Internship Portfolio

Architectural Portfolio SandhyaSeshan

The Lair

Nexus

Street Furniture Design

Urban Betwixt

Urban Housing

Architectural Design Detailing

The Drift

Rebranding

Misc

o1 The

Lair

Retreat for Satyajit Ray A modest abode for the greatest filmmaker of all times, nestled in the heart of rural Calcutta with bustling life to call its own, just the way he liked it.

Permeable built form integrated with nature.

Narrow passages flanked by the built.

Verandas, balconies serve as a vantage point for a silent observer.

Courtyard space

Diffused soft lighting that sculpts the subject and the space.

Gateways that frame spaces whilst posing as thresholds.

Frames

by Ray

Concept

Value Proposition model.

Need, want and demands as values to be delivered

Rectangular form mimicking the traditional bengali abodes with spaces stacked similarly on levels keeping the nature of function seperate and private.

The wants as the link between the two, binding both nature of functions

Zoning

Section A Ground Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Baranda

The vertical connect

Courtyard

Master bedroom

Kitchenette+Dining

Private balcony

Need, want and desire

translated into spaces of interest inducing Ray to ponder over his thoughts. Here, architecture poses as a medium for expression of self.

Studio + office

Bathroom

o2 Urban

Betwixt To create a transition space with an induced positive influx that ensues concocting an experience for pedestrians moving from on point to another.

URBAN

STATIC

PROGRESS

SITE

A BRIDGE

IDENTITY

The site chosen is a hypothetical one inspired from the characteristics of the fabrics that the Brooklyn bridge connects.

The typology of a bridge is chosen in order to create a transitional space.

The structure apart from attempting to solve a need, adds value to the space and sculptural beauty to the identity of the city.

Connecting Point A and point B.

Inducing interactions through provision of varied functions.

B

A

A

B

PROCESS Soap bubble structures that form within a boundary condition (wireframe), tend to have minimal surface areas possible within defined parametric physical constraints, with intrinsic stability based on the constraints. This intriguing concept has been explored.

Temporal halt spots

Halt Spot A

Experiential path

Halt Spot B

Iteration 1 Iterating module on an arithmetic progression to create an oblong stable shape.

Iteration 2 The oblong spiral drives the user towards the centre where the structure opens up to a well-lit space.

Iteration 3 A minimal surface generated within the constraints to form variable spaces along its main axis.

Min. Ht - 10m Max. ht - 20m Span - 200m

Elevation

The dynamic nature of the flooring in terms of its peaks and lows, width, and texture, throughout the circulation, takes full advantage of the unpredictability of the minimal surface, while also effectively transferring its load, back on the structure.

This overall unpredictability of the morphology makes it unique and intriguing in an otherwise predictable and regular urban fabric.

Cafe + Shopping

Details

o3 Urban

Housing To take up a live project for the rehabilitation of the Tsunami survivors of slums at Perumbakkam, keeping in mind architecural response, form, aesthetics, integrity and user experience.

Rehabilitation of the residents of the Slums after the advent of Tsunami.

Site - Perumbakkam, OMR, Chennai 3 acres (12,000 sq.m approx.)

Maximum building height - Stilt +4 F.S.I - 1.5

Surrounded by Slum Clearance colonies of similar nature, high-rise concrete jungle of sorts.

User Groups: Housing for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Low Income Groups (LIG) and the Middle Income Groups (MIG)

Concept :

Corridors, the symbolic streets, as congregational public spaces with active niches in all blocks to call their own. Vertical placement of the same with view points to ensure visual connectivity on all levels for the inhabitants.

Circulation in slums mostly horizontal in nature through streets and voids.

SITE PLAN

Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) block 24 Number of floors : 2 Number of units :

Number of units per floor : 12

Carpet area of individual unit - 25 sq.m

Block Plan

EWS Unit

Section A

Lower Income Group (LIG) block 80 Number of floors : 4 Number of units :

Number of units per floor : 20 Carpet area of individual unit sq.m

LIG Unit Block Plan

Section A

60

Middle Income Group (MIG) block 64 Number of floors : 4 Number of units :

Number of units per floor : 16 Carpet area of individual unit sq.m

85

MIG unit 1

Block Plan

MIG unit 2

Section A

Corridors - Circulation - Community interaction

o4 Nexus An urban node bringing in varied social groups in an attempt to initiate and propagate interaction for holistic communal well-being.

Leisure - the standard definition noun “Time when one is not working or occupied; free time.”

Decoding the meaning of the term “ Leisure” and the manifest of the same in the city context for a particular site.

The construed definition : Work, usually monotonous and tiring. Leisure, synonymous with heterogeneity and hence, something to look forward to. Only, work and leisure can be one and the same. Day - to - day activities, even though monotonous can induce leisure and careful integration of the two can prove useful for the effectiveness of both functions.

