Creating new and refreshing structures – Anindita Chaudhary and KR Vishwanath
Experimentation, risk and meeting intelligent people drives Anindita Chaudhary, Founder of Studio of Creative Chaos (SoCC), and she is passionate about architecture, interiors, art, technology, adventure sports, cooking and travelling. Interestingly, she has tested a lot of things starting from programming, introduction to machines like CNC 3-7axis, laser cutters, 3D printers, hitech softwares like catia, rhino, grasshopper generative components (bim), revit, web design, advanced metals to various adventure sports like swing jump 100 feet, cliff diving into the water 100 feet, basic surfing course, snorkeling, burma bridge, zip line, driving motorbikes, paragliding and cooking a wide array of food. Anindita Chaudhary did her Bachelors in Architecture from Pune University and went on to pursue an M.Arch Post Professional from BSU, USA.
For her Partner at SoCC, Vishwanath, traveling and food are inspiring. He believes that traveling in India and abroad really gives a wonderful exposure to various details, cultures and cuisines, which he has been employing successfully in his design. KR Vishwanath completed his Architectural Studies with a Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture from the prestigious CEPT, in Ahmedabad.
Studio of Creative Chaos is a multidisciplinary startup. They work on architecture, interiors and landscape, and specialize in fractal geometry, parametrics, kirigami, origami in architecture and landscape. They work exclusively to build something new and refreshing, and are constantly looking out for new materials in the market which, besides being sustainable has load bearing capacity, looks attractive and is cost effective. They look forward to venturing into apps for architecture and hi tech machine integration such as building drone lights.
Besides these new age interests of the firm, Vishwanath exclusively works on Site planning, landscape design and planning. Working on large-scale housing and infrastructure projects is his main forte. He believes, “Space design in combination with other major disciplines really brings out good sustainable master plans which is the biggest requirement of the future”.
Both partners are conscious citizens too. In a voluntary initiative, Anindta worked at Martha’s Kitchen in Washington DC, where they gave out food to the needy. She reminisces, “Habitat for Humanity chapter in Los Angels, where we worked on fixing a run-down home for a family who couldn’t afford to purchase a home essentially. I realize that 1 in 7 are homeless in the world and as an architect it becomes our social responsibility to do something about it.” On a lighter vein she says, “I have a ‘yellow’ head which is always brimming with ideas and solutions” and we hope some day she is able to find solutions to issues plaguing the world.
Vishwanath’s thesis in the post-graduate focused Management of Ecologically fragile regions of Dangs in the state of Gujarat. Though Dangs receives highest rainfall in the state, it has tremendous shortage of drinking water and for irrigation in summer months. He prepared a comprehensive report on how to save water in the regions that has steep topography and managing agricultural actives in the step sloping areas.
Here the duo share with Gallopper their project Manekpore in Gujarat.
In this project, the attempt was to design a recreational space that had that emotional bonding to nature. The designers wanted to create space where people would “feel” like they are in a farmhouse and not in their apartments or bungalows. The question during the initial design phase was “how to distinguish a recreational space and give it that “response” that is different than mundane life?
The intention was to break stereotypical jargons in architecture: here the inside is blending in with the outside, the roof is becoming the wall, the column is turning into a beam and the sky lights are becoming jails, creating a shadow and light effect at different times during the day. The idea was to get this look during the Indian monsoon season when water droplets pour over the skylights. The outdoor kitchen opens up to the lawn with the cantilever roof touching the ground.
Aesthetically, the objective was to use fractal geometry, dramatize the folds and puncture them with several skylights.
The site plan incorporates the building in the south west corner opening the entire site. It is zoned into four major categories: parking area with security cabin, the central multipurpose lawn with a lotus pond, mango orchard, fruit orchard and a play area. Apart from orchards there is a kitchen garden on the rear side.
The plinth has been used as a medium to elevate the whole building from the rest of the site so that one can have a 180 degree view of the entire site.
The designers would like to give due credit to the Client, Apurva Pal for the Interior décor. The architectural design, drawings and coordination was carried out by Anindita Chaudhary, while the landscape design, drawings, coordination belonged to KR Vishwanath. They feel they could have never completed the project without the support of their Contractor – Sandeep bhai and Fabricator, Haider Khan.
On the choice of materials in the project, heres what the designer interludes, “I had decided on using fractal geometry in Manekpore but had a vague idea about how I was going to pull it off due to the triangular shapes. It is done abroad with materials like carbon fiber or concrete but those are prohibitively expensive in India. So we worked on fabrication techniques to build the structure.
“For covering the roof, while doing market survey I came across aluminum composite panels(ACP) and used them. ACP is lightweight, sturdy, provides good insulation (it is 15 degrees cooler inside the cabin), waterproof, low on maintenance and has a great resale value. The walls are also built with bricks but Apurva Pal, our client had fallen in love with cast in situ concrete panels. He didn’t know what it was called so we went to almost every tile store in Surat. Then he saw it one day while driving and pointed it to me and we finally got that done. Anandita asserts, “ Cast in situ concrete panels use less concrete and give you that finished look over brick walls which looks stunning without putting a dent in your wallet.”
Anindita has been working on climate responsive facades. Researching building materials like graphene, CLT (compressed laminated timber), recycled materials to properties of aluminum. She feels strongly about the fact that structures and buildings are “heavy” and not much has been done about it. And Vishwanath, apart from being in the professional field, has an active interest in academics. He motivates students to delve into thesis subjects which are research oriented and ultimately ends in architecture design.
