SEANEWSLETTER a bi-annual chronicle of the School of Environment and Architecture, Mumbai.
EDITORIAL This newsletter is the second student driven edition. Monsoon 2019 is the time when I joined SEA. I was in the first year constantly learning, unlearning, and relearning various things and was filled with a lot of eagerness to understand the pedagogical functioning of the school. Compiling this newsletter gave me an opportunity to observe the role of architectural academia, in engaging with contemporary design dialogues, and emerging spatial practices. SEA is involved actively in thinking and implementing innovative methods of pedagogy which offers the liberty of experimentation for students as well as teachers. The studios become a laboratory which provide practical and philosophical exposure for the experimentation of ideas and forms towards building types, environment, housing, materials, visual culture etc. Watching movies, reading fiction and non fiction, making new objects of knowledge become integral to spatial and temporal exploration for students. On the other hand, each faculty offers a specialised four week module around their own area of expertise that explore subjects of curation, art, product design, miniatures, material cultures, housing, urban studies and environment. This newsletter presents exploration of material possibilities, decoding logics, geometries and thinking through the lens of energy and resources which also summarizes the technology studios across the years. The design studios incorporated the idea of forming conceptual apparatus, reconfiguring typologies, resource systems manifesting into architectural expressions and thinking through the idea of wetness to make a city resilient to flooding. This issue also highlights the studies at Coimbatore and Trichy, studied under the long term inquiry of urbanization beyond the metropolis. SEA thus offers a variety of exposure to students by diving into philosophical, technological, environmental, social and cultural realms. After this issue we plan to transition into more exploratory formats. The SEA newsletter is undergoing a change, acknowledging the politics and the meaning behind the archiving, dissemination and consumption of academic experiments in the public realm. Aditi Kawade Editor
ISSUE 8. Monsoon Semester 2019
CONTENTS 1 \ Editorial 2-17 \ Student Work History, Humanities, Theory, Methods Drawing Technology Form & Space Studies Allied Design Orientation 22\ Monsoon Electives 2019 24 \ SEA City and SEA Assembly
CREDITS Editor: Aditi Kawade, Tanvi Savla
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History Theory Methods Sem 3 Text: Anuj Daga The Suburban history project aimed to delve deeper into understanding the distinct spatiality that come to characterize life-forms in the northern part of Mumbai City. Unlike the generalized understanding of ‘suburbia’ as a place of low activity and intensity as compared to the bustling city centre, Mumbai’s suburbs exhibit characteristically thriving cultures concentrated in significant populations. While considered as the residential backyard of the city until the ’60s, the suburbia kept growing slowly in its own logic. The suburbs of Mumbai however came under attention with the rising real estate values in the downtown, the demand of new land for corporate enclaves, as well as the transformation of the city from a production hub into a service base when proximity to the hubs of production no longer remained essential. These re-workings have produced new social patterns that share revised spatial equations – those that calibrate the older urban villages (surviving upon a primary mode of economy like agriculture or fishing) into newer segregating forms of work and living. These divide the suburban landscape into the malls, IT complexes and enclaves on one hand, where as townships, gated communities along with the modest yet-existing cooperative housing on the other. Post ’70s, as new spatial frameworks characterized by the regulation of FSI and other bye-laws reflected in a mushrooming of a distinct generic urban form of the suburbs, new additions and alternatives continue to be re-invented in order to accommodate the “excess” of the otherwise layered existence. The suburban swamp of Mumbai thus calls for a close examination in order to learn a host of potential programmatic and spatial reformulations that may be folded into architectural studies. In such pursuit, we opened up questions such as: What urban
This page: 1. Plan of Natraj market, Malad west 2. Mahavir Nagar, Kandivali west 3. Laxmi Industrial Estate, Andheri west
patterns emerge in the simultaneous implementation and manipulation of spatial controls? What forms do they take architecturally? What, in turn, defines the “sub”-urban condition in Mumbai? The study turns into a field through five broad categories of existence: work, living, leisure, institutions and infrastructure. Specific typological variations within each of these categories will be investigated in order to learn the emerging suburban city. This module was conducted by Anuj Daga and Rupali Gupte. 1.
