TA: Roshni AdarshContextualising Interior Space Making
Interior Architecture Hospitality Design informed by the local context
Architecture, can be considered to be a result of an appropriate response to the context which can be summarised as ‘Form Follows Context’. The studio will explore the interface between interior architecture and its ‘context’ in hospitality design. Design of hotels showcasing the context would enrich the experience for the visitor, while boosting the local economy and preserving the culture.
Hospitality design that references the local context has always existed but, a new genre was created when architects like Geoffrey Bawa and Kerry Hill designed hotels in South East Asia. The endeavour of this studio will be to ask how can architecture help make a visit memorable? For their final outcome, students will be asked to design the interior of designated areas of a hotel and to present their design in the form of 3D rendered images.
Studio Unit
The studio begins with a two-week long ‘EXPLORE’ and ‘ANALYZE’ exercise. Here, the students delve into researching context-based hospitality spaces, employing a structured method of analysis that encompasses various layers such as Form, Furniture, Finishes, Furnishings, and Accessories
Following this, the studio proceeds to a week-long site visit, intending to examine both the physical and socio-cultural dimensions of the site’s location. To facilitate this, the ‘SENSITIZE’ exercise is introduced in two phases. Initially, students analyze the context across different scales, progressing from the Global onto the Regional, Local and finally the Immediate and Site Context. During the site visit, the second phase of ‘Sensitize’ unfolds, focusing on intensive observation and extraction. Students keenly observe objects or phenomena while visiting places of importance. They then draw out associated objects from observed phenomena or vice versa guided by the layers explored in the previous exercise
The studio then transitions into the pivotal ‘SYNTHESIZE’ exercise, which is further subdivided into Expand & Develop, Formalize, and Strategize stages. The Expand and Develop stages involve elaborating inquiries and beginning to understand spatial qualities through abstract models and study diagrams, facilitating the identification and development of conceptual frameworks.
Students then formalize their intents and substantiate the relevance of their ideas by crafting concept statements that encapsulate their process thus far.
The Strategize stage involves devising strategies for translating concepts on-site, delineated into site-level and unit-level strategies through intent diagrams, zoning diagrams, word maps/charts.
Transitioning to the APPLICATION stage, students employ the methods and strategies formulated to design four primary hospitality spaces: Reception and Waiting, Restaurant & Bar, Spa & Wellness, and Rooms.
Finally, the studio culminates in the ‘ARTICULATE’ exercise, aiming to devise representation strategies and produce coherent presentations of the designs. In addition to the aforementioned outputs, students are tasked with creating axonometric drawings, wall sections, perspective sections, and renders for all four spaces.
