Our workshop on natural and traditional structure system was associated with the Studio Architecture Autonomous in Goa. The aim of the workshop is to give practical exposure to our students in terms of construction of masonry arches and domes.
Our students had an interactive session with Ar.Gerrard, in which he presented his architectural projects and briefed our students about the workshop site and the proceedings. Our students constructed domes and documented their built work. They also explored the Goan houses and its architectural features responding to its environment.
CIBART was established to provide technical and policy support and facilitate field level activities on bamboo in India and abroad. CIBART mission is to work with poor rural communities to reduce poverty, enhance livelihood security and improve the quality of their lives by complementing and enhancing existing livelihoods with resilient alternatives using bamboo, through technology and applications development, skill building and raising productivity and incomes.
Centre for Indian Bamboo Research and Technology organised a workshop at Palampur, Himachal Pradesh exclusively for the students of RVS. The major importance was given to bamboo crafts training session. Various bamboo crafting techniques were taught by the trainers. The students were allotted different crafts and were also encouraged to develop models of their own ideas and creativity. Apart from the Hands-on workshop session the students also had a chance to reach beyond classroom learning to make memories that would last forever.
This workshop was about the design of the tensile structures. We joined Ar.ArunSwaminathan who elaborated in the elasticity and flexibility of the tensile structures and its implementation. Students made small prototypes of these structures. They also made a true scale installation at our college premises.
Anukruti is an organisation started by Architect Martina Spies with a vision was to create accessible well designed play grounds for under privileged children. The students of RVS worked with Anukruti in restructuring and rebuilding an existing playground for the students of BJ Home for Children. The playground was eventually transformed into a space of vibrancy and warm.
The entire process was an amalgamation of reuse-reduce-recycle by using the available materials and engaging the parents of the children in the building process. The pods came out beautiful and most of all the vibrancy was brought by the ever smiling children.
The Gir forest workshop by Ar.Himanshu Patel is a Pandora box of learning and experience. The forest is in itself an amazing place to be, amidst that Ar.Himanshu has created a unique learning studio conducted which included a series of lectures of his understanding of the context and the materials that are available in the area.
A series of visits to the surrounding areas such as visit to the Gir sanctuary and a visit to the heritage structure of Somnath serves as a true inspiration to all and hands on building exercises of brick and stone arches. We also created our own Zen garden using the natural materials available within the site. The potential of vernacular architecture is never ending and is an awe to all students of architecture.
Anatomy of George Town is a two part workshop as a part of a research project that looks at Postcolonial identity in Historical Urban Setting. The intent of the workshop looks at urban place making, urban identity and shared history from a multi-sensory in dimension. The workshop was based in two cities Penang, Malaysia and Chennai (Madras), India.
The basis of the research is to compare and understand the morphology of two similar colonial settlements built one after the other. The one in Penang has gained a world heritage site making it a busy tourist attraction. The one in Chennai has become a busy business district with the largest wholesale market tucked in the narrow streets. The workshop was conducted with the first years as well as final year students and professionals.
Manasaram Architects, the award winning architecture firm headed by Ar. NeelamManjunath has set itself apart by purely building with bamboo. They believe in moving towards a sustainable future. The program here with our students focussed on inculcating material awareness and the essence of building with natural materials.
This involved learning about the treatment of bamboo, bending, cutting, joining processes. A real time exercise involved designing and implementing a small prototype in the form of scaled models amongst which one was practically built by the students in real scale. The workshop also included site visits to some of the projects built by the firm which inspired and encouraged the students.
An initiative to encourage hands-on education and problem-solving, based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The challenges are based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the final projects will be showcased at the TECH2017 Conference, by UNESCO & MGIEP, in Visakhapatnam on 16-18 December 2017.
The conference is aimed at developing Digital pedagogies for Building Peaceful and Sustainable Societies. Participants will work in teams with mentors and peers from the industry, academia, government and the scientific community. As a part of the steam2017 was attended by 5 participants associated with RVS.
Smart labs is India's First Integrated Programme to introduce basic, intermediate and advanced computational design techniques, methods, workflows on a 6 month basis. This programme is designed at par with any global school within the domain of computation and is envisioned to fill the missing gap in the educational curriculum by bridging academia and practice.
Art Village is a physical manifestation of a creative space, nested in the hills of Karjat. The students under the guidance and mentorship of Ar.KiranVaghela and Ar.TejasKotak understood the importance and the strength of sustainable architecture in all its forms.
They were exposed to the technique of rammed earth construction which included learning about testing of the soil to the ramming of the soil and creating structures. The workshop also comprised of Pottery classes, trekking, bird watching and other activities which intensifies the relationship between the students and nature.
A dream site set in the hills of Katharkadak village in the outskirts of Pune is all set to become a centre for arts, theatre and architecture. Two architects Anushree and Dheeraj who are heading the project decided to make this project more inclusive by opening its arms to students to also participate in the building process. The studio is set to never use cement and be completely sustainable.
The program also extended to trekking through the forest, evening swims in the river, understanding the local and cultural architecture of the village and also interacting with the recipients of the architectural space, the people.
NIVASA is an Architectural and Engineering NGO with a vision for every Indian to have a habitable home. They enable humane and dignified housing conditions for the urban and rural poor, through design. In a small village called Udagiri, in the outskirts of Bangalore hosts a project of NIVASA, which was converted into a workshop for the students, where the students in two batches helped majorly in making CSEB blocks for the rural housing project.
The students were also involved in mapping the entire village and documenting it as part of their program. Along with the villagers the students had the first-hand experience to build their homes alongside creating some community interventions trough design and construction.
Patterns in architecture is an inter-semester program conducted by Architects Karthikeyan and Sangeetha, Founding partners of WEBE Design lab, Chennai - an award winning architecture firm. The program was designed for students of third years to be able to observe patterns from daily life and from daily objects and look into their geometry and principles of design within them.
The study evolves into multiple dimensions after analysis of the pattern and looks at the same being implied in various perspectives from logo to product to package to interior and subsequently architecture.
Archade strives to improve the quality of human life and our natural environment through holistic education, design solutions. A 5 day intense architectural program brought to life many unanswered questions of the students ranging from technical design inputs to climatic interventions which are sustainable.
Experts from the Field who have been practicing architecture for the last decade presented their opinions and ideologies. Students also participated in designing tensile structures using miniature models and also extended their sense of design into a smaller live scale construction exercise using brick and bamboo.