Bhoomi Bakrania, Khushi Singla
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Drishti Desai
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Neel Shah, Sharvari Raut
modules
Sem 5 Text: Veeravalli Vikram Art after Image This course on art history encouraged the students to look beyond the work of ‘art’ and question the way in which it has been and would be perceived. It constantly dealt with the question of ‘real vs. abstract’, ‘fact vs. fiction’, ‘culture vs. tradition’ and looking at them not just as polar opposites but dealing with its dialectics, establishing a relationship, if any. The course began with an introduction to the idea of the ‘apparatus’ and understanding what it means in the context of image making. By looking at certain works throughout history, the students tried to understand the change in the apparatus and how different forms of art developed, from the earliest forms of paintings in caves, to the contemporary world of memes and photographs on social media. The discussions also involved reading Giorgio
Agamben’s “What is an Apparatus?” and questioning the authenticity of art and further breaking it down to what authenticity actually is and who/what decides it? The second part of the module focused on ‘Technologies of Perception and the Practice of Seeing’. This is where the question of subjectivity of art comes back. What does the artist want us, the viewer, to see? How has the apparatus shaped the way it is perceived and how has that process evolved over time? The focus was then shifted to three institutions that play a huge role in the history of art – Museum, Library and Archive. The discussions involved looking at Wthe origin of these institutions and their purposes. The next step was to draw parallels and look at the way these
institutions are structured and also look at what kinds of work go into each of these institutions and whether they are interchangeable. The discussion was further extended to asking what would a museum of the 21st century be? And what would be the objects of display in this museum? The final part of the course was about ‘Thinking Curatorially’. Who is the curator and what is their role? What is curation? These questions were answered through a study of art history and the development of the institutions mentioned above. The contemporary modes of display of art, may it be in a museum or a lobby of a hotel, is a result of curatorial thinking and does not necessarily have a physical figure that assumes the title of a curator. If that is the case, today, what happens to the city? Is it an institution, like the ones mentioned above, or is it a culmination of curatorial thinking or is it neither? The course also looked at art through feedback loops and how art takes the viewer back in time to its context while simultaneously informing the future. In the last day of the module, the students created certain installations that work on this principle of a feedback loop in an exhibition titled ‘Speed Check’. This module was conducted by Sabih Ahmed.
Feedback loop installations
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Drawing/Computational Drawing Sem 1 Sem 3 Text: Tanuja Vartak Text: Diwakar Motwani, Dhruv Sachala The studio aimed to equip us with basic skills of drafting. We started off with horizontal and vertical lines then axonometric solids and finally drafted our own drafting tables to scale. Simultaneously , a daily sketching exercise was conducted for which we went to the nearby Eksar village, Borivali, Mumbai to observe and sketch an ‘urban village’. The brief was to draw whatever caught our eye and explain why we drew it the next day. In the next step of the module we were introduced to the concept of a tunnel box and convert one of our drawings into layers and recreate the scene in the tunnel box. Further, to understand architecture through drawings, we were given projects to research on and hand draft their plans and sections keeping the scale in mind. This module was conducted by Dushyant Asher, Tamal Mitra and Apurva Talpade.
Architecture and geometry have always been intrinsically linked. However their operational relationship has been dramatically strengthened by the recent advent of computational design and digital fabrication techniques.The studio emphasized on learning a new language of interpreting ideas and forms through software, and changing the way we look at softwares as a secondary medium of interpretation in architecture. This studio emphasized on learning Rhino software as an aid to develop designs on computers. It focused on important aspects of design like perception development, a sense of scale and understanding geometries. Rhinoceros is a parametric (3 dimensional geometry demonstration) software which focuses on producing mathematically precise representation of curves and surfaces. The
exercise began with choosing an object around us with complex geometries and interpreting the form through curves and profile on the software precisely that defined that object.
This module was conducted by Dushyant Asher and Bhavleen Narula.
Sail Jathar Eesha Pethe, Jainam Mehta
Neha Dalvi, Avinash Jain
Drishti Desai
modules
Dhruv Sachala
Charmi Mehta
Govinda Agrawal
Drawings made using softwares like rhino and illustrator for interpreting ideas, forms and understanding geometries.
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Technology Sem 1 Text: Janhavi Naik
Sem 3 Text: Dhruv Sachala, Diwakar Motwani
The aim of the studio was to understand materials and their relationship with geometry and force. In the first part of the studio each student was asked to bring an object that works on forces driven by hand movement, and analyse the forces acting on it, thus decoding it’s geometry. The brief was to use any three of the following materials - bamboo, strings, wood, sheets, sponge and fabric to build a structure that would either stand one meter tall or span to a length of one meter. This course helped students understand how to derive logics and geometries from surrounding objects and opportunity to explore material characteristics.
The Semester 3 Technology Studio started with developing an understanding of the environment as a resource and to familiarize students with the concept of embodied energy. It also aimed to equip students in designing a dwelling unit with passive energy methods in a specific climatic zone. The process started with a case study to understand about the climatic conditions, built forms and the possibilities. The studio brief was to design a house for a family of four members with the intent mentioned above by addressing the building envelope with features attributing to creating thermal comfort for its users while also reducing the demand for active energy. Each student chose their own site for intervention across different climatic regions of India. The context partially informs choices of material selection, their construction, joineries, assemblies and system details. The design response methodologically focused on the roof and the envelope, eventually leading to the connections of the built form to the ground.
