The Design Research Publication Cell at Balwant Seth School of Architecture publishes research and documents events throughout the academic year. It acts as a platform for faculty, graduates, and students to engage in collaborative research projects. Recent projects include a sustainability workshop with an international partner, investigating urban scenarios in Mumbai, and designing an interactive learning cube for children.

1. DESIGN RESEARCH PUBLICATION CELL /
Balwant Seth School of Architecture
The Design Research Publication Cell at BSSA is formulated as a
two fold endeavour.
DRP is a constructive feedback for the pedagogy of the institute.
It records the various researches and events through the course
of the Academic Year.
DRP acts as a platform for faculty, graduates and students to en-
gage in diverse collaborative endeavors.
DRP is a laboratory that conducts multi-scalar research and ex-
perimentation in the fields of design, architecture and urbanism
that can affect society to adapt to dynamic environmental para-
digms.
Team Members;
Head DRP
Prof Dipal Kothari-Chhaya
B.Arch KRVIA, M.Arch The Bartlett, UCL UK
CORE TEAM
1-ADVISOR-Prof Trilochan Chhaya (Dean)
B.Arch CEPT, M.Arch Harvard, USA,
2-Prof Anand Pandit,
B.Arch JJ,
3-Prof Atrey Chhaya
B.Arch KRVIA, M.Arch DRL-AA, UK,
LOBAL SCHOOL
MMER WORKSHOP 2011
July 13th-28th
BALWANT SHETH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

2. DRP /BSSA initiatives over the
past few years
DRP is a dynamic collaborative platform
open to students and graduates to initiate
projects under the tutelage of the School
and the Faculty.
It promotes individual and team basedstu-
dent / graduate led research.
DRP has partnered with many national and
international institutes and independant
organizations for many initiatives.
Partners with DRP over the years include
IAAC (Institute of Advanced Architecture
of Catalunya)Spain, World Bank , Kala
Ghoda Art Association, Teach for India,
NMIMS(Mumbai Campus), NMIMS (Shirpur,
Maharashtra Campus)

