By profession I am an
architect/interior designer. A total nerd still pursuing her architecture while
working in the same field. Decided to take you along my journey telling you
about the insights of this field.
Blogsbyanusha is for all the
architectural enthusiasts who love to read and incorporate some design ideas in
their home spaces. Hope I inspire you all in some way or other
All the posts are written by me and
the pictures are clicked by me unless mentioned otherwise.All the views
expressed are personal and texts/images are copyright to author unless
mentioned otherwise.
Hence request you to seek consent
before using any content from the blog and give proper credits.
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“Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love”
Enhance your home space with some lavish designs best suited for your taste. We shall design spaces with various styles for your various moods
Any landscape is a condition of the spirit”
Relax and unwind in a specially designed spaces which connects your soul to the nature
“Knowledge has a beginning but no end”
Whether you are an architectural student/interior designing student or just a person here to gain knowledge on this subject, this blog segment is for you.
“Cover the earth, before it covers you”
Travel along with me to explore the cities varied architectural elements. See the city through an architect’s eyes.
Visit to Chandigarh
Hey guys after an amazing vacation (at least
in my head) I am back with one of my first travel edition blog post. In this
segment I shall be speaking about the places I visited while being in
Chandigarh. as an architectural enthusiast, we obviously visited those places
looking more on architectural details.
So here it goes guys the places we visited
and their significance.
Nek Chand rock garden
One of the most beautiful gardens I have
seen shall be this one. This is an informal garden made all from waste and
surplus materials. Thus, all the sculptures made and all the flooring done is
done with surplus materials.
One funny fact about this was, the person
who did the first installations was doing it illegally and did not have
permission of the government. Later on, when the government realized how useful
his installation was for the tourism, they converted this whole area into the
park by imitating his works later on.
The planner wanted to depict the lifestyle
of an Indian throughout the park, his emotions, the way Indians lived etc.
Thus, throughout the park you see installation depicting the same. Specially at
the doll museum you will see the life of a person in the partition. The door
heights are kept small, depicting that we Indians bend over to greet our guests
every time. Small details like these really impressed me.
The whole garden as said is an informal
garden with fortress architecture within. Other elements which will attract the
viewers is the fact of designing the park to touch the senses of the passer by.
Lots of waterfalls created in different scales to soothe the ears.
You will not feel as in you are.
Capitol complex
Capitol complex is a set of three main government buildings which govern the whole state capital. High court, Assembly and Secretariat building. All designed in brutal architecture while being climate responsive.
Corbusier designed these buildings while considering the climate of Chandigarh being at extreme condition. Thus, outside the palace of assembly and the high court you shall see a water body for hot and dry summer of Chandigarh.
Lot of wind movement is allowed throughout these buildings. And as the massing is done with beton brut in cold temperature the heat is maintained within the buildings. to make sure that these buildings have their own privacy, Corbusier installed a hill as a landscape element which blocks the view from the approaching road.
Le Corbusier centers
To those who do not know, Corbusier designed and planned the city of Chandigarh post-independence. Thus, his then office is converted to the le Corbusier museum now. Usage of concrete, bricks, jute lack panels and glass are extensively used here.
Jute lack panels are used over the doors and windows. The roof was a combination of sloped structures and thin shell structure. Lots of ribbon windows to provide ample amount of sunlight within the interiors.
Museum talks a lot about how the planning
was done, the letters exchanged for the discussion taking place etc.
There is also an modular man installation
by him to pass on his legacy to the generations of architects after him.
Overall for any architectural enthusiast
and for travel enthusiasts, Chandigarh is the best place to visit to.
Form follows function!
In the previous blog I have discussed about the different
elements in general. In todays segment we shall speak about them and how they
help us, in detail.
As an architect and designer, we tend to plan our projects
in simple forms. That means we tend to draw inspiration from certain examples
we see in our routine. But what if at one point, we get exhausted and run out
of ideas? The solution is still easy and at our doorsteps. Take a pen and start
drawing grids. Most of our ancestors have always chosen geometry over anything
else. For example, Charbagh gardens, the planning of this type of gardens has
come from a square grid.
Down below I have adopted few elements of design to make you
understand even more.
Grid pattern
The best way to organize something or plan is by grids.
Specially if your site is just like mine (30’ * 60’).
For this always we need to understand certain aspects of
planning that project.
The different functions of the house, Vaastu if necessary,
the flow of all those functions.
By function I refer to which room has to come where (private
and public access). By Vaastu I refer to the climatology that we shall see
while zoning. We can actually have a different segment on Vaastu! lastly after
you know the function based on which is more private like dining halls, living
area we can organize them in that sense.
Line it away!
Now how to make a grid? Simply take your pen divide the plot
by different lines. Few examples are below. You can go for complex grids to if
you want.
Mend it!
After dividing the
grid and choosing the one which suits you, mend it, blend it according to your
wish. More you change, you will realize how amazing it looks. You can add
partitions, stairs and other such elements. Just remember one thing do not go
overboard.
Final look
In the final chapter you shall have something which looks
fabulous yet simple. This type of planning works great in housing. You can plan
number of floors with different types of grids you can use.
Elements of Design
Designing is a tough job to complete. We as designers have
to think about lot of aspects to make that perfect design. Thus, sometimes it’s
easy to come up with certain basics which will help us in doing so. These are
called elements of design. These elements are not only helpful to architects but
artists and also fashion designers.
So, all the designers reading this, take your notepad out
and start recording all this. You can thank me later 😊.
Point
Point or a dot is the first key element of all. It defines the starting point of any design or a line.
Let’s try something, take a paper and pen, in the middle, draw a dot. After staring at it continuously, you will see that your brain starts making up notions automatically. Just a dot will create an artistic picture in your head. Now add one more to this, your brain shall make a line out of it. Many artists have creating a painting an art form with dots called pointillism. It also serves as a calm therapy to your mind.
Line
Two dots when joined together forms a line. Now you may think,
what will a line do to create a design. The line creates a pattern which make
your eye move along with them. Example of a wood, the lines on a wooden log
make you travel along with them. Our floor tiles have plenty amount of lines in
them, which make them interesting. Try placing two or more line together and
create wonderful patterns. Combination of vertical and horizontal lines create
patterns which are highly used in today’s world.
Shape
A shape is a two-dimensional body. When two or more lines
join together to form a particular closed form it is called a shape. There can
be geometric shapes like rectangle, square or there can be organic shapes which
have a certain free flowing pattern in them. Earlier the shapes were inspired
by nature, the shape of a mountain, sun, spider web, shells etc. These days we
opting for a combination of all the geometric shapes to create a certain play
in our design.
Form
A shape having depth is called a form. For example, a circle
is a shape but a sphere is a form. These
forms can be either geometrical or organic again. Organic forms are inspired by
natural organic shapes, like the streamline shape of a fish, jelly fish, trees
and branches etc. All you have to do is observe all the forms around you and
take inspiration from them.
Texture
Textures is the feel of the form or a surface. Textures in a
design tells us about how we feel when we look at them. For example, when we
use wooden furniture, we know how a wooden texture is. The rough textured on
the walls is the best way to enhance a plain empty wall.
Space
Where a shape of form occupies, it is called a space. Mostly
we categorize space as positive or negative. We define a positive as a solid
form, and negative as a void. Space is very important because that’s where
everything exists. Always create a pattern of positive and negative forms or
shapes to make the best of designs.
Color
Color play is one of my favorites of all. Color adds
character to your design. Using the right color palette always works. Try also
adding, shades and tints. Shades of colors can be added by using black in the
color, whereas tints are the lighter hues of that color. Using of a lighter color
with something bright is the best way to achieve a good design.