I am a designer from India, working at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, graphic design, interiors, writing, and social advocacy. I received my Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University along with the Dean’s academic scholarship, and previously my Bachelor in Architecture from School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. Post my graduate studies at GSAPP, I received the Lowenfish Memorial Prize for a project titled “Potluck Publics” that tackled squatter settlements in Lima through social urbanism, economics, and programming along with ad hoc and prop-style architecture. My work aims to coalesce critical thinking with real-world pragmatism, employing trans-scalar and trans-disciplinary methodologies, and supported with my predilection for romanticism and vernacular piquancy.
Currently based in New York City, I have previously worked in India for two years on projects in multiple locations in the country. These involve a range of typologies and scales including institutional, residential, retail interior projects, branding, and research. I have also worked as a designer for a project in Italy introducing solar energy and local economic opportunity at train stations.
Recently, in the Summer of 2020, I worked as a volunteer with the Columbia Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes and as an architectural Designer for Bureau-Spectacular. The former was a design and tactical urbanism project targeted in Red Hook, Brooklyn, aiming at urban activation and reducing environmental temperatures during the difficult anti-social emergency. The latter was a graphic urban analysis and speculation of Downtown Los Angeles (DLTA) for DCBID through multiple vignettes. Presently, I am engaged as a design lead for a charter school (K-12) in Hempstead, NY that is being conceived as a community resource, beyond the confinements of a traditional school. This process was co-conceived as an 8-week workshop series with the client, and consultants were introduced as planned points to propel a collaborative exercise instead of a pedantic one. The project is being conceived as a net-zero building in cross-laminated timber.
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Martin Hopp Architect PLLC, New York, NY, US, Architect and Designer
Design lead for a charter school (K-12) in Hempstead, NY that is being conceived as a community resource, beyond the confinements of a traditional school. This process was co-conceived as an 8-week workshop series with the client, and consultants were introduced as planned points to propel a collaborative exercise instead of a pedantic one. The project is being conceived as a net-zero building in cross-laminated timber.
Scope of work - design concept and development, design drawings, 3D modeling, renders, visuals and graphics design, conducting workshops, site analysis, research and studies, correspondence with consultants and clients
Bureau Spectacular / Jimenez Lai, Los Angeles, CA, US, Architectural Designer
Collaboration on a graphic urban analysis and speculation of Downtown Los Angeles for the Downtown Center, Business Improvement District. Envisioned as a love letter to Downtown LA, research and analysis were developed as a collection of chapters investigating DTLA through multiple lenses and vignettes and proposing ad-hoc, temporal, and long-term planning and design speculations. With due consideration given to the developments of the current health and economic crisis, the soon-to-be publication forms a framework to understand Downtown LA and a manual to turn these series of layers, physical and temporal, into potential developments.
Scope of work - 3D modeling, research, site studies, presentation graphics and renders, architectural drawings, academic writing
Columbia University, Columbia Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, New York, NY, US, Architectural Designer (volunteer)
Designer and Volunteer on a tactical urbanism project in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Titled “Cool Streets” and in collaboration with CBOs and non-profits, the project was in the first edition to test prototypes of urban and architectural design that enable residents to use public space whilst beating the heat and maintaining social-distancing protocols. The outcome was a collection of interventions including a pop-up library, shelters/pavilions, misting tunnels, and enabling some local businesses to sell food and other items.
Scope of work - design conception and development, 3D modeling prototype drawings, renders and visuals, community outreach, material procurement, assembling on-site prototypes
Freelance Archtect, New Delhi, India, Architect
Design development of a residential project - a two-bed residence in the hills of Kausani, Uttarakhand.
Scope of work - design concept and development, 3D modeling, research and site studies, construction and design drawings
Enso Design (India), New Delhi, India, Architect
Project and design lead for multiple typologies and scales : horse riding academy and animal shelter, office interiors, retail block, museum for Buddhist relics, ayurvedic, naturopathy, and yoga center, chain of beer stores launched by AB InBev, research on
progressive museum display techniques.
Scope of work - design concept and development, 3D modeling, design and construction drawings, research, renders and visuals, website development, graphic design and branding, correspondence with clients, consultants, contractors and on-site workers
Hive India, Gurgaon, Haryana, India, Design Consultant
Series of energy and economic efficient kiosks and hubs titled Sosta [means ‘break’], in Italy aimed at generation and consumption of renewable energy, creating livelihood opportunities and urban activation.
Scope of work - design concept and development, construction drawings, 3d modeling, renders and visuals
Atto atelier, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Architectural Intern
Project lead for a bar for upcoming artists, makers and startups in Bengaluru and Atto Atelier’s exhibit at the DesignxDesign showcase at Alliance Francaise, Delhi.
Scope of work - design concept and development, 3D modeling, renders and visuals, research, material testing, off-site assembly of exhibit pieces, correspondence with clients and on-site workers.
Columbia University, New York, NY, US, Masters, Master of Science - Advanced Architectural Design
School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, New Delhi, Bachelors, Bachelor of Architecture
Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize, Award
Best Project, Spring 2020
Title, "Potluck Publics"
Critic, Anna Puigjaner (MAIO Architects)
Dean's Scholarship, Scholarship
COA Awards for Excellence in Architectural Thesis, Nomination
Architectural Thesis, Exit Music
Issuer, Council Of Architecture, India
INTACH Heritage Awards for Excellence in Documentation, 1st Place
Winner, North Zone
Project, Mukteshwar Temple Complex
Issuer, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage
