Architecture PORTFOLIO Selected works from 2012- 2017
Vidhya Rajendran
EDUCATION
Vidhya Rajendran
Nov 2017 - Current
Architect DSP Design Associates, Bangalore
June 2017 - Oct 2017
Project Architect Admire Architects Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore
May 2016 - May 2017
Freelancing FHD Group, Hyderabad
June 2015 - Nov 2015
Internship FHD Group, Hyderabad
July 2012 - May 2017
Undergraduate Education National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli
May 2010 - March 2012
Senior Secondary Education Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ashok Nagar
resume
MILESTONES 2017
Placed Second position in B.Arch batch of 2012-2017
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2017
Won Karche Award for the Best Thesis project of B.Arch batch 2012-2017
2017
Won Oisik Adak Memorial Award, an overall performance award to the Best Creative Designer
+91-9444812433 vidhya.rj28@gmail.com
2017
Placed Second position in Aakriti’17 (“Re-imaging streets”)* conducted by pragyan
* Competition entry link: https://issuu.com/vidhya6/docs/aakriti_17 2014
Placed third position in the design competition “Night Shelter for Urban Shelterless”
SKILLS Modelling Rhinoceros 3D SketchUp 3ds Max
Drafting AutoCAD ARCHICAD Revit Architecture
Parametric and Rendering Grasshopper & Python Primer Lumion V-Ray
Presentation Photoshop Illustrator InDesign
contents 1
Polycab Resorts
Interpretation centre
(Click on the image)
hospitality pages 24 - 26
cultural centre pages 4 - 11
Library
public space
2
Co-living Apartment
pages 27 - 29
Parametric Design facade designing
Sultan Bazaar Market
7
page 30
urban design
pages 17 - 19
Miscellaneous artsy work
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6
residential pages 12 - 16
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5
Production House
8
page 31
institutional pages 20 - 23
Writing sample
berkeley prize essay page 32
9
Interpretation Centre
Tamil Nadu has a great tradition of heritage and culture that developed over 2,000 years ago and still continues to flourish. Mamallapuram, a town in Tamil Nadu, is known for its heritage structures and cultural traditions. This town is currently facing socio-cultural issues: the heritage and culture is not being recognized, the town’s economy is falling due to less footfall, and the need to bring out the artistic expressions of the native sculptors. My project aims at bringing out the cultural influences imbibed by the town through architecture.
Cultural centre Type Semester Mentor Scope
Softwares used
Undergrad Thesis Project 10th semster (Individual) Dr. K.Thirumaran Master planning, Conceptualising, Plans, Sections and Elevations, Renders, Presentation Sketchup, AutoCAD, Vray, Photoshop
Mamallapuram The immense built-heritage of the town with its innumerous Dravidian temple structures and traditional handicrafts is a perfect place to compliment the culture through architecture.
Background
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SITE | Surrounding
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Mamallapuram is a picturesque rocky town wedged between the beach and lagoon. It stands as a testimonial for a combination of history with art and architecture. The town was built by Pallavan kings to increase their sea trade and portray their interest in perfecting art and architecture during their reign. Mamallapuram stands as a centre of art and as an icon to early Dravidian style of temple architecture. The Shore Temple symbolises the heights of Pallava architecture and the maritime ambitions of the Pallava kings. Though small in size, its excellent proportion and the supreme quality of the carvings made it the most prominent structure in the study of temple architecture. Another notable monument is the Pancha Rathas, an architectural ode to Mahabharata’s five Pandava brothers. These ancient edifices, carved out of a long stone or monolith, are decorated with bas-reliefs and murals.
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Heritage mapping Monument prohibited area
Landuse mapping
Educational use
Commercial use
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Tourism development mapping
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Traditional settlement mapping
What makes Mahabalipuram so culturally resonant are the influences it absorbs and disseminates. An Interpretation Centre is used as a focal point to create a Heritage township that would emphasise the existing fabric. The ancient monuments are accentuated to attract the tourist population. The site is strategically placed inbetween the two most prominent heritages of Mamallapuram- Shore temple and Pacha Rathas. Along with this, the beach-ward location enhances the vistas from the site. Against this backdrop, an Interpretation Centre would be most appropriate in this location as it would try to interlace the environment of the past preserving its culture, tradition and architecture, and the present architectural fabric. The apt location of the site supplements the spirit of the place.
