SHIVANI AGARWAL Rhode Island School of Design
ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO | Selected works
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SHIVANI AGARWAL sagarwal@risd.edu | (315) 210-2834 2 College Street, #56, Providence, RI 02903, USA issuu.com/shivani.agarwal
EDUCATION
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Rhode Island School of Design Providence, RI, USA | Class of 2021
Leers Weinzapfel Associates (LWA) Architectural Intern Boston, USA, Summer 2019
Bachelor of Architecture | Bachelor of Fine Arts Concentration in -Theory + History of Art and Design -Nature, Culture, Sustainability studies European Honors Program | Rome, Italy, Fall 2019 Honors Certificate | Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Assisted principal architects during the construction process of Harvard University’s district energy facility and the design process of a visitor and innovation center in Revere, MA. Created drawings, physical and 3d models for project meetings with engineers and landscape architects. Participated in site visits, AIA presentations and office events.
SKILLS Software Rhinoceros 3D, AutoCAD, Revit Adobe Suite Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Lightroom, Bridge, Premiere, Lightroom Microsoft Suite Word, Power-point, Excel
Assisted senior architects in the design process to develop alternate solutions and actively participated in the presentation process. Developed and executed presentation graphics (plans, sections, diagrams, illustrations) to communicate concepts to clients. Gained an understanding of materials, building systems and construction methods. Shared Languages - Earthen architecture workshop and conference University of Cagliari, Sardegna, Italy, 2019 Constructed wall prototypes using bamboo, plaster and clay earthen architecture techniques learned from artisans from Japan, Morocco, France, Romania, and Italy, during the week long workshop organized by professor Maria Maddalena Acchenza. Work published in the article “Built from the earth” under RISD stories.
Model Making Laser-cutting, 3D Printing, CNC Hand Drawing, drafting, woodworking, printmaking, photography
Sameep Padora + associates (sP+a) Architectural Intern Mumbai, India, Summer 2018
European Honors Program Exhibition Curatorial committee member RISD, Rome, Italy, Fall 2019 painting,
Language English, Hindi
TEAMWORK AND LEADERSHIP AIAS Undergraduate Vice President, RISD Chapter RISD, Providence, USA, Fall 2018 - Fall 2019 Collaborated with American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) student committee to initiate and market events to the architecture student body. Participated and lead discussions in structured weekly meetings to plan monthly events. Student orientation Leader RISD, Providence, USA, Fall 2017, Fall 2018 IDSA Makeathon RISD, Providence, USA, Spring 2020 South Asian Student Association Co-President RISD, Providence, USA, Fall 2018 - Spring 2019
RISD Architecture CAD Lab monitor RISD, Providence, USA, Fall 2018 - present S+PS Architects Intern Mumbai, India, Summer 2016 Categorized and rearranged books in the studio library and helped digitally document and organize analog data.
STUDIO EXPERIENCE Urban Farming Professor Laura Briggs, RISD, Spring 2020 Work with members of the African Alliance of Rhode Island community through collaborative design and construction practices to elevate their existing urban farming efforts. Develop designs for end walls, rainwater harvesting and activity spaces. Assist in the installation of a high tunnel style greenhouse. Environmental Design Professor Jeffrey Geisinger, RISD, Fall 2018 - Spring 2019 Study human environmental comforts by understanding principals and applications of temperature, humidity, heat transfer, air movement, hydrostatics, electric energy, lighting and sound in built environments. Develop a design proposal that considers environmental strategies and assemblies to make existing systems more efficient.
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CONTENTS 01
Reviving a neighborhood
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Terra/Forma, MAMe
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Art Center, Providence
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Exploration of Rudolf Hall
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Shuttle Maker’s Tower
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Scaling Adaptations
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Mini golf course
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Travel sketches
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Professional work
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01 REVIVING A NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN ECOLOGIES with Anne Tate RISD, Fall 2018 This project is an urban space proposal for South Providence, Rhode Island, USA ,with a residential and commercial component. It responds to the physical, social, cultural and ecological conditions of the neighborhood and critiques the expanding institutional power and insensitivity to the environment by reconnecting the neighborhood to the waterfront through the inclusion of a wetland and w plaza. It addresses the scales of human habitation through varied housing units while also designing the interface between shared and private spaces, different types of circulation, institutional neighbors and other existing and planned programs on the site.
