'Open Source' scheme

This is one of the 'Open Source' schemes- debated and edited by Jaya, Atul, Shibani and myself. It plays with the actual program on a site plan.

Key:

White- common facilities/ public incl. National resource centre, auditorium etc.

Yellow- residential

Red- Architecture (UG)

Black- Planning (UG)

Blue- PG Departments.

Green coloured arear are existing woodland.

Brown line is public shortcut (pedestrian/ cycle/ rickshaw) through site
Grey is vehicular and parking.
Green is pedestrian and cycle.

The three movement vectors overlap with each other in the western part of the site and start diverging near the centre of the site. There is a fourth movement vector in the form of an internal passage which connects all PG and UG studios in a single run at the third floor level. The character of the passage changes from corridor to verandah to bridge and so does its height and width. There are overlaps and intersections between the vectors thereby encouraging random/ chance interactions.

Jaya's vision

These were ideas that came from the experience of the site itself (from photographs) and an understanding of the new cityscape of this part of Vasant Kunj.

This is a special site.

It is part of the Delhi Ridge, which is the single most important feature of Delhi’s environmental heritage. It guards Delhi against the heat traveling from the west. It is also regarded as the most bird-enriched area in Delhi. Being part of the ancient Aravalli range of mountains, it links this part of the country all the way to the Rajasthan in the west. 

There is further interest on the site in the form of the canyon, where the natural rock formation has been ‘ravaged’ by human intervention, creating a depression.

Consider the perspective that this site is part of a prominent feature of this city. This may be built upon but the city must still have access to it and it must continue to replenish this part of the city.

There is a Vedic philosophy that lays down the different experiences that a student would benefit from; these have been considered these in determining the experiences that this site and programme could benefit from. The Vedic philosophy also states that if a student is not happy with his teacher, he/she may reject the teacher and search for a new one. I like this concept in view of the ‘open source’ philosophy!

The Street - For all stakeholders - Interaction/ Integration

Everyone uses the street to get about and therefore everyone takes ownership of it, it is a public area connecting other public activities (auditorium, library, café, etc.). It offers transparency, visibility and connectivity. On a practical level, it would offer a comfortable shaded area protected from the mid-day summer sun and is oriented so as to catch the summer winds.

The pedestrian entry to site to positioned so as...?

The street shall of course be enclosed by a built fabric, this will be:

The terraced houses - For some stakeholders students/faculty – Areas of individual occupation and creation

These are envisioned as the areas for the architectural and planning departments separated by the street.

The Orchard (canyon) – For All stakeholders – Revival, replenishment, an area for contemplation

This shall be a sunken garden, a lawn of tree-tops. Consider the unique pleasure this feature offers. It is a rare experience to be looking down upon lush green tree tops and the life that inhabits it – birds and possibly butterflies. A visual pivot for the site, for all.

In short, it will be a complete ecosystem

The canyon shall be bridged over with a lightweight bouncy structure to heighten the experience, a connection with the street and public areas to one bank and the private residential area on the other bank.

The Shared Areas – For most stakeholders – Culmination, Presentation, Performance.

The auditorium, building centre, café, library, workshops.

Workshops/ building centre envisioned at the south end overlooking the ‘ghats’ of the canyon.

AS Doodle 1

hi guys.

my first doodle.

main points as follows.

public through roads (red lines) focussed on main academic building. 

Studio/departments etc in 4 storey structures around south end of chasm. 

south end of chasm forms interaction hub and used as OAT and general splill out area. 

North end upto 254m conserved. 

space for future expansion indicated. (needs much more thought)

Zone for residential and parking marked out. (again needs more thought)

Comments please.

Attached are 4 options for movement routes in the site. The idea in all of them is to have a loop of circulation around the crater, with the academic functions distributed around it. This makes the crater, particularly the southern part of the crater with scrub, the centre of the academic part of the campus. This would become the integration core and be the 'random encounter' zone discussed in my previous post.

All the layouts keep this basic ring structure and experiment with breaking up the site into different blocks that can be used for other uses.
The last image connects the main integrator back to Vasant Kunj, past DPS. This radically alters the integration characteristic. In terms of an inclusive design this would be the best in terms of mixing all user groups along this spine. However, I am aware that there is a call to maintain some degree of separation between inhabitants and outsiders (particularly locals) and this would suggest we need to focus on the other systems.


Any thoughts?

