"23.5 rupies"

By far the sweetest thing EVER! :) (Rs.23.50 is probably enough just for juice and a samosa!) Love her so much.

Ingredients!

For the past few months, I've had this keen interest in Typography. It started when I found a video on youtube made using kinetic typography. "Mad as Hell"

That video took me to more videos and more articles and lots more websites, and I couldn't stop.

I took part in the Typography Day 2011 poster competition conducted by NID, Ahmedabad. The poster was to reflect any Indian theme and I chose the poem, 'The Banyan Tree' by Rabindranath Tagore as my inspiration/concept.

I didn't get shortlisted, but I am still quite impressed with my poster. :)

So, I spent most of today online (currently 21 tabs open on my browser!!!!) and was suddenly inspired to make a Brownie Points company card using typography, with ALL the ingredients of the brownies, lemon muffins and banana cake. It was not 11 hours completely useless on the computer. I'm quite excited to get this printed. :)

"I want a cool blog."

said Tanisha, after spending one entire Sunday reading blogs.

Not any old boring 'pouring-out-of-feelings'/'I-take-pictures-of-everything-I-see'/'lets-just-fill-this-up-because-its-cool-to-have-a-blog' type of blog, but blogs knitted together of all sorts of interesting tit-bits.

India Knight, you are the inspiration for my sudden burst of blogginess! I salute you. (I spent most of today reading your blog)

Resolution 27.02.11 (I do not, as a rule, make resolutions for the new year. I mean, why wait for the start of a year!)- Manage a (cool) Blog (regularly).

I kept the name- Fudge Together but changed the background and layout. All ready for a new start.

:)

2010

So, another year has gone by and time for my next year ender. This year has also whizzed by, and again through all the madness and craziness, it’s been eventful in all spheres, and at the end of it, I've learnt a lot.

Tangential Progress

Wrote this for Zonal NASA 2010 Competition. I was told I won, but there was no certificate given. I like to believe I still did win. :)


TANGENTIAL PROGRESS

What is time?

Time is defined as ‘one-dimensional quantity used to sequence events, to quantify the durations of events and the intervals between them.’ [1]

In modern physics, time is often referred to as the fourth dimension in accordance with the theory of special relativity proposed by Einstein. But how do you classify time as a dimension? Well, in the simplest terms, it is the addition of movement to an object in the three spacial dimensions. But the difference between time and the other dimensions is that time can only be positive. A body cannot be going backwards in time. [2]

How can time and thought be connected?

The word ‘thought’ when coupled with the word ‘process’ automatically adds the dimension of time to the activity of the mind.

How does the term ‘tangent’ connect to thought?

Have you ever wondered how in a span of a few minutes, your mind wanders through a vast variety of subjects, with no recognisable break in flow? That is tangential thought.

At one moment you may be thinking of chocolate ice-cream, and a few minutes later you’re thinking about owning an Aston Martin. How did that happen?

Chocolate ice cream-Italian gelato-gondolas-Titanic-Celine Dion-Canada-C N Tower-acrophobia-bungee jumping-Golden Eye-James Bond-Aston Martin

One thought moving onto another subject which has one point of connection. It is thought that is progressing in tangential planes to each other- Tangential thought.

How can tangential thought be applied?

The importance of idea and invention is proof enough that tangential thought is a necessity. What is progress without the initiative to progress? Where is the initiative to progress without the need to progress? And progress is the transition from past to present and present to future.

Does tangentially progressing thought need a tangentially changing environment?

They say, ‘What we think makes who we are.’ They also say, ‘What surrounds us influences our thought.’ So, if we are to believe that what they say is true, we can conclude that since people are changing, the environment is also changing.

How does the built environment change over time?

Change in terms of the built environment is over a large scale of time. It is change over years. Change due to styles, change due to function and change due to urban expansion. Change is grouped into era time frames: the Prehistoric era to the Neolithic era, Romanesque to Gothic era, the Modernistic to the Post-Modernistic.

Why does the built environment need to change along with the change in time?

Vitruvius emphasizes the relationship of a building not only to its site, but also to the users as they change from past, present to future. Don’t buildings live only as long as they serve a function? And how long is that? 

