TA: Manthan Mevadatowards a critical project and a project of criticism situation: sangath, ahmedabad
The prevalent discourse on architecture positions the architectural project as a singular act, made separate from the continuity and collective condition of the environment which we are (still) in obligation to share. The studio challenges this tendency to iconize the architectural project within our disciplinary discourse by a persistent curiosity to understand it as a part of the built environment, assessing its viability and limitations through a systematic inquiry into the conditions and consequences of its design. This semester, through the discovery of relevant questions, the studio will investigate Sangath, a project familiar to us through its reputation and the established narratives of its successes. Students will identify problems inherent in the existing design by way of vital relationships it fails to consider. Subtle, yet profound intervention/s that resolve the problems identified will follow, shifting the emphasis from design solutions derived primarily from the expression of form to that of solving problems of relevance, we will rekindle the potential of program, the meaning of use and continuity of the built environment as an understanding of what constitutes critical architecture in service of responsibility over mere reputation.
Studio Unit
Acts of repair and the creative process: where do ideas come from?
what does it mean to be creative?
what is the act of design?
where does the architectural project lie (reside)?
Repairing enclosure:
Sangath goes beyond the building and engages the whole site - the garden, edges and margins - thereby challenging the current atomized articulation of a workspace and the built environment revealed by way of the critique. (Nilanshi Agarwal / Heer Shah)
Repairing movement:
Movement within Sangath transforms from an itinerary of spatial experiences into an armature that holds within it the specificity of processes and place. (Nikhil Makhijani / Kanxa Shah)
Repairing form:
The iconic language of the vault is subtly altered, thereby augmenting its behavior with regards to the relationship between activities of the workspaces and light, cross ventilation and tectonic order. (Dwij Hirpara / Yashmita Rao)
Repairing plan:
The footprint at Sangath is increased vertically, to preserve the garden room, shifting emphasis from the building to the built environment. (Abhinav Jayanti / Tushar Kanoi)
