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An Interview with the First winner of Tiny Library 2021 Architecture Competition ASTHA SAHAY-JANHAVI PATIL-ARSH KANIA

Interview

06-09-2021

We like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the First winner of Tiny Library 2021 Architecture Competition ASTHA SAHAY-JANHAVI PATIL-ARSH KANIA.

01-How would you introduce yourself / Team /Firm? (50-100 words)
Answer- We are a team, Astha Sahay-Janhavi Patil-Arsh Kania, of three young enthusiastic individuals who are pursuing our bachelors in architecture from Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture, Mumbai (Astha and Janhavi) and CEPT University, Ahmedabad (Arsh).
The three of us were interning in Kolkata in different offices and were exploring the new city together through the means of city walks and conversations with our office colleagues. While doing so we bonded over common interests and love for solving issues through humane and sensitive design approaches.

02-Give us a brief information on your previous projects / works / research/achievements?
Answer -
Astha:
           Siddhpur: Living Under the Sky- shortlisted in top 10 projects in Rookies’ Domestic Competition, Organized                 by PVPCOA (2019)
            Heritage documentation with the batch of 2022- Siddhpur measure drawings (2018)
            Part of the exhibition team : Kohima: Objects. Institutions. Identities. (2020)
            Participated in Little Big Loo competition by Volume zero (2020)
            Participated in Home:Design your dream Competition by Archasm (2020)

Janhavi:
            Heritage documentation with the batch of 2022- Siddhpur measure drawings (2018)
            Part of the exhibition team : Kohima: Objects. Institutions. Identities. (2020)
            Participated in Little Big Loo competition by Volume zero (2020)
            Participated in Home: Design your dream Competition by Archasm (2020)

Arsh:
C.E.P.T. Excellence Award (University Level Award 1st position) for Visitor's Centre at Jaisalmer
C.E.P.T. Excellence Award Exhibition - Visitor's Centre at Jaisalmer

03-What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture vision competitions?

Answer - It is always beneficial to take part in architectural competitions, it enhances your thinking abilities hence pushing boundaries, and it's a good way to showcase your skills outside of college or work. It gives you the opportunity to make mistakes and brainstorm on varied concepts.
For those just starting out, architecture competitions are the perfect platform to remind you why you chose the field in the first place. When you start working, it's very easy to run into a real situation. This contest is a way to reaffirm your goals and values. This is an opportunity that does not always exist in the everyday work of architecture.

04-What were the challenges you faced while designing for such architectural space?
Answer - The area was in an acute need of change, which could have been achieved only through education and self-learning, to do that we had to place ourselves in the position of the stakeholder and then design for them which was a bit difficult in this case as the users were very sensitive and remote from our everyday interactions. Also navigating the dense fabric of old Kolkata to decide upon a parcel of land for the intervention was difficult.

05-What was your thought process while designing for the Tiny Library Architecture Competition?
Answer - Street is an important part of the identity of Sonagachi; we wanted the building to work as an extension to this indispensable space. Also, through the building we've tried to bridge the gap between the two worlds. Tiny library is a platform which brings together people from various walks of life and enables cross learning.

06-What attracts you to this competition?
Answer- Being avid book readers/book collectors ourselves, libraries have always been a part of our everyday lives, be it in the form of a bookshelf at home, a school library or a public library. Growing up, libraries/books were always accessible to us because of our conditioning and upbringing where reading and social interaction was encouraged from a young age. As our worldly understanding increased we realized that we were taking this privilege for granted. We realized that this is not the case for everyone. The brief of the competition got us thinking for ways to bring about a change.

07-Where does your interest in design come from?
Answer - Design is a mode of expression and every time you try to make/build something, it is always unique and different from the previous work, it is constantly evolving.

08-What design fundamentals do you believe in?
Answer - We believe that design is a multi-layered experience with human life and the environment. Architecture is an expression that needs to come from the site. It should be rooted in its context. It comes from a collaboration between many different entities while simultaneously fulfilling the necessities of the stakeholder.

09-What were your references / inspiration?
Answer- We were interning in Kolkata and exploring the city through various media. That's when we came across the movie "Born into the Brothels" which turned out to be a major inspiration for the project. The blooming concept of setting up human libraries in places where stereotypes and prejudices are prevalent was another major source of inspiration.

10-Which aspects of a design do you focus on more during designing?
Answer- Addressing the needs of the end-users and taking into consideration the physical nature of the site is what we feel is the most important aspect of designing. Thinking about the ecological footprint takes precedence over the aesthetic nature of the intervention.

11-What according to you is the key to making your design a success?
Answer- Firstly start with a clear concept and then one should follow through with that concept to the very final execution of the project.

12-Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration, etc.?
Answer- We believe in hand sketching for formulating our ideas and referring to the existing knowledge bank and understanding the context by extensively talking to the people, visiting the site and seeing things for oneself. The software we used were auto cad, adobe photoshop, SketchUp, InDesign and google earth.