Open Sourced design
To design an institution, we need to understand the paradigm within which the institution works. In the case of SPA, we can understand the paradigm within which it currently works. A paradigm that expresses itself spatially as an enclosed, gated set of campuses; a set of departments separated and located so that only the ‘insider’ has access; tremendous bureaucracy; and ultimately an introverted and insular organisation.Alternatively, the vision of a new SPA could incorporate the latest in academic thought and develop in one of many different ways. However, the paradigmatic manifestation of the new SPA is not something to be prescribed and engineered into an architectural design. Nor is it something stationary and fixed. We feel it is something flexible, something defined by the occupiers of the institution, something which is generated, maintained, developed and owned by all.In this context, we propose the ‘Open Sourced’ SPA. The fundamental idea behind ‘open ‘sourced’ is adaptability. We feel the new campus should be adaptable: physically, functionally, socially and environmentally. Physically it should adapt to future growth, expressed as a system that can grow with the institution. Functionally, it should adapt by minimising boundaries and maximising flexibility. Social adaptability would include generating co-presence and co-awareness in public spaces, allowing all members of the institution the chance to be aware of all others, maximising the possibility of new, useful and creative interactions. Finally, environmentally the design should adapt to its surroundings, including passive heating, cooling and ventilation systems. This ties into the theory of evolution in so far as the theory establishes that random (informal) processes generate new forms. Those forms that are successfully adapted to the environment survive to procreate and establish themselves. The non-useful forms do not survive. In this context social systems and society itself is an adaptation that creates greater security for progeny and thus allows the human race to develop successfully. Even within social systems, the same rule applies. Public space is the realm in which, through co-presence and co-awareness, new random interaction patterns develop. Those that are beneficial are reproduced through time and space and eventually become institutionalised. The scheme proposes to maximise the chance of random interactions between all stakeholders of SPA, allowing new relations and interactions to develop. Those that are beneficial and relevant to the ethos of the institution will survive and replicate, generating a responsive and adaptive environment.
Research into creative institutions like laboratories highlights the role of random, chance interactions as contributing to the greater awareness and interaction between co-workers of different disciplines, and greater usefulness of these interactions, resulting in a greater degree of productivity and creativity. This is described spatially as a high degree of correlation between local movement routes and global movement routes.
The images attached describe several characteristics of delhi.The first, global integration, describes the integration core of the city. Not surprisingly, this is not the geometric centre of the city but the administrative centre.
The second, integration radius 10 (middle scale) highlights the polycentric city, with focus on mall road on north delhi, CP, karol bagh, parts of the ring road to the south, and gurgaon.
The third, local integration radius 3, goes even further, highlighting local centres like old delhi, mall road, karol bagh, janpath, sarojini nagar, INA market, lajpat nagar, Grandlays, mehrauli badarpur road, sadar bazaar, dwarka, and NH8 in gurgaon.
The fourth, global choice map, highlights the main circulation routes and accurately picks out the ring road, patel road, shanti path, mathura road, mehrauli badarpur road and the NH8.
The fifth, step depth radius 20, highlights the catchment area of the site upto 20 changes of direction (radius=20 topological steps). This clearly demonstrates that the site is far easier accessed from delhi than from gurgaon, and at 20 steps includes the existing SPA campus within its range.

The next 3 are just some samples of different links within the site and the integration/segregation they generate. The basic idea is that integrated spaces (red) are naturally high movement spaces and if free movement is allowed will generally have not only high movement but also a greater range of users- ie old, young, male, female, HIG, MIG, LIG, etc. These lines would attract high movement land uses like retail and generally form the social hub of the system. Low integration (blue) or segregated spaces tend to have less natural movement and generally support less movement intensive uses like residential. To me we are looking at two systems. One for the local community who have limited access, but ideally should occupy a high-ish inetegrator. This would generally encourage interactions/awareness between inhabitants/visitors.The second system is for the inhabitants (includes faculty, students, admin, and authorised visitors). This system should be as shallow as possible with all inhabitants focussed around a central series of spaces, again maximising the chances of informal/chance meetings between the inhabitants. The two systems could overlap to an extent.
Doodles/ sketch scheme to follow tomorrow/Wednesday.

Resolution of Canyon/ Lake impasse

After last weekend's discussion. I am happy to confirm a satisfactory resolution to the canyon/ lake impasse.