This module was conducted by Dushyant Asher and Milind Mahale.
Radhika Malekar
Sarah Lukhadia
A series of lectures and studios equipped the students with the understanding of ecological cycles and the geopolitics of the environment. One of the studies interrogated the embodied energy and thermal properties of different materials along with building components and systems like roof, walls and fenestrations. Students explored modeling with various materials at different scales to understand the behavioural pattern in different contexts. The classroom learning extended to the field and enabled students to experience construction and details practically. Another visit to Dr. Anjali Parasnis’s house in Khopoli helped students to understand building systems and integrate services in the design, for eg. like the cycle of water and its reusability, the kitchen garden fed with compost from the kitchen waste,etc.
Diwakar Motwani
Khushi Singla
This module was conducted by Sabaa Giradkar, Malak Singh Gill, Abhijit Ekbote and Shahveer Irani. Aakanksha Shah
Dhruv Sachala
modules
Sem 5 Text: Yamini Patil, Veeravalli Vikram The Technology Module for Semester 5 introduced the students to prevailing practices in long span system design and operable and responsible facade systems. Through a set of case studies, the students analyzed the structural diagram and decoded the logic of long span structures and building envelopes, including the site context, spatial responses and mechanisms which were adopted for the projects.
Ronak Soni
Ruchita Sarvaiya
Jugal Kamalia Visit to a glass factory in Kharghar
Nandita Joshi
This module was conducted by Dipti Bhaindarkar, Sabaa Giradkar and Milind Mahale.
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Technology Sem 7 Text: Tanvi Savla, Shreyank Khemalapure, Komal Gopwani
The impetus for this studio is the inadequate public transit infrastructure in Mumbai. The routines of movement of people using the railways in Mumbai have changed since the early 2000s - due to new job centers distributed across various suburban regions. However, a large population still travels to the island city for work, and resides in the am suburbs. This means that the intensity n of use of the suburban railways has increased tremendously and the current infrastructure has been proven to be Arialunreliable, Image ofunsafe the station sterplan and underprepared er ts first to handle the increased intensity nsfer s, Arial the station of movement of Image people.of Proposed ter w in-
infrastructures like new metro lines, while offering some relief, add burden at their intersection with the existing transit systems of suburban railways and buses. The studio asks a radical question; ‘what if the answer to the problems of congestion is to increase congestion itself?’ What is meant here is that, we need to reassess congestion in a way that we conceive it to better and make space to engage with it. One of the ways to think of it is to reimagine transport hubs as nodes of jobs and commerce in the city. This would help us create transport hubs as absorbers of urban intensity and congestion rather than victims of congestion.
This studio also addresses the space of intersection of multi-modal transit systems and commercial centres for the locality. The module consisted of two parts: A detailed case study of a multimodal railway station across the world and a high-rise building with different structural systems was done. This was then continued by designing a high-rise near Borivali station in Mumbai, with a focus on construction processes and structural systems.
This module was conducted by Shreyank Khemalapure and Komal Gopwani.
ssenger
hal, Foram modes, t Pawar Group 9
the new
Arial Image of the station
Aditya Panchal, Foram um to be- Shah, Sneha Pawar e ne’ n thethat masterplan Group 9 mpleted its first Aditya Panchal, Foram npectrum
UNStudio Shah, beganSneha the masterplan r the Transfer Pawar ing in 1996 2000.the After in- and completed its first sketch design for the Transfer ching passenger 1st cenTerminal back in 2000. Aftermasterplan inortation modes, UNStudio began the Arial Image of the station tensively researching passenger in 1996 and completed its first sed that the flowsnew andsketch transportation modes, design for the Transfer Arial Image of the station expand to be- Terminal back in 2000. After inUNStudio proposed that the new tensivelyexpand researching passenger r machine’ that should terminal to benger just flows andmachine’ transportation Arial Image of the station come a ‘transfer thatmodes, e whole spectrum UNStudio proposed that the new the whole spectrum ome aincorporates ort, meeting the terminal should expand to beof public transport, meeting the 21st cen- come a ‘transfer machine’ that doftothegive
ust a e ion
travel demands of the cenincorporates the21st whole spectrum
tury. of public transport, meeting the to station travel demands of the 21st cenal is no longer just tury. “Arnhem Central is no longer just erely he has become a trainastation. It has become a “Arnhem Central isto nogive longer just the transfer We wanted etund wanted to givehub. a train station. It has become a a new and vital impetus to station impetus station ws thatto transfer hub. We wanted to give design, so rather than merely a new and vital impetus to station r than merely e, the designing the station around the ation around the design, so rather than merely activities designing and people flows that the station around the of the eople flows that took activities and people flows that already place there, the nd already took place ace there, the expanded architecture of there, the the ects and expanded architecture of the tecture of the new Transfer Terminal directs and nd new Transfer Terminal directs and use and determines how people use and minal directs anddetermines how people use and move around the building” said people use and move around the building” said dg” said Bensaid van Berkel, and prinBen vanfounder Berkel, founder and prine building” cipal architect of UNStudio. in- prinand founder and prin-cipal architect of UNStudio. of UNStudio. dio.
