FOREVER by Akshada Muley, Neha Oswal, and Aishwarya Rajasekar

Archinect recently connected with Akshada Muley, Neha Oswal, and Aishwarya Rajasekar, recent graduate students of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design's Master of Architecture II program. Together we unpack their final project: FOREVER. With the proposal, the trio aims to address the issues of plastic use and waste by creating a new narrative to counter the "anthropocentric way we often describe the city." By anthropomorphizing how a city and its waste can be described, they portray how the "world is shared with many other non-human entities, each with their own tendencies and dispositions."

Archinect connected with Muley, Oswal, and Rajasekar as they explain their use of film as a medium to explain their project. They add, "our story makes plastic viscerally and emotionally present in the city. Here plastic is no longer the much-maligned victim, the neglected creature made to serve us, and discarded when no longer needed." Advised by Natasha Sandmeier & Nathan Su of UCLA's IDEAs Entertainment Studio program, the students also discuss their outlook on the architecture industry and job prospects today.

Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects: 2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for architecture graduates. Students were displaced as schools shut down, academic communities had to adapt to a new virtual format, end-of-year celebrations were canceled or changed dramatically, and now these students are graduating into an extremely challenging employment market. To support the 2020 class we're launching a summer series of features highlighting the work of thesis students during this unique time of remote learning amid COVID-19. Be sure to follow our 2020 thesis tag to stay up to date as we release new project highlights.

Our piece, titled FOREVER, offers a counter-narrative to the anthropocentric way we often describe the city. It acknowledges that our cities, and indeed our world is shared with many other non-human entities, each with their own tendencies and dispositions.

Please briefly describe your thesis/final project and your inspiration.

Our piece, titled FOREVER, offers a counter-narrative to the anthropocentric way we often describe the city. It acknowledges that our cities, and indeed our world is shared with many other non-human entities, each with their own tendencies and dispositions.

Our film offers an opportunity to reframe our relationship with plastic; one that is currently driven by guilt and vilification, into one of empathy and responsible cohabitation. It attempts to shift our attitude towards plastic, a material made invisible through its banality. Instead, our story makes plastic viscerally and emotionally present in the city. Here plastic is no longer the much maligned victim, the neglected creature made to serve us, and discarded when no longer needed. Plastic here flocks together to challenge our world, encouraging a more responsible approach to world-building and world-living, on its way to building one of its own. 

How did your project change as studios transitioned to remote learning?

To ensure collaborative work as a studio, we used platforms like Miro to show our work to our mentors and colleagues and get instant feedback for our project which ensured that we were together virtually, if not physically. 

The entertainment studio is highly based on digital media, so the format of our projects of designing for screens was a pivotal factor in terms of how remote learning did not change our workflow significantly. To ensure collaborative work as a studio, we used platforms like Miro to show our work to our mentors and colleagues and get instant feedback for our project, which ensured that we were together virtually, if not physically. For our project, the pandemic set the stage for the empty city seen in our film. It challenged our narrative in new ways to make the project even more relevant and, we hope, provocative within our new reality. 

For our project, the pandemic set the stage for the empty city seen in our film. It challenged our narrative in new ways to make the project even more relevant and, we hope, provocative within our new reality. 

Any tips for students working through their final projects?

The pandemic has underscored the need for us to explore new means of collaborative work and presentation as well as a redefined workflow. As students, we must be open to accepting alternative platforms to give justice to our work in multifold ways. Remote learning gives us the chance to reach people and critics across the globe, widening the reach of our projects beyond four walls. Being international students, such a format definitely helps to increase our connections with experts in different parts of the world. In this virtual world, we must be on our toes, open-minded, and ready to embrace the new challenges ahead of us. This unique experience is definitely worth it. 

FOREVER by Akshada Muley, Neha Oswal, and Aishwarya Rajasekar

As recent graduates, it becomes important for us to understand the effects of the global scenario on architecture and urban planning, and to come up with new ways to handle this two-fold dynamic.

As recently graduated students, how do you feel about the architecture industry right now and job prospects?

The architecture industry is a mix of both types of work - physical as well as digital. A part of it lies in the office, and the other is on site. Both are dynamically connected to one another. As recent graduates, it becomes important for us to understand the effects of the global scenario on architecture and urban planning, and to come up with new ways to handle this two-fold dynamic. However, more emphasis now lies on the digital media involved in architecture and design, as it becomes more crucial to deliver powerful concepts and narratives using digital media like images and videos, and augmented and virtual reality. As newly emerging storytellers, it offers us opportunities to explore fields allied to architecture, like graphic design, animation and films. We certainly are facing challenges because of a freeze in hiring, but we continue to stay hopeful as cities open up, and we get a chance to seize new opportunities.