Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Section 'wise'...?

A Jury is often the highlight in the life of a student of Architecture. Its THE showcase of you talent....a test of one's mettle. Jury members often have an attitude problem, and some come with a downright egoistic attitude. So lesser the arguments, greater your chances of passing!. In my case, a jury was a 5 minute operation. Plans, Elevations, Sections lined like the bogies of a train. At times one above the other; especially if one tends to work in terms of KG/LBS of output. Here are a few excerpts from some of the juries, where there is a total disconnect between the student and the faculty. Consider it as short stories! :)

1. Its 8 am. Students, sheets, models cover every inch of space in the studio. Jury Time!
A five member panel of people aged between 40 and 60 enters the studio. If one is clever, the age itself should be a indication of what to do and what not to do. But first yearites and second yearites are amateurs. The energy peaks at the wrong time.

Designing a cow shed - (really, one would think; do you have to design one?, cows have that much of an aesthetic sense? Imagine a cow saying "steel window frames, thats my spot. I want my share of the vista"). Nevertheless, that was the design project for the first year studio. Believe me when i say it, 'architects are half mad'. A few interesting pieces:

Jury number 1: kartik, and the conversation flows. His design was spectacular. Followed francis d.ching's book and came up with a clear design. Clearly depicted plans, elevations and sections. One of the panel members, ekbote (aged 50) focussed his glasses on the section and kept scrutinizing the drawing. Clearly he was uncomfortable, and he had the habit of sitting on the edge of his chair in a slant fashion. Anyone could easily pull the chair for a good laugh. He walks up to the pinned up sheets. When they do that, your heat beats start to skip...It becomes a F1 race. He places his finger on exactly one location where an irregular figure is drawn and there are some crude lines which wasnt making sense from any angle. Also there seemed to be a few spots, which looked as though something was dropping. He turns to K, focusses his eyes and asks "what is this?" Now, thats a simple question.
K, is clearly flustered by the question. This is his first jury with an outside panel and simple minded. He replies, "Sir, thats a cow". Now every person in the room had become inquisitive. Ekbote asks "please explain, i cannot see the cow".
K explains, "Sir, i drew the cow in the plan first. And then i happened to draw the section line. unfortunately it went right through the cow's body. So, in the section i had to cut of his head. All that scribblings you see is what i have tried to depict of the inner parts of the cow."
That was a honest explanation, even though the whole class and most jury members burst into laughters. Ekbote asks again "what are those spots then?"
K once again provides a simple explanation. "Sir, since i cut the cows head, its obvious that blood will drop. So i have depicted that."

Jury Number 2: Ramya, petite and honest. She always used to come up with wierd ideas. But her design always seemed to have exorbitant flaws. Ekbote once again was the only soul in the jury panel who seemed to be interested in the designs. He happened to notice two levels in the design. So he asks, "why are there two levels in the section?". R, explains nonchalantly "Sir, I have provided my cow shed on the first floor". There was pindrop silence. Ekbote is perplexed like all others, "and how my dear, do the cows reach on top, is there a lift as well?"
R replies "Sir, i have provided a ramp. Lift would be costly".
At this point of time, it would not be wise to either ask a question or reply. :)

2. There are a few people who used to explain the whole design principle in single words, and to connect the words one had to follow the movement of the hand. So it was a very 'handy design'. (PJ i know!! I am a sincere JOKER.)
This was how mehtaji used to go about explaining his design. It was unique. In this case a museum was the project.
"Sir, this - entrance....people enter....walkway....indirect lighting.....glass panels......
Sir, this museum one....museum two....dome roof, lighting from top....shaded, pergolas....one cafeteria....guard room, services area.....exit". Close your eyes and if you could interpret that, you are a genius.

3 comments:

honshu said...

dude...u mite get into serious trouble.
but its hilarious all the same...

ur giving me my daily sip of reading man...
way2 go..

im a fan of ur blogs now!!!

Nitin said...

yeah...will try to be more +ve the next time! :)

Jeannie Flores Gill said...

I am cracking up laughing Nitin!
Are you serious about these designs? HAHAHAHAHA

So in a nutshell, a design is suppose to explain itself. The less words you use.........the better. HA HA HA