What's in the Plan?

From the beginning of the graduation course to joining an architectural firm or further in one's own practice, Plan is one of the most used and terms. A plan is basically a graphic representation, a drawing or a diagram to showcase how something will be arranged. Of course, there is one other definition of the word Plan - i.e. to create a proposal of how things are going to be done - like a holiday plan. But, in this particular post, I am going to stick to the first definition.  

If we talk about the conventional approach towards designing among colleges, we find that students are given a site for a semester and if the kids are taught well, they would begin with drafting a 'plan' keeping the site constraints in mind. One good way of charting out a plan is to work on GRID. That helps you to understand the 'scale' (of whatever you are proposing) in a better way. One of my batchmates was one step ahead. She used to work on plans with free hand and make the grid herself - with exact spacing and size - which I believe was a remarkable skill for a college student. On the other hand, some people, like me, preferred working with free hand only - without using the grid - which, I discovered a bit later, was the wrong technique. I would make the plans (free hand) and think that the product would be good. But as soon as I transferred those plans to 3D, I realized the huge difference between what was built and what I was imagining. Then I realized the power of grids. 

But working on the plan first altogether seems to be a less apt (if not wrong) approach now. During my last years in college, I was deeply under the influence of the works by Christopher Alexander, an Architect, a mathematician and a design theorist. I saw few of his lectures online and read extensively about his 'process' of designing. What I discovered was something which I was 'casually' told by my faculty years ago - prepare models! Yes. A whole 'new' approach towards designing. Where plans are made at a later stage and the structure is built first (on a smaller scale). In one of the videos where his architecture has been discussed, Alexander says, "Life can not be produced by drawings. Life can only be produced from a process." Here is the video where you can look into his career in depth -

Whatever be your design problem, preparing and working out on models right from the conceptual stage would change the way you see things. A 3m long wall is just a line in a plan but the same wall is also 3m high when u work with a model. A room might seem to be a 2D square in plan but it has a volume in a model. A model lets you 'experience' space well before it is even conceived.

No doubt, great architects work only on a plan. But they became great after working on models first. This practice, if followed religiously, will teach you the relationship between a line and space.  

Books for Urban Design

A quick guide for the Urban Design Studio. We were introduced to the subject of Urban Design by Razdan Sir when he started taking the ‘The theory of Town Planning’ subject for us and learning from someone like him is like diving into the ocean of information and knowledge. Though we stuck to the syllabus in that semester but Sir kept telling us about good books of Urban Design. But ‘how theory could help us design’, this was another quest, which was answered in eight and ninth semester when we actually started working on an Urban level studio. At this time, Aditya Sir added on few more good reads to the 'list'. Also, Urban Design is an all new language in design and thus to learn and understand a new language you must be aware of its basics, I feel.

Recently, one of you asked me for some inspiration for Urban Design and I realized that I should share the list of books (some I have read myself and some I know are good) with you guys so that you can dig into something right for the subject.

So, here we go, My favorite 10 UD books. (in random order)

1.  The Image of the City – by Kevin Lynch

2. A Pattern Language – by Christopher W. Alexander

3. The timeless Way of Building – by Christopher W. Alexander

4. Urban Design Handbook: Techniques and Working Methods – by Urban Design Associates

5. Good City Form  - by Kevin Lynch

6. Design With Nature – by Ian L. McHarg

7. The Death and Life of Great American Cities – by Jane Jacobs

8. The Theory of Good City Form – by Kevin Lynch

9. Urban Design (Series) – by Cliff Moughtin

10. The Architecture of Town and Cities -  by Paul D. Spreiregen

Well, these will help you for sure. Moreover, you can also look for the How Buildings Learn Series (videos by Stewart Brand) . Those who are interested to read in depth about architecture in ancient India can get a copy of Architecture of Manasara for themselves. There are nine volumes of the same but I have seen and read (partially) the Seventh Volume till now.

All the best. 

Case study or studying the case?

If we look back into the history,  the pattern of development of the cities, their architecture, we find one thing common all over the world. Many of you must have also noticed this before that each and every civilization/dynasty have been more or less 'inspired' by the previous one. In terms of architecture we see different 'ages' or 'periods' or 'styles' of architecture which have borrowed something from the earlier period. In my understanding of the subject, I find them as the earliest examples of a 'case study'. Why is case study important to design something?  In college, the things that we are supposed to learn are the 'basics of architecture and design'. I feel, the college is not supposed to and cannot teach you how to design a building/space. For this, you need to study a similar 'case'; a case which has been attempted and tried before. In some cases, it could be a masterpiece or on the other hand, a work which would let you understand 'what NOT to do'.

