a ditty of sorts

Catalogue

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:56:00 +0000

I finished it a month back, though I haven't shared it with anyone. Would love to know what you think :)

http://issuu.com/aditigupta/docs/portfolio?mode=window&printButtonEnabled=false

work.shop.week.end

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:15:00 +0000

Intense weekend with hands on graduating to workshop 2.0 with Sanjit Ray who is this overconfident and over critical yet amicable architect. 2 days of hardwork including human chains of 21 people transporting bricks and building arches, running around like never before, setting up tushar's studio with lights to shoot a video for ditty and mark that never happened and well today, the very many gorgeous presentations of some works done by the artists back at KHOJ and the beautiful jazz festival at Nehru Park.

https://www.facebook.com/DittyAndMark
https://www.facebook.com/handsonfactory

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Soaking in peeps

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:04:00 +0000

I don't know when I will get accustomed to the building soaking in the sunlight through the punctured screen at the top. This is a very open ended and mad sort of space, the kind that leaves you confused with a thousand questions. I know I will get a lot of time to myself and I think it's great that I'm trying to find myself again in writing.

The day started with me meeting the rest of the residents and 2 film makers currently working on a project at the Tate Modern with Andi where they are trying to document this underground subculture of teenage break dancers in Khirkee. Then I leave with Lipika to go interview the neighbourhood 'presswaali' which was super! Lipika is trying to understand the relationship between women and the space called 'kitchen'. It was then time to get everyone together and leave for the screening of a movie called Timbaktu, that talks about critical protection of the environment. A beautiful contemporary documentary by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh who also happened to be present for discussion. Got to chat with Krystof on my way back. I really need to figure out what exactly I am doing with my experience here.

Headed to practice which was great, played 'love you madly' and 'music' for thefirst time with the boys. Also i feel my body is freer. We plan to shoot a video tomorrow and I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because the sound hasn't been sorted and we haven't got an interesting space to shoot. So lets see. Tomorrow is also the day to The Hands On Factory's Workshop 2.0! Aaa

Khoj begins today

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:08:00 +0000

I love the Khoj building done by Ambrish Arora. Co-incidentally I had the privilege of hearing him last week at 361degrees, where one of the projects he presented was the building I work in now. A surreal Snow White mix of old and new makes it stand out in the middle of the crazy Khirkee village. 'Khoj' written in sunlight celebrates the artistic vigour that exists inside the building. This sure is an unusual internship, but the unusual is usually what makes me curious. I am extremely excited.

So I came here, after having checked out the artists and their work and being excited as hell to finally work in the art world, was so pleased to meet Andi, who is my boss and the curator of Public Art Ecology: Food Edition II, short, spiky salt and pepper hair and super cool.Then I met The critic, Krystof, who's super excited to travel around the city. Catherine, the first artist in residency who I met, she's also an architect and that makes me a get more comfortable with the place. The first thing Catherine asks us for (Suresh who is an M.tech student and is also interning here) is to arrange for a helium tank to fill up a strong big balloon that she can float up in the sky, attach cameras and equipment that would help her map the whole place. And My brain is going woohooo! We then meet two graduates from NIFT, Ambika and Agat, working together, and finally I get to meet Mia Morikawa, who's work I adore. She's on a quest to get together sounds, gardens, food and a cleaning drive. Tomorrow is a long day, with a visit to the Ambedkar university, a visit to the museum next door and a heritage walk in Khirkee. I have a feeling the next 6 weeks are going to be extraordinary.

As of now, the day ended early and so I'm off to Nehru place to get an XLR cable for Mark's new & shiny AKG C214 to start recording :)

So I don't forget Architecture.

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:04:00 +0000

I'm gonna have to start blogging again. Going off to a music school end of this month for about 6 months. Last 6 months have been HELL. And now, I'm scared I'll be out of touch with architecture education, which I will get back to in July!

So I'm gonna weekly review some work/ Artist/ Some f****** brilliant people and their creative work.

