Category Archives: Studio

Architecture, Site-Visit, Studio, Urban Design

SITE VISIT: IQ CITY PROJECT BY ABIN DESIGN STUDIO – REVIEW BY AYAN SEN

Leave a comment

Amidst the urban conglomeration of Durgapur sits the IQ City Township, replete with a dedicated institutional and medical precinct. A recent addition to this is a 45000 sqft Nursing College designed by Kolkata-based Abin Design Studio. Ayan Sen, Principal, Ayan Sen Architects, analyses the response and rhythm of this new insert into the existing planning scheme and writes this piece as an insight into the functional and spatial aspects of the design.

Masterplan with Location

Continue reading SITE VISIT: IQ CITY PROJECT BY ABIN DESIGN STUDIO – REVIEW BY AYAN SEN →

Architecture, Projects, Studio

Site-Visit : B.S. Abdur Rahman University by architectureRED

Leave a comment

With our cities growing at an incomprehensible pace, reformative delineations negotiating our built fabric often manifest into dense, ad-hoc environments with rocketing skylines and misplaced
socio-cultural semiotics. Responding to a consequential influx, the revival of B.S. Abdur Rahman University by architectureRED presents a case of place-making that attempts to restore an institutional culture by thriving on the nitty-gritty of a radically transformed, peripheral Chennai. Continue reading Site-Visit : B.S. Abdur Rahman University by architectureRED →

Architecture, Design Thinking, Dialogues, Library

Architects on Architecture : mayaPRAXIS: Dimple Mittal and Vijay Narnapatti

Leave a comment

In this edition of ‘Architects on Architecture’ series, we speak with Dimple Mittal and Vijay Narnapatti of mayaPRAXIS about their influences, practice, design thinking, and engagement with the discourse of architecture in India today.

Continue reading Architects on Architecture : mayaPRAXIS: Dimple Mittal and Vijay Narnapatti →

(In) Detail, Dialogues, Studio

Peoples Architecture Commonweal, Chennai

Leave a comment
Towards an informed architecture and building practice.

The present day ‘modern’ distress inflicted by ‘innovation’ offers only a fleeting escape amidst architecture that cannot be distilled and built environments that cannot be differentiated. This yearning for a mature, viable society may be met by reclaiming lost responsibilities of unveiling the grammar of traditional practices. Exploring the scope for a radical reorientation of the profession, I recently spoke with Architect Sudhir Kumar to get an insight into the studio’s core concerns which find expression through architecture, research and civic engagement projects.

Based out of Chennai since 1991, Peoples Architecture Commonweal is a coalition of a small group of architects, led by Sudhir Kumar. The studio is invested in the exploration of cultural practices through insights offered by an evolutionary approach towards architecture. Guided by the study of instinctual older approaches to planning, design, and building that are free from the restraint of technological trends, architecture is seen as a means to build more equitable communities by supporting craft and other livelihoods embedded in their local contexts. Continue reading Peoples Architecture Commonweal, Chennai →

Architecture, Projects, Studio

Sahyadri School : Khushru Irani Design Studio, Pune

Leave a comment

Amidst an overwhelming landscape of the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra nestles the Sahyadri School. Designed by Pune-based Khushru Irani Design Studio, the architecture is an ensemble of spaces sewn together with tactful geometry and generous circulation.

Situated on a remote site, the school was established as a residential campus in 1996 for students from class four to ten. The educational philosophy of the school has its roots in the profound teachings of J. Krishnamurti who envisioned a space of learning free from obstacles, close to nature. A proposed extension of the school to include class eleven and twelve presented itself with an opportunity to express the workings of two synergised design philosophies through architecture.

Panorama of the Residential Block

Continue reading Sahyadri School : Khushru Irani Design Studio, Pune →

(In) Detail, Architecture, Design Thinking, Library, Papers, Studio

Indigo Architects: Mausami and Uday Andhare

Leave a comment

Drawing to Find Out [04]

For Uday and Mausami Andhare, the process of sketching and drawing by hand pivots the design process as they work through the layers of an often messy path to architectural resolution. Looking through a cross-section of the rich visual material produced as a result, we attempt to capture the many purposes of drawing at Indigo Architects.

Continue reading Indigo Architects: Mausami and Uday Andhare →

Architecture, Projects, Studio

M.G.A.H.V. Student and Faculty Housing : MO-OF Architects

Leave a comment

Set against the vast, arid landscape of Wardha, the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalay [M.G.A.H.V.] Student and Faculty Housing does not flaunt its existence, despite a seemingly overwhelming scale. Designed by the Mumbai-based MO-OF Architects, the project is an attempt at a ‘non-design’ process in which “architecture is no longer either implicitly or explicitly seen as a dominant system, but rather simply as one of the cultural systems.”

Masterplan
Master Plan

Amidst central plains of India, lies the inconspicuous town of Wardha – among the most historically significant centres of the Indian Independence Movement and Gandhi’s avant-garde socio-educational experiments. In this spirit, it nurtures the growth of the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalay [M.G.A.H.V.], established to globally promote and develop Hindi language and literature. Continue reading M.G.A.H.V. Student and Faculty Housing : MO-OF Architects →

Architecture, Projects, Studio

The Atelier: Biome Environmental Solutions

Leave a comment

Inspired by an effectual educational approach, The Atelier by Bengaluru-based Biome Environmental Solutions embodies a conscious architecture which stems from the understanding that, “The permanence of a building may no longer be a prerequisite in its design.……it is necessary to allow material recovery and recycling, or reconstruct the same building elsewhere – anything but create debris that will occupy landfills.” 

Central Piazza

It is well known that children in their formative years are responsive to their everyday surroundings, experiences, and routines. Borrowing from this, The Reggio Emilia Approach focuses on the centrality of the hundred languages of children wherein they require utmost freedom in order to value the infinite resources of their hands, eyes, and ears and of forms, materials, sounds, and colours. Designed by Bengaluru’s Biome Environmental Solutions, this pre-school is an example of a sustainable building whose design submits to the enhancement of a sensorial, exploratory learning experience. Continue reading The Atelier: Biome Environmental Solutions →

Architecture, Design Thinking, Projects, Studio

Design.I.Y HOUSING: S+PS Architects

Leave a comment

The Design.I.Y HOUSING project offers a refreshing perspective to the monotony that otherwise defines contemporary commercial housing. In the context of Lonavala, this project by S+PS Architects proposes an alternative approach wherein the preferences of the inhabitants become integral to the development of architecture and essential to the richness of design. Continue reading Design.I.Y HOUSING: S+PS Architects →

(In) Detail, Architectural Education, Architecture, Design Thinking, Dialogues

Drawing to Find Out [03]: Ajit Rao

1 Comment

In conversation with Ajit Rao on his work and insights on drawings, skill and education. 

Architect, Animator and Artist, Ajit Rao started his career working with the renowned Indian architect B V Doshi. Ajit’s added passion for the art of cartooning soon developed into a journey exploring diverse skills in varied mediums of expression and communication. An intuitive teacher, he has headed training programs at leading animation studios and has been a visiting faculty at premier design and architecture institutes in India. Presently Ajit has set up a studio in Lonavala, endeavouring to bring these diverse resources to the service of various aspects of Indian cultural expressions. Continue reading Drawing to Find Out [03]: Ajit Rao →