Portfolio

PORTFOLIO Sneha Ramani Bachelor of Architecture CEPT University, Ahmedabad (5 years) Year of Completion- 2013 Master in Landscape Architecture CEPT University, Ahemdabad (2 years) Year of Completion- 2018

INDEX

1. Related Study Program (R.S.P.)

Documentation Majach, Uttarakhand, India Faculty- Vinod Shah Sachin Soni Ujjawal Panchal Academic Level- 2nd Semester

1. Related Study Program (Manali) Academic Level- 2nd Semester Year of completion- 2008 2. Professional work (Arya

Architect, Ahemdabad) Academic Level-Professional Year of completion- 2015

Year of Completion- 2008

3. Landscape Design Studio-1

(Enhancing visual connection to bird habitat)) Academic Level- 1st Semester Year of completion- 2016

4. Landscape Design Studio-1

(Intertractions between water and vegetation) Academic Level- 1st Semester Year of completion- 2016

Site Plan

5. Landscape Design Studio-2

(Railway Corridor as an inclusive public space) Academic Level- 2nd Semester Year of completion- 2017 6. Landscape Design Studio-3 (A Small Forest) Academic Level- 3rd Semester Year of completion- 2017 7. Landscape Design Studio-3 (Regional Studio) Academic Level- 3rd Semester Year of completion- 2017 8. Research Thesis Academic Level- 10th Semester Year of completion- 2013 9. Art Hub- A Sacred Space Academic Level- 9th Semester Year of completion- 2012 10. Urban Insert- Recycling Bin Academic Level- 8th Semester Year of completion- 2013

Plan of Typical House form Roof Plan suggestive of the structural system

11. Office Training work Academic Level- 7th Semester Year of completion- 2013 12. Raje Studio Academic Level- 3rd Semester Year of completion- 2013

Typical Cross-section, demonstrating the structural details

2.  Professional work

Architecture Firm- Arya Architects Architect- Ar. Vijay Arya, Ar. Meghal Arya Duration- 26th May 2014- 28th January 2015 At Arya Architects, I was handling two projects, one was a Zoo, namely, Nocturnal House at Kankaria Lake, other was a Farmhouse at Kensville Golf course. During the course, I was working on Architectural construction detailing, 3-D modelling and cor-ordination with client and consultants.

Site

Thol Bird Sanctuary

Site Location

3. Landscape Studio-1 Enhancing visual connection to Bird Habitats (Site- Near Thol Sancturay, Ahmedabad) Faculty- Anjali Jain, Divya Shah, Priyal Shah, Beena Tindwani Academic Level- 1st Semester Year of completion- 2016 The site is located merely 4 km away from Thol Bird Sanctuary. The overall landscape of the site is a blissful sight of Nature sprawling across openly, celebrating its freedom without any external constraints. The rich bio-diversity faces a threat of ruination if not enriched, nurtured and protected from different agencies like the invasive plant species, over-grazing, soil-erosion or lastly selfish human interventions.

The program attempts not only to attract some prominent bird species of Thol, but also to take possible conservative steps in bringing back some bird species to the site like Oriental Darter, White-eyed Pochard, Oriental White Ibis and Dalmatian Pelican, which are recognized as “Threatened species” or “Vulnerable” of Thol. Besides this, the intent of the program is also enhance the habitat of the site, further creating space for certain other bird species with a habitat preference for wooded, fallow and agricultural areas. The intent of the program is to nurture and enrich the Wetlands without loosing its cultural identity.

Characteristic of Site Vegetation

Sky

Ground

Fauna

Adding Fruit trees in the wooded area

Site Plan

Adding grasses and shrub plantations near swales

Shrub Plantation, which acts as Screens for hiding

Adding reeds/ grass

Mounds

4.  Landscape Studio-1 Interactions between water and vegetation (Site- Hypothetical in Ahmedabad) Faculty- Anjali Jain, Divya Shah, Omkar Shete, Beena Tindwani Academic Level- 1st Semester Year of completion- 2016 The landscape of the site is developed for a residence community of 16 plots, which would be occupying the plots within a period of 3-5 years.

