2022 CV + Sample Portfolio

SWETA SOLAI SANKER

Part II Architectural Assistant

WORK EXPERIENCE

5HT Ltd

2020 - 2022, London

Architectural Visualiser (Part-time) Architectural illustrations, branding, editorial illustrations

EDUCATION

Royal College of Art

swetasolaisanker@gmail.com @swetects www.swetects.com LDN E1 2020 - 2022

Masters of Architecture (MA) ADS4 + ADS10

University of Bath

Bachelors of Architecture, BSc (Hons) First Class Honours

Taylor’s College Sri Hartamas

Cambridge A-Levels (4A*) Physics, Economics, Mathematics, Further Mathematics

Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur

2016 - 2020 2015 - 2016 2010 - 2014

SPM (O-Level Equivalent) (9A* 1A)

Top Scorer: Malay Language, Moral Studies, Geography

AWARDS

Helen Hamlyn Design Award, 2022 Best Systems Design Approach to Complex Societal Problems Kid Fiction, MA

RIBA Dissertation Medal Nomination, 2022 Aachis of Chettinad, MA

Malaysian Bronze Medal, 2021 The Easton Circle, BSc

Most Joyous Project, 2020 The Easton Circle, BSc

Basil Spence Award, 2020 Service, BSc

Oculus Award, 2019 Communitas, BSc

SKILLS

Adobe CS: Photoshop Illustrator

InDesign

Premiere Pro After Effects

Revit AutoCAD SketchUp Hand sketching Model making Book stitching

Mac and Windows proficient BIM Training with BIM Academy, Newcastle

LANGUAGES

English (Native speaker) (C2)

Malay (Native speaker) (C2)

Tamil (Native speaker) (C2)

Mandarin (Elementary speaker) (A2) German (Beginner) (A1)

West Port & Company HKR Architects

Part I Architectural Assistant (Summer) Residential and educational architecture (RIBA Stages 1-2) Stage 1 Feasibility studies, Pre-application documents, Stage 2 Design&Access Statements

Part I Architectural Assistant

Residential and modular architecture (RIBA Work stages 1-4) Stage 1 Feasibility studies, Pre-application documents, Application documents, Stage 2 Design&Access Statements, Stage 4 Construction issue drawings, Animation videos, Visuals

Ryder Architecture

2020, London 2019, London 2018, London

Part I Architectural Assistant Healthcare architecture (RIBA Work stages 0-6) Stage 0 Feasibility and Site analysis reports, Stage 1 Outline design reports, Stage 2 Planning application and D&A statements, Stage 3 Interior design strategies, Stage 5 Construction issue drawings, Stage 6 Handover, Visuals

TR Hamzah & Yeang HMSK Architecture

2017, Kuala Lumpur 2017, Kuala Lumpur

Architectural Intern Eco-architecture and Ecomasterplanning (RIBA Work stages 0 -2) Masterplan designing, Stage 1 Site analysis reports, Stage 2 Design reports

Architectural Intern Commercial architecture (RIBA Work stages 4-5) Structural detailing, Visuals

EXTRA-CURRICULAR AND CHARITABLE WORK

Swetects, 2018 - Current

Founded Swetects : a not-for-profit illustration and graphic designing platform Raised over £3,000 to donate to charities centred around helping underprivileged women and children from marginalised communities (Dignity for Children Malaysia, Women for Women UK, GOSH Children’s Charity)

Ryder Architecture, 2018

Helped set up Ryder Architecture London’s ‘Hello Charity’ to encourage the studio’s charitable contributions. Charities involved include GOSH Children’s Charity, CRASH and Linkey.

University of Bath, 2016 - 2020

Bath University Boat Club (First crew cox)

Bath Area Malaysian Society (IT Officer, Main cast for annual theatre production) Bath Architecture and Civil Engineering Society (Graphic designer)

Taylor’s College Sri Hartamas, 2015 - 2016

College Editorial Board (Head of graphic design) TCSH Model United Nations (Creative director) TCSH Debate Club (Creative director) Stepping Stones Orphanage Literacy Program (Tutored under privileged kids in maths, science and English every weekend)

Cross Country, 2015 - Current

Jogger in multiple 10k cross country runs to raise money for different charities

CONTENTS

01 Kid Fiction 09 Rojak Central 15 Aachis of Chettinad 21 The Easton Circle

KID FICTION

Design methodology, co-design, engagement, illustrations, documentary

Helen Hamlyn Design Award 2022: MindRheo’s Award for Best Systems Design Approach to Complex Societal Problems

Kid Fiction questions the existence and the ability to give agency to children through the methods of design, gameplay and narration. Through the use of speculation as a medium of engagement, the project challenges the outdated frameworks of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) and the architectural discourses within which we readily operate. The project proposes the design of a new methodology that has the opportunity of expanding an architect’s agency beyond that of the RIBA Work Stages of 1 to 7.

