Happy Birthday Sai

Today is a day of major consequence for all of us. It's the last day of internship for most of us. It also happens to be  Sai's birthday. In the past couple of months he has played several roles in all our lives - boss, mentor, friend...just to name a few. He has been a constant source of encouragement, a voice of rebuke when required and a sounding board for all the times in between. So, today as we all head out (some literally, others metaphorically) we have many things to say about him, but only two things to say to him - Thanks for everything Sai and we wish you a very very Happy Birthday!

-Mannat 

House in the Hills : The Concept

With all of the constraints and challenges, with everything that we wanted the design to be, the following is a small prose that puts together how we envision this House in the Hills...

' We think of the home like a gazebo placed within the garden that surrounds it. Conversely, the garden also becomes part of the built space. The ground floor acts like an open space public space - an entrance foyer for your home, a space where you could spend time with friends and family or just a space where you could enjoy the rains with a cup of coffee in your hand.

 It could have some hard paved areas where one could have seats, some areas covered with grass and fragrant flowers - adjoining this a staircase which leads you to the rest of your house. Occasionally, when you are entertaining a lot of guests, the staircase would also act as a small seating area.

As you come up these stairs, it leads up you up to your kitchen and dining area. With this being the only space that occupies this floor, you can have an open kitchen with a breakfast counter which would be attached to a cozy dining space for you and your family. Large windows could open up the space, making it seem more spacious.

As you move higher in the house, the spaces transition from public to private. The floor above the kitchen and dining would have your bedroom and above that, your studio space. - The bedroom could be oriented such that every morning would begin with the picture of the scenic beauty around.

Your studio space with large windows and an attached terrace would be a space where you could witness your surroundings as well as be a part of them. It would be a space, cut off from the activities of the rest of the house, while still being a part of it. The terrace this studio opens into would the perfect space for you to meditate or practice yoga. '

House in the Hills : The Consequence

While we were super intrigued by the challenge presented to us by the site, we had also realised that we couldn't just design a single built form along the length of the site. The next logical step was to break up the built form and extend it vertically instead of horizontally. The blocks were split on the basis of interaction - the public and the private. These were connected with the help of verandahs on the ground floor and bridges on higher levels. The ground floor itself would be raised above the gardens. The two blocks too were angled towards each other in a manner that would give rise to a cozy space in the rear of the house - one where one could have a fire place and enjoy cozy evenings, taking in the views of the hills. The whole idea with orienting the building in this manner was to maximize the interaction with the serenity of the surroundings - the idea is for the surroundings themselves to become a part of the built form. How would be possibly do this. Come back tomorrow to see how we envision this...

-Mannat 

House in the Hills : The Challenge

A site in the hills with gorgeous views looking into the mountains and a lush green lawn all around. Doesn't sound like much a of challenge does it? 

But consider this site to be a narrow linear plot that is an extension of the lawn to an existing house. Seems more challenging now, doesn't it?

A challenge, Yes. But an opportunity as well. To make the most of this narrow site while still encapsulating the most gorgeous views of the hills. We had to ensure that the house would compliment the existing built while still standing out on its own, fulfilling the requirements of the client while still interacting with the site around. 

There were many questions that came to mind when we started. We had a beautiful house set against the backdrop of mighty mountains. Would another cottage be able to fit into this context? How do we ensure that the green space stays as it is or perhaps more beautiful than before after this cottage is placed there? How do we create a structure that complements it surroundings? How do we use architecture to enhance the beauty of the space where it resides?

We found ourselves some answers, but only after immersing ourselves into the context and coming up with a design that evolves from the context itself. 

If we were to place a single block along the length of the site, we realized that we would have fallen short in terms of the area requirement. The idea then, was not to spread horizontally but rather spread vertically - bringing in the views and vistas of the surroundings at the top whilst still having an open garden at the bottom.
How exactly did we go about this? Come back tomorrow to know...