This time frame allows for the full/ partial development of trees and other vegetation without any external disturbances, hence making space for nature to nurture and mature to a certain extent. Besides this, each of these plots is visualized to have a different character by the exploring the possible combinations of these vegetation typologies portraying the dynamic character of the landscape. The envisioned landscape, thus not only provides a platform to perceive and understand the different layers of vegetation created due to the varying water level in an area, but also attempts to establish a sense of connectedness of the landscape to its occupants.

5. Landscape Studio-2 Railway Corridor as an Inclusive Public space (Site- Navrangpura, Ahemdabad) Faculty- Milind Patel & Yeti Sengupta Academic Level- 2nd Semester Year of completion- 2017 ]The city (Ahemdabad) developed on a centralized radial model of development attains its multi-faceted identity by the functional or cultural variations of different nodes (for example puras or villages).

While the in-between spaces within the larger context have developed making their way to the idea of an “Urban city”. The booming in-betweens have not only cleared the grounds for the development of the “new” identity of the city, but also in the process suppressed the identity of the nodes. This has further led to the shifting of the nodes from the puras to the in-betweens.

Such shifts appear to be happening across the city, which in turn results in the generation of cracks.

The program focuses on relooking the rail corridor as an inclusive public space by recapturing the sense of place of the setting and retaining the sense of ownership. The proposal devises a strategy to make the defunct and inaccessible rail corridor, accessible, memorable and a place to reconnect to the community’s sense of a place (which is confined to the territories or the boundaries of the built form). The corridor thus acts a stitch weaving the community with corridor by developing it as an inclusive public space.

6.  Landscape Studio-3 A Small Forest (Site- Beemanagar society, Ahemdabad) Faculty- Prof. Deepa Maheshwari, Bobby Sujansingani, Sandip Patil, Beena Tindwani Academic Level- 3rd Semester Year of completion- 2017 The program is envisaged for a residence situated in Bima nagar Co-op Housing in Satellite area in Ahmedabad. The client owns the plot on the ground floor and the first floor within the society. The client is doctor couple (Cancer Surgeon) by profession, who lives with his two sons and his mother, stays mostly away during the span of the day. The site is a corner plot with the housing society with limited open space. The client owns 3 cars, of which two cars he keeps in the lane in front of the house and one he keeps in the common society parking. The site looks onto an open space owned by LIC, which appears green as a field post-monsoon and tints of browns and greens in the summers.

The site has some trees already existing like Drumstick tree, Golden bamboo, Curry neem plant and a Sandal wood tree.

The idea of the program stemmed from the fact that the garden will be viewed by the client for about 20 minutes in the mornings, evenings and over the weekends owing to his busy schedule and was thus developed on the views that one gets from within. The program for the landscape is thus envisaged as a setting to be looked at from within, hereby giving solace to the sense of the body. The landscape is designed in a manner that within the time frame of experiencing the landscape, one can view, smell, feel and hear from within the constructed landscape, hence accentuating the presence of nature.

Fountain Details Seasonal Variation- Summer

Fountain Details

Seasonal Variation- Winter

Fountain Details

Planting Plan Process

7. Landscape Studio-3

Ground Water Potential

Regional Study (Site- Orchha, Madhya Pradesh)

River beds and streams are good recharge potentials.

Further, due to hard rock strata, the fractures in the weathered rocks and drainage lineaments are the points which become potential good recharge points. The region aquifer is confined, with first fracture found at 12-18 m, second at 24-36 and the thirds at 39-42 m, suggestive of the irregular shape of the aquifer.

Faculty- Prof. Deepa Maheshwari, Sandip Patil, Tapan Modi, Beena Tindwani Academic Level- 3rd Semester Year of completion- 2017 The studio was conducted as a regional study of Orchha. It kick started with an initial site study before the commencement of the semester. The class divided themselves into groups and a site study involving aspects of land form, vegetation typology and office data was conducted. Later after coming back the class was again divided into another groups taking up the different aspects that one would want to study. During this time I took up the aspect of: •

Base Map

•

Surface Hydrology

•

Groundwater Hydrology

•

Watershed Management Plan and giving relevant Proposals

Erosion Suceptibility Map

INTRODUCTION

The intended study region i.e. Orchha, a historic city, nestled on the banks of river Betwa, is a tourist destination in Madhya Pradesh.

