EOY2013

SSAA 29
Projects 2012-2013
Documentation studio
An integral part of the architecture curriculum is the training of the students in documentation of historical landscapes.
This is seen as a way to inculcate the habits and skills of observation, measurement, documentation and analysis through
various formal and socio-cultural theoretical matrices. Students engage with local contexts through interviews of residents,
interaction with local government officials and inputs from experts and scholars. The documentation studio is also a life
changing exposure to non-urban contexts and lifestyles and challenges that students living in cities are rarely exposed to,
even when they venture out as tourists. The studio contributes to the building up of an archive of studies that the school
taps into regularly for providing the basis for further research and design intervention. A study tour is conducted every year
to expose the students to such unfamiliar urban and rural contexts so that they can expand their imaginations and get
familiarized with the realities of India.
BIKANER, RAJASTHAN
The objectives of the first year measured drawing exercise which is presently placed at the beginning of the second
semester are multi-fold. It should ideally span across the three main studios, i.e. Architectural Design, Drawing and
Communication as well as Building Construction with each studio focusing on the various aspects of documentation and
analysis of buildings, architectural forms and representation of the built form through graphical techniques. As a general
guideline, historic buildings are selected for study or traditional typologies, in order to familiarize students with issues of
local and vernacular architecture, as well as introducing them to construction technologies which they may not have come
across. The process included documentation of havelis in Bikaner and compilation of the study in the form of a report
including the macro level understanding of the town, the historical, physical and cultural characteristic of the havelis and
a comprehensive set of drawings of these. Students learnt to work independently on a problem on site and discover
innovative means to document a building, not just through tape measuring but also through photographs, sketches and
understanding geometric proportion systems. They developed on-site understanding into two dimensional representations
through the standard drawing formats and were able to document not just what they saw, but also what they couldn’t see
because of site constraints. They understood building systems in Bikaner and Jaisalmer and regional differences between
the two, along with learning skills of drawing and representation and working in groups. The study helped the students
understand the space making process in a haveli, response to harsh climates, volumetric proportions and historic building
styles, how ornamentation may have a practical function and stone masonry.
MAHESHWAR, MADHYA PRADESH
The objectives of the second year study trip were
to engage the students in the documentation of
physical and cultural aspects of a typical historic
settlement that has strong cultural components
such as social hierarchy and traditional crafts that
reflect in the settlement pattern and built form.
The study of socio-cultural factors was extremely
important as the students were to select a site,
develop a programme as per their analysis of the
contextual requirements and design a building
based on these. Documentation and analysis
of the fortified settlement in Maheshwar and the
areas that form an interface between the core
and the newly expanding areas, helped them
understand the morphology and transformations
due to economic and cultural factors. The study
was compiled in the form of a report including the
macro level understanding of the town, along with
the historical, physical and cultural characteristics
of the settlement. The students designed a building
as per programme developed by them individually
that varied from singular to mixed use such as
residences, workshops, community centre, school,
interpretation centre, museum, exhibition space,
retail, restaurant, ashram, dharamshala, women’s
empowerment centre etc.
YEARBOOK 2013