Pritha Samanta

ACADEMIC PORTFOLIO Community Narratorium Dialogue Polyvalence Hexalife Community Located in the arid zone of the country of Iran, Yazd is a city with a rich culture and heritage. The site was located next to Doulat Abad Garden, a UNESCO world heritage site. N The idea was to develop a commuity housing which works as a bridge between the traditions of this heritage city, and the contemporary lifestyle that people have come to expect of the 21st century. 4 The project was developed with an urban outlook. It respected the existing garden, and created urban areas to respond to the context. A pedestrianised commercial axis cut the project in the middle, connecting the streets next to the garden to amenities such as hospitals and bus stops. A public building in the north, responded to the needs of the demography and a school located within the proximity of the site. 2 4 2 Furthermore, the residential community was enveloped by another proposed biodiversity park on the west, aiding in the creation of a fresh microclimate. The housing was developed keeping in mind ease of access, while amalgamating the same with gathering spaces, that dotted the shaded pesedtrian walkways inside. 3 1 4 general types of residential buildings were designed. Buildings with elevators for access were placed on the periphery of the project, while walk-ups were placed in the inner parts. 3 types of hierarchical spaces were identified and designed depending on the degree of privacy. 1 Public Building 2 Residences 3 Bio-diversity Park 4 Comercial Axis 5 Doulat-Abad Garden Care was taken to identify the nature of the space as per the user group. Spaces were dedicated to certain user groups based on probability of usage, and then these spaces were designed to cater to these people. The time of the day during which these spaces may be used were also charted out, and then distributed across the district to activate the community. N Pedestrian Connection Doulat Abad Garden 2 4 Peripherial massing Morphological map of the hierarchy of spaces based on privacy. Space A is private, Space B Semi private and Space C is public. In an attempt to optimise space usage, space B and C were included as part of circulation. 2 Space A Space B Housing along E-W Residences 3 Bio-diversity Park 4 Comercial Axis 5 Doulat-Abad Garden oad Main R 3 Massing for view and security Public Building 2 1 Residential Neighborhood Pedestrian Loop 1 Space C Ground Floor Plan 5 3 Section across Public Building in the north 1 Section across a typical cluster showing common spaces 4 1 Shaded Walkways 2 Trees along south of residences for shading 2 3 Space A - Residential Buildings 4 Space B - Common spaces for cluster 5 Space C - Neighbourhood streets 5 Section across comercial axis me r ke ma Ho Public Building lts s rly e Eld i en ldr Ch Housing ng u Yo u Ad Commercial Axis Section across Bio-diversity park Housing Narratorium A Naratorium is an institute for story telling. It is an attempt at bringing back the dying culture of conversations. The site was located in the heart of Delhi, near Qutub Minar. at the corner of Qutub Institutional area, which houses many prestigious educational institutes in Delhi including Jawahar Lal Nehru University. The site is well connected by buses and metros. On the south west, the site is surrounded by a large forest named Sanjay Van. It has been proved that humans have a deep psychological need to relate to people around them. They need to find a sense of community. With the change in lifestyle and advent of social media, the Indian art of storytelliing is becoming a dormant tradition. Various forms of storytelling have been a part of our cultural identity including music, dance, drama and art. Certain contemporary methods include social media storytelling like ‘The Scribbled Stories’ and ‘The Humans of New York’. The empathy and nostalgia associated with storytelling also make it a great marketing technique. Since a formal institute for storytelling doesn’t exist, it had to be defined as a typology. In order to do this, certain pre-existing ideas and notions of spaces needed to be questioned. In order to facilitate dialogues, the arrangement of an auditorium was questioned. Lighting often plays an important role in an auditorium. While a spotlight facilitates focus, it often cuts off dialogues and creates a performer-spectator relationship rather than an area for a conversation.Apart from questioning the formalised spaces, the