(ref plan and section)

The solution includes capping the water level around the + 254 mark so that the water body is now at the bottom of the canyon for most of the year and there is a continuous path all around it. A lot 0f the trees inside the canyon can now be retained and because of the descent volume (approx 7,ooo cu mts.) it will still do all the things that we had envisioned.

The vision is that the canyon would be a complete ecosystem with a living water body ie. which is self cleaning, which swells and shrinks within managable limits.

The canyon would be seen an invaluable resource for the landscape and environment planning students.

In spirit of the open source there would be a degree of flexibility so nature/ institution/ community are allowed to edit the size/ shape volume.

The southern slope of the canyon could be in the form of steps/ ghats which would gradually descend into the canyon.

More later but feel free to approprite the intervention in your doodles...

open source SPA

Pond or lake or inbetween?

Pond or lake or inbetween?

Programmed or non-programmed or in-between?

Edited by nature or edited by Deputy-Registrar or inbetween?

OPEN SOURCE URBANISM - beware of misuse

folks i've just done a quick internet trawl of our new catchphrase. the first 10 google hits will show you that lots of people have used the phrase. but it means completely different things to almost everyone. there's a sense of using the word 'open source' to broadly denote technology and computers. in other cases it has just been used to mean 'open'. open-source has a much more specific meaning than that, and we need to giard against the evil flippant references that havebeen made to it on the internet. (ironically, the definition of open source has gone open source, and in this case, not contributed anything to the growing pool of knowledge).

my understanding of 'open-source' comes from my MSc dissertation research, which was to do with co-producing public space. i tried to make an analogy with open source softyware. A definition of open source software (source Eric Raymond, 'The cathedral and the Bazaar'): "...the process of systematically harnessing open development and decentralized peer review to lower costs and improve software quality. Open-source software is not a new idea (its traditions go back to the beginnings of the Internet thirty years ago) but only recently have technical and market forces converged to draw it out of a niche role. "

the idea of 'harnessing open development' and 'decentralised peer review' will be quite relevant to our project of designing a vision for an institution.

the other interesting thing is that open source was started by computer hackers. people who bend the rules of software coding copyright in order to create new things. so in a way, open source means 'hacking made legal'. or hacking made productive. the subversive hacker streak is often compared in public space studies to graffiti artists and skateboarders. then, a question for us all is - how can otherwise subversive activities like crossing a lawn through the grass rather than a path be made to add to the qualitites of a place?

diagrams from saturday

This diagram explores relationships between various programme elements by mapping them across the distinct groups of key stakeholders we are catering to (pink lines)

This diagram is an interpretation of open source at programme linkages level. Continuous double lines show linkages that we recommend / fix (there will be very few of these, but they are neccessary as the strong backbone that our system will be built on). dotted lines are possible linkages, which our system will allow to be determined by users / management / future stakeholders etc.

the diagram works at as many levels as you want. you can think of the blobs as programme elements; e.g. we fix the relationship between audi, studio, cafeteria, but leave links to library, reception, hostel, workshop etc etc dotted. Or, you can think of the blobs as elements of context; we fix the relationship between the institution, the media and the natural environment, but leave links to transport systems, the secondary school system (entrance exam), and neighbouring community open to interpretation and change.

this is all quite abstract and metaphorical, in spite of my clever examples, so please COMMENT and say what you think or what you don't think.

weekend meetings update

Jaya, Shibani, Sharat and Gaurav met on Sat 28th March

• Jaya has done an alternative site planning scheme based on a vedic progression of a student's life. The canyon is forested, and a site for 'comtemplation and rejuvenation'.
• Shibani put forward her alternative scheme of building into half the canyon
• Shibani put forward a 'grid' of user experience vs programme, to help with site planning. scan coming up as next post.
• Gaurav put forward his idea of Open Source Urbanism as the overarching Big Idea.

Key debates

We clarified a confusion around the exisiting vegetation - the stuff to be retained is the 'woodland', grey on the vegetation map, not the 'kikar forest', green on the vegetation map. according to brief, the kikar is to be kept where possible, but also thinned out for safety purposes.

lake / no lake was debated again.

pros of collecting all runoff in canyon:

• water recharging
• novel waterside experience
• natural ecosystem

cons:

• filling the canyon is not the path of least intervention
• may be seen as 'luxury' in delhi's water parched society
• the exisiting canyon has a sense of looking out over the tops of trees, which would probably be lost

possible compromise:

• Shibani suggested a usable (not neccessarily potable) water dispensary as part of the on site health centre, for the infrastructure deprived villagers in the viccinity. token system etc. if there's enough water for this to work, as well as fill up the canyon in the rainy season, shibani will withdraw her grave concerns about canyon as water-body idea.
• Further ideation on the canyon ecosystem needs specialist input from a landscape person. Madhur? Thapar? we need to set up a meeting with one of them. also possible, Uttiyo contact a landscaper (e.g. Krishna) in Delhi. what we hope to achieve from this is a much clearer idea of the best possible intervention into the canyon ecosystem to give it a new life injection. theoretically, this is possible with and without filling up the canyon with water.