The structure consists of a post tensioned DIAGRAM Wind bracing at 17th floor with outrigger ARNHEM UNSTUDIOCIRCULATION ARNHEM UNSTUDIOCIRCULATION DIAGRAM concrete core surrounded by diagrid sysbeams between beams and core tying External and Internal diagrid system ARNHEM UNSTUDIO- tem. CIRCULATION DIAGRAM (lateral load resisting system)
them together.
ARNHEM UNSTUDIO- CIRCULATION DIAGRAM
ARNHEM UNSTUDIO- CIRCULATION DIAGRAM
ARNHEM UNSTUDIO- CIRCULATION DIAGRAM
Exploded View Exploded View
Exploded View
Exploded View
Exploded View
The core was pre cambered meaning it was initially tilted away from the overhang of the building and was straightened by the dead load of the building.
Exploded View 1
A total of 146 tendons were incorporated into the core through ducts. Each 20 meters long tendons spans 5 floors and overlaps at each ends.
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1. Arhnem station case study: Foram Shah, Sneha Pawar, Aditya Panchal 2. Capital Gate case study: Vaishnavi Bhartia, Ashi Chordia,Ruchi Dixit 3,6. Design Proposal: Raksha Shrivastava, Manish Shravane, Divya Vaidya 4. Design Proposal (Services): Tanvi Savla, Maitreyee Moghe, Pooja Patre 5. World Trade Centre case study : Herin Vora, Aditya Verma, Bindiya Waghela 7. Design Proposal: Raksha Shrivastava, Manish Shravane, Divya Vaidya
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Form and Space Studies Sem 1 Text: Tanuja Vartak
Sem 3 Text: Dhruv Sachala
The aim of the studio was to explore the form of algae, moss, fungus(collected from Sanjay Gandhi National Park) and to understand the logic of its growth. We made detailed drawings of the specimen observing the environment and the pattern of growth. These were used as provocations for construction models and hence we studied ergonomics and eventually made body support models based on their geometries. This course also enabled students to depart from the conventional ideas of body supports and sculpt a furniture for different postures.
The Form and Space module of semester 3 aimed at understanding the living practices that have integrated into the built patterns which can be studied and extracted towards meaningful architectural vocabularies in response to contemporary transforming landscapes. To imagine new programs for the communities with shifting economy and environmental conditions, we visited the inner city of Alibaug a Jewish settlement (to observe how typology and morphology shapes architecture). The study involved making site drawings and models to understand and document living patterns at the scales of the building and the neighbourhood. We explored the existing site conditions, analysed the built to
This module was conducted by Dushyant Asher, Milind Mahale, Tamal Mitra and Apurva Talpade.
open space ratios, built form interfaces with the street, and other conditions that characterize the place. We used diagramming as a method to reconfigure the types. Through exploration of patterns and cycles of events and spaces, each student developed their own ‘Experience Machine’, a conceptual apparatus used for recording observations. They were further translated into three things events, space and architectonic details. This helped us to build our own design by reconfiguring the typologies sensitively and assembling new patterns.
This module was conducted by Rupali Gupte, Anuj Daga, Samir Raut and Pratyusha Suryakant.
Diwakar Motwani
Pranjal Sancheti
Neha Dalvi
Riya Israni
Charmi Mehta
Riddhi Shah
Drishti Desai
Rishabh Chhajer
modules
Diwakar Motwani
Rishabh Chhajer
Khushi Singla
Dhanvi Shah
Preet Waghmare
Dhruv Sachala
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Form and Space Studies Sem 5 Text: Veeravalli Vikram, Dipti Bhaindarkar The focus of semester 5 design studio was to develop an inquiry into space and built form for an urban context and program, emerging from an architecture which is based on low resource consumption and is also productive. The aim was to look into this through the lens of ‘Co-living’ spaces. The process started with identifying and analyzing the site concerns, which was located in the dense sprawling city of Mumbai. The studio explored the existing site conditions to understand the concerns, opportunities, and possibilities. The aim was to address concerns of resource consumption and production within the built form and their spatial implications. The brief challenged the students to define the user profile for their project such as students, young couples, interns and working professionals. This studio by the nature of its brief and defined objectives also involved rigorous digital explorations through its process. These explorations are to develop a relevant relationship between the virtual iterations and the physical environment. Students used modeling and simulation softwares like Sketch-up, Grasshopper, Rhinoceros, Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Ecotect and Ladybug to model, iterate, evaluate and validate their design ideas. More than just being visualizing and application tools, the school has been working towards using these digital technologies as thinking tools. The explorations are directed towards designing evolution processes through computational parametrics. There is a constant effort to dissolve the binaries between the virtually derived iterations and the necessities of the physical current environment. The resource systems through the development of ideas manifested into architectural expressions and spaces. The challenge for the students was to culminate their design trajectory into a single narrative with exploratory diagrams and to support it with technical drawings.