Hope that helps :)

Oh and I think I'm gonna call the blog something else now. But I know not what.

Self fashioned Islands

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:33:00 +0000

First project in school. Believe me I don't wanna get this wrong. So We had to make a presentation on one of crazy primitive shelters. So, being obsessed with the Palms, I decided to take on their primitive form.

This is really cool. The first sort of man made islands were Crannogs. Existing in the Neolithic period, from the 3200-2800 BC, they belong to Scotland and Ireland. They were pretty conical thatches of Oak Piles and Wattle( which was a special adhesive that the people created by mixing Soil, Clay, Animal Dung and Straw) which were connected to the mainland by causeways made of stacked stones and wood. Ofcourse, the one in the picture is rather urban but I'm presuming that you get a fair idea of what its like.

The second one is cooler. Way way cooler. These Islands are not supported from the ground, they are movable, and are floating. They are the Uros islands on the lake Titicaca, Peru. The islands are made of dried Bundled Reeds of the Totora plant. So much so, that the Houses, the boats and everything else is made from this plant. It grows in abundance on the Titicaca Lake itself. There are currently 30 huge islands, they have ofcourse evolved and now, people have access to radios and Television also.
!!!

Freshmen at College

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:08:00 +0000

First day of college, always begins with anxiousness even if you've been to college before. So did mine. [ FYI Indian colleges have a tradition of 'ragging' which involves the senior students taking the freshmen s' ass right left and center. And it can go to extreme extents. Due to this conduct over many many years , our guardian Supreme Court has labeled it as an act of offense and considers it to be punishable. But, as other things too, its not very uncommon to see stuff like this happening illegally. Plus it's an old tradition, and if conducted in limits, can break the ice easily between the freshmen and seniors. ]
So, I definitely was anxious about being ragged. But having professors by your side all throughout orientation was a fun experience, the seniors wanted to kill us :)
My day started with Garam Chai (hot tea) and yummy Pakoras and ended with yummier Strawberry Popsicles.

College is definitely going to be hectic, 9 to 5 schedule. The best part of the day was STATIONARY SHOPPING! oh Lovely. How lovely. I spent gorgeous 90 mins in that shop. :) Was still not satisfying enough. I'm not going to put anything major in today's article, though we did start with classes and asssignments are pouring in already, I'm gonna write about my first assignment tomorrow, when I shall have researched on it. What do you guys have to say about primitive shelters?

Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:07:00 +0000

College starts tomorrow! :) woohoo

Architecture planning and the School associated with it

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:11:00 +0000

Okay, So I post after almost a month and a half, purely because I was literally consumed by the process of 'admissioning'; and when you're consumed by something, you either want to write or simply don't want to write. I was going through the phase that involved the latter.

So my results are out, and I get to stay in my hometown for the next 5 years! As I'm gonna be pursuing architecture at the School of planning and Architecture, New Delhi. Its the best college in this country for Architecture and the faculty is supposed to be awesome apparently. I can't wait for it to start, really. Just anyone please suggest me what kind of a table I should be buying for my hostel to work on.

My East Asian adventure was AWESOME > though the sad part is that I ruined my dear dear Canon baby in the ocean but nevertheless, My friend who accompanied me did click a lot of pretty shots. And I seriously wanna go back to Clarke Quay. Oh my god, loved the night life. Loved it. And I'll post more really soon, really really soon.

College Search

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:46:00 +0000

I don't think I will end up doing college in Fall 2008, I want to do so much more. I SO want to apply to RISD, but ouch! the tuition hurts. Besides I really want to start an NGO which I have been thinking about for a long time and I myself want to volunteer at the commonwealth games, Pune, India this year. And I want to sing, get my 8th grade trinity exams done with. There's just so much to do. WHERE can I start my studies in the spring semester 2009?

Anyhow, you guys , all of you who're already studying design or architecture, or are practicing, can attend the Architecture Association, London's amazing visiting student programs. At their last Winter visiting program, they had Rem Khoolas as a lecturer! what the heck.
This http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/?section=school&page=Visiting%20Programmes&sst=2
is where you need to click.