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3 Shore temple
Present day
Light house
Mahabalipuram had been a most frequently visited tourist town. Due to the stagantion in the development of the town, the town faces reduced footfall. This leads to other sociocultural issues - the historical value is not being recognized, the town’s economy is falling, and the need to bring out the artistic expressions of the native sculptors.
Pancha Rathas SITE
The Walk: View of the Shore temple and the activity plaza
Genius Loci *
Mind map: The spirit of Mamallapuram contained by built- unbuilt strands
“Architecture means to visualize the genius loci, and the task of the architect is to create meaningful places, whereby he helps man to dwell” - Norberg-Schulz
“The essential of the Genius Loci theory is to understand the cultural connotation and human natural characteristics of the entity space. Space is always created by material substances for certain purpose and limitation, only when its been given with locally and cultural contextual significance can a space become a place.” A space is made of following components: 1. The static physical setting 2. The activities taking place 3. The meaning that the space holds
* Dissertation Reseach link: https://issuu.com/vidhya6/docs/manifestation_of_genius_loci_throug
Mind map: The spirit of Mamallapuram is imbibed into the site through tangible and intangible aspects
Translation into Architecture | Site plan
Surrounding vistas panaroma
The layout analysis of Mamallapuram Temple
Public Plaza: The functionality of the public plaza is resolved using the layout of a typical Mamallapuram temple. The circulation is kept simple and borrowed scenery is used to emphasise the surrounding heritage structures.
Semi - Public Plaza: The heritage of Mamallapuram is in a state of deterioration. There is also a dearth in the conservation practices in South India. A sophisticated conservation facility with an institute wing also forms a part of the project to support and to ameliorate the Heritage Museum. The conservation laboratory overlooks the 1500 years old Pancha Ratha.
Visually linking the workplace and the place of work Traslation of traditional layout concept into the Site plan
Entry portal | Visitor’s centre
Central node | Landscape The central node is a crowd organiser. It has the core buildings organised around it with sufficient breathing spaces provided to catch glimpses of the beach. It opens onto an activity area for the public to enjoy the local culture against the backdrop of the shore temple and the sea.
Infusing a sense of local character Borrowed view of the beach and the view of the activity area
View of the Visitor’s centre
The visitor’s centre is the first building that one encounters on approaching the site. It serves as reception for the visitors. The long perpendicular wall that cuts through the building, juxtaposed against the stone cladded wall, sets the orientation of entry into the building and exit onto the central plaza. The top floor is aligned along the axis facing the Pancha Rathas.
Associating the reading room and the context of the city
Plan overlay
Heritage Museum Shore temple
Shore temple
Axis of city growth Basement floor
Pancha Rathas
Pancha Rathas
Design evolution through acknowledging the axes of the town
The Heritage Museum, which is based on intagible concepts derived from the axes of the town, houses tangible heritage of South India- the sculptures, textiles, scriptures, paintings, etc. Key
Sectional view
Houses the works of the native sculptors
Ground floor
First floor
Houses the archaeological remains, deities and ancient artifacts
Second floor
Interior view of the Gallery along the shore temple axis
Spatial experience
Interior view of the model
Model view of the Museum
Cultural Centre
Sectional view of the cultural centre
The Cultural Centre houses the intangible art forms of Mamallapuram. People experience the traditional culture though the architecture of the building and the art form in itself.
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“Thus formed an art, inbetween those fingers.�
Spatial experience 1 Play of light and shadow | Borrowed views of the beach 2 The Street | Local character | Traditional setting 3 Reflections | Light through water | Diffused lighting 2
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Co-living
A high rise apartments planned to house 154 units in 14 floors, has a central recreational block which accomodates all the amenities. This sharing of spaces is necessary for a harmonious living by its residents. These spaces are organised based on their functionality and are designed to combine the open spaces with the closed ones in a fluid and organic manner.
Residential Apartments Type Semester Mentor Scope
Softwares used
Academic work 9th semester (Individual) Dr. K.Thirumaran Conceptualising and study of Space-ProximityActivity of the programs in Grasshopper, modelling, floor plans, spatial analysis Grasshopper, AutoCAD, Rhinoceros, Sketchup, 3DS Max
Chennai The site is located in the residential core of Adayar and has a site area of 1.51 Acres.
Concept Space maximization and co-living are the core concepts of this project. The recreational block aims at organising the spaces in a harmonious and continuous manner. Thus studies were conducted to learn the interaction between different typology of activities amongst each other as well as with the green spaces. This gives a program for mapping the activities in a continuous manner marked with randomness, so as to maintain the coherency of the spatial layout.