Pranay Kotadia
Ritu Naik
This module was conducted by Dipti Bhaindarkar and Sabaa Giradkar.
Raghav Gupta
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Veeravalli Vikram
Ruchita Sarvaiya
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Theory and Methods,Form and Space Studies Sem 7 Text: Tanvi Savla, Foram Shah, Rohit Mujumdar, Shreyank Khemalapure The courses of Theory and Methods, Settlement Studies and Architectural Design were all interrelated and was a long process of understanding a city and the process of its urbanization. The class was divided into two groups to study emerging contexts of Coimbatore and Tiruchirapalli (Trichy) respectively. The aim of this studio was to introduce the emerging contexts in the second cities of India (in continuation to the previous studies done for other southern cities) and to help develop a critical imagination towards framing new questions and approaches to engage with urbanism. Differences and the City Coimbatore Studio: What are the emerging contexts of urbanization in India’s second or nonmetro cities? How does ‘difference’ play a role in emerging contexts of urbanization and do we need to look at it? What exactly does one mean when they use the term ‘difference’? What is the current debate around difference and the city? How could difference be mobilized as an analytical frame in urban and architectural research, specifically in the Indian context? We initiated our study withthese questions. The aim of the study was to understand the differences of southern cities in India. A preliminary study of the city of Coimbatore was done through secondary survey. We worked in groups of two, where we looked at ten different contexts in the city, with topics varied from degradation of lakes, closure of the cotton textile mills, and the increase in retirement homes in the city.
What new design questions does the engagement with difference in the emerging urban context shape? Based on background research, we did fieldwork in the city of Coimbatore, to answer the above question. Much information was obtained in addition to secondary survey by various methods such as interviews of clients or users, observing the site, drawings etc. Based on this, a site of intervention was chosen by each group, for the next process of architectural design. What new design questions, conceptual orientations and architectural responses does an engagement with difference in the emerging urban context present? A detailed site analysis was followed by designing architectural resolutions to answer the above questions through the methods of diagramming, conceptual drawings, operational drawings, models and detailed text. Housing, the new Questions
our arguments on them over the successive weeks by a number of readings, references of books, field study and design intervention. The study began with looking at secondary research as a tool where we articulated a problem statement and framed a research question based on a survey of reports, books, news articles, academic articles, maps etc. Based on the secondary research, we carried out the fieldwork in the city of Trichy. The field study was an intensive one week undertaking, where the gaps from the secondary research data were filled. Various methods like drawings on site, interviews, data collection from government offices, drawing maps were used for a deeper understanding and led to us choosing a site for intervention. The design module aimed at resolving two things mainly, to identify and analyse the architectural and housing responses for the emerging contexts and to develop relevant housing types for the emerging contexts.
Trichy Studio: Emerging urban conditions such as changes in the economy, new social conditions, change in labour forms and practices, emerging aspirations, environmental issues, cultural dimensions etc are creating new contexts for housing. These contexts bring with them an impetus for ideas and responses to housing and living. The context of Tiruchirapalli, required historical survey due to its geographical significance of ideas on housing. The study began with us asking questions on the contexts in the city and developing
Subsequently, a detailed site analysis , conceptual diagramming, strategies and models were used as a tools to resolve the architectural/spatial question. Each one of us had an individual approach to design and attempted to resolve the housing conditions for the city in our own ways.
This module was conducted by Rohit Mujumdar and Shreyank Khemalapure.
