Preach Project Practice

Semester IX Architectural Design

Academy of Architecture, Mumbai

01 Introduction
In its early stages, architectural theories were limited to
certain schools and rarely left that circle into larger forums. It is only
in the age of publishing, these theories received a larger audience,
attained scholarly position and became styles and movements. Despite
that fact, architectural theories of the 19th century and early 20th
century dissolved sooner than other modes. This may be attributed to
the rate of architecture production which skyrocketed post the mid-
century which came along with newer challenges, newer issues to
respond to and definitely a massive technological shift in the design
and execution methodologies. Even though architectural theory still
holds an important role today, one does not operate and apply it in
a top-down approach where the designer is first introduced to the
canonical text rather didactically, asked to refer-infer-decipher the
body of work that followed and finally design-debate-critique their
own creation through the lens of the theory. While aspects of this
process are still relevant today in some areas of practice, we feel that
the fraternity found many of these theories limiting only to the niche
which it had created for itself and led to the advent for newer modes of
critical thinking.

“In architecture, the rise of the 21st-century media landscape has

created connective tissue where none used to exist: the day-to-
day work of architecture used to be relatively obscure, and now it
is spotlighted and deconstructed regularly. The most successful
architects are not those who shun this newfound audience, but
rather engage with it.” [1]
 This new mode, a phenomenon of the media age, is the Discourse. The architectural
discourses have emerged as vast pools of debates that have given rise to even more vast
numbers of approaches. They have actually democratised the process of review of such views
and opinions to a much larger forum than the one it was limited to in the age of theory. The
relevance of discourse as a real-time check of critique, design and theory has made it a great
entry point into critical thinking. Thus discourses split the dual theory-design couple into a
triad of discourse-design-practice.
Through this operative, the studio intends to explore this triad as a method to approach
design. The triad has a fluid correlation with each other which allows one to flow to and fro
its course in linear, reversible, mutually exclusive or inclusive, etc. ways. The core idea of this
process is to inculcate the idea of formulating an approach to design via an objective lens of
selected architectural discourses prevalent in today’s times. The approach could then lead to an
architectural argument which not only will evolve into the design but also try, test and critique
the relevance of such discourses in the context it sets itself in.

{1} Ingalls, J. (2015) Interview - Stop the presses: Paul Goldberger’s take on critical
relevance in the social media age. Architnet.

{2} Senturer, A. and Istek, C. (2000), Discourse as Representation of Design Thinking

and Beyond: Considering the Tripod of Architecture–Media, Education, & Practice.
Journal of Art & Design Education, 19: 72-85.
02 Preach
This chapter included a series of lectures and discussions led by the studio faculty based
on the three major contemporary architectural discourses that were shortlisted for the studio.
The pre-site and program stage was utilized by the students to form a grounded objective world-
view of the prevalent architecture one finds in our contemporary society.
The three discourses that were elaborately discussed over the course of four weeks
were as follows-

Parametricism today is aiming to bring about an epoch, a paradigm shift in

architectural theory and practice, just like what modernism tried and succeeded to do in the
1920s, actualized in the 1970s. Almost 100 years after modernism and a lot of other transitional
schools of thoughts (Post modernism, deconstructivism) now fading away, Parametricism tries to
be the new Meta-project of the 21st century. It strives towards a unified theory of design
Parametricism 1.0 focussed more on form-finding, 3D printed fabrication techniques,
curvilinear forms, scripting etc, while Parametricism 2.0 focusses more on the social articulation
of spaces, rationalizing differential forms (rather than form for its own sake), improving energy-
social performance, optimising designs with respect to economy, etc.
Generating an argument against Parametricism being just a flamboyant indulgence of
a star-architect, Patrik Schumaker tries to ground its relevance in the current specialised society
we live in and the overlapping forces it generates and how this movement can help to articulate
designs which maintain legibility in the face of apparent complexity.

Object oriented ontology ( study of the nature of being) is an architectural

movement sweeping universities like Yale university, SCI-ARC, Texas A&M etc which aims to look
at objects detaching them from the human cultural constrains and establishes a world beyond
our human perception, considering it obligatory to consider them at par with the human; it is
subjected to understanding of its animate and inanimated objects. It asserts that objects have a
life of their own and need to be acknowledged. It uses Graham Harman’s philosophical work on
the same subject as its theoretical grounding.

 Architecturally it manifests in developing objects of strangeness, shifting the notion
of familiarity and generate a certain level of strangeness and shock-value making the observer
question the nature of reality and the context around him. It is still In an experimental stage,
allowing students and architects to develop and experiment with ideas, within the computational
realm. Interrelationships of fragments, tattooing as a tool of identity and co-relation are some of
the tools generally employed.

