vibrant tactile culture that gave birth to this land.
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form diagrams Traditional clan houses, Ovoid shape from formline design were used as inspiration for the form. The weaving, an essential craft of the Tlingit adds to the metaphor of the woven journey and is used as a craft technique for the exhibition furniture & panels.
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museum site plan The five Totem Poles are distributed in five cubes. They represent the different Tlingit narratives across the landscape. Inbetween them are open ceremonial spaces for future festivities by clan or resident gatherings.
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// curatorial + spatial program
1910
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City proposal to fill in the tide lands in front of Auk Village for a whites-only playground Secretary of Interior instructs Bureau of Education’s Supt. of Schools for Southeast Alaska to write to the Mayor and notify him that the tide lands are held in trust by the Federal Government and will remain so until statehood.
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1915 Road on pilings built in front of village.
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1930 — 1950’s The Tlingits decide to battle U.S. legislation. The people of Auk Kwan fought numerous battles in court in order to keep ownership of their land and protect it from city development.
1963
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Congress passes an Act “to authorize survey and establishment of a town site for the Juneau Indian Village” , effectively allowing for the disposal of the tide-lands.
1970
City development and forced removal of the Indian Village from the waterfront.
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cube 1 exhibition form + elements
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cube 1 plan
exhibition design
// structural detail + human scale experience
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museum structure + experience The structure is a conversation between the above ground and the underground level, as well as defining the forms of interaction with the totem pole from the perspective of the viewer.
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exhibition design
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// material + exhibition panel detail
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material axon
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traditional panel detail
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exhibition design
// human experience
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above ground experience
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Above you can see the third iteration of this pole, the first made in the late 19th century, and it will continue to be re-carved until Seward’s debt to the Tlingit is finally paid. The design highlights the temporary nature of the Shame Poles within a permenant exhibit. The ability to be removed and replaced as a comment on recurring contemporary issues about indigenous identity.
The view shows the panels in the exterior and the glass ovoid, which visitors can enter, wear headphones and listen to the story of the totem pole while looking up through the ceiling.
exhibition design
below ground experience
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RISD Museum Temporary + Permenant Exhibitions + Display Design
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// Planning and design of exhibitions in coordination with museum administrators, curators and graphic designers.
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Developing curatorial + design concepts in 3d Converting object checklists into 2d and 3d scaled model environments Planning and designing temporary exhibitions and permanent collection displays Updating museum gallery template models
exhibition design
role: Exhibition Design Graduate Assistant (10 months) skillset: Sketching / SketchUp 3D / Photoshop / Layout / On-Site Work mentor: Stephen Wing / swing@risd.edu
// 2D to 3D Design Layout
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Scaled Artwork for Physical Models Variance: Making, Unmaking, and Remaking Disability
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3D Modeling Art Objects RISD Museum Permenant Collection
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Gallery Elevation Views Extraordinary Realities:
1:1 Digital Gallery Models Extraordinary Realities: Shahzia Sikander
exhibition design
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Shahzia Sikander
// fabrication detail + on-site installation
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display detail Drawing Closer: Four Hundred Years of Drawing from the RISD Museum
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elevation views for installation
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spatial arrangement for
RISD Museum Permenant Collection
displays Inherent Vice
exhibition design
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// 3D concept + execution
Inherent Vice / Image Courtesy of the RISD Museum, Providence, RI
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Extraordinary Realities: Shahzia Sikander / Image Courtesy of the RISD Museum, Providence, RI
exhibition design
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Two Voices, Two Centuries Design Proposal + Narrative Direction + Design Direction
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// An exhibition that revisits the
way that furniture is traditionally displayed. Thinking less about furniture pieces as aesthetic objects, this exhibition understands the function of furniture and the function of architecture as the same — they both create a space
—> Client: National Museum of Decorative Arts, Madrid, Spain
exhibition design proposal
design role: Narrative / Design Direction / Catalog / Concept Sketches curator: Alvaro Gomez-Selles Fernandez design collaborators: Grace Caiazza, Alana Cavalcanti, Esther Akintoye, Peter De Lande Long, EJ Roseman, Ding Xu, Liu Yang, Sen Chai and Meghan Strevig
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// context + curatorial
museum site
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former aristocratic house converted into a public museum for decorative arts. The aim is to unveil a new identity with the exhibition that attracts a younger audience.
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contemporary art galleries white box galleries devoid of the decorative character that is prevelant in the rest of the museum— showcasing period peices in period rooms. The aim is to create a new environment within this gallery.
