Category Archives: Studio

Projects, Site Visit

SITE VISIT: House in Assagao by Field Atelier

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Inserted into the topography with forethought, House in Assagao designed by the Goa-based Field Atelier, is a home open to programme while evolving an identity borrowing from the historical context.

The articulated openings on the west facade of the House in Assagao.

Positioned in between the lush valleys of the Western Ghats coursed with streams and scattered coconut palms is a village rich in Goan cultural heritage; Assagao. In the last decade, a number of new and relatively grand country homes have been built in the village. Continue reading SITE VISIT: House in Assagao by Field Atelier →

Practice, Studio

STUDIO: Pratyush Shankar

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Studio culture – as with all manifestations of the human intellect – is the embodiment of a pattern of work that nurtures the craft of building. Architecture workspaces are especially readable in this context as architects are, in this case, designing for themselves. With every workplace as distinct and specific as the work it produces, the people who design and work in these environments reveal their ideas about space-making.

In this edition of the STUDIO series, we enquire about the processes, approaches, work ethics, and the trajectory of a Baroda-based multi-disciplinary practice led by academician and architect Pratyush Shankar.

Q: Tell us a little about the initial years of your practice. Continue reading STUDIO: Pratyush Shankar →

Architecture, Design Thinking, Projects, Space, Studio

Exploring Emergent Architecture by Studio Advaita

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The architecture of Studio Advaita taps into the essential purpose of building with structure, skin, and details that are contextual and inspired from the immediate: a practice where the eye draws from observations of cultural and historical contexts. 

Shivsagar School, Assam

Reflecting on the past, there still exists a recollection of a time where good architecture was once identified with spaces of worship such as Temple Architecture, or with structures of power such as kingdoms, forts, and assemblies- among many other forms of public architecture. Today, the scope has broadened and architecture is mostly a setting for everyday, ordinary activities. Despite this familiarity of architecture in our everyday lives, very often we find ourselves asking, “What is good architecture?” Continue reading Exploring Emergent Architecture by Studio Advaita →

Architecture, Design Thinking, Modern Heritage, Projects

MODERN HERITAGE: IIM, Bangalore

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Designed by Balkrishna Doshi / Vāstu Shilpā Consultants, the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore is an important site for the heritage of modern architecture in India – a study in the possibility for architecture to assimilate time and human presence in a composition of the built, open and in-between spaces.

Photos and Film: Ruturaj Parikh; Edited by Isha Raut ©Studio Matter
Drawings: Vāstu Shilpā Consultants; Courtesy Khushnu Panthaky Hoof


The Plan as a Generator

The Indian Institute of Management campus in Bangalore occupies about 54,000 square meters within a 100-acre site. Designed as a poly-nuclear plan, the overall spatial arrangement relies on a series of intersecting corridors that form the basic skeletal structure.

Continue reading MODERN HERITAGE: IIM, Bangalore →

Design Thinking, Dialogues, Furniture Design, Practice

Design of the Idea with Ajay Shah Design Studio [ASDS]

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Industrial Playground (now a part of Rubberband) – a furniture design initiative by Ajay Shah Design Studio [ASDS] – juxtaposes playful formal and visual qualities of the objects they make with process-driven industrial manufacturing for characteristic precision and uniformity. Their contemporary aesthetic is derived from the intrinsic quality of materials they work with and the nature of this specific process.

Design, in a context like that of India, can mean many things. From improvisations on existing situations to ideas that are points of the genesis of the new and unexplored avenues; the context of a developing nation enables one to deal with a range of unprecedented challenges. In 1990, Ajay Shah, then a young NID graduate, founded the Circus Design Company after a few stints of working as a designer and a furniture producer. This new company was imagined to be a multi-disciplinary design firm that dealt with design as the process of thought rather than a professional service. The conceptual framework of the present-day Ajay Shah Design Studio can be traced back to this office. Continue reading Design of the Idea with Ajay Shah Design Studio [ASDS] →