Open Source

All agree that the idea has huge potential, though needs very careful application to an urban design scheme. All agree that the idea goes beyong the design itself, into the management and running of the future SPA. The campus can act a demonstration of the principles in several ways - e.g. transparency of built form, specific links between uses, degree of choice and freedom for users to form programme links, etc.

the Big Idea 'Open Source' works at 2 levels - it is a strong metaphor that ties all of various intents together (transparency, sustainability, social inclusion, flexibility, etc etc). it can also work at the design level, through consulting stakeholders at appropriate levels and times in the design and construction proccess; also through making a percentage of very flexible use spaces (also known as semi-aware spaces).

Amit, Shibani, Sharat and Gaurav met on Sun 29th March.

• Amit has done axial maps at 3 levels. a map of 20 steps from new spa campus is most relevant. local maps showing levels of integration and choice can also be used. space syntax analysis can also be done on the site plan we'll come up with, to demonstrate how we are using variable movement flows in and around site to our advantage, by programming spaces accordingly.
• Amit's site visit showed that the site will actually be accessed from the south west corner rather than the north east. exit can be taken from north west. no vehicular entry into pylon strip, but Amit recommends that we propose pedestrian links into the (gated) neighbourhood south of site.

ACTIONS

1. everyone is to come up with a few site planning options, and upload them to the blog as jpeg images + text (if you want), by wednesday 8 pm.
2. everyone to individually research and brainstorm on the idea of 'Open Source Urbanism', and write text (even phrases or bullet points welcome) on what they think this can mean for our project.
3. Whole team Skype conference on wednesday 1st April at 8 pm to review progress, and make big decisions for next weekend's work.

As you can see, this was typed in a big rush. please COMMENT if you disagree with, or don't understand some of these notes.

Capital’s Water Crisis

Source: Govt of India, Press Information Bureau

http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr2000/fmay2000/f250520001.html

Capital’s Water Crisis

India’s capital, New Delhi, has also been experiencing a severe water crisis for the last decade or so. The city originally located between the Ridge and the river Yamuna, has now sprawled in all directions, without taking into account its hydrological and hydro-geological aspects . The capital’s current water requirement is 900 MCD (million gallons daily) and the projected demand in 2001 is 1000 MCD. The proposed solution to meet this growing demand-supply gap is the construction of dams in the high Himalayas. In the absence of these dams the demand-supply gap has been met by unregulated and incredulously unsustainable exploitation of the groundwater reserves, thereby leading to an alarming decline in the ground water table. The government of NCT Delhi entrusted INTACH ( The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), an NGO, with the task of preparing a ‘Blueprint for Water Augmentation’ in Delhi. The INTACH report has stressed on advanced techniques of water harvesting for increasing Delhi’s water supply.

According to the INTACH study, rainwater runoff and flood discharges constitute a major resource to be conserved. The usage of monsoon waters during the rainy season needs to be dispersed over the year. Satellite imagery, field survey, historical data, old Survey of India maps as well as hydro-geological mapping carried out by the Central Ground Water Board(CGWB) were used to locate several sites for water harvesting in Delhi. It has been proposed to harvest the waters through storage and recharge of storm water channels, off-channel storage for floodwaters, storage in lakes and depressions, flood reservoirs, quarries, historical water bodies, checkdams, paleo-channels, village ponds , rooftop water harvesting and ecoparks. It is estimated that water harvesting and recycling within Delhi would totally eliminate the demand-supply gap by the year 2021. The time has now come to inspire people to take their own initiative for sustainable development which can control poverty caused by droughts and desertification. The Government in conjunction with the NGOs must make all-round efforts to revive the traditional water harvesting systems with people’s participation. As the Prime Minister rightly pointed out ‘If we continue to treat water as a free or cheap resource that can be wasted, not even the best policies and technologies can help’.