Orchha City and Surrounding Districts

Orchha city and the surrounding area

Surface Hydrology

River Basins in Madhya Pradesh

Hydrological Context

The R. Betwa is a tributary of the Yamuna. It originates in the Vindhya Range north of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. R. Betwa flows north-east The extent of the watershed is determined by the basin boundary of through Madhya Pradesh and Orthe Yamuna river. chha to Uttar Pradesh and joins the Yamuna river.

Hydrology- The River Betwa becomes the lifeline of the city of Orchha and the Surrounding villages and settlements. The topography allows the natural as well as man-made storages of water-bodies, which enables productive agriculture in the area.

River edge Sections

Capacity of Dams/ Weirs • Matatilla Dam- 1132.7 MCM • Sukhwan - Dukhwan Dam- 57.8 MCM • Parichha Dam - 78.8 MCM

HYDROLOGY The surface run off differs accounting to the topography and the land use or cover of the region, hence contributing to understanding the areas which need to be conserved. Further, the water quality of the Surface run off tapped in Watershed-A and B, will determine the quality of water reaching or flowing through the sanctuary and Orchha town, with reference to the land use of the subsequent Watersheds. Moreover, the regions near the stream tend to have higher potential to capture the run off and contribute to the ground water potential.

The River Edge The drainage of the river shows a dendritic pattern. The course of the river within the region has many islands and therefore the river is braided. These islands show diverse vegetation types and densities such as tall grasses, open to dense scrubs, dense teak forests etc. Though the region is rich in its water resources, lack of surface water is a major problem during the peak Summer months.

WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN WITH REFERENCE TO WATERSHED - A & B

Watershed Management

4.

Based of the Water demand, if we intend to save 25% of the surface run off of the Watershed, and capture as surface recharge and percolate some amount in the ground one could cater to the household and agriculture 5. demand of Watershed B. Surface Run off in Watershed-A = 386.87 MCM Assuming that we could capture 25% of the Surface Run off = 96.71 MCM

% of water captured

by Existing Water bodies = 6.5 % (3.474 MCM) % of water captured

by Check Dams or Sub-surface dams= 16% (61.76 MCM)

Here Watershed- A & B is chosen as a point of reference for the study, as the quality of water reaching Orchha will be determined by the surface run off of the Watershed- A & B. Further, within the watersheds, the measures for Water recharge are proposed based on 6 zones identified by overlaying 4 layers of Surface hydrology, ground water recharge potential, degradation stage of forest and land use.

Further, the first layer will determine the stream lines and water-bodies, which naturally allow water to percolate inside.

The second layer will determine the spots or regions which give good ground water yield and the ones which are poor, hence the ones with poor recharge could be used for capturing surface run off that will subsequently also allow for percolation.

Further, the third and the forth zone will determine again give the regions of good surface run off and degraded forest will be the regions with good run off, hence laying the grounds to propose measure for capturing the same.

SAMPLE CALCUATIONS FOR WATERSHED- A • • •

1.

% of water captured by Recharge pits = 0.5 % (1.93 MCM)

2.

% of water captured by Percolation Ponds = 1% (9.671 MCM)

•

3.

% of water captured by Farm Ponds = 5 % (19.3 MCM)

• •

Surface Run off in Watershed -A = 386.87 MCM Area of the Watershed = 38045.3 Ha Population of people living within the Watershed - 136690 people Water Demand of the Watershed-B per day 3492429.5 m3 = 3.49 MCM Agriculture water demand - 78.68 MCM Total Water demand in Watershed- B - 82.17 MCM

Organisational relationships within the landscape

8. Research Thesis

Contextualization of architectural configuration of a place within the totality of the landscape setting.

Guided by Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya Academic Level- 10th Semester

Small land-parcels formed on account of narrower water channels drawing water from the narrow water channels.

Smaller land-parcels generally oriented along the north-south axis

Year of completion- 2013 Landscapes combine elements of space and time, and represent political as well as social, sacred and cultural constructs. Further, it is in relation to the political, social, sacred and cultural construct of the landscapes that evolves architecture; within a particular kind of landscape only a particular response of its architecture is possible, which vary across different landscapes.

The political authority responsible for the upkeep of irrigation system, provides the basis of land-structuring within the agricultural society.