Questioning the polarities of completely objectifying the built form or making it a purely
visual construct, Phenomenology brings consciousness as an integral part of the process of
experiencing architecture. Phenomenology is manifested through the manipulation of material,
and light to create a memorable encounter through an impact on multiple human senses. This
brings sensory perception as a function of a built form, to the centre of the entire built and
unbuilt environment.
The core of this idea is the term ‘Genius Loci’ or spirit of the place, coined by Norberg-
Schulz. This also includes a dynamic sense of place, time- or rather the sense of timelessness-and
of being a continual part of the built experience.
In an age when sensory overload is assaulting the senses and we live in world where
the built environment is almost an afterthought, phenomenology and its critical study may be an
access to designing spaces that offer a healthier alternative to users and clients.

Conclusive Submission
Students were to critically internalize the discourses given to
them and represent them in a form of one 16:9 graphic. They
were expected to form an objective architectural world view
based on questioning the discourse and express their questions/
understanding through a graphic illustration.
03 Project
Peter Eisenman had a project, IM PEI had a practice. Le Corbusier had a project, Robert
Mallet-Stevens had a practice. The former defines the world through the discipline of their work
and the latter is defined by the pressures of the society. Both are needed. A project is always
ideological, intellectual, political, experimental in some way, developed by a formal critique of
the precedent and the current situation.
This chapter includes a development of a formal argument based on objective
architectural premises. The site parameters are introduced at this stage and an argument needs to
be generated. That is the ‘PROJECT’ of an individual. That is what is problematised, looked closely
at, critiqued and an architectural ‘attitude’ and ‘direction’ is achieved. This direction is quantified
in terms of explicit program development, area statements and a crisp design approach.

Site Introduction
Saat Rasta, Byculla also known as the Jacob
Circle or the Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk was also a part
of Girangaon. It is one of the busiest junction of the city.
This area mark the end of the mill district and the start
of the market district of the Mumbai city. There were just
three to four mills to the south of the Jacob Circle.
The population living here is diverse. It’s the
place where there is Muslim population of Byculla on one
side and the mill workers i.e. Maharashtrian population
of Girangaon on the other side. Most of the residents
over here belong to the economically weaker sections of
the society. Now, post the development of Lower Parel,
this area seems to be the next to undergo development
to provide residential facilities for the people working in
Lower Parel.
 Google Earth Site Plan

Panoramic View of the Site

A program was to be generated based on the above-mentioned parameters, along with the
skeletal framework of a mixed use typology which was given to the students. The framework was
as follows-
Criteria 01: FSI and BUA
The FSI of the plot is assumed to be 2. However, students must study the PLUs. Along with this,
other factors such as setbacks, ground coverage, etc provisions to be ascertained by the class as
a whole and move forward. Post assessment, two distinct areas to be arrived at which are the FSI
area and the Built up Area.

Criteria 02: Development Distribution 80% - 20%

The project is imagined to be a client owned development which will have two components to
the programs. First will be the revenue component which will be broken into two parts viz. sale
and lease/rent and sum up to 80% of the FSI. The distribution of both combined is up to each
group. This component shall bring constant revenue to the project. The second component will
include public utilitarian programs and shall be 20% of the FSI. These programs may or may not
be revenue generating and complementary or in disjunct to the main program.
Criteria 03: 3-4 distinct typologies
The overall development shall have a combination of 3 to 4 distinct architectural building
typologies fused and amalgamated into a cohesive project. The brief further will include a study
and understanding of the selected typologies which will then be internalised and applied to
the site. Each of its individual entities shall have their own provisions separately accounted and
provided for (Services and Utilities). Part of the program should be such that it works round the
clock and keeps the ingress and egress of users throughout.

Conclusive Submission
A panel showcasing the understanding of the site was to be
submitted by the students along with the panel detailing out the
arguments generated, the architectural program list and the area
statement wrt those programs.
04 Practice
No architectural project is an isolated bubble. Client
Requirements, societal pressures, market economy, structural
constraints, idiosyncrasies of the different stakeholders of the
project need attention and they inform the design direction of the
architect. This forms the core of this chapter.
It involves production of space. Formalising an
architectural solution wrt all the factors mentioned in the above
2 chapters along with the practical pressures of the project.
This shall include zoning models, zoning plans, diagrams, study
models, formal floor plans, sections, elevations , circulation clarity,
structural clarity, services, HVAC, by-laws integration, acoustic
planning if any, Fire fighting planning etc.
This chapter shall thus include all the tangible aspects of
design intervention based on the foundation of the first 2 chapters.
The focus of this chapter is thus on production of architectural
space in sync with all the pressures of its animate and inanimate
stakeholders.

The following were the parameters taken into account for this stage of design production-
-Co-relation to the Discourse
-Grounding the design ideas in the aims, objectives and the arguments generated in the chapter
2 of the studio
-Circulation and massing legibility
-Sustainability
-Structural Clarity and services
-Clear visualization renderings
-Façade detailing
-Parking, FSI and other relevant bye-laws(RG, set backs etc) to be taken into account