Architecture | Art | Design
Suprastudio
Work reel of projects done at UCLA suprastudio 2017
Make City
Final project\Mack suprastudio\UCLA
Tutor- Mark Mack
Robotics:Shih-Yuan Wang
Team- Manojna Acharya
Based on ARCHIGRAM’s instant city, Make city is a temporary traveling urban festival. It arrives in battery-operated helicopters, sets up, teaches the community sustainable practices through workshops along with other festival activities and leaves behind a hydroponic tower for the benefit of the community. Creating instant green cities along the way, make city transforms suburbs into centres for collaboration and growth, slowly expanding to the cities over many years.
Make city has two major building blocks that are pre-fabricated and assembled on site:
3D-PRINTED MODULES assembled by robots on site.
BAMBOO MODULES assembled by volocopters on site
The ggregation of 3D printed units was demonstrated using robotic simulation, with the TACO KUKA grasshopper plugin. (shown in the video)
The Cloud
Second sun (LA, 2016)
Technology seminar, UCLA
Instructor- Peter Andras Vikar
Team-Manojna A, Yifan C, Alisha C, Qisen D, Jiantong G, Sana N, Sangeetha R, Xialou X, Jinghao X, Yuhao Yang, Xueyou Z, Junzhishan Z
The existing skylight at the IDEAS campus is revisited as a ‘design site’ where light effects, daylight control, thermal performance, and user-driven experiences can take place. These active light devices are considered as autonomous machines that are a permanent part of architectural assemblies and are capable of overwriting the paradigm of sun-angles, distort parallel light-rays, alter solar-gain; become a ‘Second Sun’.
DESIGN
After analyzing data-driven actuated components that function as hybrid objects between physical and digital domains, a 1:1 scale prototype of the kinetic model was designed and fabricated with the following functionalities-
The angular orientation of openings carefully designed to provide optimal sunlight indoors, informed by the designed robotic sun path simulation on KUKA robots.
The performative motion of the photo-sensitive petals that open and close, adding an element of surprise
Raspberry-pi powered manual and automated modes with color-changing LEDs
Coachella
Art Installation proposal for music festival (LA, 2017)
Team: Manojna Acharya, Loveleen Brar
Inspired by the root bridges growing naturally around rubber trees found in the north-eastern states of India, the installation is seen as a brightly colored beacon that changes its effect on the crowd during the day and night. Providing shade during the day, it is constructed with multiple weaves of threads and ropes around steel frames and acrylic panels. It lights up dramatically during the night, making it a spectacle under which one can dance.
Space Petals (LOT 613)
Stage design proposal for musician Anoushka Shankar (LA, 2017)
Winter studio, UCLA
Tutor- Mark Mack, Steve Lee
Team- Manojna Acharya
Located within the vibrant Arts Disctrict in LA, the multipurpose space, Lot 613 became the site for our winter studio. Continuing to explore the studio’s theme to engage with the city of Los Angeles where performance and entertainment could merge with the architecture, creating more exciting urban experiences. The final design proposals were performed/presented on site at Lot 613, open to public.
‘Space Petals’ challenges the proscenium stage set-up typically accompanying classical performances, as it separates the musician from the audience and creates a mundane environment without much dynamism. Anoushka Shankar is a prominent Indian classical musician and is the inspiration for this project. While her music itself has transcended the realm of traditions and customs, little has been done to the stage design, lighting, back-drop or props.
DESIGN
To create an expanding universe by breaking the gap between the performer and the audience and allowing for a transcending experience. To develop an interactive environment with\ sound-sensitive space-petals and platforms that light-up in sync with each musician.
A CITY IN SEARCH OF ITS SOUL
Hooghly riverfront revival (Kolkata, India)
Undergraduate Thesis Project (2011)
Once the lifeline of Kolkata, river Hooghly now stands in an absolute state of disdain. Its muck-filled banks cry out for attention. Stench from the dumped garbage, defunct godowns, waste from the flower market, people bathing and defecating paint an ugly picture to the entrance of the city. Some of the dead spaces have become breeding grounds for crime, theft and gambling, making them almost unapproachable for the common man. With just a handful number of failed initiatives from the authorities towards its rejuvenation, there is a dire need for some effective measures to be taken. My project aimed at identifying a small stretch of land along the length of Hooghly and proposing a program that would not only serve as an example of revitalization fo the river, but as a catalyst for further such urban renewals along the riverbank.
Abhimani Vasati
Restaurant renovation
(Bangalore, 2012)
Team: Manojna Acharya, Samskruti Harish
An old restaurant in Bangalore needed a face-lift. The proposal brought into the restaurant, a unique industrial flavor with distressed plaster finish for the walls, industrial chairs, benches and lamps. The existing seating arrangement was done away with and a new more open layout was proposed. Inspired by Indian street food, a street food corner was proposed that was colorful and vibrant. The entire back wall of the restaurant was replaced with a glass facade and wooden large wooden louvers which let in a huge amount of light into the space. New large openings would be punctured into the walls. The restaurant also featured a living green wall and a colored glass louvered partition wall at the entrance which added vibrancy to the space and invited guests from the streets.