What is the difference between the paces of changes in thought progress and in the built environment?

There is no doubt about which is moving faster. Is the pace of change in the built environment able to keep up to the pace of thought progress? As the inhabitants change in mindset and lifestyle, is the habitat able to provide satisfactory change?

How can we minimise this difference in pace?

Can we immortalise a structure in such a way that it always serves to provide for the need(s) of its inhabitants?  If this can be achieved, is this tangential progress of the built environment?

Has this kind of immortality of a structure been done before?

Terms like multi-functionality, adaptability, dynamism, polyvalancy, flexibility, etc. have been used to inspire spaces to morph into the changes of its inhabitants.

~Strassgang housing project by architects Riegler and Riewe- ‘“Our intention when we designed was to have a room that would be too large to be an entrance and too small to be a living or bedroom, with a service area in the middle of the apartment, leaving the occupier free to choose how to use the series of rooms lying behind the facade.”’ [3]

~The Hague, designed by Michael Graves- ‘Here, the building to prolong its life, sheds its skin when the urban environment changes. The curtain wall facade almost acquires autonomy; it may be a part of the building but it may also help shape the urban fabric.’ [4]

~The Amsterdam canal- ‘These houses are able to keep accepting changes of function because of their oversized load bearing structure and floor area. In the 17^th century, they were large dwelling houses with reception areas and rooms for domestic staff. In the 20^th century, these were converted into offices and recently they were again converted into apartment buildings.’ [5]

~The Emotive house, Kas Oosterhuis. This house was designed incorporating virtual reality into the house. Sensors record changes in movement, weather, etc and translate them into particular actions: changing colours, light, textures, alignment of walls, position of windows, etc. [6]

~Army School, Kamaraj Road, Bangalore served as a barrack when it was initially built. Over the years, it functioned as a prison, a hospital and is at present an educational institution.

~XX Office, designed by Jouke Post- This office building is constructed out of dismantable reusable materials with demountable connections to change the frame of the building that can be adapted according to function. [7]

The above examples clearly show that there is a rising need for buildings of this sort: Buildings that morph, buildings that adapt, buildings that are flexible, buildings that are multifunctional and polyvalent.

What is the significance of such Architecture in time?

Time is not static. Neither is it backward. Architecture should withstand the test of time. Only time can tell change. Only change can tell architecture: change that moves from past to present, from present to future. It is a process that takes the good from one and connects it to a creation of something new. This change is a tangential process.

References:

1. "Eric Weisstein's World of Science"

2. ‘Does the Fourth (4th) Dimension of Time Exist’, Gray Pilgrim

3. ‘Has architecture lost its use?’ S. Riegler (excerpt from Time-Based Architecture)

4. ‘Change and the Distribution of Design’, N. John Habraken

5. Excerpt from ‘Time-Based Architecture’

6. & 7. `Towards Time-Based Architecture’ Bernard Leupen  

Camp Documentary

We had the most amazing youth camp at Coonoor. 


Thought I'd share our team documentary.

My favourite picture from camp

Hyperactive Minds

For all those with hyperactive minds...


  Often the world moves way too fast for you to sit and just think. And even if occasion does call for it or if you do make time for it, it is often that the thoughts that your mind drifts towards are much more exciting and fulfilling than what you intended to 'think' about.

  I'm sure we've all experienced that. We open a book intending to study and over a course of time, find ourselves having not studied a thing but have accomplished something else. Our mind wanders, but not necessarily aimlessly.

  I sit in class prepared to learn, but my mind, unwilling to be leashed, escapes the walls of the ALR. At the end of the class, having paid little or no attention to the working of air conditioners, or the welding of plates, or the characteristics of brutal architecture, or whatever, I have instead planned my weekend schedule, come up with new fonts for my building construction sheet, made a list of study tour destinations and have discussed alternate career options (for just in case). It is totally besides the point of sitting in class, but not exactly a complete waste of my time.

  This semester has taught me that architecture is only fulfilling if it becomes one of those places of refuge for my mind. It cannot be understood by force. I've have tried, in vain to sit and force myself to think. It just doesn't happen. And the result of forced work brings satisfaction only because it’s done. I'm speaking for myself here, because if you can make your mind think when you want it too, you are unlike me and I envy you greatly.

