Orientation

Faculty Co-ordinator : Kausik Mukhopadhyay, Apurva Talpade, Prasad Shetty

Saanvi Kulkarni

The first-year orientation module for the A25 opened with a return to the basics – identifying any one scientific concept we were taught in the last two years that we found particularly interesting. We were asked to conceptualise a theoretical device that utilised this principle to carry out a specific function.

The next three weeks were filled with lots of research, drawing, and modeling as we tried to better express how our ideas felt, beyond the boundaries of everyday ‘diagrammatic’ communication. We used various mediums to experiment with form, structure, and the shape of our devices, blending abstraction and definition to curate something that was unique to ourselves.

The results were multifaceted and broad, ranging from depictions of futuristic, steampunk cities to visceral, grotesque studies of the human body. What started as a formula, or a theory, developed into something much larger – something that could be created, imagined, touched. The boundaries of what we thought was merely ‘science’ stretched to include abstract imagery, intimate visions, and innate sensations.

This challenge, to look around and within ourselves, formed a foundation that feels inherent to the study of Architecture. We came out of the module with a more intuitive understanding of the things we see and the places we go, how the boundaries of the real and unreal collide and culminate into what we previously thought was just ‘textbook knowledge’. Most importantly, we gained a new appreciation for the world around us, the complex processes that make life and art exist, and the various ways they can be expressed.