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Existing urban fabric of neighborhood. The site is mainly parking lots, and is between a hospital and residential area. C
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Site context that marks important axes to main streets and the waterfront. E
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Site plan aims to draw visitors into the neighborhood and reconnect it to the waterfront. 8
Perspective sketches of different spaces within the masterplan.
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C D E F
Masterplan
Section A explores the relationship of a new housing complex to existing houses across the street. 9
Retail 1 Bedroom unit 4 Bedroom unit Apartment building Community Center
Massing diagram
Section B shows a typical live-work unit designed to support immigrant families in the neighborhood who operate small business from home.
Section C shows a residential unit with a one bedroom apartment at the ground level and four bedroom unit above. Multiple balconies encourage relationships between neighbors as well as with their surroundings.
Section E from Dudley st to Chester st, South Providence. Moving from the south facing plaza, through the 10
Wetland diagram : Integrated into the housing proposal is a wetland strip that aims to recycle storm-water through a three step process and critiques the excessive asphalt grounds on the site along with the history of toxic dumping into the water by naturally cleaning the water before it is directed into the bay. A: Remedial wetland plants B: Treatment using micro-organisms, pebbles and storage based on water levels. C: Water is absorbed by trees and filtered
Wetland diagram
Section D: The wetland landscape adds a beautifying and educational aspect to the neighborhood that can be experienced closely as well as by those passing by.
Concept diagram showing ways in which the build wetland infrastructure engages with the community.
e commercial strip towards residential units, the proposal engages with varying intensities of public spaces. 11
Sixth Floor Multi-use space
Fifth Floor Conference rooms
Fourth Floor Conference rooms
Third Floor Multi-use spaces
Second Floor Banquet room Kitchenette
First Floor Supermarket Garage Open Plaza
Community Center plan 12
Third Floor
Second Floor
Ground Floor
Residential Unit plan 4 Bedroom Unit Plan 2580 sq. ft. (with retail and garage) 1690 sq. ft. (without retail and garage)
1 Bedroom Unit Plan 890 sq. ft.
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Perspective A is a view of the residential units that face the wetland strip. The garage doors can be opened and used by residents in diverse ways. This green space is less public than the open plaza but still welcomes visitors to engage with the ecology.
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Perspective B shows an interior courtyard. The shared backyard space is more private compared to other green spaces in the neighborhood and can be used by residents for multiple activities.
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Site model at scale 1/32�.
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Model of retail and residential units at scale 1/8�.
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02 TERRA\FORMA MUSEUM FOR ARTS AND CRAFTS, MAMe | Florence, Italy RISD European Honors Program, Fall 2019 Craft involves the interaction of the body and material. In this museum for two crafts, metals and textiles, we have focused on reviving another material craft in construction of the building. Reinventing the ancient local tradition of building with earthen walls, this project using the earth of its own excavation to create a memorable shelter for the production and exhibition of traditional crafts in metalwork and textiles of the Florentine region. Earthen wall construction was a traditional building method in the areas around Florence but now it emerges in the center of the city in a new form as a refined material, worthy of display. This extremely sustainable building system uses the most local of materials, eliminates waste and transports costs, and keeps the building warm in winter and cool in summer. In our version it becomes an integral part of the display system, offering a contrast to show off the delicate textiles and fine metal work of the collection. Project entry for Archicontest #FlorenceCall competition, in collaboration with Jisu Yang, Hiba Hanif and Pablo Herraiz Garcia de Guadiana.
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Concept diagram showing the wall as a container and as furniture. The workshop sits between massive earth walls which provide spaces for exhibition and for storage of materials and works in progress. The opposing walls are clear glass, allowing visitors inside the museum and the public on the east street to fully observe the work in progress.
