Introduction S.A.L.D.

361° Conference - Architecture of Purpose

Nehru Center, Auditorium

Dishant Bhatia, a Final Year student of School of Architecture and Landscape Design, recently attended the Sixth Edition of the 361° Conference in Mumbai – a yearly Rendezvous on Architecture - with the title Architecture of Purpose, shares his experience and tells why it is called “the one degree of difference”. In conversation with the College Magazine Vous, he describes the episode.

V: First of all, what is 361° and how you managed to enter it?

DB: Well, I was introduced to the 361° Conference when one of my seniors, Ar. Premith Satish, became the 361 Degree Scholar last year. It is an endeavor where masters of our field interact and share their ideas with the professionals as well as students. His participation in the event opened the gates to the same for me. He shared and discussed the ideas of speakers like Ar. Richard Meir and Ar. Yatin Pandya which, eventually, motivated and inspired me to participate this year. The selection was based on academic portfolio and mine was selected among top 15 – that’s it!

                                        

V: Wow, congrats on that. So, how was it this year? What was the theme and who were the speakers?

DB: Thanks! This year’s theme was Architecture of Purpose. Scheduled for three days, it was a hectic and jam-packed session with lectures and seminars by eminent Architects, engineers and others related to the field of Architecture and Design. The quest was to find the answer to the question - “Does contemporary architecture and by extension design manage to provoke?”, and to understand the ‘architecture of purpose’. The speakers included Ar. Charles Correa, Ar. Peter Rich (South Africa), Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, Ar. Christopher Benninger, Ar. Kevin Mark Low (Malaysia) and many others who have been practicing keeping the ‘purpose of architecture’ in mind.

Also, there was an Exhibition showcasing 44 architectural projects from all over the country which could be related to the theme aptly. Moreover, the Venue – Nehru Center, Mumbai – in itself was an inspiration.

V: Ok. You mentioned Ar. Charles Correa, Ar. Benninger, etc. How was it to be around such Masters? Share some of their words and what inspired you?

DB: Ah, it was an awesome experience especially as I was there as a student, I feel. We know, Architects have their own egos, and each architect is a critic to the other but I was sitting there as a student – willing to learn – that is what actually helped me. Mentioning all the projects is not possible as there were eighteen speakers, but I would like to share those who inspired me.  

Ar. Charles Correa

Watching Correa Sir, explaining his own projects, the ideas, the concepts he applies, personal experiences during the projects and all, was an eye-opener actually. His theories based on Cosmic architecture and ideas of developing design out of ‘basic’ needs showed how important is to keep in mind the ‘people’ for whom we are designing. He showcased a short film – Vistara – which could be called as summary of Indian architecture and techniques followed by local people. There he mentioned, “The builder is the user himself”, which shows the importance of the relationship between the design and the architect. His one and a half our lecture and then, dialogue with Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, spell-bounded the audience, especially his latest venture – Champalimaud Center in Lisbon. His concepts and the play of spaces is simply been inspired by the ‘needs’ and thus have the ‘spirit’ in the space.

Ar. Kevin Low with Students

Another speaker, who was crowned by the audience as the “rockstar”, was Ar. Kevin Mark Low from Malaysia. His practice name itself was catchy and interesting – small projects. His presentation was a ‘magnet’ and his emphasis was on the content. With his unique style and designs he inspired all present there. Icing on the cake was his conversation with the students where he mentioned the importance of time and context in practice. He shared how he manages to work the way he does by extracting the things which are responsible for wastage of time, like meetings, printing, etc.

Ar. Peter Rich, is based in South Africa and has been working as an Activist as he mentioned that an Architect needs to deal with the local ‘people’ and thus one has to break down the barriers. Others were Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya with his remarkable research and work in the regions like Bhuj in Gujarat. Ar. Ambrish Arora, with his practice based in Delhi, showcased some modern-contemporary works with unconventional thinking. His tag line was ‘context is decisive’. On the same lines was Bangaluru based architect, Ar. Sandeep Khosla. There were many many more.  

Prof. Chhaya during Lecture

V: Great. Must be inspiring, actually! Based on your learning and having such an experience, being the part of the senior-most batch, how would you bring all that down in few sentences and what would be your advice to the batches to come?

