Portfolio 2022

S o m ri ta Ba nd yop a d hya y A rch ite c ture Por t folio U VA M . A rch 2021

S o m rita Ban dyo p ad hya y M. ARCH 2021 CANDIDATE, URBAN DESIGN CERTIFICATE

SB7EH@VIRGINIA.EDU SOMRITA.MYPORTFOLIO.COM

REGISTERED ARCHITECT, INDIA & LUNCH 16 EDITORIAL TEAM

Work Experience

Qualification

EX / INTERNSHIP

DEGREES

2021

Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill, DC

2021 - M. Arch GPA: 3.75

1 wk

Selected to attend weeklong Global Shadowship Program.

University of Virginia

2017

PAN Architecture, Gangtok

2019 - License

4 mth

Conducted site survey on hilly terrain, developed a complete construction drawing set that was passed. Worked with electrical and plumbing consultants to draw layout, collaborated with structural engineer to create detailed structural drawings based on STAAD analysis, developed a set of drawings of local hand carved architectural details.

Council of Architecture, India CA/2019/109623

2015

MNC One Design, Kolkata

2 mth

Developed a set of electrical and furniture layout options for a range of apartment units and created a set of façade options.

RESEARCH & TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP

2018 - B. Arch: Honours School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi

AWARDS

2020

Empathic Design Journey | Prof. E. Cleckley

2020 - MOA Design Build

8 mth

Created a series of collages and diagrams using empathic analysis as a tool to describe layers of racial history in sites within Charlottesville. Produced a series of historic maps to create a layered history of the city.

Third Prize in design competition

2019 - Young Scholar Travel Grant

2020

20th Century History of Ideas | Prof. E. Putalik

5 mth

Conducted sessions to critically discuss lectures and readings and created a series of workshops for building a thesis through writing. Encouraged students to find their own interpretation of history by contextualizing its contemporary impact.

Panelist at IIHS Bangalore Urban Arc Conference 2019

2020

Collective Housing Studio | Prof. N. Brinen

2019 - Urban Arc, IIHS

5 mth

Guided students on the development of their housing project through precedent analysis, speculative design and technical workshops with emphasis on forming a critical stance on urban public housing.

Panelist for the category of Migration and Economic Linkages.

2019

Experiencing Architecture | Prof. Sanda Iliescu

5 mth

Guided new architecture students on drawing, model making, graphic representation and introduced them to the fundamentals of architecture and design.

Co - Curricular 2020

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

ACTIVITIES

Skin of Berlin | Prof. Brad Cantrell

Lunch 16, UVA

Gamification of a future Berlin under a system of corporate surveillance through haptic stimuli.

Part of editorial team

President 2020

Digital Gentrification | Prof. Ali Fard Geospatial power of rating systems in social media aggregating human and technological bias.

2020

Turning Industry | Prof. Shiqiao Li Mapping and historic analysis of the post industrial sites of colonial era jute industry in Bengal

2020

Perception of Echoes | Prof. Mathew Jull

Zephyr, Fashion design society SPA Delhi

Indian Institute of Interior Designers Professional Fashion show

Festival of Architecture and Interior Design Professional Fashion show

Role of colonial memory in the redevelopment of post colonial industrial landscapes 2018

Confluence of flowers | Prof. Arpita Dayal Mapping and historic analysis for the redevelopment of the Mullickghat flower market as a tourist destination

2017

Projecting 2037 | Prof. Rajiv Bhakat Urban outcomes of Remote work in India

2017

Knock down Architecture | Ar. Archana Khanna Place - making through the occupation of vacant land using portable architecture

2015

asculturemoves.com | Prof. Parul Kiri Roy Exploring spatial and cultural relationships between homeland and migrated land for urban migrant labour from Sunderbans to Delhi in India.

