100 Years of Architectural Drawing

During this modern era of computer-generated architectural drawings, a design and architecture historian has come out with a book that speaks of hand sketches of architectural drawings. Titled '100 Years of Architectural Drawing', the book is authored by Neil Bingham who is the consulting curator of architectural drawings at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. The book highlights 300 architectural drawings from the 20th century that illustrate the evolution of the form.

“From our perspective today, in which the computer-aided design [CAD] drawing dominates,” Bingham writes, “the twentieth century appears as the golden age of traditional architectural hand-drawing.”

The book is divided into 5 chronological sections that are prefaced by short essays that highlight the trends and styles of that period. Each drawing is captioned with key information about the architect, the project, and the drawing.

“In this survey of architectural drawings, we can trace the historical visual narrative of 20th century architecture in design and draughtmanship,” Bingham writes. “One of tradition, experiment and beauty.” The book will appeal to all students and practitioners of architecture as well as anyone with an interest in the subject.

Why Build Green?

Good for environment, energy conservation and the world, green buildings are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout it's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. So, if we put into the practice of 'green' when we build or renovate any building, then we can significantly contribute to the health, wealth and well-being of our self, the families for whom we build, our community, and the world.

You'll be surprised to know that that worldwide, buildings consume nearly 40% of the world's energy, 25% of its wood, and 15% of its water! By adopting green building strategies, we can maximize both economic and environmental performance. Therefore, we make smarter choice when we decide to go green.

Benefits of green buildings

There are numerous Social, economic and environmental benefits for building green. Below we are highlighting only the economic benefits (compared with normal buildings):

• 88% reduction in lighting consumption

• 35% reduction in potable water use

• 20% of the building’s energy requirement is provided by photovoltaics

• 15-20% less load on AC thanks to aerated concrete blocks used in facades 

• 80% of materials used are either recycled or recyclable

• 90% of building daylit

• Zero water discharge building

• 75% of occupants have outside view

• 50% savings in overall energy consumption

Solar is Green: Where to put Photovoltaic Panels?

The new 'mantra' is to build "zero energy" homes or offices. This can be achieved by combining green-building techniques with active solar systems. A "zero energy" building is one that produces as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year. Making use of solar energy using Photovoltaic Panels is at the heart of sustainable building. But it is important to understand that where should these Photovoltaic Panels placed.

A small amount of shade covering the panel can reduce the panel performance by 80%. Therefore, the most important point to remember is that when choosing a location for your Array is shading obstacles.

Find out which month has the least amount of sun on average. Determining this month is particularly important if you intend to use or constructing a system that will be used year-round. Similarly, if you want to use it for summer or winter, you will have to find month with least sun during months that you will use the system.

It is also very important to estimate the availability of sun and the cloud cover. Obtaining this information may be little difficult. Sometimes you can get this information on the web otherwise you may contact concerned authorities in you town/city.

You want to choose a location that is on or near the place where you loads will be. The array should be free of shade (during each month in use) from 9 am to 3 pm. This is the optimum time-frame a panel has to receive light and is called the “Solar Window".

Architecture is about teamwork!

Few days back while accepting the 'Woman Architect of the Year Award' at London’s Langham Hotel, the Dutch architect Francine Houben said, 'Architecture is about teamwork, about being supportive and visionary at the same time'. We, at Design Atelier, too strongly believe that architecture is about teamwork, about being visionary and supportive at the same time. 

Architecture is actually a teamwork. It is a group of people who are working towards single goal- the project. Working as a team, we have one common goal - to serve our community and clients through architecture. It is important to have contributions from everyone. And therefore, we value each other and need everybody's perspectives.

Design Atelier boasts of a highly qualified team whose expertise matches the project scope and consists of multidisciplinary staff and technical partners. We have highly qualified professionals in the areas of Architecture, Landscape, Urban & Environmental Design, Strategic Planning & Communication, Structural Engineering, Air Conditioning, Electrical Engineering, Civil and Public Health Engineering, Project & Construction Management.   

We continue to expand our multi-disciplinary teams and technical partners of over 50 professionals to solve design challenges.

Meet the people

Aashish V. Karode

Sushil L. Karer

Pawan Bangali

Jaspal Singh

Vivek K. Srivastava

Prosenjit Banerjee

Madhvi Gogia

(Read more at: www.architectsda.com/team.html)

We want to leave good marks on the earth and would like to measure our work by the pleasure of the lives lived in our buildings and projects.

The Benefits Of Adding Greenery To Your Home Or Office

The greenery in home or office interact with your body and mind in ways that enhance the quality of life or work. Greenery inside helps you breathe easier because adding plants to interior spaces can increase oxygen levels. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen while human bodies does just the opposite - takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.

Plants release moisture vapor, which increases humidity of the air around them. Therefore, by placing many plants together you can increase the humidity of a room, which helps keeps respiratory distresses at bay.

Greenery purifies air. The plants have abilities to remove toxins from the atmosphere and therefore a green space will have pure air. Also, according to studies keeping green plants in hospital rooms speeds recovery rates of surgical patients. Patients in rooms with plants have lower heart rates and blood pressure, experience less pain, fatigue and anxiety, and are also released from the hospital sooner.

We share a picture below which explains the benefits of adding greenery inside!

India can be ahead of other countries in producing green electricity from sunlight

The solar energy potential in India is immense due to its convenient location near the Equator. Isn't this amazing that India receives solar energy that is equivalent to over 5000 trillion kWh/year, and this is far more than the total energy consumption of the country! It is also possible to use this solar energy for different types of applications. It can be used for both grid-connected and off-grid generation of power. Imagine if even 50 percent of this energy is utilized, then how much we can save on the total energy expenditure!