The land parcels are generally oriented along the east-west axis.

The division of land, on account of wider water channels drawing water from the tributaries.

The land parcels are generally oriented along the north-south axis.

The domain of political authority on the topography, cited on lower land.

ARCHITECTURE

SETTLEMENT

LANDSCAPE

Aim To study the response of the architectural configuration of the courtyard dwelling within the traditional settlement, on account of the landscape relationships derived from its political, social and sacred constructs, hence contextualizing it within the landscape.

FRAMEWORK OF STUDY

The sub-division of land, on account of narrow water channels drawing water from the wider ones.

Se

Section illustrative of the domains within the landscape

LOCATION OF CASE-STUDY

Section illustrative of the domains within the landscape

Section- AA’

TAMIL NADU

Se

Karnataka

Nilgiri Tiruchchirapalli

Section- 11’

Thanjavur

Section- BB’

Kerala

Section- 11’

Section- 22’

Background of the village, Nallur (Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India).

• The village is situated near a very old built-environment, Kumbhakonam, which dates back to 7th century A.D.; Moreover the builtenvironment of Nallur is as old as 200-300 years.

• The two rivers Kudamurutti and Mudikondan, the tributaries of Kaveri, flow across the farmlands of the village.

• The terrain is almost flat with the settlement and tree groves on a relatively higher land relative to the farmlands.

• Higher embankments are raised along all larger water-channels, as there is very less difference between the level of the river and the plain.

• The institutes, like Temples come up at a relatively higher point within the terrain of the settlement.

• The settlement land is a brahmadeya land, that is land gifted to the brahmins, hence the village has the Brahmin Street as its primary street.

With each brahmadeya land, an irrigation system was established either in the form of tanks, canals or wells, by the King, and these land parcels were meant for giving away of rights, economic and administrative, to the Brahmins, as they were exempted from paying taxes to the King.

• The temples are cited at the nodal ends of the settlement, with all the streets running parallel (in the east-west direction) along the (north-south) axis connecting the streets.

Analysis of the Settlement pattern

Notional territory defined by the domains of the three temples within the settlement.

STRUCTURE OF LAND

DRAINAGE OF WATER ACROSS THE SETTLEMENT

The organization of the settlement, developed with respect to the position and the domains established by the Temple.

water-channels water-bodies roads farmlands settlements vegetation

STRUCTURE OF LAND

DRAINAGE OF WATER ACROSS THE SETTLEMENT

water-channels water-bodies roads farmlands settlements vegetation

Land parcels oriented along the east-west axis.

The extent of the settlement defined with respect to geographic domain of the landscape setting, on account of the definition of the territory of the settlement, by the topography and to an extent due to the expanse of the wet-fields.

STRUCTURE OF LAND

DRAINAGE OF WATER ACROSS THE SETTLEMENT

water-channels water-bodies roads farmlands settlements vegetation

Sacred domain controlling the structure of the political domain (water-distribution network).

STRUCTURE OF LAND

DRAINAGE OF WATER ACROSS THE SETTLEMENT

Visual linkages established by connecting courtyard and backyards, within the cluster organization of the settlement, derived by the interactions of the sacred and the political domain at the landscape and the settlement level.

water-channels water-bodies roads farmlands settlements vegetation

Land parcels of house, generally oriented along the north-south axis.

Analysis of the architectural configuration of the house form

Functional organization within the houseform

Domains formed within the house.

Nature of spaces within the house-forms, in relation to the functional organization.

Sequence of the social courtyard wet courtyard and the backyard garden, to the street.

The notional territory defined by the sacred authority, the Temple, defines a sacred domain within the settlement. Thus, by coming up at the ends of a linear street, it defines its domain along the linear street, while by coming up at core of a nucleated settlement, it defines its relation to the concentric streets encircling it.

The notional territory of sustenance of the settlement, defined by the vegetation, through overlay of two domains of the tree-groves and the farmlands, hence making the settlements self-sufficient on the whole.

Linkages of spaces based on the functional organization and the nature of spaces within the house.

9. Art Hub- A sacred workplace

Faculty- Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, Prof. Sonke Hoof, Sharad Panchal, Pathik Gandhi Academic Level- 9th Semester

Year of Completion- 2012 “An ounce of practice is worth than tons of preaching.”