Mood image in support of 'Save Lake Idea' society

Mood image in support of 'Save Lake Idea' society

Image for 'One of the initial concepts...'

Image for 'One of the initial concepts which generated the lake as one of the main concepts'

One of the original concepts which generated the lake idea.

One of the original concepts which generated the lake idea.

(I am unable to upload it on the Blog so please ref to the text as under and the attached diagram)

The new SPA campus is on the edge of one of the last remnants of the South Central ridge and on the fringe of rapid urbanization. Undoubtly the two main site forces are man and nature. As an integrated campus for a School of the built Environment we see this is an opportunity to recognize the independence of both the natural and the manmade and thereby link the genius loci of the site with the nature and program of the institution.

One of the key interventions is converting the big artificial crater in the site into a 'living lake'. A lake which then mediates between the Ridge and the city and is a symbolic response to the interaction between man and nature.

The lake is also seen as a neighborhood level recreation space and one of the key devices to create a self-sustaining campus (a hub for micro-generation, passive ecological design and renewable energy technologies). The banks of the lake can have a dual character- wet land, grass, nesting grounds etc. to the west and ghats/ promenade/ tea stalls to the east with the SPA buildings as backdrop.

Following is an explanation of the diagram and a description of the zoning:

Main objectives include
a) to conserve, nurture and exemplify the healing characteristics of the ridge
b) restrict sprawl and propagate a 'dense city model'- one this is active, integrated and stimulating.

Medium/ High density fabric to the east and south of the lake which connect the site to the city.

Think 80% coverage. Think large black blob with large and small green courts and strips embedded into it.



To the west a huge chunk of the site can be retained as an extension of the ridge and then littered with small pavilions. Think 5% coverage. Think different shades of green with small black rectangles linked by paths. Think informal patterns; think alternative construction.

Man and nature- alternative option to organise functions on site

Pls read my related e-mail first:

Two main forces on site- man and nature- man and nature

1) superimpose a grid and divide site into manageable strips
2) analyse and negotiate the the terms between the forces in each strip
3) bging in other layers of complexity like program/ wind direction etc.
4) optimise dimensions/ adjancies/ connections
5) connect/ redirect/ finalise

Image to support- alternative option 3: lake ka new funda by wendigo (March 25, 2009)

photo of a model which building over/ into a canyon like space

New SPA Campus as Open Source Urbanism

(my doodle with words)


Manifesto/ Preamble/ Big idea?

New SPA Campus as Open Source Urbanism

There are many definitions of Open Source and maybe we need to create our own for this competition but the idea is to embrace the spirit of the open/ free/ democratic/ collaborative/ 21st century/ sustainable/ self-replicating/ jugardu and use it as a manifesto/ model to create a new Open Source Urbanism for Delhi (India’s political capital- here I am thinking about Right to Information and recent controversies).

Let Open Source be how this New Campus is created. Let it be the germ that could one day then creep into the very heart of the SPA, into how education is delivered in SPA, how it is managed and run. Let Open Source be the Preamble that we use to create the masterplan/ constitution of the New Campus and to test our scheme. Let Open Source transform SPA into the ‘beacon of education’ in the built environment that it promises to be.


The wiki definition of open source (the wiki itself is in the spirit of Open Source):

"Open source is an approach to design, development, and distribution offering practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge). Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.

The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development.[1] The principles and practices are commonly applied to the peer production development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration. The result of this peer-based collaboration is usually released as open-source software, however open source methods are increasingly being applied in other fields of endeavor, such as Biotechnology."


If this is an ‘ideas only competition’ and will be delivered by a team already in place (MaKi A / CPWD) then maybe all we need to do is create a preamble/ structure/ ideas that these guys in consultation with the users/ public (and I have faith in M and some other guys) can then appropriate, add and develop during the course of design. The campus can then be habitated and transformed by generations of students/ faculty during the life of the campus. The codes/ information/ script/ architecture/ rules would be available in the public domain forever to ALL.


If we decide to take this post seriously then probably what we need to do probably is:

a) work out the Preamble- our definition of Open Source
b) articulate our main aims/ objectives (words)
c) develop a zoning/ masterplan from all the options we have (diagram)
d) wherever there is a conflict between diagram and words we test it against the Preamble.