Skills PROFICIENT ArcGIS Ecotect Autocad Drafting Indesign

Sketchup Sketching Photoshop Site Survey 3D Printing

MODERATE Vray Revit Rhino Sefaira Arduino Enscape

Karamba Illustrator Lightroom AfterEffects Grasshopper Unreal Engine

Contents ACADEMIC 2021

Reweaving Industry | Kolkata Institutional + Adaptive Reuse

2020

LA Film archive | Los Angeles Institutional + Tourism

2019

Approaching Architecture | New York School + Housing + Public Program

2018

Confluence of Flowers | Kolkata Redevelopment of historic flower market

2017

Transit oriented development | Delhi Housing + Retail + Convention + Office

2021 - 17

Selected Research Projects

PROFESSIONAL 2017

Handicraft and handloom centre | Gangtok Site survey + Planning + Elevation + Services

2015

Worn Architecture | Delhi Festival of Architecture and Interior Design

Re - Weaving Industry INNOVATION + COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

Location - Naihati, India Site Area - 58,000 sqm Built up - 47,250 sqm FAR - 2 Academic Project Second year Graduate program University of Virginia Instructor - Prof. Shiqiao Li

The jute industry in India was a project of British Colonization; 150 years later, it is in a critical state of obsolescence. Recently, the Government of India has proposed a large scale investment in innovation in jute. The thesis argues that the reindustrialization of this colonial era industry needs to move beyond the same extractive practices, towards a new economic system that acknowledges the limits to growth and proposes growth for sustenance beyond a GDP. Decolonization can only be achieved by shifting the larger systems we work within The thesis proposal is to create a site of exchange between the two economic mechanisms of growth for profit and growth for sustenance to foster dialogue that weaves together a more holistic future of industry. This is done by creating spaces for research, production and preservation that raises the industrial economy, community and ecology through the adaptive reuse of the abandoned Gouripur jute mill in Naihati.

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Redevelopment Masterplan

Riverfront Promenade to connect people to the water

Revisiting Industrial Heritage through adaptive reuse

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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

Creating trails through abandoned industrial ruins

Memorial networks through the settlement

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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

For Sustenance For Profit

Program Distribution

1 - Micro Production Unit 2 - Business Incubator 3 - Machine Research 4 - Manufactur. Research 5 - Administration 6 - Maker Workshop 7 - Training Center 8 - Jute Greenhouse 9 - Outdoor Work Area 10 - Fiber Research 11 - Amphitheater 12 - Cultivation Research 13 - Canteen 14 - Marketing Research 15 - Product Research 16 - Preservation/ Archive 17 - Museum 18 - Event Space

A – Warehouse B – Loading Area C – Reading Room D – Library E – Daycare Center F – Entrance Lobby G – Café H – Theater J – Old rail tracks

Ground Floor Axonometric

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Mills as Grounds for Exchange

Develop the mill as an adaptable institution, built on innovation spurred by the exchange of ideas

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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

The mills can be opened up again as sites of cultural memory, nostalgia and architectural exploration as a hitorical typology.

The micro production units can become sites of experiment in sustainable production as a cooperatie between the owner and workesr

Mills as an an aspirational space for youth; as space that support insterest in engineering, history and deisgn.

Los Angeles A collage of neighborhoods of aspirations and styles of iconic architecture, united by the industry of Hollywaood

LA Film Archive INSTITUTIONAL + TOURISM

Location - Los Angeles Site Area - 1,300 sqm Built up - 4,900 sqm FAR - 3.76 Academic Project First year Graduate program University of Virginia Instructor - Prof. Luis Pancorbo

Inspired by the structure of the city, the form is an assembly of cubes tied together with bands symbolic of film strips.

In a city of icons, the project creates a unique experience along the tourist circuit of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The building is a place of shade in the sweltering heat of the city where tourist can come in and rest while looking at the process of archiving. The voids create a series of terraces where tourist can rest. The lower terraces are public and the public character decreases as we move to the top with private terraces only for the employees on the private top floor.

Appearing as a stack of cube, the voids within the building are made possible by a ring of steel trussed from which the building is hung from the top. The bands around the building are supported by a frame of steel members that further stiffens the structure in the earthquake prone region.

