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I was designing an ovoid conference room the other day and trying to remember the string and pin method of drawing an ellipse because, at some stage, I’ll have to mark it out on site. Headed off to the world’s favourite search engine and after a couple of mis-hits, landed on Math Open Reference which shows a simple animation of how to do it. The site also has tons of other simple geometry stuff. A definite bookmark.
Go to :: Math Open Reference
On the 26th of July last year, when I first visited Nasrapur to look at a proposed bungalow site, the Pej river was in spate and the bridge (South-West corner of the satellite picture) was at least 2m underwater. I had to be content with looking at the trees (highlighted in the photo) from across the flood.
Designing began early this year and excavation started about 4 months ago but the rains soon came down and washed away the approach road. Now, with the monsoon finally receding, we’ll be going full steam ahead.
C|NET reports that a company based in Ohio, USA has created interior lighting systems that consume just one-third the energy compared to the average fluorescent system. In addition, it is said to emit neither heat nor UV light and won’t leak mercury if broken. Although the systems are expensive at the moment, they are expected to become affordable in the near future.
Okay, let’s be clear about how it works. What the system does is that it takes light from a conventional source – say an incandescent or a metal halide and distributes it via flexible plastic cables with optical fibre inside. This light is transferred to numerous “bulbs” which are naturally highly efficient given that there is no emission of heat at all.
Edit [27.09.2015]
The site <http://www.fiberstarspoolandspa.com> seems to have disappeared. Here’s a link to the most recently cached version of the site on Wayback Machine.
More and more people both, architects and material suppliers, are jumping onto the “green architecture” bandwagon but how many practices really follow any sort of eco-principles. Just calling something green doesn’t necessarily make it so.
The term “greenwashing” has entered the lexicon to mean giving the appearance of being green without providing substantive environmental benefit.
Saw this house along the main Kondhwa Road yesterday. The bricks are very thin so it’s quite possible that they’re sun-dried and not fired. And thanks to their slimness, what fantastic textures they make!
It’s been about 4½ years since the Karjat Project was completed. I’ve been going there on and off for one reason or another, so I don’t see too many dramatic changes but, yesterday, we had a meeting with Anil Doshi who hasn’t been there since the inauguration. He was amazed at the change because at that time everything looked bare and now, with the trees all grown, it looks so much softer.
The meeting was regarding future development at the site. That’s all I will say at the moment although it isn’t a state secret or anything.
I’ve always advocated that small structures should be built using load- bearing walls because, to my mind, reinforced concrete cement (RCC) is not merely a waste of high-energy material but is, most of the time, very badly cast as well.
For the plinth, I usually specify random rubble – it is cheap, stable and highly effective as a detterent to dampness. In the Pune project, I decided to semi-dress the stone. Although it costs a bit more, it does look so much better. The guys who specialise in this work are plentiful in Pune and much better at what they do than the ones I’ve come across elsewhere.
They were a bit surprised, though, that I wanted it random and not shaped into rectangular blocks. It seems there are only two varieties of people these days – those who use the stone undressed and those who want ashlar. The path I chose is, apparently, the one least trod.
Manoj Kanase who will be the builder for the Pune Bungalow took me to meet Ranjit Ghatge, his engineer, about some structural questions, especially regarding the use of ferrocrete. At first I had some difficulty explaining to him exactly why I wanted to use alternative technology. “Ah, you want to do a sustainable design” said Ranjit after a few minutes. Then everything fell into place and it turned out to be a pretty good discussion. The most interesting part was deciding how to make use of shallow terracotta pots to reduce the weight of the slab.
Later that day, I had a second meeting with Milind Kulkarni from Hydrobiotech who will give us a comprehensive plan for harvesting rain (back into the bore-well), reusing kitchen water in the garden and recycling grey water from the washing machine and bathrooms into the flush tanks.
Since we’ve been wanting to use Lime Mortar for the Pune Bungalow, I’ve designed the ground storey to be 1½ bricks thick. However, if we’re unable to get good quality lime (as is looking increasingly likely), we might just have to make do with cement. That’ll be a disappointment!
Not to mention the fact that all the working drawings will have to be re-drawn.
The puja for the Pune Bungalow happened yesterday. After the pujari had done his bit, we – the client, builder and myself took turns digging a token hole in the South-East corner of the plot. Gudi Padva is obviously a good day to begin. Actual construction will being on the 11th of May.