RAJKUMARI RATNAVANTI SCHOOL
JAISALMER, INDIA
Constructed with hand cut local sandstone, the Girls’ School and Womens' Center will address the need to educate girls and empower women from the neighboring villages in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The oval forms were employed to reflect the curvilinear shapes of the local forts and also universal symbols of female strength.
RAJKUMARI RATNAVANTI SCHOOL
JAISALMER, INDIA
Constructed with hand cut local sandstone, the Girls’ School and Womens' Center will address the need to educate girls and empower women from the neighboring villages in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The oval forms were employed to reflect the curvilinear shapes of the local forts and also universal symbols of female strength.
THE RAJKUMARI RATNAVATI GIRL'S SCHOOL
- Part of The GYAAN Center
JAISALMER, INDIA
Constructed with hand cut local sandstone, The Rani Ratnavati Girls’ School will address the need to educate girls and empower women from the neighboring villages in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The oval forms were employed to reflect the curvilinear shapes of the local forts and also universal symbols of female strength. Architectural Digest India had featured RR Girl's School on its December 2020 issue and at the same time they had announced it Building of the Year!
Project completed for the non-profit Citta Foundation CITTA.org.
THE GYAAN CENTER
JAISALMER, INDIA
The Gyaan Center is a complex of three buildings: The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl's School, The Medha (performance and art exhibition space/ library/ museum) and The Women's Cooperative (embroidery, weaving and marketplace). While girls are receiving an education at the Girls School, local artisans will teach mothers and other women weaving and embroidery techniques from the Jaisalmer region that are on the verge of being forgotten and lost. These lessons will preserve and enhance traditional techniques while establishing economic independence for the women, their families, and their communities. The education, independence, and empowerment women gain at The GYAAN Center will, in turn, incentivize families to educate their daughters in the future, bringing the benefit of the center full circle. Hopefully, by giving economic value to the regional women in poverty, we can also help lower the alarmingly high female infanticide rates plaguing the region.
(Inside gallery look for the movie)
THE SCHOOL IN LIMI VALLEY
HALTSE, NEPAL
Limi Valley is situated in the Northwestern region of Humla District. It is in the Karnali Zone of Nepal, nestled in a trans-Himalayan valley bordering the Tibetan Autonomous Region and consists of three ethnic Tibetan villages, Til, Waltse and Zang.
In 2020, near the central village of Halji, CITTA purchased land to build a unified upper- school designed pro bono by New York based architect firm, Diana Kellogg Architects. CITTA will unite the existing three schools in a formal building to include upper level classes and hostel housing for students.
Project for the non-profit CITTA.org.
TEXTILE ARTISTS SHOWROOM
SOHO, NY
Acted as consultant to the artist to conceptualize the showroom.
The construction provided an open space to display the artist’s work including oversized skylight and stairs to a landscaped roof deck. Exposed brick walls and minimal furniture was incorporated to enhance and highlight the artist’s work such as the carpets, floor cushions and wall hanging. Every effort was made to create a relaxed comfortable ambiance by using natural materials just like the artist's work where you feel embraced and held by nature which is at once complex and simple.
LOWER EAST SIDE STUDIO
NEW YORK CITY, USA
This renovation was for a textile artist in a synagogue that had once been an artists studio. The new design was meant to embrace the essence of the previous owners while making a workable environment for the textile artist. The design included storage spaces and working tables for the employees working with the artist. The resulting design exonerates the previous inhabitants, both the artists before and the synagogue as a communal space. The mikveh remains intact in the basement of the building as a viewing space for visiting collectors.
GALLERY
The design concept for the Dhun project is based on the sacred Lotus flower, which closes at night, submerges in water and opens in the morning. The Lotus is the ultimate symbol of creativity and beauty triumphing over darkness—the overriding theme of the Dhun project. The newly designed spaces in the existing building, the Imaginarium, reference the curved shapes of the Lotus petals.
PLAYERS RESIDENCE
NEW YORK CITY
This 20,000 sq ft building was designed for a non profit foundation that celebrates and supports Jazz culture and the musicians. Jazz has become the bedrock of American culture and one of our greatest exports to the world. Jazz and blues are transcendent, universal languages that are inseparable from the African American experience and inseparable from a legacy of systemic racism and inequality in our country.
The blue color was chosen to express “the Blues” and also be made of photovoltaic panels to provide power to the building. Images of legendary jazz musicians are set into this exterior cladding to metaphorically play in concert to the city of New York, the birthplace of Jazz. The project was never realized but the program included designs for housing, a classic Jazz café, Practicing rooms and lesson spaces. The atrium of the building also acted as a concert space playing from floor to floor and balcony to balcony, much like the expression of the exterior of the building
Acted as consultant to the artist to conceptualize the showroom.
CHILDREN'S LIBRARY AT ST ANN'S CHURCH OF MORRISANIA
NEW YORK CITY
Designed for a non-profit that supported after school programs and study space, the library was designed in an unused portion of a historic church. The primary goal was to create a light filed space for a minimal budget. We utilized as many standard parts such as prefabricated sliding metal doors to achieve this goal.