Parking Auditorium Office Workshop Lobby Exhibition
Programmatic diagram
Plan
Model photos
Section: The building rises up out of the ground to provide a platform from which to view the famous Santa 20
Kenji, approaching from the church of Santa Croce, sees a vast landscape rising up from the street. He climbs up the landscape amphitheater and sits down on the benches to enjoy the sculpture garden and then makes his way to the workshop.
After walking through an alley, a set of monumental rammed earth walls draw Eva into the exhibition space where she discovers works of silk fabric, while the walls are shaped with niches containing bronze statues and precious metal artifacts.
Storyboard A
Storyboard B
Croce faรงade. This new park offers a welcome, cool, green oasis in the midst of the hardscape city. 21
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03 ART CENTER, PROVIDENCE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN with Ben Pell RISD, Spring 2018 A space is a synthesis of concepts, systems and elements. While maintaining conceptual clarity in the face of complexity, this project develops a proposal for a new art center for the city of Providence- one that articulates a clear position through both its architectural approach and its engagement with the context. The proposal speculates on how concepts and constraints meet one another to form hierarchies in space, creating a new form of architecture for artists and the public of today.
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Parti diagram highlights how the massing of the Art Center in section, draws from the intensity in downtown Providence and opens it up towards college hill acting as a transition point.
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RISD Student Waterfire Marathon Bicycle friendly street Providence historic tour Entrance and Exit
Circulation analysis diagram
-18dB -12dB -6dB
Sound analysis diagram
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The rooftop plaza is treated as an extension of the street. It invites people onto the site, which is made possible without actually entering the building. Artists and admins
Art center visitors Open to the public
Diagram showing multiple entry points.
Site model at scale 1/8�. 26
The path moves around the center atrium-like space and encourages interactions between people in the interior and exterior of the building. The loop circulation gives the visitor a chance to re-experience similar space in a different ways.
Section B. Each studio has a lab and workshop space within it.
Section A. The rooftop plaza can be used for performance artworks and in multiple other ways. The channel glass facade allows diffused light into the studio spaces.
Section C shows the relationship of the vertical artists and admin space to the open gallery space and of the Art Center to the canal. 27
Fifth Floor Studio Workshop
Fourth Floor Studio Workshop
Third Floor Classroom Public plaza Performance art space
Second Floor Meeting area Reading room Gallery
First Floor Private office Open office Gallery
Ground Floor Cafe Lobby Open meeting space Public workshop Loading and Storage
Floor plans 28
Model at scale 1/8�.
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Process models at scale 1/16� and final model at scale 1/8�. 30
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04 EXPLORATION - RUDOLF HALL ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS with Lexie Tsien RISD, Spring 2018 This project, through a series of carefully constructed drawings, aims to uncover the underlying orders and principles of the Yale Art and Architecture building by Paul Rudolf. It uses physical and spatial logics to make decisions about line, sequence, hierarchy and formal relationships.
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Axonometric drawing that explores the interlocking of the vertical columns and horizontal floor-plates as well as the center atrium. 30�x 44�. 34
Exploded axonometric drawing o reconfigured in terms of changing v
of the building taken apart and volumes of spaces. 38�x 50�.
Perspective analysis drawing that explores the experience of moving through the building. The central corrugated concrete columns help the viewer orient themselves within the shifting perspectives. 35
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05 SHUTTLE MAKER’S TOWER MAKING OF DESIGN PRINCIPLES with Jonathan Knowles RISD, Fall 2017 Architecture is not only a product of quantity and efficiency but also of art. This project adopts a creative process that begins with abstraction, the immeasurable and moves towards ideas of circulation and inhabitation. A paper shuttle created to perform a controlled movement was the starting point of what became the shuttle maker’s tower. The spatial organization and anatomy of the tower was derived by analyzing the geometric order of the shuttle’s movement. It encouraged a re-interpretation of circulation, space, structure, and the programmatic requirements. The tower caters to the shuttle maker as well as potential visitors; it includes private living, studio and dining space along with public exhibition, observation and performance space.