The Tree of Architecture
source : Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture

Lets take an example of an ongoing studio, the cultural center. Lets examine what you can learn from the college and what you can learn from a good case study - 

Then we come to the question, 'how many case studies are required for a particular design'? Answer would be, as far as I believe, in N-numbers. The second most important aspect of studying a 'case' is 'comparison'. Not all designs can be good, neither all can be bad! It all depends in how we perceive it. A particular space might give great experience to one person and could be horrible for another. It is very subjective and thus you need to look at as many examples as possible. Then, charting out the perimeters of your study based on which you will decide which space was good, better or bad. These perimeters are our day-to-day basis of rating a building. Once you are done with the rating you will have a vague idea of what a cultural center would be like. For this you might need to have a walk around the building. First, as a layman, keeping all your architectural instincts/knowledge aside. Just a simple walk. 

One of my presentation sheets for Thesis, showing the comparison of few of the important case studies.

Then at last is the experience of the user. Ask people who live in that environment daily. Prepare a questionnaire and dont ask dumb questions like "kaisa mehsoos kar rahein hain aap?" If you feel that the questionnaire is a tough job then follow the 'Reverse Q-chain' or the reverse question-chain.

The most exciting case studies of my college times was the Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur. I would put some light on it in another post as I dont want to overburden you with so much text in one post!

Happy studying the case!

For any queries, requests, suggestions or just to say Hi, mail me at ar.dishantbhatia@gmail.com 

Breaking the Habit

Its been seven years now that I was introduced to the studies of architecture. In the early years of the study we had no idea of what it is and how it is to be pursued. Although we were fortunate enough to have teachers who told us that "architecture is all about the feel and experience". But unfortunately, the juvenile brain couldn't get the qoute. It took me the next four years to understand what he actually meant.

Years have passed but the pattern, rather I should call it the 'process', of 'studying' architecture has not changed much. New batches keep coming in and they sort of get even more 'disconnected' from architecture. There could be several reasons, like the knowledge or process they inherit or the easy access of everything through internet. (Not getting into much details) I would like to put some light on the 'habits' of architectural students around.

Gund Hall (pic: http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/)

Imagine. A student of second year studio of architecture. The batch who played with structures in first year, learned the basics of graphics, got familiar with the tools of architecture and realized that they can 'build' habitable structures. An excited student who's being poked by his parents/friends back home to 'design' rooms, shops, clinics, etc. He's been told by his seniors to join some firm in vacations to get some taste of 'practicality'. This student is forced to 'believe' that he can start designing.

The base is set. He now knows the 'basics', he now thinks he can design, and awaits a 'site' to be given to him so that he can add another layer of misconception on the previous one and design whatever is given to him without understanding a 'space'.

As students, we restrict ourlselves to 2D drawings without relating them with the third dimension. Working in 3D doesnt always mean the usage of CAD softwares. A student must always experiment. The base years of architecture are supposed to play with 'actual' planes and surfaces. They need to understand first the idea of 'volumes' before jumping to the elements of construction.

Model Making studio, Understanding Massing, IInd Semester

Just as we used to play with lego blocks and other construction games in childhood, first and second year of studies are to make us re-invent the idea of space. Playing with models is one idea to play with structures and realize the importance of 'scale'. One must be 'fearless' in attempting models. Start defining 'experience' in terms of 3D volumes.When I say 'define' space, its not just the shape and size. A space is defined by its experience.  List down the experiences you have had till date and create 3D models for some of them.

Conceptual Model, Student's Plaza, Ist Semester

Designing a bungalow or country club is not just about walls, windows, deck etc. First, understand the 'wall', decipher the language of a 'window', try to study each and every material and the experience induced by their 'textures', make yourself familiar with common materials, study the local materials used for construction in and around college campus

Form space and order is one of the many 'good books' of architecture which we have but don't value!

Try out new things, work with models, break the conventional, experiment with everything, break the old habits and enjoy 'designing'.

Architecture is very much an intangible experience, with this blog, the aim to pass on this very experience and induce the feeling to 'think out of the box' and attempt what has not been done yet! 

Be bold and sketch it out!

