Portfolio Sneha Lakhani 2017
Content Ship Building Institute, Mandavi Jail Park, Vadodara Thatheri Bazaar, Banaras Guggenheim Museum, Helsinki Community Housing, Vadodara Even a brick wants to be something. - Louis Kahn
An Institution of Boat Builders Mandavi is a port town located on the estuary of the river Rukmavati and the Gulf of Kachchh. The city is home to a four hundred year old wood ship building industry. Although, till date the traditional process of construction of these massive vessels by hand continues. The project brief catered to the development of a boat building institute as an extension to the traditional boat yards which would provide means to modernize the process and also give much needed recognition to this age old craft.
Project Type : Institution Location : Mandavi, Kachchh Concept : Institution as a Threshold Before the arrival of steam boats, Mandvi was an important sea trade center. It was a profit making town which yielded more revenue than even the capital city of Bhuj. The city is home to a 400 year old wood ship building industry. Although, over time due to policies by the government and the advent of modern vessels, the craft lost its recognition. The river Rukmavati being a non-perennial one only fills up by the high tide in the sea, also lost its importance to the locals as lack of freshwater in the river made it useless for daily chores. A disconnect is observed today between the city and the river which does not hold much importance to the locals in their day to day lives. The institution is visualized to bridge this gap between the people of the city and the craft of timber ship building as well as the river. The concept is to extend this idea of the institution so that it becomes a threshold between the city and the river - to redefine the river edge so as to activate the river front as a public space while also encouraging involvement with the ship building.
The diagrammatic section tries to extend the idea of a riverfront public space allowing it to govern the sectional form of the design while keeping in mind the scale of the timber ship hulls and the visual diversion the process offers.
A stepped roof form offers many vantage points to observe the various processes of ship building while creating a diverse and an interesting frontage to the river.
The timber skin of the building which faces the city mimics the skin of a finished timber vessel thus trying to retain the connect between the craft and the city.
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Site Plan
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Wall Section and Details
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A Park of Opportunities An Adaptive Re-use proposal for the 135 year old Central Jail at Vadodara which was undertaken as the final year thesis project. The proposal envisioned the unique structure repurposed as an Urban Park responding to the site conditions and city context. The thesis aimed at exploring Adaptive Re-Use as a means of architectural conservation where the transformation included introducing a new function and its impact on the existing built structure. It attempted to understand how a new structure juxtaposes itself on the existing, transforming the space while still maintaining the essence of the original built form.
Project Type : Urban Park Location : Vadodara, Gujarat Abstract : Quoting Christian Norberg-Schulz from Existence, Space, and Architecture, “The centre [a familiar place] represents to mankind what is known, in contrast to the unknown and somewhat frightening world around him. These places are the goals where we experience the meaningful events of our existence, but they are also points of departure from which we orient ourselves and take possession of the environment.� The notion of heritage conservation is concerned with developing a methodology which respects this human need for stability in change. There are various approaches to conservation like preservation and restoration to reconstruction, intervention and transformation of the existing built form to name a few. This thesis aims at exploring Adaptive Re-Use as a means of architectural conservation where the transformation includes introducing a new function and its impact on the existing built structure. It attempts to understand how a new structure juxtaposes itself on the existing, transforming the space while still maintaining the essence of the original built form; rather than the function. It involves an understanding of the parameters which affect the decision making for the new intervention and the methodology for implementation. The study also intends to establish how adaptive re-use of these old heritage structures plays an important role in extending the life of the built form, which in turn is vital for our cultural identity. Concept : The Jail Complex has several buildings within its premises along with the barracks and the watch towers. Many of the surrounding blocks were later or modified additions. Although, for the purpose of the re-use proposal, only the radial barracks, the central tower, the radial and peripheral walls are being retained which were part of the original pan optic composition. The conservation of the embodied energy lost in the destruction of the old structures, transport of new materials to site and construction of the new intervention is often the most beneficial prospect of adaptive re-use. The site in consideration has massive load bearing walls keeping its function in consideration. The concept is to re-purpose these radial walls as the main structural element for the new intervention. The structural intervention being uplifted, this also enables conservation of the structures on the ground and aids the protection of the trees on site. Being an almost untouched site since its original construction, the trees on site are old and massive and are considered as a part of the heritage fabric of the site. Prevention of damage to the vegetation was also an important design aspect. The upliftment of the structure also frees the ground for seamless physical and visual connections required in a park.