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Initial paper shuttle aiming to achieve a controlled motion. The bias in the triangle geometry of the shuttle allowed a spiral whereas the parachute-like folding helped control speed.
Wooden dowels were used for support to respond to the changes in scale.
Analytical drawing of the shuttle’s movement when dropped from a 6ft height. 38
Collage of the shuttle when dropped from a 20ft height.
Drawing of the shuttle’s fall to create a frame animation.
Volume analysis of the shuttle’s fall.
Analyzing the fall of the shuttle: While the shuttle spirals downwards it rotates in a anti-clockwise direction about its midpoint. The path of the shuttle is not always perpendicular to the ground and so there is movement in the x, y and z direction. Although the speed and motion is constant, the spiral is not concentric; the diameter of the spiral changes and the path becomes elliptical at some intervals. The shuttle is light in weight and so when it is dropped, the flaps curve up slightly. 39
To translate the paper shuttle’s movement into architecture, fit a hypothetical site dimension of 20ft x 100ft, and fulfil programmatic area requirements, a section of the space formed by points on the shuttle is exaggerated to become inhabitable.
Study model A explores the integration of a spiral staircase inspired by the shuttle.
Study model B explores how lines formed by connecting points on the shuttle can form a structural system for the tower.
The idea of a double spiral staircase came from the halfway switch in the shuttle’s movement from anti-clockwise to clockwise. This also allows for moments where the private and public staircases intersect, or come face to face. Diagram A
To further translate the shuttle’s motion into the form and experience of the tower, the slope of the floors is derived from the different angles of the shuttle as it falls. This is applied to suited programs. Diagram B 40
The spiral staircase changes in diameter on every floor according to the movement of the shuttle and creates moments of varied proximity to the shuttle for the viewer and also creates a shaft volume that is unique to the shuttle.
Model of the shuttle maker’s tower at 1/4� scale. 41
Sixth Floor Studio 2 (Private) 400 sq ft.
Fifth Floor Studio 1(Public) 400 sq ft.
Fourth Floor Living Room 150 sq ft.
Third Floor Bedroom 150 sq ft. Second Floor Private Dining and Public Cafe 200 sq ft. First Floor Exhibition Space 250 sq ft.
Observation Area
Elevation drawing: The spiral motion of the shuttle leads to a variety of spatial conditions that are programm 42
Private staircase
med based on the shuttle maker’s requirements and levels of public access. 43
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06 SCALING ADAPTATIONS DESIGN FIELD with Kyna Leski RISD, Spring 2019 The permeability of land and sea creates a zone with constantly shifting boundaries. A battleground. For as long as there has been life in the ocean, the inter-tidal zone has been a testing ground for survival. A meeting point halfway between land and water, experiences the extremities of cold water, hot sun and the forces of wind and tides all in a span of few hours. The scale of time is distorted. Species within this zone; those that evolved and survived, have developed accomplished adaptation strategies that allow them to thrive in the rapidly changing environmental conditions. This zone is a dynamic ecosystem; an amalgamation of interconnected tactics. Some examples include, suction, outer shells, rope-like extensions and gluey secretions. I am interested in the shell being a dialectic outcome. How does the organism and its surrounding work together to create a protective covering for them organism that helps it survive? Tension is critical. The shell acts like a threshold between water and body. The inhabitant absorbs nutrients and minerals from the water, through its mantel and constructs an efficient livable space that grows with it. The changing environment causes the organism to adapt, to which the environment adapts, changing once again. A shell can tell the story of food and movement, of living and dying. Form and function occur simultaneously; always changing; exponentially and proportionally. The speed at which we are changing the environment is faster than the rate at which species can adapt. I have discovered that learning from shells can lead to new ways of making and building. Ways that can make architecture intelligent and more sensitive.