intermediate connecting spaces were of major importance. In order to facilitate conversations, a large number of open spaces were strategically placed to create scenarios for accidental conversations. This enabled the institute to be live throughout the day, which could make it a hangout destination for many. 1 Exhibition Spaces 3 4 9 5 10 9 2 Open Gathering Spaces 6 8 7 1 Small Auditorium 2 Large Auditorium 3 Library 4 Cafe 5 Public Plaza 6 Amphitheatre 7 Studios 8 Cottages 9 Open Practice Spaces 10 Exhibition Space Learning Spaces Performance Spaces Performers are in the corner and the audience surrounds them in a concentric manner. Performers are on the edge and the audience face the stage in a linear fashion. 1 Spaces where the audience sits in the middle with views to all other spaces of performance. 3 Performers are in the centre and the audience encircle the stage. 5 Stage as an open space for artists to experiment. 2 Spaces where the stage is split into many parts. 7 Spaces where the audience can move while the performance is staged. 4 Spaces where there is physical interaction between the performer and the audience. 6 8 7 5 4 8 4 6 5 3 1 6 2 4 4 Dialogue This project was a part of a competition issued by the Council of Architecture in India, for a prototype of a bus shelter to be deployed all across the national highways of the country. The design of the bus stop was conceptualized keeping in mind, that a bus stop does not need to be just a mode of service. Bus stops on the national highways are generally frequented by the same groups of people around similar timings, as they are generally bound by a certain routine. Keeping this in mind, the primary idea was to provide a public infrastructure that can be treated as a place of congregation, that can promote conversations. The infrastructure provided in the bus shelter were hence activity generators that can facilitate this. Adequate seating areas were provided along with facilities such as vending machines and digital newspaper or akhbar, and interactive screens for children to play educational games. The digital newspapers can also help curtail the current social devil of the spread of fake news, as this will become a reliable source of information outside different villages. The form of the bus shelter was derived from the various geographical landforms that India offers. Different parts of it symbolize mountains, plains, rivers and the sea. The space is moderately enclosed so as to create a safe, yet visually unobstructed environment in order to maintain safety. The height is not kept too high, as this will provide a better shelter against the harsh weather factors of rain, strong winds, heat and cold in various regions. This, along with the idea of identity, which can be generated through the use of local materials, and the exhibition of handicrafts, essentially transforms the bus shelter into a space that not only caters to the people efficiently, but also creates a public infrastructure people can actually feel proud of having. Section AA 1 Seating Area 2 Interactive games 3 Akhbar: news display 4 Wall for displaying logo 5 Display for bus timings 6 Wall of identity 7 Light weight roof 8 Solar panel 9 Name signage 10 Rain water pipe 11 Handicraft display area 12 Bus route information 13 Wheelchair area 14 Ramps 8 9 7 6 5 4 10 11 12 3 2 1 13 14 Bus shelter as a place of congregation Digital announcements and Interactive digital displays for kids 24X7 Vending Machines Seating spaces that promote conversations and dialogue Open exhibition of local art and artifacts Ease of accessibility Easily visible information and unobstructed view Section BB Wheelchair friendly accessible spaces Tactile paths and audio information for the visually impaired Art and artefacts made by local artisans can be displayed on the transparent glass backdrop of the bus shelter. This will promote culture and sale of handmade local products, and will also make the bus shelter a place of attraction rather than a service. Safety in the Bus shelter Well lit bus stand from top and side panels Tactile paths for safety and ease of the visually impaired Telephone for calling emergency helpline numbers Collection of rain water to recharge aquifers Use of local materials for economic sustainability and identity Place of temporary shelter Sustainability Solar panels for fulfilling all power needs The brick wall in the prototype provides flexibility of material usage. Local