We often meet architects with 'part-time' hobbies and passions, many of them actually change their 'line' and jump into other creative professions. Thats the beauty of B. Arch. Other 'design-oriented' bachelor courses have the same advantage and eventually they call their practice as the 'multi-disciplinary' one. One such very common passion is Photography. Its a very effective tool of viewing things from a 'different' perspective. I, too, had this passion in college days which brought me quite a lot of appreciations. IIID organizes a photography competition, 'Mumbai Moments', every year and I was fortunate to bag a special mention in one of its edition.

There was something even more fortunate in that award function. I got a chance to attend an open discussion of a panel comprised of eminent artists like Jatin Das and Subrato Bhowmick; including architects like Kamal Malik and Ravi Sarangan. The whole idea of the conversation was to discuss the 'quality' of architecture and art in present times. There, Jatin Sir mentioned that experience can only be created if the designer has the 'sense' of experience. Whether its art or architecture, its the sense of understanding 'experience' that matters the most. Pointing out to the architects present in the seminar he asked how many were carrying a 'sketchbook'. And only two hands were raised.

Surprised by this, he paused for a while and mentioned that he used to draw '300 sketches' per day in his college days! This bowled me over.

Why it is important to sketch? Why its important to document what you experience? Why in our course we are told to sketch out things again and again? Its the relationship that matters. The continuous dialogue between the 'subject' and you. The moment you sketch out a building in front of you, you will actually understand 'depth' of it. You will get the best possible knowledge about the materials, the construction techniques and other details which you would never notice otherwise. 

[This sketch (right) was done during one of the MD studio.The Krimachi Group of temples, date back to centuries and are supposed to be constructed in Vedic times. Once you start replicating a built form on paper you get into the details like the texture of the material and thus discover the importance, depth and effect of a material on built form. Sciography, sense of scale and perspective, etc. are the additional benefits of the exercise.]  

I started writing this article talking about photography and mentioned that I "had" that passion. I quit when I realized that I was actually missing out all the 'details' by clicking a shot in micro-seconds. Sketching lets you concentrate on a subject for hours and sometimes, days.

[The perspective view (below) was drawn as a part of design proposal for a School. Though incomplete, it still clearly provided the sense of scale and massing.]

  

So, start keeping a sketchbook and lets start sketching! Be it cartoons, rough sketches, conceptual sketches, flow diagrams, detailed drawings, anything. Be it in any medium. No matter how bad or good it is. Remember that it is meant for 'you'. There are two types o drawings in architecture : one that you make for the client and one that you make for your own self.

Start sketching for your own self! The early you start the better it is. I realized its importance quite late but now am enjoying it. I am still about to try my hands on 'proper' architectural sketches. Its never late to start anything!

So pick up your favorite medium and 'sketch it out'!

Architectural studies are considered to be the most laborious of all. Keep this in mind and whenever you feel you have got time for a good nap, instead try sketch out something! Believe me, his 'hard work' WILL pay off ! Happy Sketching!

[Have a doubt or want some help regarding the subject, mail me at dishantbhatia@yahoo.co.in]

Old is Gold!

History has always been considered as one of the most boring subject in any format of education. So much so that now it has become a stereotype to hate history. Thanks to our education system and the way we are taught we find it very un-interesting. No matter what is your subject, be it architecture or even English literature ( I have been through both) the historical aspect remain crucial.

Very often we feel that the 'logics' behind things are not explained well or there is no proper reasoning for the things we are taught. That is where the history comes in. Knowledge of history of any subject provides you with the answers for "why?". Why it happened, how it happened and why it is still done this/that way, all such queries find their answers in the 'background'.

History of architecture, thus doesn't only mean to study the ancient or medieval structures, but also to find answers to whys and hows. If a structure is built with some particular materials why it was done so and why we don't use it now? How the concept behind behind building certain 'types of buildings' came up? Why we needed cultural centers, community centers, libraries, etc.? 

These studies should be related with each and every design problem given and not only for 'thesis'. Research is very important part of designing. Once you have gone through the history of a particular topic you are done with 50% of designing. It clears out your concepts.

Just like history is important, it is very crucial to attain it from the right source. There are some Indian books on history of architecture which are enough to get through the exams. But BF (Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture) remains the only 'epic' which everyone must follow (for reference). As far as Indian Architecture is concerned, books like the Manasara Series are the ocean of knowledge. Keeping yourself 'away' from internet and online 'pedias' is another thing one should follow. Refer to different libraries, of state or other colleges. There are people who have already done research on almost everything, take some help from them. Visit the libraries of other architecture schools and dig into the dissertations and thesis projects they have. 

All this might seem a bit outdated in the times of internet, but the 'originality' of the source should always be kept in mind especially when one is looking for the answers for 'why' and 'how'. 