-Mannat

Sandarbh Projects

Through the medium of this blog I have been able to share a lot of things with you guys - stories from the office, about the people, experiences from site and even our journeys through Sandarbh. Some blogs have been rather personal, the tone of them directly affected by my frame of mind. Other blogs focused entirely on the perspectives of those around me. I've spoken about processes and philosophies, about analogies and anecdotes, about merry-making and a few mis-steps along the way too. But now that I look at all the blogs that have been penned down by me over the last couple of months, I feel like one thing that I have not spoken about as much as I would've liked are our projects themselves. And before this comes to an end, I'm definitely using these last few days to make up for that. So, without further ado I'm going to be posting about a particular project of ours - A house in the hills. Stay tuned to find out more about it...

-Mannat  

No Fear! No Guilt!

If I had to condense my initial few conversations with Sai and my learnings at Sandarbh (a rather unfair condensation to say the least) the three main things for me would be about choice, commitment and perhaps free will (for the lack of a better way to put it)

Choice to select the kind of work that we wished to do. Even within the structure of the organisation, there was enough flexibility and freedom for us to fill up our day with work that actually kept us engaged. Yes, for each one of us there were certain things we didn't necessarily want to do but had to do - however, it made up for only a small portion of the day. We all had the choice to plan our work day how we wanted it to be. The best part about this was that since we have such a diverse range of people, each of us with our own skills and interest, that there was no part of the job that got left out. We each complimented each other's strengths and weaknesses, some enjoying the work that was pure hell for others and vice versa.

Commitment to the job was a must. One of the first conversations that I had with Sai even before I joined the office, was regarding commitment. He put it rather simply - commit only to what you know you can do, and what you're willing to do. However, once a commitment was made it had to kept no matter what. I found myself in situations where I had over-committed on several occasions in the beginning (a bad habit that I had been dealing with for a while now). Whether I liked it or not I had to trudge through my commitments, luckily with support from the rest of the team. After the initial stumbles, I finally learnt to walk the fine line between committing to something with all your heart and over-committing.

Free will is perhaps the hardest to explain and has been the hardest to implement too. When I say Free will to work, I mean an environment where one works because they want to. The driving force in this case has to be internal. One of the strongest statements Sai made was this " Never work in Fear, Never work in Guilt" The principle sounds rather simple but is really much harder in practice. In introspection a lot of the things we do are a result of either fear or guilt. My time at Sandarbh has helped me rid myself of this. Yes both fear and guilt have a curious way of creeping up on you. But in the end its about how you deal with them - whether you let these emotions overpower free will or you learn to control them. I consider myself lucky to have understood this simple yet incredibly complex statement. I have realised that once you let go of these two negative emotions, you open up a lot of space in your life to be filled with the positive ones - joy, hope, inspiration, confidence, happiness and above all love!

-Mannat 

A box of Chocolates

The team at Sandarbh is best described as a box of chocolates - an assortment of characters but they all have nuts (or rather are a little nuts!) It's a quirky bunch to say the least, each one with their individual peculiarities. Whether it's Monali's post lunch madness or the fact that Leena has to make sure that wood grains run in the correct direction in all furniture on sketchup (a quirk she picked up from Rambo) Sulu's love for biryani and all things spicy is comparable to an epic love story (think Romeo and Juliet, it's just as rewarding and punishing) When Sai starts off with something new, he is borderline obsessive about it. He must know everything about that particular thing (and also everything before or after it or even remotely related to it) The only other quirk I've seen come close to that is Nayana's obsession with time - tell her to be somewhere at a certain time and god forbid she can't make it, that's not an event you don't want to witness. No matter what conversation you have with Arjun on the phone - the conversation could be pleasant or you could be screaming at him, he will always end it with a polite "See you, bye" (something that'll often melt away the anger too, just ask Leena) Talking about conversations, Rithik has a tendency to talk to everyone in his mother tongue whether you understand it or not (and this quirk is not just limited to office, we've seen it happen on site too)
There are just a few random examples of a few random quirks. And each of these becomes more and more pronounced when we go out to party. This is exactly what we recognised yesterday. Whether it's going for a Pooja or going out to party, we a a decidedly quirky bunch that enjoys each others company!

