DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
: The concept was to design a module (as per the competition brief) that could be replicated yet respond to varied site conditions. Hence, the concept of the project was devised as a swastik, a very stable energy form. The swastik allowed for mirroring and rotation of the same block thus responding to multiple site directions and being climatically responsive.
The overall design is a metamorphosis of eastern spatial planning and western aesthetics. Schools unlike modern buildings like offices, factories & airports are a form of traditional building like temples, mosques & palaces. Historically, schools were the centre of the community & first schools was a guru under a pipal tree. Thus education institutions were always in close proximity of nature. Thus, modern schools should be a perfect hybrid between traditional design sensibilities & modern requirements.
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
: Since the schools were to be located in educationally backward districts, there were very few built public spaces in all the sites. The schools thus act as social gathering spaces, where community events can also be organized. Hence the main focus was to design a community space.
DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
: We don't have any particular plans but we are very happy that the projects are very successful in serving the community.
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
: Since the project was a staged competition, the timelines were already scheduled. The overall design process took about a month and another three months for the construction drawings & tendering, once the project was awarded to us.
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
: The concept was a strong response to the site conditions and the allocated budget.
DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
: These projects have already gone beyond the initial allocated sites that were a part of the competition. Since the design has been very successful, it is being replicated at other sites too.
DI: What made you design this particular type of work?
: We participated in this design competition almost at the very beginning of our firm.
DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
: As a practice, we are very influenced by post (Indian) Independence modern Architects like B.V. Doshi and Charles Correa.
DI: Who is the target customer for his design?
: The weakest economic sections of the society were the principal user base.
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
: Since the client was the government, the project name was pre-decided. 'Aarohi' in hindi means ascending or upliftment.
DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
: Apart from using basic Auto CAD and paper models, climatic analysis was done using Ecotect.
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
: Instead of a single courtyard of a monumental scale, small courtyards of more human scale are the basis of the design concept. Each courtyard opens in a different direction and thus can be used in different ways, during different seasons and various parts of the day.
The thermal control is an imperative part of building design especially in the given conditions; lack of electrical power and worsening conditions during the extreme summer months. The courtyards and the circulation together act as perfectly ventilated transcending spaces between the interior and exterior, thus making the boundaries between the exterior and interior ambiguous.
DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
: Also the overall form and structure was designed keeping in mind the lack of skilled labor and difficulty in good execution in these under developed districts.
DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
: We had won a young designers' competition through which we were referred to A' Design.