वो छोटी सी Balcony... वो बारिश का पानी..

ये FB भी ले लो…
ये Whatsapp भी लेलो..

भले छ्चीन लो मुझसे मेरी जवानी..
मगर मुझको लौटा दो Campus का सावन.. 

वो छोटी सी Balcony
वो बारिश का पानी..

Sirah की वो सारी दुकानें पुरानी
वो चाचू जिनसे कहते हम की “Maggi है खानी..!”

वो राजा की lemon-tea में चीनी का बहना…
वो बबलू के omlete में प्याज़ ना रहना..

भुलाए नहीं भूल सकता है कोई…
वो छोले ते कुलचे… वो चटनी में पानी…

कड़ी धूप में GATE 1 से निकलना
वो DPS के लिए .. लंबा शॉर्टकट पकड़ना..
वो पहाड़ी के पेढो तक पत्थर उच्छालना..

वो Hospital की design में नुक्स निकलना..
वो चिल्लड़ की दौलत पे party बनाना..
वो समोसे + टिक्की + राम लड्डो में दही मिलना…

वो थक- हार कर भी हमेशा पैदल ही जाना..
फिर दिन काट के.. छत पे रातें बितानी…

वो छोटी सी बाल्कनी
वो बारिश का पानी..

कभी काम करके .. ढंग से bore हो जाना..
वो Nagari, Anshul, Sahil के कमरो में जाना..
‘नहीं करना yaaaa’ ऐसे बहाने बनाना…
वो sheet-ein बनाकर फिर Cntrl+Z दबाना…

वो गर्मी में तपना.. वो सर्दी में जमना…
ना दुनिया का घम था.. ना Society का स्यापा..
बस Monsoon की बारिश में बहते ही जाना…

कोई मुझज्को लौटा दो Campus का सावन..
वो छोटी सी बाल्कनी …
वो बारिश का पानी..

By god.. बड़ी खूबसूरत थी वो ज़िंदगानी…

Convocation - '14

The most wonderful moment ...  With the most wonderful people.. 

Bye Bye 2013

The Year that Was.. 2013!!! 

Its been an awesome year full of friendships and adventures! 
Be it Thesis or Mumbai Trips, the BP-raising Thesis Jury or the NIASA Competition, the 'to-be-remembered-always-trip' of Ladakh or discussing just anything the whole day at Indian Coffee House... 

The Bus Driver

I am just done with yet another road journey to and fro Jammu-Delhi. The buses from Katra ply on hourly basis to various destinations of Northern India and being a ‘Holy town’, the amount of people floating from and in to the city is huge.  You can see people rushing for buses and crowd waiting for them at a ‘not-very-well-developed’ bus stand. Neither it is developed well nor does it has the potential to cater such a huge rush, still it is working and people do not regard it as a problem as they consider themselves ‘blessed’ if they are visiting the town. But being a ‘citizen’ of the place from last four years, a sense of ‘judging’ grew up in my mind as, now, I am a part of this holy town, too. Because it is a normal human tendency to start judging something which, you think, is yours!

Well, the focus of this post is not the problems of the town, will discuss that too someday. The problem a commuter faces during travelling on this route is something which is perennial and ‘can-not-change’ types and the tale is same for almost every time. What made ‘this’ journey different from others was an unfortunate incident that shook me a bit. Being a ‘frequent-highway-traveller’ since last four years, I have been through many such experiences which a ‘normal’ human being would describe as ‘shocking’, ‘deadly’, ‘how is it possible?’, etc. Travelling in any Roadway’s Bus service can actually get a hell out of you and it has happened with me ‘n’ number of times. Once the wheel axle broke down in Haryana (the experience of the driver saved all), once bus broke down in Punjab and the driver and conductor flew away (that was private service, of course), and it became the longest Katra-Delhi journey till date, of 25 hours, which is actually a 14 hour route.

The reason of my being in Delhi, this weekend, was some college stuff, which had to be finished by Monday. After all the mayhem in the city itself, like getting late for the bus, running behind an auto for half a mile and beating up the auto-wala for ‘mistakenly’ taking away the luggage, getting some ‘protein-rich’ daal moth at the end of a meal-less day, I boarded the 9:30 PM Haryana Roadways bus to Katra. It was fully loaded as always and I managed to get an aisle seat so that I could fix up my luggage in between, somewhere, as the carriers in this service are not meant for XL luggage, though they are sufficient for small hand bags and water bottles. The journey began on time, which is the best part of Government bus services. With a pet – Coca cola costing Rs. 35 (because it is being served to you in the bus) and one water bottle, I started off. For two hours it was all ok.