Site in relation to iconic Film Buildings

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Urban Axonometric

Central Atrium

Corner Atrium

Entrance

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

Elevation along Hollywood Blvd.

Section along Hollywood Blvd.

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Basement Floor Plan

Ground Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

Fourth Floor Plan

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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

FACADE

FLOORING

STRUCTURE

A. Terracotta Panel B. Steel C Section C. Steel T Section D. Steel Box Section

E. Carpet F. Insulation Board G. Screed H. Hollow Core Slab

J. Steel Beam K. Steel C Section L. Steel Section

CEILING & PARTITION M. Gypsum Board Suspended Ceiling N. Light Panel O. Aluminum framed Glass Partition

Construction Assembly Axonometric

Facade and Floor details

Planter and Ceiling details on terrace

Facades and Approach along Brooklyn Bridge

Approaching Architecture SCHOOL + HOUSING + PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

Location - New York, USA Site Area - 25,000 sqm Built up - 30,000 sqm FAR - 10 Partner - YaHsin Chiang Academic Project First year Graduate program University of Virginia Instructor - Prof. Esther Lorenz

The project is a layering of experiences at urban scales from site to city through the facets of typology, facade, program and landscape.

mitigate the contradiction between the lofty glass towers and the dense masonry buildings through elements of density, color and reflection.

The Brooklyn Bridge, as it enters Manhattan, runs past the site; the building on the site is the first building that one sees when entering the city through the bridge. It creates a layered experience in the varying speeds of the car and the pedestrian and in the downward view through the elevated corridor. The location of the bridge further delineates the three distinct urban fabrics of the financial district, the government offices and public housing where the skyline changes from mid-rise housing to the towers of corporate offices on either sides of the bridge.

The Police headquarters nearby restricts the movement along the roads and pavements due to security reasons and to accommodate parking needs of the neighborhood. Though there are a number of green public spaces around the site, due to inaccessibility and disuse they are unwelcoming and unsafe. While the site is very critically situated as a lot of people pass through it to access the only two metro stations in the area, these factors have isolated the site from the neighborhood. The project seeks to resolve the confinement and activate these open spaces with programs like cafes and retail and create a larger public realm that serves the different people of the neighborhood.

Addressing the dichotomies of these urban conditions, the project seeks to create a connection between the two skylines with the two distinct masses of the slab and the courtyard.

The slab as it occurs along the bridge creates a window to the city as it is punctured to create apertures into the city. The facade seeks to

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APPROACHING ARCHITECTURE / NEW YORK / 2019

Type A

Engaing program with voids + courtyard

Type B

Staggered rising volumes

Type C

Movement through site

Type D

Distributing public through the volume

Study of Building typologies

Built Mass negotiating the urban scales of the Financial District and the Public Housing

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

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Continuity

Response

Privacy

Reflection

Contradiction

Study of Facade Strategies

Voids as public apertures for visual continuity and daylighting

The Facade is a composition of voids as public space. The glass and the red vertical louvers are inspired by the two distinct adjacent urban fabrics.

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APPROACHING ARCHITECTURE / NEW YORK / 2019

1. Existing Parking

2. Site boundary + New Parking

3. Site zoning

Site Zoning

4. Program Distribution

5. Site Circulation

Landscape Diagrams

Playground

Basketball Court

Outdoor Seating

Seating Cluster

Skate Park

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

Site Plan

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APPROACHING ARCHITECTURE / NEW YORK / 2019

Program Distribution

Addition + Subtraction in Landscape

Public Programs

School Programs

Housing Programs

Program in Cutouts

Axonometric Diagram

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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

Volume Distribution

Slab + Courtyard

Plan showing Athletic Areas

Cutouts + Second Ground

Open Ground Floor

Plan showing Cafeteria

Activating Programs

Plan showing Swimming Pool area

Integrating Program with Cutouts

A Confluence of Flowers REDEVELOPMENT OF MULLICKGHAT FLOWER MARKET

Location - Kolkata, India Site Area - 72,000 sqm Built up - 41,000 sqm FAR - 2 Individual Academic Project Fifth year Undergraduate program School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi Instructor - Prof. ML Bahri, Ar. Rajesh Donge

Kolkata’s riverfront tells a tale of neglect and abandon. Along a strip on the river lies the site of the 180 year old flower market. Located at a critical urban nexus of economy and transit, where the dense urban fabric of fabric of commercial district meets the busiest railway station in India, the site is situated in a zone of transition as the bustling city diffuses into the holy river Ganga.