Architecture of Jails Pan opticism - Theory of surveillance ‘Pan – Optic’ is a derivative of the Greek word ‘panoptos’, which means ‘all-seeing’. The pan optic plan for a penitentiary was devised by Jeremy Bentham. As a part of his vision of rational social control, Bentham devised an architectural device he called the ‘Panopticon’. The Panopticon was a design solution proposed for the design of prisons, workhouses, mental asylums and schools. He attempted to construct a prison based on this design principle at Millbank in London The underlying principle of Panopticon order is that of total and constant surveillance of inmates, workers, patients or pupils.
The Central Jail at Vadodara
Pan optic prisons in India
The construction of the first central jail at Vadodara based on the pan optic planning model was completed in the year 1881. The 135 year old jail occupies an area of approximately 94, 000 sq.m. The radial geometry of the barracks around the central watch tower is juxtaposed by a quadrangular peripheral boundary. The boundary wall is interspersed with watch towers at the four corners and one at the mid of each side. The eastern wall houses the entry to the Jail which leads to the central tower through a set of parallel walls. The ring is divided into 12 yards which house one barrack each.
Prison construction was among the most important infrastructural changes implemented by British rule in nineteenth-century India. The colonial rule introduced India to a radically new system of punishment based on long-term imprisonment. The British prison authorities made vigorous efforts to improve the conditions of Indian prisons and prisoners. The key to this new colonial prison system was its architecture. Architecture was the apparatus that provided the space and structure for discipline and defined the essence of punishment wherein the punishment was to be the experience of confinement.
The Central Jail occupies an important location in the nucleus of the city forming a triangular land portion. Proximity to the old city and major landmarks like the Sursagar Lake, the Lakshmi Vilas Palace, Aurobindo ashram and the Nyaay Mandir are other important factors which make this a lucrative location in the city. The site also has excellent connectivity within the city. Also, its location on the riverfront adds to its appeal making the site a significant location within the city offering many opportunities for future development
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Site Plan
Partial Exploded Structural System
Wall Section and Details
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The Market of Thatheras An urban study of the city of Banaras, its traditions, rituals and beliefs with focus on the complex street structure. The studio inculcated a deep understanding regarding the sensitive character of the city. The study undertook a complete on-site documentation of an age old street market - the Thatheri Bazaar, which later translated into various urban proposals for the same.
Project Type : Urban Market Location : Banaras Concept : Reviving the market of the Thatheras Site study of the city of Banaras raised the question of legibility of the street pattern. In spite of there being an underlying pattern, the lack of referencing and the interconnected loops proved to be deceiving. Legibility is the ease with which people can understand the layout of the place. ‘The Image of the City’ by Kevin Lynch gave an initial understanding of the concept of ‘legibility’. Lynch describes how people “image” their city – how they create and remember mental images of the large scale environments in which they live. It defines the physical parameters which constitute a city, namely – path, node, edge, district and landmark. Although, the Lynchian elements are insufficient to characterize the experience of an urban environment for a city like Banaras. Analysing Banaras in terms of these parameters, except for the ghats as edge and the temple of Kashi Vishvanath as landmark, the other parameters although present, are not dominant.
experiential legibility For a city like Banaras, with rich cultural heritage and traditions, the legibility cannot be merely defined by physical parameters The legibility is also affected by the intangible parameters namely - smell, sound, human activities and events. These intangible parameters are Variables of Time, whereas the Lynchian parameters, which constitute the tangible elements stand as Constants within the city.
Thatheri Bazaar On analysing the chosen site in terms of the intangible parameters, an issue recognized was that as “thatheri� is related to the sound produced by beating metal, the legibility of this bazaar should be defined by the parameter of sound, which is not true for the present day scenario. Metal work was a major cottage industry of Banaras in the past. Today, thatheri bazaar is no longer recognized as the main metal market of the city of Banaras. The bazaar owed its location to proximity with the Kashi Vishvanath temple. But over the period of time with further developments and industrialisation of manufacture of metal vessels and idols, many of these thathera’s migrated to the outskirts and the art started dying.
During site study and documentation, many vacant spaces were observed along the street in consideration. All these spaces were considered as opportunities for redevelopment of the street market.
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According to the location, the observed vacant spaces were proposed in terms of three major programs - Workshops, Retail and Supporting Functions. The proposal aimed at reviving the market of the thatheras while giving them much needed recognition. The idea was to develop the street market as a live heritage museum of the craft of thatheras.
The proposal aims to revive the Market of Thatheras by giving back their workspace in the city and also by creating opportunities for the artisans in the modern market. The proposed workshops won’t be restricted to creating only utensils as was the case in the past. It will be extended to other products also like lamps, side tables, vases’, etc. for home decor; jewellery, religious artefacts, and musical instruments will also be made to appeal to the present day mass.
