BA LCONY SPAC E- THE NE E D

https://hiveminer.com/Tags/malta%2Cphotoshop/Recent
During her many travels abroad, the founder was fascinated
by the urban upkeep, especially apartment balconies. how
so much was done in so little space that was available. peo-
ple had created their own version of outdoors right at their

http://fernandogarciadory.com/56602/balcon-consejos-casa/
doorsteps, amidst the dense concrete jungles. These spaces
were teeming with activities and life.

A similar parallel could not be drawn for the balconies of in-

dian cities. ours is predominantly a mundane facade-caged
and guarded from the outdoors barely serving the purpose
of lighting up the deep living rooms. whereas very few Archi-
tects/builders have taken up design with balcony being one
of the core thriving space. This is a welcoming start.

These presented the need/ opportunity for a company fo-

cused on designing and building space-saving balcony furni-
ture and products targeting the Indian urban mass.
7 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015
 “ See a need, fill a need”- Bigweld ( ROBOTS)

‘Seeing a need’ or identifying a worthy problem area is a task

by itself for the designer of today. Consider the smart-phone.

http://m.yukle.mobi/sekil-yukle/?q=balig+sekileri&page=6
Almost all of it looks the same; are made up of the same ma-
terial. The bulk of the design thought goes into making the
underlying software more superior, while the problems asso-
ciated with the physical thing are left unaddressed.
‘The brushed metal finish’ as advertised is enveloped with
a 3rd party cheap plastic to protect it. The screens are be-
coming larger for the thumb to handle and crack upon minor
impact. To solve this, we have set out to stick the front part
with a sacrificial film.

Instead of addressing the core problem, which is to make a

better phone, the bulk of us have jumped on the bandwagon
of solution-ism i.e. bringing more ‘things’ into the world. This
bottom feeding approach does no good to both the mobile The shark and the Remora fish: the remora fish is a parasite that latches on to
designer as well as the designer who makes covers. The lat- the shark and feeds off the bits that fall off it. this slows the shark and does it no
ter jumped on the first opportunity to design a peripheral for good. As for the remora fish, all it can be is a dependent fish which cannot hunt
the first weakly built smart phone and ended up creating a on its own. much like our smart phone designers.
fad which gave the former a false sense power to overlook
the fundamental problem, making them both negligent de-
signers.

The aim of this section is not to discuss the perils of the

smart phone world. However, ‘not to accept a problem on its
face value without dwelling deep’ is a lesson which extends
to all facets of design. Hence, a thorough analysis of the In-
dian urban balcony for its dynamics, pain points and oppor-
tunities needs to be laid out before any mention of furniture
can be made.

BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 8

WHY CA NT WE E MULATE THE WEST ERN BALC O N Y ?

https://www.shutterstock.com/search/similar/585707966
https://historyplex.com/family-life-in-india
Sure, importing/replicating the western products and spatial layouts in our cities looks tempting. It would eliminate the
design time altogher. Afterall, a coffee table for two surrounded by plants seems simple enough to do. It would also fetch
faster revenues. This infact was the recomended path suggested by one of Pyramidion’s potential clients’ and investor - The
Eagleton Golf Resort group. This notion however, is flawed and may not work. To understand why, the reader is encouraged
to answer the following questions for both the images above. One is a typical indian urban family and the other, a typical
western one. both living in apartments.
• how many people make a family?
• what is their immediate social circle?
• what is their secondary social circle?
• who looks after the kids when the parents are out working?
• what do they do when the jar of sugar/pickle has an ant infestation?
From the answers, we can deduce that the lifestyle, people and their activities are not the same. so the products developed
for one group of people may not satisfy the needs of the other.

This warrants a thorough assesment of the indian apartment balconies; the users and their activities; needs and expecta-
tions before introducing furniture in the space- The start of the design journey.

9 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015

T HE INDIAN BALCONY- A POT EN T I AL

Balconies function as lung spaces between all the other built

programs in an apartment. It is the only real connection to
the outdoor in an otherwise mammoth concrete enclosure.
But surprisingly, these spaces seldom get the design atten-
tion they require. Most Indian balconies have become un-
marked hoarding spaces with old stacks of newspapers,
unused household objects and mops etc. taking up the most
of it.

Unlike spaces like kitchen which is for cooking, there are

no defined activity for balconies. This, at Pyramidion and
through this Graduation project is seen as an opportunity for
design intervention in creating meaningful furniture to in-
voke and improve the balcony usage experience.