Sentiaaps-

[I think the main reason SPA failed to deliver its promise because it was run by a restrictive/ old boys club with no one to question them. The mode of operation was ‘absolute control by restricting information flow’. Information was secretive; even attendance lists were considered as classified information. We were never aware of our rights. We had no clue about budgets and about fuses. The lecturer read out his obsolete notes and the crit room was the lion’s den. There was little we could do to question things except go on the quinquennial strike And by the time we got enlightened it was time to pass out.......]



(apologies, once again, I am pathetic with words…)

The Problem

Perhaps the reason that the big idea hasn't visited anyone in their sleep yet is that we haven't defined the 'problem' well enough.

the problem is - we need to raise the profile of SPA in it's apparent decline, and assure the world (and its funders) that SPA has a bright future. We need to do this in a site that is physically cut off from any standard flow of people and information in the main city. We need to do this in a site that is so beautiful that our natural and good instinct is to go low key and preserve things. We also need to provide students and faculty with a wonderful experience in the time they spend here, so that we are actually ensuring that bright future of our vision.

the biggest problem then seems to be - how to provide a peaceful, gainful built env education on this site, while also making SPA a go-to place for the rest of the city?

the big idea should answer this.

Big Idea?

Come on guys (including myself)- we need to come up with some big ideas not just pretty sketches!

"Either a spoon is an idea,
a new rappot between weight and function in relation to the hand,
or any attempt to redesign it are in vain"

-Carlo Scarpa

Let's all think harder!

Strategic view

Dear all,

This blog seems to be slowly kicking in, and the doodles and ideas are coming in. 

We now need to quickly increase the rate of fire, and after that, quickly take a broad stock of all that has come in so far.

Th commenting and reacting is gradually creeping in on to the blog itself, but to maintian enthusiasm, we would have to do a real-time meeting and crit each other the old fashioned way.

I am travelling this weekend, but would be available on phone and internet. Let us set up a general physical meeting by all UK-ites, and then maaybe have a connect.

It would be great to discuss the ideas that have come in so far, and then either continue exploring for a while more, or start finding a few options to chase in a little more detail.

Bring 'em on!

PS: My doodles and ideas will be fewest and farthest between- me being the laziest and least mentally endowed among the lot of us :-)

movement diagram for our old scheme

Microgeneration

a thought on how any digging we initiate on the ground can be used to make a knoll facing the predominant wind direction with a wind turbine array at the top of the knoll. a smooth slope with the wind turbine at the top aids in increasing wind speed...

building functions (read earth sheltered labs./lecture halls/ workshops with sun pipes/skylights can then be integrated under this knoll...my intention was when you read the knoll from across the water the green of the knoll leads onto the green of the remaining site and of the surrounding environs like the biodiversity park...

This feature could also be made to work for the public realm (educating people about renewable energy through signs/ demonstrations etc) with solar panels on the south slopes of the knoll or tied in with the building centre/ informal sector activities.

And i suppose this one started as a daigram...

recaps and backlogs

some doodles in...Im giving up on the idea of water being the core concept yet...this doodle started at some scale and orientation...and then I suppose I lost track of them. pl read as diagram.

alternative option 3: lake ka new funda

my favourite one since yesterday. keeps existing forest. builds into half the 'canyon', creating fundoo varying height space spilling out into the other half of the canyon - see spot section below. seasonal bit of lake stays as natural, along with vegetation etc.
functions split roughly into Outreach (building centre, rentable display space, auditorium , bookshop? cafe ?etc); Academic (including studios, project rooms and departmental enclosures - going to explore these configurations next); and Resi + campus centre (health centre, gym, bookshop, cafe, etc). Outreach includes workshoppy spaces and their outdoor elements.
angles on plan are my guesses at favourable climatic orientations, and obviously everything is subject to resolution.


possible nature of covered spill-out in canyon.

comments and questions please!
(as you can probably tell, coloring was my favourite part of B.Arch).

legends, etc.

to use maps below, please use the soft copy of the brief we circulated before. quite typically, SPA didn't provide legends in the CD.

sorry about all the emails you must be getting - you can change settings on your blogger dashboard.

maps from brief CD - 4

monsoon winds


summer wind


winter wind

maps from brief CD-3

humidity


hydrology

maps from brief CD - 2

topography


micro-climate

maps from brief CD - 1

visual enclosures


vegetation

alternative option 2

i think this one has potential. it preserves the only bit of forest actually on site. it presents 3 different outward looking faces - building centre, academic and resi-type-things. all inward faces benefit from the 'forest'.
in the plan, the purple blob is built, the pretty green blob is the 'forest', while the bubbles are possible open spaces of different characters. resolving the built blob will of course enclose / differentiate some of the open spaces. at both corners, a little patch of land has been left open to public - a sympathetic way to embrace citizens.