Bisected by an arterial local train line, it also bears historic significance in the small ghat structures embedded throughout the riverfront and looming structure of the Howrah Bridge rising adjacent to it. And beneath the fragrance of its wares, thrives this mammoth market that is one of the largest in Asia.

With an aim to revitalize the condition of the dilapidated post- industrial waterfront and re-imagine the old flower market, this thesis explores the scope for tourism infrastructure in the Mullickghat flower market as it is redeveloped as a Confluence of activities related to floriculture, with an endeavor to improve and update the functioning of the market, retain and augment the jobs of close to 3000 people, open up the waterfront to the residents of Kolkata ans create a spectacle of the flower trade.

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CONFLUENCE OF FLOWERS / KOLK ATA / 2018

Pedestran movement across the tracks

Rooftop Market - Natural ventilation - View of the river - Restricts commercial activity

Urban scale strategies

Building around the railway line

Urban Strategies

Institutional - Public transport connect - Private public spaces - Direct access to river esp. for tourist circulation

Connecting to the bridge provides direct pedestrian access from the railways station

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

Indoor vs Outdoor work areas / Informal + Formal

Connecting with public transport + ease of un/loading from the river

Creating a spectacle of the flower trade through visual anchors and framed views

Recycling flower waste generated on site through handicrafts production ,etc

Site Plan

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Building Zoning

Model

CONFLUENCE OF FLOWERS / KOLK ATA / 2018

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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

Sequence of shaded spaces creating a gradual progression to the river

Creating a walkable edge, green buffer with road

Directional Pathways creating a vista of the heritage structures

Public staircase integrated with green spaces, sit-outs and shaded areas

Expanding the colonnade to create a compact public space and increased shaded outdoors work areas

Landscape Strategies

Ground Floor Plan

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CONFLUENCE OF FLOWERS / KOLK ATA / 2018

Shop typologies

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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

Facade design

First floor plan

Affordable + MIG Housing

Office + Retail + Convention Centre

Transit Oriented Development OFFICE + RETAIL + CONVENTION MIG + AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Location - Delhi, India Site Area - 1,19,3000 sqm Built up - 4,34,000 sqm FAR - 6 Partners - Mahalakshmi HV, Rudra Sharma, Sumairha Mumtaz Academic Project Fifth year Undergraduate program School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi Instructor - Prof. ML Bahri

Transit Oriented Development in India focuses on locating residential, retail and workplaces at a close proximity to metro stations and public transport with a good last mile connectivity in order to make easier commutes and promotes walking and cycling through strategically located mixed use developments. The site at Rohini is one such upcoming development on the fringes of Delhi. Largely an empty area at present, it is stated to grow into a lively neighborhood with a mix of residential and institutional projects.

Hotel - 7,000 sqm Retail - 63,000 sqm Office- 102,000 sqm MIG Housing - 1,13,000 sqm Convention Centre - 13,000 sqm Affordable Housing - 56,000 sqm

The project focuses on site planning to create a pedestrian and cycling friendly zone by creating easily navigable routes, enhancing the walking experience through landscape and locating functions strategically to create safer streets.

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TR ANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT / NEW DELHI / 2017

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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

Vehicular

Cycling

Amphitheater

Pedestrian

Housing commons

Landscape creates a flow of space through a green corridor between the central public area, the more private housing commons and the informal market space that connects with the existing neighborhood.