-Mannat 

All About a Housewarming

Sunday mornings are typically spent in the laziest of moods but today was totally different. A bunch of us were up, bright and early and ready to head to Basavangudi - all for a Housewarming Pooja of one of our clients. The home so to speak is an apartment building shared between 3 families. While the interiors differ from floor to floor, on the outside several elements tie the whole built form together.

The days leading up to the Pooja had been action packed to say the least - both in office and on site. We pushed ourselves, excelling in some aspects, falling short in some too. But all shortcomings were forgotten when we were greeted with beaming smiles at the entrance of the home. The little Ganesha that we had presented to them as a souvenir was also seated near the entrance (Curious about the souvenir? Know all about it here) . As the God of auspicious beginnings and Remover of obstacles, the occasion and the placement felt just right. We were treated to some sumptuous breakfast and given offerings in the form of prasad. After that we went around the entire building, as a pooja had been conducted on three different floors as well - one for each of the families. As we stopped at each floor, taking our time at each level, we even had our client's joking around about how even today the agenda of going around the house was to generate a task list for the pending works. Being there today, the happiness, the vibrancy, it was all rather magical. This is what the job is all about right - at the end of the day its not the drawings or the renders or the details, it's all about the people who would spend their lives in that home. Many years down the line, I may not remember much about this particular project but its certainly going to be hard to lose the memories of all the smiling faces I encountered today!

-Mannat 

Perspectives from Sandarbh : Ananya - Part 2

Ananya's first day at work was interesting to say the least. I'm going to jump right into her narration of Day 1 at Sandarbh. Here goes...

" So, my first day of work was actually the first time I was going to the office. I had applied when I was in Kuwait and the selection process took place entirely over the phone and email. So there had been no physical interview, I had never met Sai and had no idea of what the office looked like. Harshitha had joined just a little bit before me and was the only one I had spoken to. When I asked her about the office, she described it as a 'cute' place and that's all. I got here just the day before I had to join office. I went to check out the apartment. That's when I met Harrshitha. They were organising a small office party and she asked me if I'd like to join her to go get the beer. My initial reaction was like 'No, why should I go for an office party even before I have started working?' I didn't end up going. 

So the next morning I reach here and I had no idea if it was like a proper firm or a house. I got to the location and called Sai up telling him I was at a house called Sharada. He told me that's the one and told me to come in. Turns out there was nobody else in the office at that time. Sai's table was littered with beer bottles and the office and garage (which looked very different back then) were in a bit of a post-party mess and Sai was trying to clear all of this up. Simply standing around was kind of awkward and I asked if I could help him but he was all like 'No, no, I've got this'. After this slightly unusual first encounter with the boss, Sai told me to make myself comfortable and told me he would be back soon. Atom and Coco were there and before heading upstairs Sai told me not to pet them too much as they had a tendency to become too friendly. So, I'm all alone in office with the two dogs for company, looking around at the books and that's when Ally comes in. She was carrying a cat (I'm not sure if it was Spice or Bella). She introduced me to all the pets telling me about them. She introduced me to Spice and told me that he was 3 months old. Curious, I asked about Atom's age. She then told me that Atom also came when Spice did. I was rather surprised coz Atom was quite large for a dog who would be 3 months old. But Ally kept insisting that these dogs grow to be very large. I had a friend in college and he also had a Great Dane - he kept talking about how huge the dog is. I've never had a dog and hearing these two stories from Ally and my friend, I just believed it. After this Harshitha came in and then Rambo did and the day went on. Sai had a conversation with me and told me to hang around, familiarise myself with the work. Towards the evening, we were all having a conversation and somewhere through that Atom comes up to me. I was just like, "He's quite a big dog for only 3 months old" and Sai's immediate response was like, "3 months old??? WHAT?" Everybody had quite a good laugh at my expense but in my defense Ally was the one who told me and she was rather convincing. That was pretty much how my first day at Sandarbh went..."