Oh and I'm getting ready for my East Asian adventure which begins on the 26th! so yippie! can't wait. I'll be visiting Singapore, KL, Genting, PJ, Cyberjaya and Langkawi! I'm gonna be GLUED to my Cannon. :)

the power of ZERO

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Sun, 18 May 2008 15:43:00 +0000

Today I was watching one of those public opinion shows on TV about how to slow down ecological destruction, and saw this young boy chattering to a camera man about how he wished someone could design a house which would be powered by renewable energy sources. Well, I am proud to break the news to you, young fellow, if you're reading my blog, ahem, that such a house does exist!
A house that generates its own electric power, collects its own water, processes its own waste and that is fully automatic! I'm talking about the zero house! Its unbelievable. Its an ecological haven designed by Scott Specht. And is by far the greatest service an architect has done to the environment.

The cool part is that it can be erected , assembled and installed in almost any environmental condition which can range from 10 feet deep water to 35 degrees tilted ground. This is possible due to its unique helical foundation system which touches ground at only 4 points.

It is Fully furnished with electronic devices such as a 42" LCD TV a full size refrigerator and is almost maintainance-free. The exteriors of the house are impregnable to almost all outside influences, It possesses comfortable interiors that can house up to 4 adults, is extremely secure, and it can be left inhabited for long periods of time. The best part is that it can be put on to the hibernating mode where it conserves the stored energy. You can check it out by clicking on the zero house link above. Its estimated to sell like hot cakes since it was designed but the only problem is that it costs $350 thousand +. Ouch!

Sculptors? or Architects?

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:49:00 +0000

So, what exactly is the difference between a sculptor and an architect? An architect is caged by function whereas a sculptor is an artist. Art has no boundaries whereas an architect has to inculcate art in engineering. And after coming across ONL, Oosterhuis_Lenard, A firm with a visionary sculptor and a devoted architect both working together.
Apart from the insect like wedding chapel I had earlier posted about, another project of theirs that I am a total fan of is the multi purpose Hessing Cockpit in Acoustic Barrier, Utretch, Netherlands.
It is a massive steel and glass structure which was built to separate districts from the industrial ones by dampening sound. It is a 1.5km long acoustic barrier and an industrial building of 5000m2 which is home to some of the world's most exclusive automotive monsters. Hessing shows off Rolls Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini and Maserati all under one roof. And, under the spectacular 3d track of the showrooms, the workshop and the garage are located, just revealing the top of the cars the mechanics are working on .

And ONL gives lectures at the Delft university, Germany. Dear Lord, I wish I had the privilege to go to a place of this sort. The other day I read somewhere that Zaha hadid herself gives lectures at Pratt, NYC and Rem Khoolas (!) gives lectures at the GSD, Harvard. Wow Wow Wow! I'm not going to attend these colleges but I'm sure I'm going to apply for exchange once I go to college again. :)

Brainteasers!

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:32:00 +0000

Dear dear all. I greatly apologise for my absence, but I had nowhere to blog from. My computer was not working. I actually spent my time in front of puzzles rather than sitting in front of my mac, and blimey, I feel creatively worked out! brain teasers are a great way to exercise the left and the right sides of your brain at the same time!
So , I'm gonna tell you about some sites that you can task your analytical and problem solving skills with. OK the graphics of the sites are unpleasant, but hey! don't let that get to you.

Puzzles1
Puzzles2
Puzzles3

And if you're in for some more, and want to create your own anagrams, secret puzzles, word scrmbles sliders, word paints, you could do that too!

APTE
Archemedes-Lab
Crosswords

Lemme in on more creativity enhancing sites if u do and Enjoy untwisting the twisted!

Pritzker!