It is a surprise that the space has been at a blind spot for the
designers for so long that going ahead, this may pave way for
a new sub branch of interior design- like the modular kitchen
of today. This is evidenced by the fact that, pioneers in ar-
chitecture and construction- Total environment group, Axis
group, artisane projects Etc. have began a balcony centred
approach to design. All their recent and upcoming projects
are designed with the balcony as the central element around
which all the other spaces orbit. Billboards boasting 7’ wide
balconies have become a common site in Bengaluru.

This is welcoming start and the potential of the trend be

trickling down to more affordable sectors is around the cor-
ner. These indicators are healthy reassurances that a com-
pany focussed on apartment balcony products has a fast
lane access to the virtually un-tapped market.

BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 10

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UND ERSTANDING THE S PAC E- ARC H I T EC T U RAL EVALUATI O N O F A PA RTM E N T BA LCO N I E S

Size Material Of con-

struction

Shape Fenestration

No. of usable Hindrances

walls

Not all apartments are built alike. To make products for

the apartment balcony, it therefore becomes imperative to Wall Thickness Hand rail profile
study the space, to know where they differ/ agree and scope and materials
of standardisation. This study would lay out the physical
constraints that would dive the design decisions. A total of 5
new and upcoming apartments in bangalore were studied for
their various parameters. E V A L U A T I O N P A R A M E T E R S

BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 18

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B I RLA A PPLE AROMA MID- PREMIUM 3BHK

1 CENTRAL BALCONY
1 SERVICE BALCONY

Sliding Door till lintel height

View from living room Usable wall Plumbing and electrical lines in the View from balcony
usable wall

RCC slab sliding glass Plumbing/Elec- SS circular

5’X11’ Rectangle 01 9” with cement door upto trical lines @ with glass
block walls lintel 2’6”-3’ FFL
19 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015
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NIRA NJAN TRIDH A MID- PREMIUM 2BHK

1 CENTRAL BALCONY
1 SERVICE BALCONY

View from living room

View from bed room Plan View from outside View from balcony Bedroom 2 access

RCC slab sliding glass Fragile doors Masonry up-

16’X9’ Oblique 02 9” with cement door upto and windows to 4’
yet ortho block walls lintel
BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 20
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B I RLA A PPLE AROMA MID- PREMIUM 3BHK

2 CENTRAL BALCONY
1 SERVICE BALCONY

View Sample unit plan

Img : http://birlaapplearoma.com/#plan

RCC slab sliding glass Fragile doors RCC up to 4’

25’X5’ Rectangle 01 9” with brick door upto and windows
cladding lintel
21 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015
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TOTA L E NV IRONME NT - LT F PREMIUM 3,4 BHK

SPACES BUILT AROUND A
CENTRAL BALCONY

View www.totalenvironment.in/
Balcony as the central feature www.totalenvironment.in/

RCC slab sliding glass complete RCC RCC parapet-

23’X10’ Square 02 9” with Thermo door upto structure unusable
brick walls lintel
BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 22
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A RT ISA NE FOR E ST BRE E ZE PREMIUM 3,4BHK

2-3 BALCONIES

www.forestbreeze.in/
View Unit plan

Cellular sliding glass None Circular sec-

16’X11’ Oblique 04 9” block wall door upto tion
yet ortho lintel
23 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015
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INFERENCE S

• Most balconies were a comfortable 5’ wide with length of Ad-

jacent room
• Even Oblique shaped Balconies Have Orthogonal Elements
• Most walls are 9” Brick/Block masonry, Some are complete
RCC Structure at premium segments
• Almost All Fenestrations are of Sliding type with laminated
clear glass shutters to save space to a height up to 2.1m (Lin-
tel level)
• Most hindrances are by the use of fragile materials such as
glass, unequal sizes of handrails, hard materials such as RCC.
• Hindrances in the form of plumbing ducts were absent but
plumbing and electrical lines may pass within the walls. This
could not be read from the model houses. But, assumptions
can be made
• Almost all apartments have a service balcony for drying
clothes and other utilities.
• Hooks of any sort absent in the ceilings of all observed bal-
conies

BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 24

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US ER ID EN TIFIC ATION

Potential User base

https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-lowest-level-of-maslow-s-hierarchy-of-needs

Since the products are not custom built for a particular user
and are aimed at the urban market in general, it therefore
becomes important to identify and understand the potential
user segment. To do so, a 3 step Top-Down approach is used.
STEP 1: what class of people would be interested in balcony
products?
Balcony furniture are not an essential set of products that
every household needs to have. They can be seen as value
adding products for the one who’s basic needs are met and
looking for an improvement in the quality of life. This notion
25 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015
can be understood with the widely accepted Maslow’s pyra-
mid of needs. We all strive to move up this pyramid regard-
less of where we stand. So, Investing on Balcony furniture
may not make sense to a family who are on the bottom half
of the pyramid, whereas a Cot, study table, living and dining
room furniture might.
In a nutshell, Balcony products are aimed at Upper-Middle
class and above.