Pure black and white represents two distinct functions (programs). The transition of colour depicts the change in the functionality of the spaces. This smooth gradation of function thus gives a continuity to the spatial arrangement.
Now, three colours represent three distinct functionsEntertainment, Health and Education. The transfusion of colours marks the transition from one distinctive activity to another.
The gradation is stepped down to controlled number of colours. Based on the colour mix, the functionality of the space is chosen. The floor plates have randomness and continuity interjected in the layout.
Study | Colour mapping against functions
Study | Functions vs Greeness of space
Study | Volume distribution
Study output
Closed spaces: Jacuzzi, Indoor Spa, Massage area, Indoor play, Gaming cafe, Dance club, Library, Music room, creche
Semi- closed spaces: Music and relaxation pods, Cafe and lounges, Gymnasium, Aerobics, Basketball courts, Multiutility spaces, art rooms, exhibition halls, informal training centers
Semi- open spaces: Outdoor seating, Hammock, Tennis courts, Children’s play area, Wifi zones, workshops
Terraced spaces: Shallow pools, swings, star gazing, screening area, rock climbing, trampolene playground, mini golf course, gardening, greenhouse
Kids zone
Youngster zone
Elder zone
Translation | Concept into coherent spaces
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Scenario 01 - Office
Transformative spaces 1 Guest Bedroom
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Recreational block
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Typical Floor plan & Unit plan 4
1 Scenario 03 - Sleeping
Scenario 02 - TV Watching
2 Living room 2
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Daylighting analysis Scenario 02 - Party area
4 Children’s Bedroom
Scenario 02 - Sleeping
Scenario 01 - Play area
Scenario 01 - TV Watching
3 Master Bedroom
Scenario 02 - Sleeping
Scenario 01 - Work space
Sultan Bazaar
This city market area is always bustling with moving crowd. It is one of the oldest markets in Hyderabad and even houses a few ancient buildings. This bazaar falls in the residential zone and has a mix in the activities taking place. It is one of the most crowded urban streets all round the year. Adding to the problem is the Metro line development. The challenge in the redesign of this market street is to retain the originality of the place and also provide the amenities for its users.
Urban Design Type
Academic work
Semester
9th semester (Group) Dr. K.Thirumaran Study of the existing city fabric, redesign evolution AutoCAD, Rhinoceros, Sketchup
Mentor Scope Softwares used
Hyderabad The site is located in the market area of Sultan Bazaar with a street stretch of 1.2kms.
Sultan Bazaar Market
Hyderabad city map
Landuse overview
Market-space
Introduction
Importance
City center market street, Sultan Bazaar, is one of the most populated heritage street bazaars located in the urban core of Hyderabad, India. Earlier known as residency bazaar, surrounded by residential part of Hyderabad. This street market is popular for its wide range of women’s and children’s garments, pick-up bangles, silver jewelry, daily need accessories, imitation watches and handicraft products.
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Physical: Focal center of the city. Heritage value: 150 year old Heritage market Connectivity: Converging point for all public transit. Population diversity: One lakh people, all from different income groups and age groups are the users of the market everyday. Socio-Culture variation: Variation of activities with time, include selling, buying, religious activities, and festivals are celebrated along the street.
Metro rail corridor
Problems 1. Design quality & Built form: • Dilapidated structures hampering the quality of edges & faces of the street. • Lack of sanitary & hygienic services. 2.
Density & usage of Public Realm: • Unidentified encroachment on streets leading to congestion, and haphazard access. • Constricted vehicular access and parking space issues.
3. New Metro line development: • This line requires road expansion through demolishing the street buildings. • Negatively influencing the growth of the street and its visual character.
Affected area analysis
Site zoning
Site profiling
Level zoning
Redesign analysis
PRODUCTION
HOUSE
Institutional Type
This complex is exclusively for studios and production companies. It has a variety of programs stacked one on top of the top in a playful manner providing large spaces for courtyards and outdoor seating.
Semester
Green stategies have been implied in this building to improve the energy efficiency.
Softwares used
Mentor Scope
Academic work 8th semester (Individual) Dr. K.Thirumaran Generating concepts, design development, building analysis, plans, sectional elevations Sketchup, Vray, Photoshop, Lumion, AutoCAD
Hyderabad The site extends upto 6.23 Acres in the corporate zone- Hi Tech city of Hyderabad.
