Noted.: Architecture

Showing posts with label Architecture. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Space - Geometry - Pattern

Adalaj Stepwell, Ahmedabad

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

A trip to Kumaran Kovil near Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu. With the recent rains and the amazing weather I had my camera ready after a long while during this trip. Here are some glimpses of the temple and its surroundings.

With less crowd around there, a very clean temple and just loved the simple circular columns used to create the shaded space around the main temple. By not adding all the decorative work around and keeping the shaded area simple the stone work of the main temple just stood out.

Lord Muruga Shrine

Breaking the landscape

From the hill top. The rain and the green.

Lone Polluter

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Sepia Pavilion

Installation made for photography exhibition during the annual college festival UTOPIA along with Shobitha Jacob.

The idea was to create a twisting tunnel that encloses the space along the wall of our college canteen so as to let people walk through the pavilion from either sides. Since the two of us have never really tried working with bamboo, with the curiosity, we decided to go with bamboo for achieving the desired structure. Most of the bamboo joinery are knots, the Japanese square lash knot; except for the ones at the ground. Shall get those details in photographs soon. The idea of hanging the photographs with cloth like scrolls came up on the final day. It also helped us in enhancing the enclosed nature of this space as the structure felt too open due to less number of bamboo members.

The structure being a very simple idea, getting it executed was a challenge right from detailing out the joinery to the amount of physical effort involved. With all the market surveys, looking for different possible details and opinions from different shopkeepers at the Ajmeri Gate Market in around a span of 12 days, we were able to complete the pavilion (including design). Though the twisting effect did not turn up as we expected but there was a lot of learning that happened during the process of execution.

Before the installation came up.

To be continued...

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Cover Page Design

Continuing with my addiction to the triangles, this time it was the cover-page design competition for the college annual report. With a very short notice of 3 days and in the middle of our Urban Design Pre- Final submissions, the triangles were a really convincing choice to create a backdrop here. With very less text to go on the cover-page, I focused on creating an interesting and simple back drop which would allow me to play with the text. Within half an hour managed to create the basic pattern of triangles in grayscale. In the next ten minutes I started trying out gradient effects and blend options and got this very effect I have finally used.

Competition Entry

Competition Entry- Front

Competition Entry- Back

Once the competition results were announced and mine shortlisted as the winner, the faculty asks me to make it look more formal i.e, without the tilt in the text as the office people won't understand the graphic and they are more keen on the content. Also had to align the SPA Logo within the triangle, something I missed in the original design.

Final Layout

Final Layout- Front

Final Layout- Back

Here is a high resolution image of the backdrop, if you like it to be your desktop wallpaper for sometime :D

Wallpaper

Seminar Poster

I was part of the Graphic team at Seminar 2012 in my college.

Here are the final posters and invites that were designed for the event.

Posters:

Printed on A3's and A0's, Matte Finish.

Final Poster

Process

Invitation:
Printed back to back. 6 invites on one A3, Matte Finish, 250gsm paper.
The original ones I made were with a blue backdrop. As it was disagreed by the rest of the team, it had to be re- worked out.

Invitation ( Front & Back)

Apart from the posters and invites a panel of 841 x 4400mm containing the synopsis of all the individual presentations were made.

Monday, June 18, 2012

At Sunrise

Connaught Place, New Delhi

A day before I had to leave home, a friend of mine wanted me to click some pictures of CP looking deserted and so we decided to get there early in the morning for the same. This is one of the photographs I took when I went there.
It was interesting to see all the workers of the different stores playing cricket in the car parking areas on this Sunday morning. You could see some guys standing there waiting for their turn to bat.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Minimal

Up There!, Manali, Himachal Pradesh

SHADES, At Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Dissertation- Impact of Photography on Modern Architecture

Four years after its discovery in 1839, the following appeared in a London Magazine,
“Photography is a young art, but from its present aspect, we can judge what power it will have in its maturity.” – Household Words, Charles Dickens.

Considering the above statement, the power of photography as a tool of visual communication has grown with experimentation and incoming of modern technology. Looking at photography from an architectural point of view, buildings are photographed primarily to be documented, sold or advertised. Does a space feel the same as good as it looks in a photograph? Or has the building just been made to look good in the photograph? Do thecontemporary architects aim all their activities toward getting to the magazine cover and not worrying whether the building will last beyond the photographers shooting session? The intent of the photograph needs to be studied.

Open publication - Free publishing - More architecture

Thursday, October 20, 2011

My Portfolio

Finally managed to get it done ;)
Here is the compilation of my selected works that I made for application of Intership during January- June 2012.

Open publication - Free publishing - More architecture

Do check it out and let me know what you feel about it.
Cheers!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Abstract.. What does it mean?

"Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. "

Source: Wikipedia

Why am I looking at this suddenly?

The reason is the photograph below:

Lines at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi

This was one of the 5 photographs I sent as an entry to Nicephoto 2011- An amateur photography competition and exhibition. This is one of the most weird photography competitions I've participated. It had 12 categories to participate including ones like 'Others' and 'Can't Decide'. I'm still not able to figure out the idea behind those categories.

Lets get back to that photograph. This photograph was uploaded in the Abstract category, though I didn't have much of an idea about what abstract was all about. Because these lines and the vivid colour made no sense to me other than just being an interesting visual composition, maybe that is why I chose it to be in this category.

It was only when this photograph got selected for the exhibition, I wondered.

Only then did I start looking deeper into the photograph... because for a person like me, who has just been playing with the camera all along, it started feeling like 'think its time for some serious business'.

So, I wanted to figure out what is the basic idea of abstract is, as the whole study about it will not be feasible by me.