DB: Well, this was my second such seminar and both had the same orientation – ‘sense of architecture’. Whatever you design, be it an urban project or a small toilet, you have to stick to the context. You need to find the solutions and for that you need to know the questions first. Find out the reasons, questions, problems, requirements and basis to each and every line you draw or sketch. That is how I work, now! Try it and you will see the difference.

Second, make sketches! It is the ‘most important’ tool for an architect. The more you sketch, the more you’ll get into the details. I have been a passionate photographer myself but I have learned that until you ‘sketch’ architecture you can never ‘capture’ and learn from it.

And last, prepare good portfolios and attend such seminars!

   

U.D. - Final year Jury

“Urban Design gives you an opportunity to move ‘out’ of your studio and have the feel of the city”. The School of Architecture and Landscape Design, for the first time, had a one-hand experience of the statement when the Fifth year students took up the Urban Redevelopment of Raghunath Bazar in Jammu as their Design Studio problem.

Site chosen for redevelopment

It all started in August with the beginning of the 2012-13 Session, when the senior-most batch of the institute was introduced to the Urban Design problem. The local site selected for the same was the very famous, highly crowded and slowly degrading area of Raghunath Bazar in Jammu. With a vague idea of Urban Design, as it is the first batch who has worked on a redevelopment project, it was a huge task. Under the guidance of Ar. Aditya K. Singh, faculty & Director, S.A.L.D. and with the support of the visiting faculty, practicing architect, Ar. Harbinder Singh (S.P.A., Delhi), the studio turned up pretty well.

As in any other design studio, the case studies and site visits were given preference during the semester. For the better understanding of the Urban Design [UD] concepts and present scenario in the cities, the students organized a 3-day study trip of the capital city and conducted the live case studies in different areas. All important areas like, India Gate, Karol Bagh, Saket, Janakpuri, Qutub Minar, etc. were studied thoroughly which helped the students to grasp the UD concepts like Districts, Landmarks, Nodes, etc. and other UD elements. Ahead of this, the students were given a task to present their respective studies in term of S.W.O.T. analysis in order to recognize the UD Survey processes and methods.

As mentioned earlier, the site visits played an important role in the completion of the studio. “It seems like Jammu city is now a part of our design studio”, a student shared her feelings when asked about the design studio and its working. The class was divided into groups on the basis of seven UD parameters –

Urban Morphology

Visual Analysis

Spatial Configuration

Urban Activity

Circulation

Open-Space structure

Urban Infrastructure

Students preparing the Site model

Students paid several visits to the defined site in order to conduct their primary and secondary surveys. All groups were then supposed to submit their analysis in proper UD graphics and techniques in the form of overlays which includes data like Figure-ground plan, movement plans, activity typology plans, etc. For all the basic studies students referred several UD books like UD Handbook, UD Graphics, Time-Savers standards for UD, etc. Apart from the group work the students also worked day and night for preparing the live model of the one kilometer long site.

Students explaining the model

Several pre-juries were taken by the faculty members and other architects from Jammu city itself, before the final submission which was held recently in December. The jury was held by Ar. Ashish Gupta, eminent Architect and Urban Designer, who has been contributing to the field since last thirty years with his firm, First Principle Designs Pvt. Ltd. in Delhi. With his remarkable experience and knowledge about the topic of Urban Design, the architect left students amazed. Understanding to the fact that it is the first batch who has attempted a problem of this level, he let students explain their design solutions first and then provided them with ample suggestions and advises while correcting their designs. Happy with the way the batch displayed their works and the way students reached into the depths of the problem, he decided to give a lecture and shared his view on the problem according to the site. The jury went on for almost 12 hours.

Ar. Ashish Gupta during Lecture 

The Jury was followed by a Lecture by Ar. Ashish Gupta. More than a lecture it was a one-one discussion on how students feel about stepping into the professional field, being this as their final year. There was an exchange of several thoughts, ideas and doubts. The interaction ended with minds motivated and wishes from the Architect’s side for the Thesis.   

Student's work at display in studio