--- Mahatma Gandhi A shilpi (artist) when creates an akriti (form), he moulds/ moves/ shapes it, which creates blurred image of that akriti in his mind, which gives rise to emotions, that he tries to invoke in it (akriti), hence the akriti thus evolved by the complex procedure of the mind and the hand appeals a sensitive spectator to relish the it, by understanding the process involved in creating it.

SITE IMAGE

The intent The intent is also to investigate the idea of a “sacred work-space”, which inquires into a way of being, a way of relating, a way of expressing oneself, and a way of conceiving and perceiving life. The purpose of the program is to recognize arts and crafts as a skill based occupation rather than an industry. The architectural intent of the program is to investigate the concept of a space, which brings the people of the community together, hereby using arts and crafts as a medium of interaction, bridging along the canal.

Site Characteristics The site is located along the edge of the Narmada Canal, in Vastral, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Vastral is an industrial area. Due to the industrial nature of the neighbourhood, the people living in the area have started using their skills and crafts in mass-production of goods, in order to earn livelihood, as these crafts are recognized as an industry rather an art or skill based occupation. The community living in the region is mainly lower middle class group practicing automobiles, metal fabrication, cycle-repairing, pottery, handicrafts, small-scale cottage industries and some working in the commercial stores on the Narol-Naroda Highway. The canal, which cuts across the dense fabric, is about 20 m wide and the water remains stagnant for 4 months in a year, during that time it gets dirty as the people living around the community pollute the canal. The site is mainly flat with a drop of 4m beside the canal along the edge of the road, due to landfill.

PROCESS DRAWINGS (PLAN AND SECTIONS)

SITE PLAN

SECTION 1-1

3

2

2

1 3

SITE MODEL

1

PLAN

SECTION 3-3

SECTION 2-2

10. Urban Insert- Recycling Bin Faculty- Prof. Meghal Arya Prof. Shilpa Ranade Academic Level- 8th Semester

Year of completion- 2011 Site Characteristics Kharghar is the largest of the fourteen nodes of Navi Mumbai development, envisaged as a project to de-congest Mumbai started in the 1970s. As Navi Mumbai’s largest node, bestowed with natural beauty like waterfalls and even mythological Pandav Caves from the Mahabharata era, Kharghar is strategically located off the MumbaiPune Expressway and is also close to the Central Business District (CBD) in Belapur, Maharashtra, India. Presently it has become a feeder node to Mumbai and Panvel, instead of the self-sufficient city it was imagined it would grow into. It’s a nature lovers’ delight, having loads of open space and greenery everywhere. Coupled with a large number of gated communities and institutions which function as several closed nodes with little or no interaction, the city is left without a character.

The residents are seldom happy with the place, their aspirations lie in a better place; hence the lack of the feeling of ownership of public spaces, its use and maintenance.

The site is in sector-12 of Karghar area, which is largely a residential-cum-commercial and education zone. The sector is self sufficient in itself with public amenities like institutes, hospitals, markets, bus stands, temples and a Nala (a water channel) containing dirty, but not contaminated, water. The nala edge and the open spaces on the site are not well-tempered by the people and eventually have turned into spaces to dump garbage.

The Program The program aims at, developing the site by providing a healthy environment to the people and creating hygienic and clean open spaces, which are without waste, and also making the building from waste, hereby using the waste more efficiently. It also aims at making the people aware and conscious about the important problem of solid waste management in the area.

The proposal introduces plastic and paper recycling units, which will recycle the plastic and paper waste of the sector. It also introduces a metal sculpting workshop, which will deal with sculpting from the metal waste, allowing the visitors to participate in the workshop. The architecture of the building will allow the public to educate themselves with the usage of waste, as the Recycling centre is proposed to be built by Waste Plastic bottles.

Google earth image of the site with the proposed Recycling Centre

1

2

2

View of the exhibition-cumgathering space within the Centre

1

Roof Plan of the Centre

Site Plan

Section 1-1

Wall Section suggesting the usage of Plastic bottles in construction Section 2-2

11.  Office Training

Architecture Firm- Flying Elephant Studio Architect- Ar. Rajesh Renganathan Duration of training 22 weeks Academic Level- 7th Semester

Year of completion- 2010 Nature of involvement within the office project The duration of training involved work from office administration to design development to making virtual and physical models. During the course of training, I had extensively worked on the following project, namely, Trivandrum International School, located in Trivandrum, Kerala, India. The intent of the project was to renovate the school campus.