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Shells made by the interaction of hot wax and cold water. The form the liquid wax took when it solidified, was similar to that of a shell. This is a result of the density and temperature difference between the two materials, similar to the organism and water when a shell is formed in the ocean. “ one must live to build one’s house and not build one’s house to live in ” - Gaston Bachelard A shell grows over time, and one force influences the other; the force of the water influences the force of the organism and as a result of this tension, the shape of shell is formed. The sack costumes were developed to be analogous to this process in order to understand it further, and to make the tension visible through the fabric at a human scale.
Sack - inhabiting leads to Collage made using photos collected over regular interval during movements. To an inhabitable space. explore growth through the accumulation of layers, similar to the lines in a shell.
Two person sack stitched as a combination of the two previous sacks to be similar to a bivalve shell.
Collage to understand the influence of the two inhabitants over time and to visualize the scope of their movements. 46
Plastered fabrics. In order to ‘freeze’ the tension that was visible in the folds and creases of the fabric, liquid plaster was poured over the fabric. The inter-tidal zone is a situation, not a location; always changing.
Flexible masonry fabric molds. These were inspired by this characteristic and have strategic stitches with strings in them to create diverse patterns. Perhaps we can find a method of building, analogous to the growth of shells; that allows architecture to absorb from the environment, adapt to its surroundings, exist as a consequence of multiple forces and more importantly is a reflection of its surroundings.
Plaster casts that can be used as building units and can be accumulated or stacked if multiple ways. The same mold can be used multiple times to create variations of casts. 47
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07 MINI GOLF COURSE SPATIAL DYNAMICS with Asli Serbest RISD, Spring 2017 There exists a parallelism between an artwork and a game that helps us better understand both. They are grounded on a framework of self-made principles that inform their realization. This project aims at developing the mini-golf course through the analysis of individual artworks and by considering it as a spatial object. The chosen artwork for this course was the Tall Case Clock by William Clagget. The mini-golf course was installed at an event in collaboration with the RISD Museum. In collaboration with Anna Campbell.
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Sketchbook paintings.
Monotype, Hadrian’s villa, 26in x 52in.
Sketchbook pages.
Monotype, Hadrian’s villa, 10.5in x 14in.
Painting, Naples, 12in x 6in. 50
08 TRAVEL SKETCHES EUROPEAN HONORS PROGRAM RISD, Fall 2019 I spent time in Italy understanding the diverse elements that make a city. By observing and mapping visual narratives I explored the intersection of nature and culture in relation to urban environment. As I traveled to different parts of Italy, I became drawn to the palimpsest surroundings where ancient ruins deeply integrated into the urban fabric began to look and act similar to natural formations. Through sketches, paintings and prints, I investigated the permeability of architectural boundaries by questioning what is old or new and nature or manmade.
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Context diagram for the Knowledge center, in relation to the existing fort and landscape.
Context and circulation diagram for the IISc campus expansion. 52
09 PROFESSIONAL WORK ARCHITECTURAL INTERN with sP+a Mumbai, Summer 2018 I worked on two competition proposals. The first was an extension for the Indian Institute of Science (IISc, Banglalore) campus where the design proposal aimed to save the maximum number of existing trees on site and make the additional buildings more accessible to a wider range of people. The second was an addition of a ‘Visitor’s Center’ and a ‘Knowledge Center’ to the historic Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur. For both these projects, I mainly worked on developing AutoCAD drawings and presentation graphics on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I also helped make concept models for an ongoing residential villa project.
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Character story boards illustrating how different people visiting the IISc campus can experience the pr 54
rograms and spaces included in the proposal. 55
Plan of the Visitor’s center.
Diagram illustrating the scenic Itihaas (historic) path as an alternate enterance to the fort.
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Illustrations depicting the history of the Mehrangarh Fort that inspired the design of the Visitor’s center and the Itihaas (historic) path. 57
Concept diagram illustrating the massing as well as the loop circulation that is derived from the form of a step well.
Massing diagram
Circulation diagram
Facade diagram that shows the use of shading devices, windows and openings to provide appropriate light required for offices, reading rooms, studios and laboratories. 58
Section A. Knowledge center.
Section B. Knowledge center. 59
ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO | Selected works
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