MA (RCA) Second Year, ADS4

Documenting the process of developing a new design methodology

Rolling camera 2 on tripod in private room for individual interviews with children

Rolling camera 1 on tripod to film reactions and movements of children from back of the room

Classroom floor plans; where engagement activities took place in Fox Primary School, South Kensington

Children's reaction to their absurd worlds illustrated

Flow chart explaining the role of the architect in each stage of the newly proposed design methodology

Kid Fiction + Abolish it

Workshop 1

Fictional worldbuilding

Designer establishes a relationship with children through the use of fiction and worldbuilding

Fox Primary School 20 students

TRUST GAME

Designer creates an interactive problem solving environment for children to navigate through the use of a card game

Designer unpacks and analyses the issues highlighted by the children from the first activity

Stage 2 Stage 4 ABOLISH IT!

Designer goes to the depth of bringing these worlds to life as a trust building step

Data collected critiques current political and design frameworks that we readily accept as the social norm

KID FICTION

Workshop 3

Designer as the facilitator

Designer unveils realised absurd worlds to the children

A form of trust and respect is formed between the facilitator and the child

Problem identified by children: Biodiversity extinction Developing alternate forms of our built environment that could treat animals and humans as equal residents of our cities

Location: High Street Kensington

Taking inspiration from the generic London grocery store, this illustration talks about how different High Street Kensington might look like if animals were seen as equal citizens of our cities.

In this alternate reality, animals are left to prowl and live freely in their own habitats with little to no intervention from the human population. The built environment of human beings therefore only exist above a certain level, to avoid impeding on the lives of the animals.

Link to the film produced: Kid Fiction: Abolish it!

A 5-minute instructional film guide to the proposed methodology, which uses architecture, drawing and fiction as an intergenerational medium for conversation

ROJAK CENTRAL

Community, Malaysia, Museum of everyday

Inspired by the multicultural context of Malaysia and its world-renowned food scene, the project, Rojak Central, addressess the ways in which the everyday collective ritual of eating can help bring people together under one big roof. The proposal uses the symbolic nature of an unusually large metal roof in the context of an urban, messy environment as a means of staging the tension between the modernisation of Kuala Lumpur as an urban city with that of the local traditional, popular culture that is still alive and that we don’t want to lose with the threats of urbanisation and gentrification. The architecture in this sense is immobile and merely provides a framework of materials for the life and rituals that occur around it to inhabit and occupy it.

MA (RCA) First Year, ADS10

Prep / Cleaning 0400 - 0600 hrs

Breakfast 0600 - 1100 hrs

Lunch 1130 - 1430 hrs

Tea Time 1500 - 1700 hrs

Dinner 1800 - 2100 hrs

Supper 2200 - 0400 hrs

AACHIS OF CHETTINAD

Gender politics, feminism, caste, inheritance, ancestral architecture

RIBA Dissertation Medal Nomination 2022

As a fifth-generation descendent of the trader V.L.V. Velayuthem Chettiar, I used my dissertation entitled the Aachis of Chettinad to examine how women in the Nagarathar Nattukottai Chettiar merchant caste historically navigated gendered restrictions in Chettinad houses in Tamil Nadu. Using my ancestral home, I explore how women (Aachis) circumvented oppressive spatial forms and practices, seizing space and power. With the absence of seafaring husbands, gender norms would be upturned, as would rules around women’s occupation and ownership of space. Aachis managed finances, raised children and, crucially, kept the ancestral mansions, maintaining inter-class relations and associated social capital, while subverting repressive gender dynamics. Through archival research, drawing and model making, and participatory research involving my own images, models and female members of my family, I reconstruct erased spatial histories within Nagarathar Nattukottai Chettiar life. Caught between inheritance disputes and maintenance costs, many Chettinad houses are dilapidated with their spectacular features — Athangudi tiles, stained glass, ornate Burmese teak doorframes — being auctioned and shipped to new homes in the diaspora. I reflect on regimes of inheritance which favour male heirs and, as a woman, consider how the historical practices of Aachis may inform our ongoing relationships with these houses today, and indeed with each other.

MA (RCA) Critical History Studies Dissertation

RIGHTPlan view of 1:20 model, made using household materials, with female members of my family

Digitally recreating the V.L.V. Velayuthem mansion based on archival family photos using Revit, SketchUp, AutoCad, Illustrator and Photoshop

04THE EASTON CIRCLE

Community centre, adventure park, diversity, communal

PAM Malaysian Bronze Medal 2021

BiBo Studio: Most Joyous Project 2020

From being labelled as being home to one of Britain’s most dangerous streets in 2011 to now being considered as one of the top 50 coolest neighbourhoods in the world to reside in by TimeOut, Easton is a ward in East Bristol that stands as living proof of the positive impact a community can have on their surroundings.

The Easton Circle focuses on looking at the various ways Easton as a community can be represented through the design of a new community centre and an adventure playground. The newly proposed community centre would not only be an improved hub for the community to gather at, but will also look towards facilitating the foundations of ‘The Easton Circle’ - a social support barter system where members are encouraged to participate in a horizontal exchange of skills across all ages of the community.

Bsc (Hons) Final Year, University of Bath