modules
LOCATION OF SLUMS SLUMS WATER BODIES RAILWAY MAJOR ROADWAYS ROADWAYS MUNICIPAL BOUNDARY
Vaishnavi Bhartia, Rushikesh Hirulkar
Priyanshi Bagadia
Devarsh Sheth, Aditya Panchal
Tanvi Savla, Gargi Chauhan
Harsh Vora, Soham Tondwalkar
Foram Shah, Raksha Srivastava
Anshuli Kadam
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Form and Space Studies Sem 9 Text: Vastavikta Bhagat Monsoon season today is seen as a problem. The edges of the rivers are intensively concretised as immediate mitigation measures for floods. Instances of concentrated rainfall over a short period has increased recently. The deluge of 2005 was an extreme event which brought the entire city of Mumbai to a standstill. The cities of today have become vulnerable to natural and human-made disasters due to the city building practices today and the changing natural processes and cycles. Today, our cities are so saturated with humans and their interventions that finding a natural intervention in the cityscape is close to null. In this module, we looked at redesigning towards a resilient city. The site of study emerges from the watersheds of Dahisar river and tributaries. It extends from Manori creek, Dahisar in the north to Poisar River, Kandivali in the South, and spans the entire east-west of Borivali which mainly covers the R-Ward. Through
QGIS, we had come to understand how a river lives in this city and believe that the river came before man and hence human interventions need to develop while allowing for a river to live. A deconstruction of the climate, terrain and habitation of Mumbai’s R-Ward looked at the city’s flooding crisis. The study was conducted over 6 weeks which included researching the cityscape through primary data sourcing for 5 weeks and design proposals over one week that included short-term, mid-term and long-term methods to tackle the incessant flooding woes of the city. The city of Mumbai sits on the ground, which is shaped by various actions of water and land over time. Human interventions and activities have shaped, reclaimed and transformed this city and its terrain along its generous coastline since prehistoric times. It is witnessed and expressed along the numerous rivers in the city – or of what remains of them today.
In the recent past, the R Ward of Borivali has seen galloping urbanisation with enormous housing and infrastructural projects, which have continuously modified the hydrological processes in this region. One can very well conjecture from the study of historical maps the changing patterns and extents of settlement which often has impinged the river paths through the flood plains and creeks. The rainfall runoff relationship of the land is disturbed with an increase in concretisation and reduction of open and permeable spaces within the city. The city fails to drain off the water due to altered terrain, leading to flood zones. Flooding, coupled with tidal actions lead to socioeconomic aggravation of the dwellers.
This module was conducted by Ravi Punde, Komal Gopwani, Abhijit Ekbote and Pankaj Joshi.
Proposed section cut through link road
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Retention tank connecting with open spaces
Zoning Plan
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Allied Design Sem 1 Text: Tanuja Vartak
Sem 5 Text: Helee Doshi, Veeravalli Vikram
The Allied Design studio looked at studying organic forms and the ways in which a human foot can be represented. Tessellation, repetition, contouring and aggregation were some of the ways in which the model of the foot was explored. Because there is no singular way of representing a foot, it was important to go through an iterative process to identify possibilities and problems that arise from each of the methods. This was more of a form building exercise which focused on decoding the geometrical principles and logic of the organic matter, here foot.
The Project Management module was conducted by. It was scheduled over a week at Perkins Eastman office in Churchgate, Mumbai. Students were introduced to different aspects of project management such as schedules, Gantt charts, reports etc. that shape the project throughout its process. Through week long activities and self exploratory subjects, the students were taught different techniques and strategies to plan a project. The class was divided into eight groups and were asked to curate a design project. The idea was to establish a hypothetical firm run by different actors, each involved in various stages of a fictitious project. A presentation on the last day, highlighted
This module was conducted by Dushyant Asher and Milind Mahale.
the objectives of the hypothetical firm and explored the roles of the different actors, while highlighting the need for different forms of intervention - such as designers, consultants, leaders etc.
This module was conducted at Perkins Eastman Studio.
Dishita Galchat
Prishita Kulkarni
Tanisi Kamili
Images from project management course
modules
Sem 9 Text: Divya Bhat This module was a 3-week long materiality experimentation process on the possibilities of different materials. Six groups were formed each of them had to read the material not only with the set of properties it contained chemically, but also tried out different sets of apparatus to achieve innovative forms. Few worked on exploring form generations and stability, acting under the force of magnetism (Ref. Group 1) while a few worked with Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics using polyester resin to form parabolic free-standing structures (Ref. Group 2). Different ways of strengthening concrete were also experimented with, using jute fibre and caustic soda to
create a homogeneous mixture which increased its tensile strength (Group 3). A few experiments were also made to understand the properties of natural fibres like hemp, jute and coir to explore different techniques of weaving and obtain a geometry using the tensile properties of these materials which were self-supporting. A few explored the possibilities of creating a sustainable material with mycelium. Mycelium composites were made using sawdust, cardboard, rice husk, ragi seeds, snowflakes and cocopeat as an option for sustainable material (Group 5). On the other hand, a few tried experimenting with natural composites
which could act as a biodegradable replacement. A material that is produced from nature and is given back to it, was the aim of this research and looked at using natural materials like starch, coffee, natural fibres, and edible salt along with a combination of natural fibres and aggregates along with starch to help make a simpler, economical and bio-degradable composite. This gave us an opportunity to explore the resultant natural composites and its material possibilities (Ref. Group 6).
This module was conducted by Dushyant Asher.