Work Leisure

The required result

Site - Ambattur Industrial Estate, Chennai Site area - 5 acres ( 20,000 sq. m) Landmark - Adjoining Ashok PIllar Existing built - Abandoned Storage warehouse.

User Groups : Residents Worker Community ( specifically Migrant Workers) IT professionals IT Workers

Evident seperation of the Worker community from the rest due to growing concerns of security and taboo.

Residents

Leisure for Ambattur deemed a holistic approach which dealt with improvement of existing and the provision of new function that would resonate with the user groups on social, economical and cultural grounds.

Consideration of existing concerns and problems and provision of an indirect solution through means of recreation was the primary aim.

Selection of a site with potential of transforming into a primary lung space and a pause for the Ambattur community.

Lack of uninterrupted footpaths due to constructions and encroachments.

Plausible solution: Provision of shaded walkways flanked by functions of recreational nature.

Breach of security, a constant fear due to increasing migrant worker community.

This tackled through provision of high grounds and placement of over head functions serving as vantage points through intact visual connectivity.

Elevated cycleway to instill a new typology to promote active use of public space; which is now evidently lacking in Ambattur.

The cycleway reached a maximum height of 7m at the central node.

Strategic landscaping (Play mounds) to provide intimate yet safe surroundings which would deem useful for all groups of the community.

Shaded walkways to promote public to embrace nature and to instill communal interaction.

Cycle racks for storage and renting of cycles for users who wish to stroll/ride through the park.

Transformable workshop spaces to conduct occasional classes for the interested. When not in use, it serves as rest spaces.

Transformable retail space and food court for the satisfaction of users.

Other works

Houses of Mylapore - Documentation Triple O studio, Chennai

Detailed Drawings

The threshold of the threshold, the path from one’s abode brings in emotions of initial shock and denial. Whilst some see this procession as a celebration of the lost life, the kin go through emotional trauma.

o6

The

Drift

Meandering through a boundary-less realm.

Unnoticed, invisible rules imposed of oneself, inducing humility and obedience as one enters into a burial ground/ crematorium. The excitement is mellowed down to a subdued form of ambiguity where one feels lost or ready to surrender.

The ultimate seperation.

Final manifestation of an imposed void: the final minutes with the departing soul and the subsequent physical absence that ensues.

This is to be endured organically which is not the case.

The lack of a neutral medium to pose as a catalyst in accomodating the grieving process of those alive.

A reversible state of mind, Liminality in all sense is capable of engineering a flux which further catalyzes a strong action to follow. A space with this quality holds in itself the varying intensities of the extremes it connects.

The transition between life and death is a liminal one with the flux being linked to the state of mind. The reversed scenario additionally talks about the fludic transition to reality with induced mentality to change for the better. This transition progressively increases or decreases in terms of the destination in question, here life or death.

Facilitation for Re-assimilation.

The image of the space for the dead resonates with array of tombs and forbidden spaces for cremation.

By the replacement of the tombs by foliage, the deceased seem to have now metamorphed to another form which generates positivity on the visitors breaking the stigma associated with such spaces.

This need to address the lack of such spaces that facilitate the grieving process proved to be necessary. Â Â

Proposal :

The already rigid, closed off cremation space is made spacious with generous openings to let in light.

Eerie, hostile grounds transformed into urban green pockets  possibly acting as lung spaces.

o7 Street Pull

to form an elongated seat as per accomodation needs.

Furniture Design On-the-spot design competition

Pinch

to demarcate a seating space for an individual, hence a divider.

Task: To design a street furniture model conducive to local context.

Intent : Furniture design with a social impact.

Extrude

the seat to form a makeshift bed spanning the width of the pavement. Hence, during the day proving to be a disturbance and is to revert back to functioning as a seater.

Context based problems like sleeping on pavements during nights which proves detrimental to other functions and crude based on humanistic values.

Polycarbonate roofing (translucent)

Polyethylene seater (telescope mechanism) Seater layer Make-shift bed (extrusion)

A shelter during the day to sit on and a make-shift shelter at night, this prototype would improve sleeping conditions of the homeless.

Branding

o8 Branding

Logotype

graphic design

Task:

Specifics

Construction

Branding/rebranding for a water bottle packaging, including logotype, specifics and labeling.

Label

The unique taste of AIS comes from the careful balance of naturally enriched organic minerals that serves a purpose for greater than jut quenching your thirst. AIS is enriched with 300% more oxygen and other vital organic minerals that enhance the experience of taste and feel which can be senseed in every sip.

Bottled at the source, AIS water is a taste hand crafted by nature and one that cannot be replicated by human hand.

Hands-on Workshop

Rurals - Vallimadurai

Urban design - Srirangam

Spatial Exploration - Cubes

Model Making

Urban design - Srirangam

Acrylic on Canvas

Sketching Sketching ++ Painting Painting

Satire in Architecture

Photography

Sandhya Seshan E-mail ID : sandhya.seshan96@gmail.com Contact :+917904906329