Design is One by Vignelli

As an architect, in the starting of my professional career, I used to wonder about the limits of designing. What an architect should be able to design and what he must (or can) not?

One day, the principal of my office asked me to describe 'Design' in not more that five sentences. That day I realized that more than architecture, its design that matters! Designing is architecture. Architecture is designing. Its been around half a decade and I have tried my hand on architecture, graphic designing, cooking, marketing and.. I see design everywhere. In a knife to a billboard.. in a chair to a movie or a song. I see it everywhere and thus, now I have started studying everything to understand design in order to complete my quest.

What has inspired me the most till date is Massimo Vignelli's quote where he says that if you can design one thing, you can design everything! Vignelli, himself being an architect by degree, is celebrated as a graphic designer, a product designer and what not. The more I read or watch about him and his wife, the more I get inspired to try out new things. Lately, as I started working on some graphic design projects, Vignelli's idea of Design is One started making more and more sense to me.

He and his wife, work and design together, and have penned a wonderful guide for people out there in the field of Graphic design - THE VIGNELLI CANON - a guide or a handbook, this is a must for all those who are studying or practicing in the field of graphics. The best part it is available for all and can be downloaded here.

As the couple themselves have been working on this philosophy for long, I would and cannot describe it anyway. Having said that, what I extract from it is the motivation and confidence of experimenting in design. 'Design' is a process and it is just that the 'thing' you are going to design is what makes the whole difference. The process remains same, every time.

Here is the sneak peek to the documentary Design is One

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.  

Architectural Photography

Clean Lines Open spaces is a remarkable documentary on the mid-century modern architecture. Apart from narrating the details of Modern architecture the most striking feature of the movie was the showcasing of buildings with such remarkable precision and perfection. Of course, if you are shooting a documentary, having a focus on details would be the first criteria in mind so as to connect with the viewers. But the way they have shot it, is appreciable, as they have managed to connect wonderfully. The documentary is such, that I would like to write a whole new post to describe it and thus, I am leaving it here as it is. 

But, the documentary reminded me of Helene Binet. In 2013, in 361 Degree Conference (happens every year organized by IA&B) as the speaker list was too long in the three-day event, I was clueless of what she does and what she was supposed to speak on. An Architectural photographer, I eventually discovered about her as she spoke. Her portfolio majorly concentrated on Zaha Hadid and thus she spoke about the beauty of Zaha's building structures.

As a student, it was an amazing experience to witness how different people have different perceptions towards the architectural structure. For Helene, it was the beauty of those building curves that mattered the most, leaving aside the function of the same. (That reminds me of an article of critical appreciation in architecture - it dealt with the perceptions you could keep in mind while studying a building. But will discuss it some other time.)

As an enthusiast photographer myself, I always felt that an image/photo must convey the story of the subject it focuses on. I always try to, somehow, capture the 'spatial' qualities of a building in a 2D photograph, which is as impossible as it sounds. But in order to do that, I always struggled with the dilemma of including or excluding people while shooting architecture. With this confusion in mind, while listening to her lecture, I was wondering if she could give her insights on such an issue. Somewhat, she did. She mentioned that the purpose of capturing a particular frame actually defines a photograph. She mentioned about different themes on which here images are based, Light & Shade, Space, Materiality, Texture, Function, etc. it could be anything that you want to capture in a photograph. This, to some extent, was the answer to my quest. If you want to showcase the function of a particular building, take your shots including people. On the other hand, if you want to showcase the beauty and play of architecture, exclude everything.

This lecture, Composing Space, has the same Title as of the one I attended. This particular one held at Harvard GSD and would provide you with the in depth details of her works and elements of architectural photography as well. As an Architect, I have always felt that the 'scope' of this field is boundless and thus, for those who have a knack for capturing building edges, clean spaces, amazing structures, this might be an interesting catch!

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]