  For me, coming up with a concept for design is like asking me for the lyrics of a song. It’s there somewhere inside my head, refusing to budge from that corner out of reach. But it most definitely will, when I least expect it to, on the bus, in the shower or in estimation class and suddenly I'll find myself singing the whole song, beginning to end.

  It’s not an excuse. No one else will understand. It’s a disability that I've learned to deal with. I'm learning to make design my destination of wandering thought. It’s not that hard, once you put your mind to it. But that is just not possible consciously. Subconsciously, you tend to think of things that are of some interest or importance to you. Make design that subconscious thought. I don’t know of any way to do that. But I do know that when it does happen, it comes with a multiplied force. Suddenly, out of the blue, I have a concept that I absolutely love, a design that appeals to me and that immense feeling of satisfaction that I can move forward and achieve, especially because I've been able to move away from almost giving up.

  What I can say to you, who understands what I've talked about. Free your mind. Let it wander. Let it uncover those ideas which you know are hiding somewhere in your mind. Don’t lose that creative spark that you have by holding too tightly to your minds reins. Be a daydreamer. Be a mind traveller. Just map out your route.

This Year...

This year...

365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months,... it all goes so fast. But we tend to say that at the end of every year. It goes the same for this year, but the difference here is that from the blur of the year, there have been so so many things that I've learnt.

Blood Diamond Review

Wrote this for the MSRIT Movie Club.

BLOOD DIAMOND (2006)

Director:  Edward Zwick

It is the gripping story of the life threatening quest for a rare diamond. Set in Sierra Leone in the 1990’s during the civil war, Blood Diamond shares the story of the lives of two very different men, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) brought together by one valuable diamond. It was found and then hidden by Vandy when he was separated from his family and forced to work in the RUF mines. But its existence did not remain a secret. For diamond smuggler Archer, the diamond’s value in the black market would contribute financial help for the RUF rebels’ artillery, giving him his ticket to leave the country. For Vandy it meant freedom and being reunited with his family.

The issue portrayed in the movie, along with the illegal trade of diamonds, is the heartless recruit of child soldiers by the rebels. Among the child soldiers is the Dia Vandy (Kagiso Kuypers), the son of Solomon, so forcefully ingrained with the brutal idealisms of the RUF rebels that family love is initially overpowered by the RUF brainwashing when he is reunited with his father.

What is a good movie without a little romance, even if it is as faint as it is in this movie? The story brings in another character, Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), and American journalist visiting Africa to research and stop illegal diamond trade. She gets caught in this diamond quest and uses her sources to help Archer and Vandy. The short time spent with Archer forms a deeper connection between. Although no love is expressed verbally both feel a need for the other.

The movie very cleverly ties the two extremes of the story; love for money and love for family with the right amount of suspense, violence, emotion, pain, joy and adventure to keep one entertained throughout the movie. The performance of the risk-it-all fatherly love of the character played by Hounsou and the selfish determined character played by DiCaprio is certainly worth a standing ovation. I also like the contrasts seen between the rural settings in Africa to the highfaluting settings of London.

When analysing the content of the movie, it is apparent that the main theme of the movie is adventure and not the social issues concerned. Although the issues are brought out, I feel that the magnitude of the harshness of the war and extent of the bribery are not given justice in the movie.

About the ending of the movie, it provides a happy ending for viewers to feel good about as well as a sad side, which shows that there is not all happiness in war. Although the phone call to Maddy made by Archer before his death on the top of a mountain seemed a little clichéd, the abrupt end to a potential romance added an interesting twist to the movie.

All in all, it is a movie I would highly recommend, for its praises outnumber its flaws by far.

July 4, 2008

Day 2 at the LFA.

Along the Thames

With some time to spare before the first event on my list for the day, I spent the morning at Westminster. I marvelled at the architecture of the House of Parliament and Big Ben and then walked down to the abbey. I first went into a small little church next to Westmister abbey and although photography was not allowed, I managed to get a couple of pictures of the interiors with the camera on my lap!