The project was undertaken by the main architect, along with a landscape consultant and myself (a trainee). My role in the project was to co-ordinate with landscape consultant, suggest design development ideas by means of sketching, make sketch-up (3-D modelling software) models and compile presentation.

Intent of the project The project required to re-look at the existing built and unbuilt spaces and identify and solve the site issues like articulating entrances, addition of football pavilions, etc., as identified in the diagram below. Further, the campus was supposed to be visualized as a learning landscape. Besides this, incorporating water management within the landscape setting needed to be incorporated. This was done by measures like introducing vegetation which can tolerate drought, using drip irrigation, minimizing the lawn area and using large shrubs to cover the ground, and increasing site percolation and water storage.

View-A of the site with proposed changes

View-B of the site with proposed changes View- A

View of outdoor teaching spaces

Refined definition of the entrance.

Rubber Plantation Site Slopes Undulating terrain Rubber Plantation Less Planted area

Terrain drops

Articulation of outdoor spaces with aviary and duck ponds Articulating the Administration entrance

Unorganized service area Transition access issue to hostels

View of the play area near the Junior School Articulation of residue spaces

View of the Administration Entrance

Addition of football field pavilions and changing rooms

Low land

Site conditions

Landscape articulation of Junior School Basement space

View- B

Meeting spaces to be added

Site issues

View of the pond near the viewing gallery

Proposed Landscape Master Plan

The office training also involved extensive model-making explorations. The modelmaking work shows two different projects.

The one on the left side, is of a Health care Centre in Dharampuri, Tamil Nadu, India. The centre block, as seen in the model, housed two consultation room, a laboratory and utilities; this is, sheltered with steel roof and thatch louvred windows. The other project was of a residence located within Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. It was envisaged as a Pavilion sitting within the setting.

West Facade of the model of Health centre ay Dharampuri

Entrance of the house

Model of the house, namely, Banglore Pavilon.

Corridor view, with the roof covering

Backyard of the Centre with Seating spaces for patients and a water spout

Corridor view, without the roof covering

Roof plan of the house

Entrance Facade of the house

12.  Raje Semester

Faculty- Prof. Anant D. Raje, Prof. Amita A. Raje, Sharad Panchal, Gauri Bharat Academic Level- 3rd Semester

Year of completion- 2008 The semester commenced with a small exercise in graphic design. The exercise started with making a model, as seen in the bottom left corner of the sheet, and further identifying the elements of the model, including the surfaces and shadows. These elements were required to be composed within an A-2 sheet, with parameters like proportion to be kept as is, while the scale can be tempered, while presuming each element to be solid, semi-transparent or transparent, hereby creating an interesting graphical composition. Later, with the introduction of the project, we were required to design an Aquarium for Department of Biology at Konkan University, on an hypothetical site in Konkan region. It started off concentrating the structure and the nature of a pitched roof with steel as a material, hereby extending to the understanding of the importance of the form of a building in depicting the function underneath it. Besides this, the studio also concentrated on rendering as a medium of understanding the design.

Element of the model

Element of the model

Elements of the model

Element of the model Element of the Model model

Model

Model

Graphical Composition of the elements

Element of the model

Elements of the model

Section 1-1

Section 2-2

2

1

1

2 Plan

Roof Plan

Images of Pavilion to the aquarium

Sketch exploring solid geometry (As a part of A.G.T. Exercise)

Pencil Rendering of Pinecone and Pinecone leaf (A part of Studio- 6 exercise)

Sketch showing a lantern cut in half (As a part of Basic Design Exercise)

11. Drawings, Sketches and Artworks

Section of Neemrana Fort Palace, as a part of Documentation work carried out at Neemrana Heritage Hotel, Jaipur

Medium- Ink

Medium- Oil Pastel

Medium- Ink

Medium- Oil Pastel

Medium- Ink

Medium- Lino-cut print

Medium- Lino-cut print

Medium- Oil Pastel