Concept
Program distribution
Jenga blocks
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Site surrounding
Keeping all the public programs to lower levels and organized around a central courtyard, which is used as a congregation space for larger events. Studios and Auditoriums are kept on the lower level with free roof to ensure large spans and adaptability. Office tower is rotated to N-S faรงade to reduce solar gain which naturally creates large span spaces for Studios and Auditoriums.
2 Site contour
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Around 10-12m drop in the SW portion of the site that needs to be addressed.
Top floor is further rotated to create a shadow for the public space.
Playful design aesthetic. From the exterior the form resembles a game of stacking blocks. Formal play based on programmatic and climatic logic.
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Climatic analysis 1. Natural lighting in the building
4. Shadow Analysis
High factor of daylight penetration into the offices reduces the need for artificial lighting, reducing energy demand upto 28%.
5. Wind direction
Large courtyards ensures the maximum penetration of the prevailing EW winds of Hyderabad.
2. Green roofs and terraces
Active roof with walkways and landscape creates a leisure environment for the office goers. The playful roof brings out the spirit of the work happening in the building.
West wind is allowed to penetrate and cool the public spaces. Highly shaded outdoor spaces allows the program to expand outwards.
3. Reduction in solar radiation N-S glazing ensures minimal solar gain and reduces the energy consumption for cooling upto 30%. Roof top landscaping reduces heat radiation from roof slabs and hence reduces the consumption by 20%. Solar panels on roof doubles as shading devices reducing indoor heat build up.
Section AA’
Aeriel view
Key plan
Section BB’
Elevational view
Polycab
Resorts
Located near Halol, this facility is designed to accommodate 160 people at a time and three botique bungalows. The aim was to reflect the sense of simplicity and rich Indian culture. This will be a world-class net zero organic farming community which will set benchmark in showcasing the modal of using seven strands of sustainability in simple yet luxurious calm and serene atmosphere.
Hospitality Type Semester Mentor Scope
Softwares used
Professional work Intership - 7th semester Ar. Mathan Ramaiah Master planning and conceptualising and planning the entry plaza. Sketchup, Grasshopper, AutoCAD
Ahmedabad Located in hot dry climate of Halol, Ahmedabad, this organic community spans upto an area of 20.27 Acres.
Arrival Plaza
Master plan of the organic community
Plan of the arrival plaza
sustainability
modules
Organic Food grown in naturally condensed soil and no fertilised with animal manure from on-site animal husbandry.
Self-reliant 100% off grid clean tech energy systems designed to meet the community’s loads.
Effective watershed measures to enhance the catchment areas and conservative usage at all levels with the help of latest technologies.
The shelters are designed to optimize the spaces and to encourage better interaction with nature.
Fresh outdoor air naturally cooled with earth as the heat sink.
The Earth and soils are conserved and built organically to help increase the soil organics-Vedic farming
People and the way they live are important aspects of the community, their interactions within and outside. Their involvement in social welfare is an essential criterion.
View of the central O.A.T Rendered by the in-house rendering team
Entrance Porch
Flexibility in the design using grasshoper scripting
The evolution of the arched entrance pavillion started by drawing the inspiration from the Rajasthani ornate shades - “Jharokas” and the western architypical arcades.
Jharokas
The design is evolved by decoding and deconstructing the elements by understanding its spatial and aesthetic character. Hence deriving a contemporary but a rooted design to the precinct.
“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.” -Frank Gehry
View of Entrance canopy Rendered by the in-house rendering team
This project aims at designing a district library for all age groups. The layout revolves mainly around two aspects - straightforwardness and accessibility. The spatial organisation has to be lucid to enable an user-friendly experience at the library. Natural lighting will handle the aura needed for a pleasant reading atmosphere.
LIBRARY
Type Semester Mentor Scope Softwares used
Academic work 6th semester (Individual) Prof. D. Kannamma Concept developement, plans, sections and views Revit Architecture
Public space
The site is located in the heart of the city beside the Chennai Trade Centre, a prominent landmark of public congregation. The longer side of the site abuts an arterial road and the site measures 1.52 Acres.
Chennai
Concept The spaces are zoned based on the accessiblity by the public. Frequently accessed sectionsperiodicals, reference section and Tamil literature, are located on the ground floor along with brailee section for easy accessibility by the disabled.
Ground floor plan
View of the library
The second floor is dedicated for kids, women and literary works. The top floor is for students and professionals. Light well has a tapering effect towards ground floor to give an attrium effect.