The amount of solar energy produced in India in 2007, according to wikipedia, was less than 1% of the total energy demand. The grid-interactive solar power in 2010 was merely 10 MW. In 2005, Government funded solar energy in India only accounted for approximately 6.4 MW-yr. However, India is ranked number one in terms of solar energy production per watt installed, with an insolation of 1,700 to 1,900 kilowatt hours per kilowatt peak (kWh/KWp). By the end of March 2013 the installed grid connected photovoltaics had increased to 1686.44 MW and India expects to install an additional 10,000 MW by 2017, and a total of 20,000 MW by 2022.

Even the Indian Railways has plans to use solar power to supply electricity to air-conditioned coaches in some of the country's express trains.

The builders have also realized the the power of solar energy and have started installing photovoltaic systems in their buildings. Also known as solar electricity systems, these panels capture the sun's energy and convert the sunlight into electricity which can be used to run  appliances and lighting in homes or office buildings.

India can lead the world in energy efficiency construction

The emphasis on green buildings continues to gain momentum in India and all over the world. This is inspite of the fact that the green buildings are making up less than 5 percent of the booming Indian building market. Today developers, government and experts realize that there is a tremendous opportunity for expanding energy efficiency construction in India. During a congress held last year in India, the Chairman of the Indian Green Building Council, Dr. Prem Jain emphasized “India is going to lead the world in new construction. The opportunity is huge.” 

A green building is one which uses less water, optimizes energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for its inhabitants. And, therefore, the pressure to implement sustainable energy systems, use natural resources and source eco-friendly green products and services is overwhelming.

Currently there are only 2,204 green buildings, including hospitals, hotels, colleges and IT parks in the country. This number is expected to grow to about one lakh by 2025 across India, say estimates by the Indian Green Building Council. You'll be surprised to know that in the year 2001, there was only one green building in India.

Sustainable buildings experts say that green buildings are beneficial not just in energy conservation, but also in cost reduction. Green buildings can help save a lot of energy and reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health.

The Green Building Movement in India got a major impetus when Chimes building in Gurgaon was awarded LEED/IGBC Gold Rating. Designed by India's famous architectural firm Design Atelier, the building addresses issues of sustainability, sociability, making room for nature and program flexibility. The Architecture of the Chimes is about creating public spaces that are accessible and enable the experience of nature within the spaces of the building, symbolizing life inside the building. Chimes Building of Gurgaon was also awarded the "Green Project of the Year" by Construction Week Awards 2013. 

Design Atelier Bags Prestigious Emerson Cup 2013 Award

Design Atelier was awarded prestigious Emerson Cup 2013 Award. Aashish Karode (Design Principal of Design Atelier) received the Emerson Cup 2013 award on behalf of Design Atelier. The Emerson Cup, one of the biggest HVAC industry competitions in India, is an annual event instituted by Emerson Climate Technologies to recognize and celebrate outstanding projects with innovative and energy efficient HVAC designs for New and Retrofit Buildings.

Design Atelier is one of the reputed and famous architectural firm that believes in creating distinctive buildings and have been successfully engaged by major organizations - especially quality oriented corporations for their development projects in Institutional, Hospitality, Housing, Offices, Retail, and Educational sectors. The firm is based in New Delhi, India.

Nestopia Features Design Atelier as Pro of The Week!

Nestopia has featured Design Atelier as 'Pro Of The Week'. Design Atelier is a New Delhi, India based Architectural Firm whose design focuses on creating the strong brand identity and 'aura' that gives institutions a special edge in the highly competitive international landscape of new India.

Design Atelier was in news recently because of its project Chimes building in Gurgaon which was awarded LEED/IGBC Gold Rating and also the "Green Project of the Year" by Construction Week Awards 2013. The firm specializes in Architectural Execution , Architectural Consultancy , Architectural Design , Interior Design , Green Architecture and Turnkey Solution.

Nestopia is India's first platform that makes building and designing spaces a seamless experience by bringing space-owners, design professionals and the construction community together through various social, local and mobile collaborative tools.

VIRSA - Start Up Farms India

The SUFI IT Park (StartUp Firms IT Incubator) is a project executed by Design Atelier Urbis of New Delhi, India. The conceptual process for the design of the SUFI IT Park was aimed to create an integrated unity through the articulation of the different form components, understanding the building as a volume and not as independent facades. This approach leads to a composition of added regular elements, represented by the cantilevered verandas, tied up together by the large parapet crowning the entire complex. Apart from adding aesthetic value, this frame gives protection and privacy to the users from the other surrounding buildings and from the strength of the undesirable sun. 

Set on a South-North orientation, massive volumes of the staircases anchor the whole building, and the various elements. The modern glass and stucco insulated façade is at the same time avant-garde in its expression and fits into the industrial surroundings. Preferring to integrate active and passive technology over decorative articulation, the design stands in purposeful contrast to the local Indian traditions.

Combining circular, triangular and cubical forms, the plan makes a play on the possibilities of discovering unique geometries to shape Interior spaces. With the added symbolism of color - green for the ground, blue for the sky, etc., the design visually tie the building to its environment and location. Entry and exit is from the front allowing for the creation of an "island" form set in greenery.

The Climatic features and technology interventions for the building utilities design are included to achieve a sustainable building performance. Technology is utilized to maximize energy efficiency using Chilled beam convective air-conditioning, with treated fresh air units addressing issues of stale air in the work spaces. Jet fans are used for ventilation of basements reducing energy requirements. LED lighting and high efficiency light fixtures provide glare free lighting at the worktable with day light/occupancy based sensors allowing zoned control and two way reflected lighting in the offices. Energy performance of the building was done after completion, and the results demonstrated a 28 % energy saving on the base case, without much struggle and investments.