Group 2
Group 4 Group 1
Group 3
Group 6
Group 5
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Sem 9 Text: Ami Joshi Repair and Retrofit In the current times, we see a huge shortfall when it comes to affordable housing in cities. It is a common practice to rebuild and redevelop old buildings, A majority of these houses remain occupied even though they do not conform to the habitability norms and are often found to have dark and dingy alleys, artificially lit corridors and insufficient natural lighting inside the houses. Over a course of three years, the Repair and Retrofit module identified four contexts where congestion and dilapidation were major concerns. These were the informal settlements, old villages, old built form in the inner-city areas- the Chawls, and old co-operative housing societies built in the late 1900s. Alternate methods like repair, expansion,
addition, improvisation and retrofitting of the existing built form were explored in each of the contexts. The first year dealt with understanding and mapping the buildings for issues of dampness, structural instability, dilapidation, lack of ventilation, etc. It also identified the dominant approach that would address the needs of the residents. The second-year dealt with learning the existing practices in each of the contexts to deal with the issues of space shortage, weather protection and sanitation. The final stage of the module was to suggest design ideas in each of the identified contexts to specifically address the issues that were brought forward collectively on two scales- the house and the building.
This study has been important for two main reasons. First, it helps in formalizing, and hence in some ways validating, the existing methods used by the people to constantly negotiate with the space that they live in. These can form a basis for such practices to be accepted as a way of improvement of houses and built form. Second, it opens up an array of new possibilities of design intervention that a context offers, in conjunction with the users, making it an approach for the community or society that it houses, something that redevelopment does not always address.
This module was conducted by Komal Gopwani.
BDD Chawl: Chawl Typology
Shri Krishna Apartments: Co-operative housing Society
modules
Orientation Sem 1 Text: Tanuja Vartak
The process of unlearning began with the first module deconstructing our beliefs of respect, God and religion. We were then led to the main project which centred around the theme of “News”. The question - What is news? was explored in five different ways as we were divided into five groups on the basis of our answers. The various aspects of news that were
discussed were news as a trap, the fluidity of news, its multisensory nature, news as gossip and news as a molder of information. The objective was to make a life sized model/ installation surrounding these particular aspects of news and create an experience of the discussed aspects. The life sized installations also exhibited mental impact of news.
Multisense The floor plans of college were used as base to reate notice boards. The strings connecting these boards represented the spread of news. It becomes a source to find out latest news about college which explains the multisensorial nature of news.
Molders When one passes through this, body experiences the idea and act of molding. This focuses on how daily news molds one’s behaviour, way of thinking and body language.
Gossip This group focused on how news and gossip are symbolic of one another. The symbolism was found through the means of kaleidoscope. When one is inside the frame he/she experiences changing reflections which is analogous to the nature of gossip to never be static and changing its form as it passes from one to another.
This course enabled students to think, formulate and execute an idea derived as a metaphor. It also oriented students to the ways of making physical models from small scale to life sized, ways of choosing materials and exceuting them for evoking a desired experience through installations.
This module was conducted by Prasad Shetty and Tamal Mitra.
Fluid When one navigates through the dense network of thick, dark coloured clothes suspended from top creates hindrance. This complex network depicts multiple layers of news. The omnipresence of fluid, its ability to take any form associated with news is the highlight here.
Trap The network of threads suspend objects which appear to be floating in air, similar to the web of information of news. This focuses on the physical as well as mental idea of trap.
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electives
Electives Lino Printing by Tamal Mitra
Surface design and Pattern Making by Aarti Badamikar
The course focused on the methods and techniques of lino printing or block printing. It started with an introduction to lino printing as a technique and its applications. Later, a basic layout and design was worked on, after which the decisions regarding the negative space and size of the print were taken. After a fair understanding of how the lino sheet behaves and which tools cater to what kind of textures or thicknesses, initial prints were taken on newsprint and cartridge papers. As beginners, we used oil paints instead of ink and learnt how to roll the paint, maintain its consistency and clean the lino block after printing so that it could be reused. By the end of the week, multiple prints were taken in different colours (black, blue and red) either refining the same mould or creating new layouts in various sizes.
The aim of the elective was to design for a surface, which could be used on 3d objects such as walls, sheets, fabric etc. The students collected objects with textures in order to create swatches, by painting its surface with ink. Later they edited the swatches by scaling, multiplying and resizing them. The resultant swatches were photocopied and then used to create a tessellation or a pattern that could be developed to be used for a much larger surface. The course also included learning about some other techniques of surface design- block prints, roller printing, kolam, rangoli to name a few. Though similar intechniques of ink on a medium, the difference in each of these comes through the variation in design and the change in the surface and the type of ink used.