While hearing this whole event, I simply could not keep a straight face. But I'm sure it definitely makes for a memorable first day and Ananya sure remembers it in vivid detail!

-Mannat 

Perspectives from Sandarbh : Ananya - Part 1

When I first joined Sandarbh, the three seniors - Sulu, Ananya and Harshitha seemed like they had so much experience working here and I could only imagine it would take years to get to that level. Turns out, they have just recently completed a year at Sandarbh. In an attempt to commemorate this, I'm bringing back the 'Perspectives from Sandarbh' series. Interviewing Harshitha has been nearly impossible, Sulu has been hard to catch too but I had a blast while speaking to Ananya. Read on to see what she has to say about her experiences at Sandarbh...

Me: So Ananya, one year at Sandarbh! How do you feel?

Ananya: Honestly, it feels great. My life has changed a lot in the past one year. The person that I was back then and the person that I am today are vastly different. I don't think I would be able to recognize that girl if I saw her now. The journey though hasn't been a straight line progressing upwards. There have been a bunch of ups and downs. Its kind of been like a wave actually. When I initially started here, I was hit by bouts of homesickness. I kept wondering 'Why Bangalore?' and didn't particularly want to be here. The city tends to grow on you and once the homesickness settled down I started to really enjoy my work. The firm is great and the work is engaging. This went on for a while but then certain doubts from the past started to surface again. I was never sure about architecture and whether it was truly meant for me. Again I started questioning what I was doing and had pretty much stopped enjoying architecture. That was definitely one of the major lows. Then I realized that Sandarbh was giving me the best opportunity I could get as an architect - I'm working in the profession but I don't necessarily need to do all the things that I dislike about architecture. At this point I simply feel great about it. I never knew that I had so much potential. I kind of look at Sandarbh as a start-up with a whole lot of experience. I get to do my own thing - the kind of work that I enjoy. The kind of responsibility I get is something I could never had imagined a year ago. All in all the amount of freedom I get in the kind of work that I wish to do is amazing!

Me: You talk about a great change between 'Then' and 'Now'. How has Sandarbh been instrumental to this change?

Ananya: Ok so let me start off with telling you about the last week : I went for the first meeting with a client, essentially creating the first impression of Sandarbh. Then I sent out like 4 presentations. The presentations were also put together by the small team of 4-5 people that I have been managing. This was really not how I imagined things to be. This was not my expectation. I imagine that I would just to sit at a desk and be told what to do. When I talk to my cousins who are doing MBA, these are the kinds of responsibility that they talk about. I really did not think I was capable of this one year ago. Its not like I didn't think I would eventually be doing these things but just always imagined them to be in like the distant future.

My professional growth has been exponential and so has my personal growth. Both of these things have gone hand in hand. As I grew professionally it had an impact on my personal life and as my personal life improved so did my work. It has kind of been the virtual cycle that Sai keeps talking about. An improvement in one led to an improvement in the other which again led to an improvement in the first and so on. Early I used to be very worried about sharing my opinions - now I can do so more easily. The thoughts that come to me now instead are the kinds where I am figuring out my happiness in all spheres of life - personal and professional. I'm not saying that any of these changes and improvements did not exist before now, maybe I have just become more observant and aware of them. Now, I don't just wait for things to change. Rather I'm consciously working towards bringing about a change. A lot of the credit for all this definitely goes to Sai and the innumerable conversations that I have had with him

Ananya really seems to have taken on a new life. In an attempt to better understand the degree of change, I decided to probe more about her initial days at Sandarbh. Come back tomorrow for some fun and interesting stories about Ananya's first day at work...

-Mannat 

Souvenirs

If the adorable Ganesha sculpture that adorns the entrance to our workshop is anything to go by, we are slowly and steadily moving towards becoming a multi-disciplinary office. After the first one for us, as a small thought in the office, we decided that each project of ours should have a little handmade souvenir. The first of them is for a project of ours in Basavanagudi. 