stones may be used for constructuion of this wall in order to reduce cost and impart identity. A B B Plan @ 1.05M from road lVl A Polyvalence Rajkot is a rapidly developing city in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, India. It is an economical hub, and is home to a lot of migrants from all across Gujarat. The proposed mass housing, aimed towards such migrants, is located on a road connecting the two ring roads in the city. This provides ample opportunities for public amenities and transport to cater to the site. Mass housing normally tends to overlook individual family identity. The space within each dwelling should be customizable to meet their individual requirements. This led to the design of flexible dwellings, such that the houses can change according to requirements in day/night or as and when the size and structure of the family changes. This was achieved by consolidating all the services within a house to a common core, and allowing free movement across the rest of the house. Furthermore, as opposed to a ground spread housing, where all residents have some contact with their neighbors, vertical housing tends to be less social. Overlooking floors were designed so that at least 3 subsequent floors are well connected, and this may lead to well knit neighborhood. Another concern was to provide more common spaces, as people belonging to the migrant class often have smaller dwellings, and a lot of activities happen in shared spaces. N Changing size of a family Service wall Service core A 3 Possible configuration to have an efficient dwelling Process Evolution of Common Open Space B 2 1 C 4 D Evolution of Shared Open Space Within a Building Ground Floor Plan 1 Apartment Building 2 Common Park 3 Parking 4 Urban Edge D C Hierarchy of open spaces, which allows for gatherings of various scales, and at different levels of privacy/ publicness. Inter-connection of these open spaces, so that anyone going outside from their house has to cross these open spaces. This makes them active at all times. Separate vehicular and pedestrian movement. This ensures usability of the community open spaces, which do not get divided by moving vehicles. B A Hexalife Chiaravalle is a district of Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 5 administrative division of the city. It is located in the periphery south of the city center, within the Parco Agricolo Sud Milano nature reserve. In Milan, the summers are warm and humid, the winters are very cold, and it is partly cloudy year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 31°F to 85°F and is rarely below 23°F or above 92°F. The project was located next to a school, and the idea was to develop self sustaining spaces for student residences, guest houses and a multipurpose hall. Our approach was of a modular nature in order to cut down the cost of construction. A self sustaining modular pod was designed which could function individually or as a part of a plug-and-play system. Locally sourced materials were used, a lot of which were also sourced from scraps of nearby existing dilapidated buildings. Each element of the system was as modularised as possible, for instance - the same structural shell was used for the strudent residences, the guest houses, the green houses and the waste management units. 2 Student Housing PV-T Hybrid Solar Panels 6mm th double glass skylight 6mm th double glass Double plywood insulated wall Plant-e technology 9m3 Water Tank 1 0 Greenhouse 0.6m 3 4 1.5m First Floor Plan 6mm th double glass skylight Steel reinforced Timber frame 6mm th double glass walls Planters and soil infill 0 Waste Management 0.6m 1.5m Teracotta tile cladded roof 25mm th plywood wall finished with 12mm th plaster Openable windows 5 Ground Floor Plan 0 0.6m 1.5m 6 7 4 1 Greenhouse 2 Multipurpose Hall 3 Entrance Module 4 Student Housing 5 Kitchen 6 Bio-bar 7 Classroom 1 SCALE OF DETAILS 0 SCALE OF KEY PLAN AND SECTION SCALE OF DETAILS 150 300 A. SECTION AT TOP JUNCTION 2 0 450 900 0 150 300 3 1 4 2 7 SCALE OF KEY PLAN AND SECTION 0 450 900 4 7 9 B. SECTION AT GUTTER 5 6 8 9 3 10 5 6 14 - 5 7 10 6 14 10 22 LATTICE BEAM BEHIND 50 X 150MM 12 13 9 11 15 20 14 41 STUDS 50 X 150 11 5 12 13 4 11 7 5 13 15 20 16 15 17 20 4 16 20 13 8 51 54 14 13 51 55 22 50 - C 14 18 13 19 55 D. SECTION AT SKYLIGHT 12 21 7 53 C 21 41 53 52 50 9 15 12 19 4 7 14 13 15 7 54 13 11 15 20 23 18 17 50 9 12 41 52 8 6 - 14 4 12 12 13 11 B 20 19 13 INTERIOR WOOD LINING 12MM 13 11 6 