Illustration by Harshad Marathe
Ceramics by Neha Kudchadkar
The course focused on various milestones to develop an understanding of compositions of illustrations in terms of colours, guiding the focus of the viewer, the scale of the objects, ratio, and contrast to form a narrative. All works by the students were composed on the studio wall for the final presentation, creating a narration in itself. Several words from a stencil assignment were scattered for visitors to find and generate their version of the prompt. This provided a new way to look at methods of representation of ideas, forms and space through new prompts.
The ceramics module started with ‘thinking with one’s hands’. We learnt various techniques of making a tile and a sculpture. While learning the process things like the water content, variations in the cross sectional thickness, etc became extremely critical once applied to achieve a simple form. We worked on tiles, taking inspiration from the neighbourhood of Dadar. In groups, we also worked on sculptures which eventually, post firing, were arranged to create a larger installation.
electives
Sculptures by Teja Gavnakar
Theatre by Sujay Saple
We entered the elective through a discussion on routines- how our daily lives can be looked as series of reactions to situation, actors and objects, each generating peculiar responses in space. Through discussions on everyday things, which have a deeper impact on us, we moved further into looking at our immediate surrounding within the college campus to find such spaces, based on firm associations, so as to explore how they can be instrumental in generating questions or communicating certain ideas. This was achieved through the medium of a sculpture. Different sculptures in their broadest sense, were designed in this process, each of them located and functioning through a specific space, generating questions, ideas, suggestions or some feeling in the observer/ viewer.
This elective focused on the movements of body, presence of mind and the performance of both together with respect to space. How does one’s body react to a certain constraint of space, sound and vision? Various exercises were performed in a manner that we could experiment with forms made by our own bodies. The final piece was done by four groups trying to interpret their own language of bodies co-relating with the words freedom, decay, loss, resistance respectively. Here, every piece of act could be performed in any place without any props and with no dialogue exchange. The idea of theatre explored here moved away from notions of classic theatres and towards contemporary interpretations.
What is a Book? by Poonam Jain
Animation by Priyanka Gupta
For the bookmaking elective, we tried to reimagine the idea of the form of the book. We tried to deconstruct the elements that make a book- the text and the content- which led us to explore its form and reimagine it as a body or an architectural space that tells a story. Exercises were further done to make these life size objects readable like a conventional book, yet keep it open to interpretation. As a result of this, objects of everyday life became a book, while the action of reading and approaching the book itself becomes an act. This culminated in an exhibition.
This elective started off with discussing different kinds of animation techniques: stop motion, hand drawn, vector based, clay models, etc. The students sketched the frames in advance and then started shooting their video clips. The shooting took place within the college premises and extended to the neighbourhood. Ideas were discussed on the first day, frames were sketched on the second and shooting took place on the second and third day. Post production was done on the fourth day using Adobe Premier Pro and Adobe After Effects.
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sea city / sea assembly
SEA City
SEA Assembly
71. Works By Vishwa Shroff 14th June 2019
14th June 2019 21st June 2019 28th June 2019
72. Turbulent Times and Opportunities By Sankalpa 28th June 2019
05th July 2019
73. Film Screening: ‘Nostalgia for the Future’ and ‘Lovely Villla’ By Rohan Shivkumar & Avijit Mukul Kishore 12th July 2019
26th July 2019
74. Practising Practice By Compartment S4 26th July 2019
12th July 2019
2nd August 2019 9th August 2019 16th August 2019 23rd August 2019 30th August 2019
75. The Strip 1.0 By The Blank Slate 9th August 2019
06th September 2019 13th September 2019
76. SEA Research Associateship Symposium By SEA Research Associates- Apoorva Sharma, Chinmay Shidore, Vastavikta Bhagat 23rd August 2019
20th September 2019 27th September 2019
77. Gaze Under Your Skin By Amol Patil 20th August 2019
04th October 2019
Protests in Sudan Mental stress caused by social media Discussion on fashion, standards of beauty, mechanism of likings, comfort etc Idea of education and educational institutions Idea of age, adult, maturity and its nuances Karnataka Assembly crisis after the Vidhan Sabha elections in May 2018 Life: Discussion based on everyday things Article 370 and Article 35A Protests in Hong Kong 1. Criminalisation of Prostitution 2. Pornography RBI Money transfer to Central Government, its need, effects and affects Honour Killing Reservations: Differences, imbalance, history of India through the lenses of class, gender, and caste Hindi language controversy Participatory Assembly, Games and Fun for refreshment Discussion on digital technology, AR- VR and mixed reality, its role and importance in the contemporary
School of Environment and Architecture a joint initiative of Society for Environment & Architecture along with Suvidya Prasarak Sangh Eksar Road, near C.K.P Colony, Borivali West, Mumbai 400 091 Phone +91 22 2833 7582 contact@sea.edu.in | www.sea.edu.in Credits Front cover page- Diwakar Motwani Back cover page- Drishti Desai