Nikhil started the process off with several ideas in the form of sketches and with Sai's inputs and guidance he ended up refining them to one solid ideation. The soap prototype was the next step and before we knew it, he had picked out a stone for the sculpture to materialise in. As he kept chipping off the material, slowly another interesting form of Ganesha began to emerge. After last time's experience, he was much faster with this one. The 'what to do, what not to do' was clearer to him and evident in the fact that he took significantly lesser time but the end product was just as good if not better.  

We intend to take this forward - Sculpture becoming something we do as part of Sandarbh. When I initially started talking about the idea of sculpting and how we were going to approach it, but now that we have reached this point, I can't keep myself from wondering "What Next?"

-Mannat

Behind the Scenes

Beating the Tuesday Blues - this was the simple caption given to an instagram story showcasing our somewhat haphazard yet organised work space. The table that I was sharing with Ananya, Ritika and Utsav was crowded enough with 3 laptops and 1 Ipad. Add to this notebooks, sketchbooks,the Blue issue of architectural digest, stationary, phones, wallets and other personal artifacts. The photo is simple but if only you knew of the behind the scenes efforts. The simple spontaneous picture was tweaked, objects moved around, some removed and others added (you can't miss the addition of three tastefully placed leaves in the photo)... We kept going until the frame looked just right and was ready for Instagram. We started with the initial idea and kept changing aspects of it till we were satisfied with the end result.

The process of design is rather similar too. Once the initial idea is set in stone, its all about tweaking it and refining it till we get it right. The process from beginning to end might not seem obvious, the changes oftentimes small but significant in their result. After all its the action behind the scene that makes the picture.

-Mannat 

Hidden Talents

I don't know if I've said this enough times in all of my previous blogs but one of the thing that I really do appreciate about the team at Sandarbh is the effort that is put in to hone individualistic skills. Each one of us has been given a chance to explore and enhance the skills that we possess. The environment is supportive to push boundaries and that definitely makes it more conducive to improvements.
However, sometimes, the attention is focused only on one of these skills - not to say that a most of the people at Sandarbh are incredibly multi-talented. In an attempt to enhance that one particular skill, the others don't may not get as much importance - but they're still there in the picture patiently waiting for their turn.
In the process of writing my blogs I have discovered that there are others still who have a knack for writing . Ananya and Leena have been my partners in crime when it comes to blogging but turns out, Nayana too is pretty good at it. I have seen an interest from her when it comes to narratives and descriptions for our projects, but hopefully she'll jump onto the bandwagon soon too. With Nayana I still somewhat had an idea, the one that really surprised me was Utsav. While I was editing out a blog today, he read it over my shoulders and we had quite a conversation about it. He seemed to have a lot to say about it and I insisted that he write about it too!
Let's see maybe in the next couple of days you'll be seeing a lot more blogs from Sandarbh, with many different perspectives and a lot to say...

-Mannat 

Dhruvi has something to say!!!

In the past six months, I have seen Dhruvi change from the girl shy and timid girl who barely waved at me on day one to the girl who gave me a bear hug just before leaving. Curious to see what she thinks about these changes, I decided to speak to her about her experiences at Sandarbh. As quiet as she was when she got here, she still had a few things to say about this...

"It was a totally new experience for me. I really enjoyed the work and got to do the things that I like. Other than the drawings I also go to compose presentations, working on the website- things that actually didn't even feel like work to me. In terms of architecture, I have had the chance to see every stage of a project, from beginning to end. I feel like I'll be taking back so much more from this internship than I had expected.The culture and way of living was also totally different from what I was used to. Overall it has been a great experience. The difference in me from when I came here to now when I'm leaving is huge. I can now talk to people and interact with a lot more confidence. That is definitely one of the things I'll take back with me along with a lot of memories!" 