Site Plan

Housing commons

Public Ramp

Retail Streetscape

Site Plan

Site Section

Internship : PAN Architecture EXTENSION FOR HANDICRAFT AND HANDLOOM DIRECTORATE

Location - Gangtok, India Site Area - 3,000 sqm Built up - 3,700 sqm FAR - 2 Internship Project Fourth year Undergraduate program PAN Architecture, Gangtok Supervisor - Ar. Naveen Pradhan

Stage 1

The small mountain state of Sikkim is the cradle of a beautiful mountain culture and home to the native tribal populations and migrants from Nepal with their disciplined ways and colorful lives. I had always been in awe of the architecture and the lifestyles and chose to intern at PAN Architecture in the capital city of Gangtok, which is the heart of tourism. Our office was designing a network of tourist attractions in the state and I was primarily engaged with the hero project; the new commercial extension to the state directorate of handicrafts and handloom in Gangtok; a building that embodied the culture of the state.

Stage 2

Since I interned during the construction season, I worked on site survey to understand the capricious topography and created the set of construction drawings for site and presentation drawings for client meetings while working with the structural and electrical consultants. Besides the site and building planning, I was also engaged in designing the iconic elevation and the handicraft details in its elements.

Stage 3

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HANDLOOM AND HANDICR AFT DIRECTOR ATE / GANGTOK / 2017

Site Survey

Resolving Roof Truss Structure

Ground Floor Exhibition area

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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO / SOMRITA B.

First Floor Plan

The design of the facade combined traditional Sikkimese elements with a more modern stone cladding and exposed metal frames to create an iconic elevation.

Main facade with traditional ekra windows and the infinity loop

Entry Elevation

Worn Architecture FESTIVAL OF ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN

Partner - Imdadul Hassan Professional Fashion Show

Architecture is perceived as a series of threshold soft form and light. The collection seeks inspiration from this visual aspect of architecture . Conceptions of construction and structure have been translated into the silhouettes and contours of the clothing. The materials used, their flow and the texture have been inspired by the impression f shadows and reflection on surfaces.

This has been achieved by the use of an unconventional set of materials like rubber sheets, metal, glass and plastic and exploring their sculptural qualities. Hard and soft materials have been combined in a way that is inspired by the interaction between nature and architecture to create a look that is feminine and bold

Research Projects

DIGITAL GENTRIFICATION The study analyzed the geospatial power of rating systems in social media and online ranking platforms that can lead to gentrification of places due to the aggregation of the inherited biases of technology, users and technological systems.

THE REMOTE WORKING PHENOMENON The seminar is an analysis of the new urban pattern of spaces generated by the radical change in peoples lifestyle due to remote working and how that change will manifest from the scale of the office cubicle at home to the new neighborhoods these workers will inhabit.

Technology and Urbanization Seminar Second year Graduate program University of Virginia Instructor - Prof. Ali Fard Group Project Partners - Irmak Fermen, Gabriel Andrade

Research Seminar Fifth year Undergrad. program SPA, Delhi Instructor - Prof. Rajiv Bhakat Group Research Partners - Pavan Kavikondla, Arushee Yadhav, Shivani Subba

TURNING INDUSTRY The study is a documentation and analysis of the economic and cultural forces that have historically shaped the jute industry of Bengal to speculate the opportunities for decolonisation of industry during India’s journey towards of reindustrialisation.

SKIN OF BERLIN Projection of Berlin under a system of corporate surveillance in a near future thought experiment. The Haptic System, converts the city into a simulation, an infrastructure of information. Users immerse themselves within a consumable virtual gaming platform, the measurement of their haptic stimuli begins to reform the city.

Thesis Research Second year Graduate program University of Virginia Instructor - Prof. Ghazal Jafari Thesis Guide - Prof. Shiqiao Li Individual Research

Berlin Surveillance State Studio Second year Graduate program University of Virginia Instructor: Prof. Michael Lee + Prof. Brad Cantrell Group Research Partner - Ian MacPherson