(there better be 5 comments on this post by wednesday evening.)

google map site analysis

link

alternative scheme: code name 'Why Not'

thought i'd see what happens if we build bang in the middle of site. purples are built, greens are greens (some natural and existing), browns are paths (some existing). mainly an attempt to lower the bar, so that everyone feels they can post away shamelessly.

the comment tab is under the post!

Idea for resolving PG programme in the brief

Terrace block/ Container city/ Train

Idea is to arrange all the PG departments in a row like individual houses in a terrace housing or bogies in a train, thereby giving imagibility to each department but also combinig to give a united form.

Each PG Dept has a Centre eg. Dept. of Regional Planning operates the Centre for Rural Studies. These centres are the external face of the department. All the centres could be arranged on the ground floor like retail units along a street. Here you shop/ acquire the wisdom/ knowledge/ information that the dept has to offer. Studios on top floor with the idea that in a single continuous run you can visit all department studios.

Mix of departments= Cross polination of ideas.

Urban Band-Aid

Not the 'big idea' but some ideas for strip of land around site

All doodles come here

dear all,

This can work as a good central point of operational control for now

cheers

RedBaron

Intelligence Report of the Mechanics and Dynamics of the SPA UD Competition

Operation Pink Oleander.

Intel derived by spy-master Richtofen from:

Proprietary Architexturez Centrifuge Technology and agents on the ground.

Classification: Medium Secret

Recepients: Shibani Bose, Gaurav Sharma, jaya garella, Sharat Kaicker, Atul Lakra

Status: Eyes Only

 

Intel from – Architexturez Centrifuge [This technology is soon going to change the way information is harvested and analysed]

 

SPA has been derecognized from the CoA, the AICTE and the UGC as of march 2007. The first steps towards it began in 2004, after multiple financial defaults and in-action by the university. The university constantly cited lack of funds about basic maintenance, etc.

The authority [ministry, UGC, etc] contended that huge amounts of funds were being pumped into the college.

There was a subsequent informal inspection of the premises only [not the books] It was observed by certain prominent members of the committee inspecting that if the school replaced the fuses it used, and maintained building services better, they would save enough in electricity bills to make up most of the maintenance budgetary deficits they were screaming of. This observation was made walking about the buildings, with calculations made on the back of a napkin.

This opened up a pandora’s box and a subsequent series of investigations.

The wolves closed in

Contention 1: SPA was created with the same logic as the IIT’s, IIM’s. NIFT’s, NID’s etc. It was meant to self-replicate and self-sustain over a period of time, and become a beacon of knowledge and expertise about the built environment

Contention 2: so far 2200 crores have been pumped into SPA by the state in equivalence value. The usual logic is that a government institution gives more than that back to the state in terms of professionals and expertise and therefore taxes and octroi value. SPA has failed in this count

Contention 3: over the last 10 years, SPA has become rudderless, ungoverned and unmaintained, spiralling down in stature. Last year, for 60 odd seats, 75 forms were sold

Contention 4: in unquantifiable stature, SPA does not count anywhere in the worldwide community of prominent architectural institutions

The solutions proposed were:

1.       Pull the plug on SPA, disband it  and reboot the university move

2.       Let SPA be. Starve the loser, feed the winners and make other epicentres of scalable learning

To add the final dagger-thrust the land at vasant kunj was mentioned – which SPA had been doing nothing about.

Do something about it – OR GIVE IT BACK!!! They screamed.

The SPA UD competition was born

 

Intel from – Agents on the ground – inside and outside SPA

1.       This is an Ideas competition only

2.       Likelihood of it being built next to nothing – chances ~5%

3.       Urban Intent-only competition – not necessarily ‘architectural’ design competition

4.       If at all it gets ‘implemented’, it will be done so by a special ‘projects’ cell created in the institution under CPWD-like guidelines

5.       The jury is ‘rigged’. MKA operating with a shadow-front is tipped to get the winning entry

6.       MM is slated to lead the special projects cell if at all this project gets implemented

 

NOW DESTROY! NOW DESTROY! NOW DESTROY!