STEP 2: Extrapolating the above on the City- Bengaluru
The aim of this step is to verify whether the target group of
people are in abundance in the destined city. This is impor-
tant because the business may suffer if target segment is too
small to cater to. To verify this consider the following facts.
With an economic growth of 10.3%, Bangalore is the second fastest-growing ma-
jor metropolis in India and is also the country’s fourth largest fast-moving consum-
er goods (FMCG) market. Forbes considers Bangalore one of “The Next Decade’s
Fastest-Growing Cities”.
Growing economy denotes- factors relevant here like- growth
in Per capita income and Infrastructure. This means expan-
sion of the city and growth in real estate sector.
The city is the third largest hub for high-net-worth individuals and is home to
over 10,000-dollar millionaires and about 60,000 super-rich people who have an
investment surplus of 45 million (US$654,867) and 5 million (US$72,800) respec-
tively. Bangalore is called as the Silicon Valley of India because of the large num-
ber of information technology companies located in the city which contributed
33% of India’s 1,442 billion (US$21 billion) IT exports in 2006–07.
This denotes the buying capacity of the people. In addition
to this, it is interesting to note that a significant number of
these people are young. With the number of successful start-
ups in the rise, so does the number of the rich young.
D
STEP 3: Understanding user behaviour
Having established the income group and the potential of
the city to run such an enterprise, it becomes imperative to
understand the user behaviour. This study is important for
a new establishment in particular as it would help under-
stand or predict the sale patterns. To do so, consider the
Jung-Meyers 16 personality types. According to this, hu-
man personality is characterised into a 4 lettered abbrevia-
tion based on 4 key parameters, leading to 16 permutations.
• The first criterion, Extroversion – Introversion, signifies
the source and direction of a person’s energy expression.
An extravert’s source and direction of energy expression
is mainly in the external world, while an introvert has a
source of energy mainly in their own internal world.
• The second criterion, Sensing – Intuition, represents
the method by which someone perceives information.
Sensing means that a person mainly believes information
he or she receives directly from the external world. Intu-
ition means that a person believes mainly information he
or she receives from the internal or imaginative world.
• The third criterion, Thinking – Feeling, represents how
a person processes information. Thinking means that a
person makes a decision mainly through logic. Feeling
means that, as a rule, he or she makes a decision based
on emotion, i.e. based on what they feel they should do.
• The fourth criterion, Judging – Perceiving, reflects how
a person implements the information he or she has pro-
cessed. Judging means that a person organizes all of his
life events and, as a rule, sticks to his plans. Perceiving
means that he or she is inclined to improvise and explore
alternative options.
BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 26
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T H E 1 6 PER SONALITY TY PES

The source and direction of The method by which some- How a person processes How a person implements
a person’s energy expres- one perceives information information the information he or she
sion. has processed

Introversion, an introvert Sensing, means that a per- Thinking, means that a per- Judging, means that a per-
has a source of energy main- son mainly believes informa- son makes a decision mainly son organizes all of his life
ly in their own internal world tion he or she receives direct- through logic. events and, as a rule, sticks
ly from the external world. to his plans.

I S T J
E N F P
Extroversion, An extravert’s Intuition, means that a per- Feeling, means that, as a Perceiving, means that he
source and direction of ener- son believes mainly informa- rule, he or she makes a de- or she is inclined to impro-
gy expression is mainly in the tion he or she receives from cision based on emotion, i.e. vise and explore alternative
external world. the internal or imaginative based on what they feel they options.
world. should do.

Example,INTJ, ESTP Etc.

27 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015

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INFERENCE

• Both the city and it’s people have the buying power and
the selling potential.
• The characteristic of the city is such that it favours ex-
perimental and new ideas..
• Through the personality study one can easily deduce that
people who act on intuition, feeling and perceiving may be
the potential first points of sale and the Sensing, thinking
and judging kind would be subsequent after the idea is
established

Characteristics and types of all 16 personality types.

BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 28
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AC T IVIT Y ANALYSIS

APPROACH 1 :
To consider a family of 5 including 2 grandpar-
ents and a kid as the users and chart down each of their po-
tential daily activity at the balcony at different times of the
day, then group them to arrive at the furniture type.

This approach was discontinued as it was becoming extreme-

ly complex and it was difficult to group activities together.

This section involves finding out the potential activities that

can be done in the balcony space, grouping them and final-
ly identifying the right furniture type for the said activity
groups. This procedure-in that particular order- is particu-
larly important because we cannot jump into furniture type
immediately given the organic nature of the space unlike a
bed for the bedroom and a dining table for the dining area.
To identify the activities, 2 methods were used. The first one
dropped for being too complex a path.
29 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015
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ACT IVITY ANALYSIS

APPROACH 2 :

To consider all activities in general, illus-

trate them, then group them together to arrive at the
furniture types.

BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 30

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AC T IVIT Y ANALYSIS

Games

http://www.meaningfulaudacity.com/vladamir- https://cartoonwjd.com/indoor-games/ comprar-en-internet.net/worksheets/group-

and-vera-nabokov-chess-on-balcony-web/ work.html

belovelive.com/valborg-an-inside-look-at-the- https://www.tripadvisor.com.br/LocationPho- https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/

swedish-celebration-of-spring/ toDirectLink-g274887 guys-greeting.html Parties and gatherings

https://www.pinterest.com/ www.oxomag.com/balcony-entertainment-ide- infinitegames.co/small-balcony-ideas/

pin/259660734743098508/ as.html small-balcony-ideas-design-for-apartments/

31 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015

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ACT IVITY ANALYSIS

Romance/
time with
partner.

https://www.bigstockphoto.com/video/search/ https://nearsay.com › CT › Fairfield County › https://www.pinterest.com/haileyymariee/hon- www.allteenstalk.com › Love & Relation

bench/ Fairfield eymoon-pictures/

https://www.shutterstock.com/.../clip- https://www.videoblocks.com/videos/ham- https://www.videoblocks.com/.../young-wom- https://www.shutterstock.com/.../clip-

7898617-pretty-woman-man%27s-shirt- mock an-daydreaming-on-her-balcony 9863360-girl-sitting-on-balcony-reading

Chores and
activities
done by one-
self.

https://www.shutterstock.com/.../clip- https://www.videoblocks.com/.../beauti- https://www.thestar.com › Life › Home cliff.best-places.site/cliffs-hotel-pis-

3017800-young-attractive-wo... ful-woman-in-men-shirt-reading-newspaper mo-beach-tripadvisor/

https://br.depositphotos.com/104608196/ https://www.shutterstock.com/.../clip- https://www.shutterstock.com/.../clip- https://www.fotosearch.com/CSP186/

stock-video-man-reading-newspaper-dur- 3017752-stock-footage-young-man-drinking- 27114871-girl-on-nature-resting-reading-book k19809433
BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 32
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AC T IVIT Y - FURNITURE IDENT I F I C AT I O N

ACTIVITY GROUP FURNITURE DESCRIPTION FURNITURE

Quick activities like talking A seating which is non folding A Bench/ Seat
over the phone, having a cup and ever present for use with-
of coffee Etc. out effort.

For planned activities like Chairs with space saving ca- Chairs & bench
reading a news paper, small pacity which can be deployed
gatherings Etc. with ease when required.

Planned activities like work- A simple work surface of ade- A ledge table
ing, dinner, having a cup of quate dimensions
coffee Etc.

Daily chores like drying food, A clear floor. This denotes Clear Floor.
yoga/ exercise and other ac- that all designed furniture
tivities. shall allow to accommodate
such activities.

Mood lighting Lighting fixtures to reflect the Lighting fixtures

mood.

Greenery Plants/ vertical garden to Plant holders, Vertical gar-

blend the exterior to the inte- den
rior.

33 BALCONY FURNITURE | GRADUATION PROJECT 2018 | M.DES 2015

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D ESIG N KE Y WORDS

BA L A N CE
SPAC E SAVI NG N ATU R E
E ASE OF US E MI N I MAL ST RENGT H
FOLDI N G EX T ERI O R C O N D I T I O N S
NEST I NG RELATE- A B L E FO R M
ENG AG ING THE S E NS E S T EX T U RE
C O MFO RT

BALAJI NATARAJAN | F.I.D | M.DES | NID 34