8 41 STUDS 50 X 150 F. PLAN AT CORNER JUNCTION D 23 DOUBLE TOP PLATE 50 X 150MM 5 12 A B 4 14 F. PLAN AT CORNER JUNCTION 6 D 21 STUD BEHIND 50 X 150MM 4 7 A DOUBLE BEAM TOP PLATE FOR50 GUTTER 35 X 125MM LATTICE BEHIND X 150MM NOGGINSTOP 40 PLATE X 125MM DOUBLE 50 X 150MM EXTERIOR PLYWOOD SHEATHING 18MM 19 13 ROCKWOOL INSULATION 200MM UNDERLAYMENT PLYWOOD SHEATHING 18MM WOODEN BATTENS 50 X 40MM OSB SHEATHING 12MM COUNTER WOOD BATTENS 50 X12MM 40MM INTERIOR LINING PURLINBARRIER 50 X 200MM VAPOR RAFTER BEHIND 50 X 200MM 14 VAPOR BARRIER 14 EXTERIOR PLYWOOD SHEATHING 18MM ALUMINUM SOLID WOODFLASING BLOCKING CONTINUOUS GUTTER 2MM THK STUD BEHIND METAL 50 X 150MM 20 SOLID WOOD BLOCKING 8 9 4 12 12 OSB SHEATHING 12MM 12 18 NOGGINS 40 125MM B. SECTION ATXGUTTER 4 15 11 ROCKWOOL INSULATION 200MM 11 17 DOUBLE TOP PLATE FOR GUTTER 35 X 125MM- - 8 10 15 ALUMINUM FLASING 16 CONTINUOUS METAL GUTTER 2MM THK 15 01 ALUMINUM CAP/COVER AT TOP JUNCTION 2MM THK 02 PERFORATED METAL SCREEN 2MM THK 03 GALVANIZED BRACKET EXTERIORAT HARDWOOD CLADDING 25mm A.04SECTION TOP JUNCTION 05 EPDM WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE 1.6MM THK 06 PLYWOOD SHEATHING 18MM 01 UNDERLAYMENT ALUMINUM CAP/COVER AT TOP JUNCTION 2MM THK 07 BATTENS 50SCREEN X 40MM2MM THK 02 WOODEN PERFORATED METAL 08 BATTENS 50 X 40MM 03 COUNTER GALVANIZED BRACKET 09 50HARDWOOD X 200MM CLADDING 25mm 04 PURLIN EXTERIOR 10 BEHIND 50 X 200MM 05 RAFTER EPDM WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE 1.6MM THK 50 50 INSTALLATION BATTEN 50 X 40MM 51 SKYLIGHT PROFILE 15 52 ALUMINUM GUTTER 14 53 WINDOW REBATE D. SECTION AT SKYLIGHT 54 INSULATION FRAME AS PROFILE 50 ALUMINUM INSTALLATION BATTEN 50 X 40MM 55 FRONT EDGE 51 SKYLIGHT PROFILE 11 15 52 ALUMINUM GUTTER SECTION OF THE MODULE A-A' 53 WINDOW REBATE 54 INSULATION FRAME AS PROFILE 7 24 19 12 21 24 7 4 11 19 21 11 - C- NOGGINS 50 X 150mm DOUBLE BOTTOM PLATE 50 X 150MM SKIRTING STRUCTURAL WOOD SUB-FLOOR 25MM SECTION AT BOTTOM JUNCTION SCREED 12MM HARDWOOD NOGGINS 50FLOORING X 150mm 25mm STR. WOODEN FLOOR JOIST 50150MM X 180MM DOUBLE BOTTOM PLATE 50 X FLOOR JOIST 50 X 150MM SKIRTING PRIMARY WOOD BEAM 200 X 400MM STRUCTURAL WOOD SUB-FLOOR 25MM GALVANIZED WOOD BEAM HANGER SCREED 12MM WOODEN BEAM 50 X 150MM HARDWOOD FLOORING 25mm WOODEN BATTENS 50 JOIST X 50MM STR. WOODEN FLOOR 50 X 180MM EXTERIOR PLYWOOD SHEATHING 25MM FLOOR JOIST 50 X 150MM DIAGONAL WOODBEAM BRACING X 200MM PRIMARY WOOD 200 125 X 400MM BOTTOM STEEL PLATE 18MM THK GALVANIZED WOOD BEAM HANGER STEEL PLATE TO BOTTOM PLATE WOODEN BEAM 50 X 150MM SECONDARY WOOD 50 GIRDER 150 X 350 MM WOODEN BATTENS X 50MM - EXTERIOR PLYWOOD SHEATHING 25MM DIAGONAL WOOD BRACING 125 X 200MM BOTTOM STEEL29 PLATE 18MM THK 27 28TO BOTTOM PLATE STEEL PLATE SECONDARY WOOD GIRDER 150 X 350 MM 26 25 32 30 31 25 SECTION OF THE MODULE A-A' 0 1200 F E F 45 4 7 19 49 47 11 4 - 19 11 47 48 - 34 29 A 36 39 36 12 41 14 13 12 42 DOOR LEAF 40MM THK 43 DOOR STOPPER TIMBER BEAD 20 X 40MM 44 DOOR JAMB - OVERALL THK OF STUDWORK 45 PLAN DOORAT TRIM E. DOOR 46 DOOR HINGE 47 50 X 40MM 150MMTHK STUD BEARING 42 No.3 DOORX LEAF 48 INSULATION PACKING 43 FIBROUS DOOR STOPPER TIMBER BEAD 20 X 40MM 49 44 SCREWS DOOR JAMB - OVERALL THK OF STUDWORK 38 A A' - 38 PLAN OF THE MODULE 37 35 INSIDE OUTSIDE 13 E. PLAN AT DOOR A' 37 40 35 14 7 INSIDE 11 39 41 42 42 40 33 OUTSIDE 46 34 33 30 31 600 E 11 26 27 28 32 55 ALUMINUM FRONT EDGE C. SECTION AT BOTTOM JUNCTION 11 4 0 200 400 PLAN OF THE MODULE 0 200 400 DOOR TRIM DOOR HINGE No.3 X 50 X 150MM STUD BEARING FIBROUS INSULATION PACKING SCREWS The modules were designed to be self sustainable. they could generate electricity and heat water with the help of Solar PV panels. Provision was provided to harvest rainwater. Plant e technology was used to generate additional electricity. The openings were optimised as per sun and wind direction in order to reduce energy gain and loss. Many other technological and material considerations were incorporated to make the energy requirement as low as possible. The structure was fabricated out of locally sourced wooden members and ply wood sheets. Adequate waterproofing and metal gutters were provided as per requirement. The members were designed to be modular, so that they could be pre-fabricated off-site and then assembled on site, in order to cause minimal disruptions, 9 frequency triangle Surname, Name Place and Date of Birth University Samanta, Pritha Kolkata, 03-Nov-1993 Politecnico di Milano, Italy