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exhibition catalog a conversation between contemporary peices by upcoming Spanish designers, conversing besides classic Spanish furniture. Both created by hand centuries apart, moving away from the focus on industrialisation.
exhibition design proposal
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// individual design proposal
individual proposal with Grace Caiazza
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spatial approach enveloping spatial form inspired by a Spanish cathedral architecture and traditional interiors, where furniture was placed on the corner boundaries of the room along the walls.
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relation with object highlighting the tension and conversation between the classic and contemporary peices by displaying them facing each other. The displays were inspired by abstracting Spanish architectural forms.
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relation with viewer a linear experience divided by announcing lateral experiences to view different furniture peices in relation to one another. The displays varied in height depending on how the piece would be displayed in a traditional domestic setting.
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relation with existing the form gave the feeling of a space within a space, enveloping the objects, but also the body as it navigates the exhibition.
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materiality / expression
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the transparency of the enveloping wall gave context to the piece with a interior Spanish setting printed on it. It gave a dimension to the display as an extension of the interior — from a focused classic image blurring into abstraction.
spatial form + display
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blurring context context was given to the pieces by placing them with a backdrop of a traditional domestic interior. Just like the objects move from traditional to an assemblage of forms, the context shifts from focused to blurring spatial boundaries.
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interior view classic and contemporary displays facing each other, while announcing the next pair in the background
exhibition design proposal
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// collaborative design development
conversation
envelope
runway
reflection
—> apertures
combining collective proposals of all design collaborators
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concept one: furniture as architectural element
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exploring the relationship between furniture pieces as architectural elements that create a space. The prop inbetween them activates the tension between them.
plan iterations the various forms in the catalog are explored with relationship to the existing site.
exhibition design proposal
// spatial program + circulation
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concept two: breaking geometry
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fitting a new language into the existing space by imposing and breaking geometries.
concept three: continuous navigation creating an intuitive and continuous space through the use of environmental clusters.
exhibition design proposal
// material + fabrication
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concept four: abstracting form
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Recreating interior surfaces through abstracted and expressive materiality.
concept five: peeling transforming intervention geometries into an element that shapes and connects all architectural components: wall, floor and furniture.
exhibition design proposal
// sight lines + proposal overview
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aperture views overall views within the exhibition for each environment
sequence apertures
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the apertures announce the movement of the visitor from one environment to the next to the next pair. It supports the nature of intuitive movement in space.
expanding outward from the objects it contains, the exhibition spills into the museum at large, creating a domestic landscape that turns the inside out and makes the invisible visible.
exhibition design proposal
concept six: connecting scales
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Re-frame: Conversations in Contemporary Architecture Gallery Exhibition Design
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// As interior architects, we must
respond to existing spaces. but as out world continues to evolve, we must also respond to the changing social and political environments we live in. The works exhibiting reflect our students’ understanding of the need for design to be at the forefront of the discussion as society re-frames the status quo. Boldly approaching topics of climate change, placemaking, memorialization, and community building, students have demanded consequential action through their work.
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Client: Interior Architecture Department bi[tri]ennial 2021 Venue: woods gerry gallery, providence, RI exhibition design
lead: Francesca Liuni design role: Exhibition Curatorial timeline: 3 weeks design collaborators: Grace Caiazza, Priyata Bosamia, Gregory Mathieu, Natalia Silva, Jocelyn Yokow
// graphics + spatial program
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laser cut graphic detail
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interactive content panels, each with a question about the topic that prompts the visitor to write their response.
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exhibition layout inspired by the pinakothek, the architectural drawings re-frame the narrative of architecture through drawings + cardboard pedestals of three different heights, serve as pixels of pedestals arranged in different configurations on site for the models.
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exhibition design
// concept execution
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exhibition design
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Conversations with Lewitt Exhibition Design + Graphic Design + User Prototype
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// The exhibition experience introduces Sol Lewitts’ life and artist process, where spatial form, movement and interaction activates the space between the art, artist and the visitor. Objectives:
—> Visitors understand conceptual art —> Visitors learn about artist process & ideation
Inspire accessibility towards a contemporary art gallery experience
exhibition design
skillset: Model Making / Rhino / VRay / After Effects / Adobe XD
// context research + collaterals
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first person curatorial Personal curatorial inspired from Between the lines. The notes, ideas, scribbles give an interesting insight into the way the artist thinks, and builds a relationship with the audience.