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:34:00 +0000

OK so I was hearing a lot about the Pritzker prize being awarded to Mr. Jean Nouvel, (which is actually history now, as it feels like I haven't posted in years) and decided to find out a little more about it for the sake of satisfying my dear inquisitive grace :)
The Pritzker is awarded once a year to only one living architect for his outstanding work which yawps out talent, commitment and vision in the art of architecture, one who has contributed significantly to the human society through the same.

It is sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation and has the most gorgeous medallion there is. There has been only lady to receive this honor and that was Ms. Zaha Hadid back in 2004. Her famous projects being : Glasgow Transport Musem , Scotland; Nordkettenbahn (aerial tramway) , Innsbruck, Austria; Nuragic and Contemporary art museum, Cagliari, Italy; Maggie's centre at the Victoria Hospital , Kirkcaldy,Scotland; High speed train station of Afragola , Italy; BMW Central , Leipzig, Germany.

The list of others who have been honored with this prize includes Rem Khoolas, Jorn Utzon, Phillip Johnson, and many others. Can't get my eyes off the damn medallion. Its B-E-A-U-tiful! :)

Dedon

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:16:00 +0000

Some extravagant pieces of outdour comfort by Dedon. I won't write too much. The designs shout the talent out . The furniture is hand woven made of fiber that is eco friendly, very flexible, reflects UV radiation, colour fast and not to forget very pretty. The weaving especially is unique and very beautiful. Check out their new collection on their site.

Ultimate amongst peaks

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:57:00 +0000

eVolo Architecture was formed by a group of architects directing towards sustainable architecture in the 21st century.Each year they host a skyscraper Competition! Yeah a sky scraper competion for students, architects, designers, engineers, whoever would want to participate and create something innovative and creative that is technologically feasible and environmentally responsible. Some great pieces of art have been shortlisted and you can view them on the site.

This year, for 2008, the 1st prize was won by Elie Gamburg, who is a student of Cornell university
The 2nd was won by Rugel Chiriboga and Ted Givens. Some Fantabulous pieces of work there.
One that I personally am in awe of is the Urban Sky Mountain by Natalie Ghatan.
The eVolo book is also available on the site which has details of every winning and shortlisted entry full with 240 illustratons. And shipping is available to any part of the world.
This site is a must visit.

Manga Comics

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:27:00 +0000

Graphic Novels are my favorite. My brother was a die hard fan of comics but he somehow ended up transferring his love to me. He no longer reads anything. Ashish you really need to get involved with books again.
Anyway, SO I read this series of manga comics called Miki Falls by Mark Crilley a long time ago. Borrowed them from my little cousin. They're for teens actually. They're really cute!
What got me to read them were these wonderful tutorials on 'how to draw manga figures' which are posted on YouTube by the author. Check out his YouTube Channel. If you practice, You can actually learn how to draw Manga figures. These tutorials are Awesome.

UNREAL??ONREEL!

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:38:00 +0000

Ever wondered how superman movies show superman flying? or how harry potter's Wand is able to produce those flashes of light, or further so, how in those supercool muzic videos, the artist visualises stuff, pops in and out of his dream, walks on water, and lightens up the background.
I'm not talking about Animation, I'm talking about Movie effects. I came accross this great video which is actually GenArts ' Demo reel. They provide digital artists with more than 200 awesome image processing and synthesis effects. They've got some really cool effects in this video. Enough to pop your eyes out 8-D.

P.S. Sorry couldn't upload it because of the size. But DO NOT hesitate to follow up the link to youtube.

Climbing the never ending staircase

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:57:00 +0000

He's one of the greatest graphic artists in the history of mankind.
M.C. Escher's work is savored by people throughout the world and I love his work especially that in Isometry, Geometry and perspective. Isometry being my favorite subject, I was obsessed with his work in college.
I'm not going to write much , and let his work do the talking.

The Ascending Descending staircase and the never ending waterfall are works of his that almost everyone has scene but no one knows are his. Check out his gallery for more works.
P.S. Please look at his works carefully to understand.