Then as usual, I google to try understand what exactly is ' Abstract'.

Kazimir Malevich, Black Square, c. 1913

This is the first image that comes up in Wikipedia.

As usual it made no sense at the first look, though it seems like making a strong and bold statement. But as one reads about it, it has been the turning point in the development of Russian avant-garde.
It has lead to the creation of a of a new movement in Russian painting - Suprematism.

"Artwork which takes liberties, altering for instance color and form in ways that are conspicuous, can be said to be partially abstract. Total abstraction bears no trace of any reference to anything recognizable."- Wikipedia

Thus keeping in mind the basic idea of abstract art, I try relating it to photography.

Now as I look into abstract photography, I find this article by Ron Bigelow, a website where one can find free tutorials, videos and articles on photography.This extract is from his article on abstract photography.

" There is no standard, universally accepted definition of abstract photography. Actually, it is not easy to create a clear-cut definition of an abstract concept. Thus, for this article series, abstract photography will be defined as photography that:

Does not represent the subject in a literal way.
Communicates primarily through form, color, and curves rather than image detail.

There are three essentials to abstract photography: form, color, and curves. It is paramount that an abstract photographer learns to think in these terms."

http://ronbigelow.com/articles/abstract-photography/abstract-photography.html

Some of my observations from my photograph at Jantar Mantar that I feel put it in the abstract category:

The subject has not been literally brought out.

The first question most people ask me when I've shown them this image is " What is this? Where is it? " and they don't believe when I say its at Jantar Mantar.

The scale of the image is not evident.

The shadow adds to the depth, thus creating an illusion of three planes.

The texture adds to the ruggedness and creates a decaying effect.

The simple lines and the vivid colour creates a mystery.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

India Gate Silhouette Play

India Gate is one of the places I have visited the most, generally during sunset or at night. One would love the warmth of the lights, the crowd (when I walked with my camera, some asked me to click them in front of the monument and print it for them, and when i tell them I'm a student they ask me to e-mail the photo to them.) , the pani puri and ice creams. Vendors selling cheap, differently lit and attractive objects, where some fly, some rotate, some form patterns, though all these last only for a few days, they help create some memorable moments of this place.

Where is the India Gate..?
Here are some of my experiments, trying to create an illusion and a mystery using panorama photography to create these silhouettes.
So what has caused the difference in these images..?
Distance of the subject..! As one moved closer, the perspective has caused the distortion.

The first image makes a strong statement of the purpose of the monument, its mass and solidity.
The second image gives one an idea of how marvelous and tall the monument is when one stands below it.
The third image was just an experiment with perspective. Still it shows how the monument stands proudly in its lone context.
The last image.. well here it is.. 'The India Gate'... tada..!
One of my favorite clicks.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Photography, means to create a Different Visual Experience.

Architecture can be appreciated in various mediums, styles, dates and so on. People, generally don't take the time to evaluate an architectural work the way it should be evaluated - as a work of art, with functionality. Its scope is difficult to grasp as a normal person. It is therefore the architects responsibility to present the work the way he wants it to be interpreted. This is where the architect looks into different media for expressing his ideology and work. The photographer plays a vital role here. Photography is the closest and the most efficient form of universal media we have. This form of visual art fascinates any observer that is open to appreciating its manifestation and discerning the hard work that went into its creation.

The world of photography is changing. Ever since photography has been invented, men have been trying to make the best out of it as a tool, dreaming of new ways to make it what human eyes cannot, of speeding time or slowing it down to learn how things behave actually. The traditional methods are being replaced my Digital means. Experimental photography has given us vast options to express the idea. Image editing also plays a key role in the present times by letting the architects express certain features that cannot just be communicated using a raw image. Photography has also globalized architecture, thus bridging the gap between various architectural communities in this world.

This research will be briefly looking at how this whole process evolved, the way the photographer, photograph and Architecture are connected. Different techniques and post processing work that help reveal a totally different story of the building are also to be documented. Considering the fact that both are from the Design entity they have certain components in common, such as the symmetry, geometry, aesthetics, abstraction, composition. Just like constructing a building, the photographer constructs an image using the various components and the available resources.

EZRA STOLLER:

Ezra Stoller, the American architectural photographer, was modernist to his bootstraps. He made some iconic images that helped establish the hegemony of the modern movement during his heyday, which lasted from the 1930s into the 1970s.

Stoller, who died in 2004 at age 89, was the foremost chronicler of Modernist architecture, using his large-format camera to record seminal 20th-century works like Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and Guggenheim Museum, and Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal at Idlewild Airport (now Kennedy).

He had the ability to capture the building according to the architect's vision and to lock it into the architectural canon. His photographs convey a three-dimensional experience of architectural space through a two-dimensional medium, with careful attention to vantage point and lighting conditions, as well as to line, color, form and texture.

Stoller was the seminal figure in a group of talented American photographers who first emerged about 1930. They were devoted modernists and their images were crucial in introducing modern architecture to the larger culture. Architects, in turn, were influenced by the photographers, and designed in the hope of inspiring a great image
from Stoller, Julius Shulman, Balthazar Korab,
Hedrich Blessing, Joseph Molitor, Morley Baer,
or Cervin Robinson.

Stoller's usual procedure was to walk the structure with a rough floor plan in hand. He would mark on the plan the best vantage points, and note the moment of the day when light would be optimal for each shot. He was a master of chiaroscuro, the abstract patterning of shadow and light, in a manner that sometimes evokes Hollywood films of the noir era. He almost always worked in very deep focus, with every detail from the foreground to the horizon pin-sharp.