3. 1:Sustainability :A Joint Research/Workshop
Conducted between BSSA(Mumbai) and
IAAC(Barcelona)-2010
Team: Dipal Kothari-Chhaya, Atrey Chhaya, Hemant Purohit, Renu Gupta,
Akhil Laddah, Kiran Naveskar, Students (Batch 2012)- Saurabh
Mhatre, Mallika Singh, Faris Mohamad, Dhaval Chheda, Amal
Roowala, Students (Batch 2013)-Dhruvin Shah, Dhruv Sheth.
Partner: IAAC(Institute of Advanced Architecture in Catalunya)
Spain
SOLAR NETWORK
WIND NETWORK
WATER NETWORK
MAIN POWER LINE
POWER SUB STATION
EQUIPMENT UNIT
CONNECTION PATHWAY
MAIN POWER LINE
POWER SUB STATION
PROPOSAL
BLOCK 1
BLOCK 2
BLOCK 3
BLOCK 4
BLO
CK
6
BLO
CK
6
MAIN ENERGY HUB
GLOBAL SCHOOL
SUMMER WORKSHOP 2011
July 13th-28th
Team 2: Dhaval Chheda , Faris Mohammed, Malika Singh
GSS11 Coordinators: Atrey Chhaya, Dipal Kothari Chhaya
BALWANT SHETH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
The proposal mainly focuses on reprogramming an
existing commercial complex to create more public
programs, that would lead to an increase in activity in
the area, which would lead to further energy
generation.
The Mumbai Workshop is a part of the IAAC GSS 2011 program: Self<a>rchitecture. The IAAC
Summer School for the year 2011will continue to investigate multiscalar strategies for the (re)
construction of our inhabiting environments (home, city, planet) as a response to the dra-
matic technological, social, political, economic and cultural changes of the last few years (at both
the global
and local scale)
The growing interest in managing climate change, in embracing the green agenda in urban de-
velopment, in the development of techniques for local energy generation, in the incorporation of
information technology into the physical space and other relevant situations, call for a new vision
of the evolution of the city and architecture.
Self<a>rchitecture is an agenda with research and education goals that combines science and
technology with architecture and urban planning. Self-Sufficiency, Self Fabrication, Self-
Organization, Self-Design and collective Intelligence are some of the key words on
which the academic agenda of the programme will focus.
case study: Juhu a suburban neighbourhood in Western Mumbai.
GLOBAL SCHOOL
SUMMER WORKSHOP 2011
July 13th-28th
Team 1: Saurabh Mhatre,Varun gala
GSS11 Coordinators: Atrey Chhaya, Dipal Kothari Chhaya
BALWANT SHETH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
WATER HARVESTING
BIOGAS PLANTS
URBAN ENERGY GRID
PLUG POINTS
TERRAFORM
FARMING
MARKETS
SLOPE DOWN
EXISTING URBAN BUILT FORM
SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTION AREAS
HARVESTING TANK
KINETIC ENERGY TO ELECTRICAL
RAIN WATER
ENERGY FOR
COMMUNITY FESTIVALS
MARKETS
OTHERPLUGANDUSEFUNCTIONS
HARVESTING
“PLAY TO GENERATE”
SOLAR COOKING /
PICNICKING
WASTE IS USED
TO GENERATE
BIO GAS
BIO GAS IS USED AS co2
NEUTRAL FUEL TO
PRODUCE ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICAL GRID
ELECTRICAL ENERGY USED
FOR STREET LIGHTS
SOLAR CELLS TO
GENERATE ENERGY
“PLUG AND PLAY” PROGRAMS
ENCOURAGE LOCAL
ECONOMY
+ +
+
++ +
+
ECONOMY
PRODUCTION CYCLE FOR SELF SUFFICIENCY
BLOCK_STRATEGYDEVICE_STRATEGY
DEVICE_STRATEGY
To minimize the impact of our living on
our environment, both global and local,
self sustain ability and self sufficiency
need to be the objectives to achieve at
the local scale. Optimal use of available
resources is achieve a balance is
essential.
Cycles of generation,consumption and
reuse carried out within the site ,encour-
ages self sufficiency within the block and
reduces the dependency associated with
the residential zones
The final outcome of the programme will include design proposals and the testing of Self<a>rchitecture at
three scales.
Scale1. 1000 people(urban block)
Scale 2. 100 people ((urban building)
Scale 3. 1 person (home, shelter)
Producing Self-Sufficient architectural products means, above all, producing more effective organizational
systems. The design of the buildings will have special relevance, equipping them to generate the totality
of the energy they consume and creating, where necessary, new physiological and metabolic
delimitations of the building.
The proposed buildings will be related to a variety of uses (residential, work, commercial, etc) and their
users needs (microscale) as well to the specific context and the sum of groups of information
(macroscale). Building structures on all three scales will be defined by a set of parameters, which will
drive the final designs. These parameters will be generated by geographical characteristics of the specific
sites: latitude and longitude, environmental data (temperature, CO2 emissions) and urban context
(density, flow of people). The building is thus converted into a micro-city, with all the strata of a small city,
and is understood as a complete organism, plugged into a substratum by the managing of the input and
output of local data and characteristics.
The GSS2011 wokshop was held at the Research Room in BSSA with lectures, tutorials and juries
conducted via live streaming between Barcelona, Mumbai and Turin using interactive web
Arduino Master and Slave Boards
Group 3-Site analysis in terms of
Energy Consumption /CO2 Emissions
/ Water Consumption etc
Group 1-Terramorphs
WATER HARVESTING
BIOGAS PLANTS
URBAN ENERGY GRID
PLUG POINTS
TERRAFORM
FARMING
MARKETS
SLOPE DOWN
EXISTING URBAN BUILT FORM
SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTION AREAS
ENERGY CONSUMPTION Kw/m2/month
Housing - 1.93
Commercial - 14.36
Parking - 0.23
Green Area - 1.2
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Block 1 0.0
Block 2 0.0
Block 3 0.0
0.0Block 4
0.0Block 5
0.0Block 6
TOTAL ENERGY GENERATED = 0.0
0.0
0.0
PARKING
HOUSING
COMMERCIAL
GREEN SPACE
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Energy generation
Value
ENERGY GENERATION
0.0
4,708
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
The final outcome of the programme included design proposals and the testing of
Self<a>rchitecture at three scales.
Scale1. 1000 people(urban block)
Scale 2. 100 people ((urban building)
Scale 3. 1 person (home, shelter)

4. 2:Urban Flux :
The Urban Flux Agenda was presented in Octo-
ber 2012 at “Re-Thinking Cities” - Framing the
Future - 6th Urban Research and knowledge
symposium.-2012
Team: Dipal Kothari-Chhaya, Atrey Chhaya, 4th yr Students (Batch 2014)
Partner:World Bank and City of Barcelona
Agenda
The Agenda for the Research was to investigate diverse urban scenarios resulting out of radically
different conditions affecting the Citizen in Mumbai. Unlike many cities, Mumbai has various con-
tradicting conditions existing in the same city. The solutions therefore would emerge out of negoti-
ating with each condition. Each site research highlights specific conditions and probable pointers
to evolve a specific approach.
Site: SVP Road, Mumbai
Multilayered / Multicultural /
Multicitizen
SITE: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Roadcon-
nects some of the oldest areas in SouthMumbai.
It serves as one of the primary EastWest arte-
rial roads. It connects Marine Drive in the west
through inner city areas like
Girgaum, Khetwadi, Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar to
P D’mello Road in the east abutting the Mumbai
Port Land.
FLUX: SVP road today is a diverse multilayered
fabric comprising of numerous small scale indus-
tries such as metal, wood and glass workshops,
paper handicrafts, cloth dyeing as well as old
commercial establishments and varied residen-
tial typologies. The project captures the life of the
citizen through filters of activities, occupations and
cultures.

