ADS11: Already There
Ajay Singh Larr
As a student who is explorative or fields outside of Architecture, I am interested in a variety of disciplines, namely furniture design, graphic design, fashion, and food. I have started my own headwear brand, HAAT-ery. which I managed to launch with my partner during this academic year. I have also been working on the slow development of a supper club which got cut short in preparations due to the current situation.
All of these interests support my view on Architecture and vice versa. I am intrigued within the intimacy of architecture, more definitively homes, looking to blend my interests into something personal, activities of the home becoming something examined and given high importance. With this being said I would very much be interested in developing small scale housing, learning, and utilising what I have been doing this last year giving attention to the existing and already made structures.
In 2020 I am looking to develop my headwear brand in more depth, looking to work ethically within India to support local artisans and dyers. Within architecture I am hoping to work with small homeowners to intimately renovate and improve housing that is already there. It will be a process of close examining and considered actions, looking to reveal as much of the integral character of the home as possible. I believe that housing is a such a personal matter that we as Architects should help in making houses feel like homes.
2 Intervention mapping — All of the developed interventions are mapped in a constant state of flux. All elements that are orange express actions of Construction and elements that are green express actions of Demolition.
Intervention mapping
Intervention mapping
3 Renovated Unit — View of the rear garden in the process of being cleaned. The removal process allows the construction system to be exposed.
Renovated Unit - Demolition Testing — The demolition and stripping of a pair of units becomes a testing ground to learn how to better renovate the remaining units.
3 Renovated Unit - Process — Each wall and junction is given a process of examination, to determine it's value and benefit within the system.
4 Staircase conservatory — The dance of the staircase, revealing and hiding, gives it importance within the site
4 Staircase conservatory — The covering of the staircase connects the piece of infrastructure to the rest of the housing units. The processes of waste removal are given similar functions and importance to cremation rites in Ayurvedic principles.
Enrobing it with its own dwelling preserves its character, giving value to these overlooked pieces of infrastructure. The Removal chute gives importance to the transportation and separation of materials to be delivered from across the rear balconies of adjacent units akin to the processes of cremation. It highlights aspects of the staircase where graffiti and mildew have value within this system.
5 Negative Collection — The existing and re-use sit side by side. Decay of material becomes transformed through community use, using the decay as a means to explore what they shouldn't neglect.
5 Negative Collection — The multi-function space is situated at the entrance of the site, collecting a lot of waste that accumulates in the lower access to the green space. By pedestrianizing it, it gives importance to the personal experience of the residents.
6 Maintenance Roof Platform — The pooling platform turns decay into contemplation. A blocked downpipe becomes transformative into a pond, rarely given to Housing Estates.
6 Maintenance Roof Platform — It aims to connect to the view of the adjacent housing blocks, which connecting to the green space. It makes use out of a mistake by carefully placing a covering and seating to give the residents a moment of respite.
7 Functions of Water
Water functions under three motives: public in display on the walkways; private in the domestic setting of the bathroom; and spiritual in the presence of still water in the demo testing area.
Public
The flow of drain water becomes a public display integrated into the facade, floor level and through the air. The emphasis on the front entrance is emblematic of the flowing water framework over the public walkway.
Private
The private function and flow of water in the domestic is primarily through the bathroom. The sight and sound of water flow within pipework become hidden and revealed forming a conversation between what is for show and not.
Spiritual
The intimate act of present water emanates contemplation within the actions of demolition and renovation. It presents a bare reflection of domestic consequences.