-Mannat 

Self-fulfilling Prophecies and Busting Myths

If you've been reading our blogs for the past couple of days, I bet you're wondering, why is it that Sai would want to go out of his way and set up these learning programmes for young individuals with a passion for architecture. The reason stems out of his own experiences. When he was in college, there were certain myths relating to architecture and construction that were knowingly or unknowingly being perpetuated. It took many real life experiences - the ups and downs and everything in between - to ultimately be able to distinguish fact from myth.
In the education system, when you're in the exploratory stages and pushing the boundaries, we are often told of the things cannot be done. This tends to distract the young mind from those things that can be done. A lot of the things that we are told are not possible can actually be done- the only difference would be the cost and the amount of effort that one is willing to put in. Another one of the myths that he had faced was that he was told while in college that architecture as a profession doesn't pay (something which you hear in college even nowadays, I for sure have!) This became one of the self-fulfilling prophecies for him - for a long time as a practicing architect the only reason that he did not make the money that his work deserved was simply because he didn't believe architects made good money.
These are just some of the mindsets that this whole endeavor wishes to change. Just to be clear- the intent is not just to teach architecture (academic institutions already do that) but rather to help people overcome this conditioning.

-Mannat 

Sharing our Insights

As I had mentioned yesterday, the methods of working and the processes at Sandarbh have been increasingly conducive to my development as an architect. Although we are getting to enjoy the fruits of these processes, Sai and Leena have been working on putting them together for quite some time now. As the processes were refined further, invariably the results got better too!
The knowledge and experience that Sai has gained over the last 2 decades are something that he would like to share with other budding architects as well - not just those of us who are working at Sandarbh but beyond that also.
As the workshop constantly evolves on a daily basis, another one of the dreams is to set up learning programmes - whether in the form of an apprenticeship (which would be more long term) or in the form of lectures, presentations, hands-on workshop sessions organised at regular intervals.
With a programme like this we are not looking for hobby enthusiasts but instead we are trying to bring together a diverse range of people with a passion and seriousness for architecture.
The idea is to start at the very root - right when one is looking to decide whether they want to do architecture - typically at the 10th grade level. We believe that the interaction must start there , continue through the 5 years of architectural education and for a couple of years beyond that too. Essentially this would be our focus group - the group of people we would consider for both long and short term learning programmes.
Why as architects are we so keen on sharing our insights and our experince with such a diverse range of people with one common interest? Read on ad you'll know why...

-Mannat 

Experiential Learning

As we sat down today to discuss the presentations we have been sending out, Sai brought up my blog ' Jumping to Solutions ' The process we followed for developing the initial design presentations  was one that Sai had been wanting to instill not as a concept but rather as a process. The design should be viewed as an exciting opportunity, not just as a problem that needs to be solved. This is something that I'll be taking back with me as a principle.

In this way Sandarbh has been integral as a part of my development as an architect. As important as academic education is, personally I believe that the short internship has taught me just as much. Yes, my college education was a pre-requisite for me to be here, but the progress I have made here in terms of my understanding of architeture has been equivalent through that gained from 4 years in college. 
A lot of this progress has to do with the work environment at Sandarbh. It is a hands-on approach in all terms. From supervising and instructing marble cutting in the workshop to watercolour painting, from sculpting to writing, from sketching to estimating, from moodboards to vendor interactions. We get exposure to all projects - those involving only designs an drawings and others involving on-site execution too. And the encouragement through all of this is indiciuastic ans so is the approach. Each one of us possess a different skillset and Sandarbh has been able to identify that as but has also helped us hone our respective skills. Yes, designing and making drawings is a given in an architectural office, but at Sandarbh its also about what more you can bring to the table (and these may be things you're not even aware of but Sai's keen observations will probably catch up on it!)

Luckily, I've had an opportunity to be a part of Sandarbh and learn of the processes and principles here- some of them which have literally been life changing for me. But these principles, ideas, ways of working  - these are all things we would like to share with people beyond the office environment as well. How exactly do we intend to do that? Be back tomorrow for an answer...

-Mannat