Getting married in THERE

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:21:00 +0000

Another prospective wonder from ONL, This ones called the Wedding chappel . Still not finalised yet (been in the future projects list since 2007), it is tentative to be built in Nanjing, China.

Its about 450 m square in space. And is going to be one of the most bizarre acrchitectural designs ever.Its unusual, distinct and extraordinary.

Apparently, the Wedding Chapel structure is a direct translation of an intuitive 3d sketch by Ilona Lénárd on a 3d digitaliser. The continuous curve thus created has been literally used for the construction of the Chappel.

Between certain section of the curves ONL has created double curved surfaces which form the envelope of the enclosed space for the wedding ceremony. A curved path patiently curls up from the landscape into the Wedding Chapel. And the colourful bits and pieces that you see are going to be stained glass.

Lets hope to see people get married in this insect like thing! :)

phOtOjOjO!

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:16:00 +0000

Okay, This is my favourite photography newsletter, and I totally suggest you guys to subscribe to it. Its full of funky DIY projects dealing with your photos, great Tips, Cool competitions and news thats unprocessed.
You subscribe via email, u get it twice a week or you can go for the RSS feed! Check it out

DezeenJobs

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:15:00 +0000

This is the place to be if you're looking for Art, Design and Architecture internships; or for that matter even jobs. Its quite cool.

Santiangelo?

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:23:00 +0000

His work speaks for him, and the critics have tagged him as the Michelangelo of the 21st Century. Santiago Calatra va - I personally revere his work immensely. and can definitely say every architect looks up to him as he is not just an architect, but also a structural engineer. Everything that he has built or rather designed has a class to it. It is said that he chooses his project with utmost meticulousness and works on them with even more sincerity and devotion. His way of designing is not the same as the others and he builds one of a kinds projects with the essence of structural engineering highly evident.
Be it 80,South Street which a residential project consisting of 45 glazed cubes stuck together in an atypical way, or Chicago spire which looks like a pirouetting bar of candy floss or the Reggio Emila Station (Station Medio Padana) which I insist, you must check out are all unique pieces of art. [There is no separate site for the station as it is under construction so you can check it out on Santiago Calatrava's site].
When I heard that Calatrava addressed students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy giving a series of lectures, I was indeed Green with envy. I can go on for hours talking about his work at the same time praising them. Please please please check out his work. You don't want to miss out on this.

Just ONE %

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:30:00 +0000

I recently visited my friend for lunch, when I saw the beamingly exhibited Fruit Template on the Table which her Mother got from Tokyo. Its a one of its kind Fruit holder. As I wouldn't like to call it a fruit bowl. I inquired about it a little and found out that it's designed by another Japanese Product design firm called 1% Products. Their concept is rather cool as they manufacture only 100 of their uniquely designed products so that the customer becomes the owner of 1% of the entire edition.
They've got a limited stock (obviously) but very little number of products. Some are very neat, modern whereas some do not score. Have a look at it.
.

YUMMY Pencils ! Which I CANT WAIT to get my hands on.

noreply@blogger.com (ADITI) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:16:00 +0000

First of all I would like to apologize to all my readers , *I'm Sorry for the Absences*, I did not have access to an Internet connection for the past 3 days.
And I am so excited about the article that I'm writing today that I hardly wish to make up for my 3 pending articles. All Chocolate lovers are going to love this!
NENDO is a Design Collaboration that I came across recently, It's a Japanese organization consisting of designers who want to make a difference to the lives of people who choose Nendo .
Check out their concept for sure. And other works- the Bookshelf, the tea bottle the tetris , All their architecture, furniture etc. they're worth checking out and are all on the site.

One of their most recent works include the 'chocolat e pencils' that make your mouth water. No, you can not draw or write with them, they are designed as tableware . The artists at Nendo wanted their plates to show off the beauty of meals and desserts like a painting on a canvas. And that's how they came up with the chocolate pencils. Apparantly you also get a sharpner free!! :) which yeilds chocolate shavings that you can decorate your dessert with. I definitely want this on my dining table!