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site analysis The location, Met Breuer, also known as the Inverted Ziggurat was chosen on the basis of Sol Lewitts’ critique on the building itself. He compared the rigid code and originality of design to his own conceptual practice.
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exhibition exploration guide A support to explore and leave with the understanding of the relationship between art and space by creating a dialogue between the two.
exhibition design
// digital media interface
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exhibition digital tool-kit Interactive interface to re-draw Sol Lewitts work to understand the ‘idea’ is the machine that makes the art.
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user prototype tests Interactive interface to re-draw Sol Lewitts work to understand the ‘idea’ is the machine that makes the art.
exhibition design
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// design development
The area of Manhattan Between the Places I Have Lived is Removed, Sol Lewitt, 1980
forms derived from a cube, Sol Lewitt
wayfinding elementary visual units + crossing architectural boundaries
urban // city grid
plot grid system
2d to 3d abstraction of forms on different axis in space (inverting Lewitts’ 3d to a 2d plane)
circulation serial movement + order
gallery grid system
figure vs ground relationship
9 gallery spaces matrix + grid system
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form + program
concept + material
Abstraction of 2d to 3d – asymmetric shape on a 9 grid system in the gallery space, not adhering to the architectural boundaries of the gallery.
pre-cast concrete gallery coffered ceiling
balsa + birch wood modular furniture + vitrine displays
bluestone gallery flooring
cork board display walls
aluminum + steel wireframe coated blue
paint + white enamel coating
vinyl floor graphics
projected textures exhibition design
digital tool-kit
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// curatorial
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curatorial plan
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exhibition catalog
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(1928 – 1960)
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(1960 – 1968)
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(1960 – 1968)
4 (1968 – 1981)
5 (1970 – 1988)
introduction to sol lewitt
structures by sol lewitt
introduction to wall drawings
cube variations
6 (1976 – 1981)
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(1981 – 1990)
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(1960 – 1968)
toolkit + isometric wall drawings
sol lewitt + architecture
exhibition design
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art books
// visitor circulation + exhibition program
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didactic serial experience
interactive book + reading space
exhibition design
participatory digital tool-kit
// detail + fabrication drawings
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wireframe + vitrine detail wireframe joints
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interactive reading experience activated qr code to scan artist books and read on site
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audio spotlight activated when the visitor stands underneath to hear the first person curatorial
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wireframe suspension + track lighting suspension
exhibition design
// concept Renderings + visual experience
entrance + gallery one
interior gallery framing exterior context
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interactive reading space
exhibition design
digital tool-kit display
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Design Icons: A Timeline of Furniture Masterpieces Graphic Design + Motion Animation
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// The exhibition explores the
implementation of graphic techniques as a way-finding tool and display strategy to highlight curatorial narrative, visitor movement and spatial program.
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Motion Graphic: https://vimeo.com/527048497
graphic design for exhibitions
skillset: Sketching / Adobe Suite / Rhino / After Effects / Typography
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// concept + motion graphic
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typface + color palette
1900
The colors represent a specific year in the history of furniture starting from 1900 — 2020. They guide the visitor starting from the glass panel outside, inwards and towards theentrance of the exhibit. Continuing from the main wall, onto the floor
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they help the visitor find their way to the panels and exhibit of each piece. 1930
UNIVERS LT STD 65 BOLD
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO P Q R ST U V W XY Z abcdefghijklmno pqrstuvwxyz
1940
1950
0123456789
1960
HELVETICA NEUE REGULAR
1970
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO PQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmno pqrstuvwxyz 0123456789
1980
1990
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motion graphic storyboard created using Illustrator and then transferred to After Effects for animation
graphic design exhibition for exhibitions design
exhibition invite
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// graphic collaterals + visual experience
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idea sketches + panel graphics
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3d concept rendering
design development of panel
application of the 2d designed
graphics and exhibition program
panel onto Rhino to test the idea
B
A
B
2 ft 11 in
6 ft
graphic design exhibition for exhibitions design
14 ft
06 65
// graphic + spatial program
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exhibition graphic layout floorplan for the program and placement of graphics in relation to the existing gallery space
graphic design for exhibitions
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// model making + design concept
physical model scaled and printed graphics to test and present the idea with modeled display furniture pieces.
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graphic design exhibition for exhibitions design
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sanah devika rao design portfolio
sanahrao@gmail.com / www.sanahdevikarao.com