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GROUND FLOOR Workspace for thatheras (1) , Dokra Art (2), Hands on experience for tourists (3)
FIRST FLOOR Viewing Gallery for Visitors
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The Guggenheim Museum at Helsinki The project brief reiterated the global competition for the Guggenheim Museum at Helsinki, Finland. The studio laid emphasis on an understanding of the stark climatic conditions of Helsinki and developing a sustainable and green design approach, while keeping in mind the iconic character of the Guggenheim Foundation, both in terms of form and nature of use.
Project Type : Museum Location : Helsinki, Finland Concept : Water as Thermal Mass The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation floated an international competition for the new museum in Helsinki, Finland. The Guggenheim Helsinki proposal detailed an innovative, multidisciplinary museum of art and design. It envisioned a museum that created a meaningful presence in Helsinki and offered civic space where both residents and visitors could gather. Owing to the harsh climatic conditions in Helsinki, climate study and a sustainable design approach were important design aspects. The concept arose as a response to the water edge covering a major side of the site. The idea was to use water as the main thermal mass owing to its properties of conductivity, density, thermal heat storage as compared to other building materials. The high requirement of energy in the museum due to its scale and location in an extreme cold climatic area led to the requirement of sustainable energy generation. Taking advantage of the high wind intensity in Helsinki and creating a funneling effect for enhanced energy generation guided the form in both plan and section. Some other ideas that were taken into consideration to add on to the sustainability of the design were air locking in harsh winters, displaced ventilation in summers, conservatory towards the south, underfloor heating, etc.
WIND - ENERGY GENERATION
THERMAL MASS OF WATER
1 sq m area contains 18 micro-turbines
Volume of water in 1 silos - 4 x 5 x 15 cu. m = 300 cu. m Total no of silos - 7
Each panel of the building is 4 sq m, thus no of turbines in each panel = 72 No of panels to be fitted - 54 Thus, total number of turbines to be fitted = 3888 Now, 1 sq m area generates 131 kW / yr at wind speed 5m / sec Average wind speed in Helsinki = 5 - 6 m /s Total area of the panels in the museum =216 sq. m Thus total energy generation = 28,296 kW / yr
Thus, total volume of water stored - 300 x 7 = 2100 cu. m 1 cu.m = 1000 l 2100 cu. m = 21, 00, 000 l = 21, 00, 000 kg Specific Heat of water (Heat required to increase the temperature of 1 gm of water by 1 degree celsius) - 4.184 J 1 gm water - 4.184 J heat to increase temperature by 1 degree celsius 1 kg water - 4184 J heat to increase temperature by 1 degree celsius Thus, 21, 00, 000 kg water - 21, 00, 000 x 4184 - 2440 kWh heat energy to increase temperature by 1 degree celsius. - 2440 kWh heat energy gets stored in the total volume of water at the raise of temperature by 1 degree celsius Thus 2440 Kwh becomes a constant for the amount of energy stored in the total volume of water for a gained amount of Δ T.
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An above average luxury Housing The studio briefed a housing scheme in the industrial suburbs of the city of Vadodara. The location of the site in the suburban area of the city called for the development of a strong sense of community within the housing complex. The sectional diagram laid emphasis on developing volumetric changes to overcome the monotony of high rise housing. The design proposal was further resolved as an introduction to working drawing and structural detailing.
Project Type : Community Housing Location : Vadodara, Gujarat Concept : Community and Circulation People tend to communicate the most during commute. Thus circulation becomes a major parameter, especially in high rise urban housing. The proposal thrives to develop this circulation zone, assimilating with it various community spaces and activities. The basic concept consists of separating the structure and the skin wherein the skin integrates the circulation and amenities while the structure comprises of the dwelling units.
1 BHK Unit Plan
2 BHK Unit Plan
Environmentally, the skin is southward facing creating a brise soliel for the dwelling units which in turn receive ample north light and remain comparatively cooler. The entire structure has been kept as “one� so as to enhance the sense of community and not break the flow. Also, singularity of the structure contributes in creating maximum amount of seamless open ground space. 3 BHK Unit Plan
Site Development Plan
4 BHK Unit Plan
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Typical 1 BHK Unit Floor Plan
Partial Typical Section
Typical 2-3 BHK Unit Floor Plan
Typical 4 BHK Unit Floor Plan
Partial Floor Plans - Working Drawing
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