The driver halted somewhere in Haryana, which was not meant to be the stoppage. The conductor left the bus, and with my drowsy eyes, I could see another Roadways bus on side. Tired, I calculated that it would be something to do with the driver’s concern and kept sitting on my seat with the heavy luggage. As the bus didn’t move for 10 minutes, the ‘young’ passengers got restless and stepped down to investigate. A guy came back, telling his companion, “Bus ka accident hogaya hai!”, pointing towards the other side of the road. I turned back and could see a Haryana Bus standing, totally smashed from the front. The accident was recent as I could see the crowd and police mobile vans wandering around. The sight was harsh and sad. “What would have happened to the driver?” was the first thought that struck my mind, as the front part of the bus was, what we call, ‘finished’! After few minutes, our bus moved on, but the atmosphere was different. Most of the passengers didn’t bother about it in their sleep. Those who were awake, like me, and few others, turned silent. It turned, suddenly, very creepy, doleful, and uncomfortable. I was about to doze off but my mind started thinking about the incident continuously. Sitting at the back side of the bus, I was trying to read the conductor’s face, who was discussing the same topic with the driver, but could not find out.

After fifteen minutes of ride, the bus stopped again and both of them again went off. This time, I kept an eye on them so that I could be aware of what’s happening. They went into a building across the highway and I could barely see a blue board. The board reflected when a car crossed from its side and what I could read was “civil hospital”. I couldn’t read the name of the place and at that time, I didn’t bother about it. The concern about the victim (I didn’t want to use this word) intensified. This time, the stoppage was for a longer period, which woke up the other passengers also. A lady sitting behind me woke up and in a very annoying way said, “ye kyu rok raha hai baar baar”, to which added her husband, “pata nahin kya dikkat hai isko!” I turned back and told them the story behind it so that they could stop cursing the driver.

Within minutes, there were around 10 roadways buses, and the situation was turning more uncomfortable for me. The sight reminded me of a childhood memory. One evening, I was standing in the balcony at my place with my mom and we noticed a huge bunch of cows standing on the street. We didn’t know why they were there and the number kept on increasing followed by an MCD Animal Van. They were there to pick up a deceased cow, lying in the society park. The person managing the task was an old guy, he looked at us and said, “Inhe kaise pata chalta hai.. aaj tak samajh nahin aaya!”, pointing towards the cows. ‘They were there to attend the funeral’, that is what I could figure out. The incident touched me so much that I remember it by heart. I wonder what power, the nature has given to that ‘speech-less’ animal, how did they came to know about the incident, god knows. To the contrary, people sitting (now, they know the situation) started murmuring that the driver would have died. Some started discussing that he would have got his face smashed because of the impact on the bus and within minutes started some other topic and started laughing as nothing happened. Senseless. Not humane at all.

I was doing nothing. I could do nothing. I was just sitting and listening to the morons chatting continuously, looking towards the hospital, trying to get any update on it. Nothing came up and without knowing, I dozed off. When I woke up, it was 1:30 AM, and the bus was still standing! I started wondering what actually has happened and why they took so long. As soon as I could reach my senses I realised that it was some other place and we had stop for dinner. I searched for my conductor and asked him about the situation. What all he said was, “Hospital mein admit hai voh!”That was a relief for me. He is alive. He is in safe hands.

Rest of my journey went off in thinking about the life of a bus driver. He works for others; he is the one who takes everyone to their respective destinations; he risks his life every day, every moment; he gets a nominal pay and that too according to the rounds he complete; he is being cursed by ‘almost’ all the passengers, if he’s late; Still we never see him with respect. Some might even find this funny but have we ever thought about their lives. One of my friend discussed this with me once and said, “Thank god we are in (what people call) ‘respectable’ job. Life is so tough for those like the drivers. We are not at all capable of doing that daring job!” I used to wonder why my grandpa always says, “Thank you dada!” (Dada in Bengali means big brother) to the auto-wala after every ride. (I inherited that habit from him only) That taught me that a person is not valued  or respected by his profession, but by his worth and, now, after travelling so much, I have realised the worth of the person sitting on the ‘driving seat’.

The next time you are riding in a bus, auto-rickshaw, or any other means, please remember that if you can’t say Thank you Dada!, its fine, but please don’t curse him without any reason.

Dedicated to all the bus drivers who made it sure, that every time I reach my home to my mom-dad, safe and fine!