Key
First floor plan
Sectional view
Second floor plan
Interior view of the stacks
View of reading area around the courtyard
Interior view of the reading area
Reading areas are sufficiently lit through curtain walls and light wells. The light wells connect the vertically stacked spaces visually and makes the reading area feel spacious. The stacks are organised along the wall surface to enhance the visual connectivity to the rest of the building and to keep the circulation straightforward. At every level, landscaped areas are interjected to provide a pleasing environment for outdoor reading. They also act as buffer spaces to reduce the solar absorption into the building.
Parametric
Design
GM iLegend City
Type
Freelancing work
Scope
Coding for the exterior facade
The project attempts at establishing a commercial and tourist hub in Sarjapur, Bangalore. Planned at a massive scale of 72.52 Acres, it will house state of the art facilities like the auditorium, business office, hotels and shopping centers.
Multiplex block
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Surface to be modified
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Dynamism on the facade is induced through skewed quad girds supplemented with gradual reduction in the size of the opening, in the direction opposite to the orientation of motion.
Skewed quad grid on surface Elevational view of the Multiplex from road
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Sub-surfaces of varying dimensions
Controlled reduction of surfaces
Photography
Model-making
Sketching painting
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Berkeley Prize Essay Competition 2017 “Architecture Reveals Communities” - In your city, how do individual communities demonstrate their presence through the buildings designed to serve that group’s social and cultural needs and endeavors? Students enrolled in any accredited undergraduate architecture program or diploma in architecture program throughout the world are invited to submit a 500-word essay proposal in English.
Pondicherry- a little of home, a little borrowed by Vidhya Rajendran & Deepthi Reddy
“Pondicherry, of course!” was our reaction when we read the essay question. Among the different cities we consider ours, no other city stands out more than Pondicherry. A walk through this city is full of unique and often jarring sights – bustling Indian markets right next to serenely quiet Parisian-style streets; an old Tamil mami (aunty) dressed in a silk saree ordering madelines at her local café in fluent French; Indian and Caucasian kids running around the streets after school; and in the middle of all this, pilgrims meditating or helping those in need. Pondicherry is the capital city of the union territory (i.e. it’s federally governed) of the same name, relatively tiny, and surrounded by Tamil Nadu (one of the South Indian states). It was ruled by the French from 1670 to 1954. The city had a clearly defined “French Quarter” and “the Tamil Rest” separated by the Grand Canal – this separation remains even today.
“Architecture is an expression of values” - Norman Foster
Diversity has always been India’s greatest attribute. India’s many states, languages, religions, cultures and traditions combine to form an innumerable variety of communities. Architecture and communities are tightly interlinked. We will attempt to study three pieces of architecture in Pondicherry and symptomatically reveal the diverse communities they stand for. 1.
Bharati Museum and Traditional Extroverted Tamil Architecture
Subramania Bharati was a famous nationalist poet who played an important role in the Indian freedom movement. His residence is a vernacular-style building. The sloping roof and façade are supported by slender wooden columns erected on a platform known as a thinnai in Tamil. These street-facing thinnais were built solely for socializing. They’re a perfect example of the extroverted character of Tamil architecture and we learn a lot about the traditional Tamil communities even from this small detail. Today, this house stands as a Museum-cum-Research centre, fostering a community of Tamil linguists and historians.
2.
Alliance Francais and the French Connection
Alliance Francais stands prominently in the French Quarter, fitting right in with its buildings of sunburnt ochre, stately wooden doorways, and hidden courtyards. This building is a good example of the introverted French architecture that evokes the laidback Parisian lifestyle of its historical occupants. Alliance Francais today stands as the French cultural centre in Pondicherry. It holds French classes, music concerts, ballets, and movie screenings. It is open to everyone and fosters a unique community in India. 3.
Aurobindo Ashram and Spirituality
Pondicherry is also home to one of the most well-known spiritual Ashrams – the Aurobindo Ashram. It attracts an ever-growing community of people of all over the world seeking peace, meditation, and spiritual retreat. This ashram was founded by the Mother and Sri Aurobindo in 1926, and has since grown to become its own Quarter in the city. The ashram is marked by grey austere buildings, spartan courtyards, and secluded walkways. They symbolize, reflect, and aid the spiritual journey that its community strives to pursue. Our essay would delve deeper into these examples and highlight one as our favourite.
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