5. Site: Juhu, Mumbai
Site: Parel, Mumbai
Conflict / Contradiction /
Multicitizen
Urban / Suburbia /
Multicitizen
SITE: Located in central Mumbai, Parel is one of
the original seven islands that formed the city of
Mumbai. By the late 1800s Parel had transformed
into a congested industrial district as a thriving cot-
ton industry prompted numerous mills to be set up
connected by rail to the Bombay Port. At the end
of 1895, 46 mills were built on its reclaimed land.
Several housing schemes, such as the chawls
(typically three stories single room units connected
by a shared single loaded corridor overlooking a
community courtyard) were built for the mill work-
ers. In 1991 rules were provided for development
of lands of sick and/or closed cotton textile mills
into three parts: namely public open spaces, low
income housing and residential or commercial
development to create a coherent urban form.
FLUX: Parel today is in state of transition with
many adaptive reuse projects, residential and
commercial high rises and malls situated along-
side defunct mills and chawls. The project ques-
tions the presence of the new development in
context to the existing fabric and its citizens.
SITE: Juhu is a suburb in North West Mumbai. In
the 1930s, from a small fishing village the wet-
lands, mangrove vegetation and beaches were
integrated into the city for holiday homes and
retreats for wealthy citizens from South Bombay.
Over the years, due to rapid northward urbani-
zation many cooperative housing societies with
sports clubs, gardens and playgrounds were de-
veloped by the citizens.
FLUX: Today many bungalows that once charac-
terized the suburb are being redeveloped into high
rise luxury apartments. The area has numerous
educational institutions with over 15000 students.
Over 100000 people visit the popular Juhu Chow-
patty beach every weekend. Various markets and
entertainment establishments also attract people
from all over the city. Hotels and beaches attract
a sizeable number of tourists, both domestic and
international. From a relatively quiet and reclusive
neighbourhood, today, Juhu attracts a large influx
of transient population.The project investigates the
interface between the distinct permanent and tran-
sient population that comprise the citizens of Juhu.

6. When a predator attacks a school of fish, the fish nearest to the predator
moves away .The other fish see this and move faster in the same direction.
The patterns are a result of the study of this behaviour.
3:BSSA DESIGN WORKSHOP
HIVE MINDS
An investigation into the phenomenon of collec-
tive intelligence in nature.-2012
Team: Atrey Chhaya, 2nd yr Students (Batch 2016)
Partner:NMIMS
Herrings
Based on Kevin Kelly’s “Out of Control”, the Second Year Design Workshop culminates an eight
week investigation into the phenomenon of collective intelligence in nature. Species demonstrate
the “hive mind” through simple interactions between individual organisms at a local scale to per-
form complex global operations.
Students studied a variety of single celled and multi celled organisms in plants and animals. Spe-
cific collective behaviours (such as defence, propagation, foraging, locomotion etc) were docu-
mented through diagrams based on the parameters (such as sight, structure, communication,
linkages etc.) that define the interaction between the individual organisms. Patterns of interactions
were evolved through a process of generative models analysing the parameter.
Locusts

7. 3:PLAY CUBE
The proposal was to devise a learning tool for
children that could be deployed at various Mu-
nicipal Schools in Mumbai-Interactive library for
children aged 5-12 years.-2011
Team: Dipal Kothari-Chhaya, Students (Batch 2013)-Brinda Kenia, Dhruvin
Shah, Hiren Ganatra
Partner: Teach for India
The Play CUBE was a joint initiative between DRP at BSSA and Teach for India. The proposal was
to devise a learning tool for children that could be deployed at various Municipal Schools in Mum-
bai.
The proposal was to design an interactive library for children aged 5-12 years.
It included a book storage component, a seating component and an Audio-Visual component that
could fit into each other to form a perfect cube of 2m x 2m x 2m. When opened up, the compo-
nents would create an interactive library.
The idea behind this product was to create maximum engagement and raise curiosity levels
amongst the children. It constantly transforms, where each action would reveal a new spatial ar-
rangement for the children to explore.
An element of surprise is added when the stark white box starts to open up into colourful ergonom-
ic environments.

8. 4:URBAN DESIGN : FAR(M)ORE
The study aims at creating sustainable liveli-
hoods for inhabitants of informal settlements
within Mumbai - Proposed
Team: Dipal Kothari-Chhaya, Students (Batch 2014)-Ami Mathan, Avi-
nav V, Harsh Shah, Kavita Gard, Siddhant Tikkoo, Sohil Soni (Alumni Batch
2012)-Gaurav Sardana
Far(M)ore = Farm (grow) + More (income-livelihood) aims at exploring small-scale cultivable green
spaces amongst urban slum youth and young married women - thereby improving living conditions
- by providing additional income through production and entrepreneurship and simultaneously add-
ing civic green spaces in their settlements.
The site chosen is a contoured slum settlement in Mumbai. Ghatkopar is a developing surburb in
Mumbai. With the introduction of the Metro rail transport system rapid development is anticipated.
The slum settlement comprises of 3 meter x 3 meter units, on an average, each housing a family
of 5-7 members. The slum has a healthy population of ambitious youth who are strongly
self-driven with an aim to improve their lifestyle.
Proposed View of Urban Farming Scheme installed on the rooftop, shown to members of the community on site
City Produces > City Benefits
Farming In The City ! Mumbai City
Section of the proposed Far(M)ore Scheme
Detailed Section of the Far(M)ore Scheme on site