Final Master Work

1. 2022
Master in Collective Housing
G A U R A V C H O R D I A

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h a b i t a t

3. Architecture Master’s of Advanced Studies
in Collective Housing
Universidad Politécnica of Madrid (UPM) and
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH of Zurich
MCH 2022
Final Master Work
Gaurav Inder Chordia
India
gaurav.chordia.madrid@gmail.com

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a house and housing
Having spent the past few years building single family homes,
a question rises in one’s mind, observing the process and tactility,
whether housings retain the essence of a home.
Auroville Site Assembly
CRI Memorial Project . I N D I A

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a collective
When a house becomes plural in nature, it often jumps the primary typology
from a place to live to an entity of commerce.
Bamboo Construction Workshop, Indore, India
5 days . 30 students . Theatre Pavillion for Camping Site

6. Gaurav Chordia
10
Specialities
01
Energy, Metabolism and Architecture towards Post Sustainability
Case of Barcelona
Javier Garcia German
02
Urban Design and City Sciences
Case of Campamento, Madrid
Susana Isabel, Julia Landaburu, Gemma Peribanez and J.M. Ezquiaga
03
Construction and Technology
Frosilo in Antarctica
Ignacio Fernandez Solla, Diego Garcia German, David Castro & Archie Campbell
Workshops
04
Ordinariness and Life
Mediterranian Urban Sprawl housing in Spilt, Croatia
Hrvoje Njiric & Esperanza Campana
05
Housing and Reuse : A solution for Good Conditions for Life
Case of Zurich SBB train workshops
Anne Lacaton & Diego Garcia Setien
06
Domestic Fragments
Elli Mosayebi & Alvaro Martin Fidalgo
07
Reload with Work
Case of UPM North Block
Andrés Cánovas , Atxu Amann , Nicolás Maruri
08
Working + Living
Case of El Poblenou Barcelona
Andrea Deplazes & Nuria Muruais
09
La Corrala Futura
Case of Lavapies, Madrid
Alison Brookes & Alejandro de Miguel Solano
‘ The Matter of Time ’ by Richard Serra

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An exploration through bottom - top approach
in architectural design where climatic response
and comfort becomes the basis of human centric
design and metabolism.
Bridge the gap between Qualitative and
Quantitative Approach
Energy, Metabolism and Architecture
Towards Post - Sustainibility
Case of Barcelona Port Area
Subject Lead : Javier Garcia German
Masters of Collective Housing, 2022
Team : Ana Victoria Ottenwalder , Gaurav Chordia, Isabella Pinedia, Andrew Georges, Carolina Basilis
The mediterranian climate calls for
responsible response to severe winter and
summer situations. The city of Barcelona is
taken as a measure of study to design one
unit house responding thermodynamically
to the local wind and sun impact.
Simultaneously, this particular speciality
focusses on exploring the multiplicity of
this idea when designing collective housing
in cities and measures to address maximum
The design proposal explores the idea of
seperate winter and summer spaces , which
is further translated into a union of these
two modules . The overall built form is
orinted on a particular site to correspond to
shading and wind flow.Vegetation typology
is used as a tool to design and enhance the
performance of the built form.
01

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HOUSE AND SITE BERNARD RUDOFSKY
The radical minimalism brings to the extreme consequences the hygienist
vocation of rationalism, substituting to mechanical comforts of modernity the return to
“primordial values of a modernity outside time”
The house of the modern man dodges whatsoever urban comfort.
It is an idea of modernity that coincides with the fulfillment of the easiest among necessities,
of primordial needs.

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HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY
VERNCULAR, MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY REFERENCES
Casa Ugalde / José Antonio Coderch
Casa Jutta von Seht / Josep Lluís Sert La Casa / Bernard Rudofsky
Ground Temperature Wind Rose
Relative Humidity Prevailing Winds
Psychometric Chart - July Psychometric Chart - Year long
Thermodyanic
Analysis
These images of the
Mediterranian living
captured by various
journalists and
photographers, are analysed
to extract the essence of
climatic response through
architecture, clothing, food,
spaces and everyday living.

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Hola
Cube as starting
structure
Rotation
As per wind Direction
Extraction
Expanding south and
east corners to maximise
views
Spaces
Allocation of summer and
winter spaces
Elevation
Raising summer space
for wind flow and shaded
area below
Open Space
Balcony as a buffer space
and shading below
Usage
Alloaction of activities
that create buffer spaces
Prototype
Resultant volume as per
sun and wind
Winter Day - Jan
Raising summer space
for wind flow and shaded
area below
Winter Night - Jan
Flat roof surface heated
during the day, provides
warmth during the night
Summer Day - July
The summer space is
sheiled by dead walls to
prevent from day heating
Summer Night - July
Shading during the day
and orientation allows
comfort at night.
Roof heating through
Sun exposure
Louvered screens
to control sun
exposure and wind
Shaded stilt
allowing wind flow

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Morning 7am August
Evening 5pm August

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The all round thinking of any material, inclusively of
transport, making, processing, use and
decomposition contribute to the embofied energy
calculations involved in Sustainibility measures.
Metabolism
Towards Post Sustainibility
Straw bales as a by product of farming, which is burnt elsewise
Bales framed in pine wood on site, and mud plastered ahead
Bales as insulator with mud or lime walls to retain porosity
The interior spaces are breathable and act as per the temperature outdoor
After demolition, the bales are used for composting and farm growth

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An exploration through bottom - top approach
in architectural design where climatic response
and comfort becomes the basis of human centric
design and metabolism.
Bridge the gap between Qualitative and
Quantitative Approach

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A study of traditional ;practices, clothing and
lifestyle helped shape the contemporary outcome
with gestures of vibrant outdoor living that the
mediterranian symbolises.
Climatic response is not just an obligation,
but its respectful understanding is a catayst to living
The humidity levels call for cross ventilated spaces
for comfort. The collective housing is an attempt to
channelise the air flow to its maximum along with
areas with and without sun exposure for maximum
comfort during the opposite seasons.
Mediterranian lifestyle
as a response to its climatic adherence

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Urban Design + City Sciences
Case of Campamento, Madrid
Subject Lead : Susana Isabel, Julia Landaburu, Gemma Peribanez and J.M. Ezquiaga
Masters of Collective Housing, 2022
Team : Gaurav Chordia, Nayanatara Tampi, Suzane Kteich, Karol Diaz, Sebastian Worm
The project aims to envisage an urban
intervention and public space in the near
future to create a smart liveable city with
sustainable design principles.
The requirement is to design a mixed use
diitrict with residential, commercial and
appropriate cultural, educational and
leisure facilities. Around 10,000 apartments
have to be planned in this selected land
parcel of 60 hectares. New programes such
as urban farming at various levels and
inside neighbourhood living, create
opportunities of work and creation.
The site is majorly occupied by an old
military barack and stations. The settlement
around has taken place in distinct years
with no relation to each other.
The highway crossing the site is one of
the biggest challenges to bridge the gap
between these neighbourhoods.
The site is an urban link to the neglected
south west of Madrid city .
Its a belief that a city designed for kids
is designed for all.
One becomes more responsibile when the
surroundings are inclusive.
Growing in the City
02

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Casa de Campo is the lungs to the city of Madrid
and the site of Campamento, situated to the
south west of the city center, is an opportunity
to inclusively respond and link the green cover
that the city resembles.
LINKING THE CITY GREEN
A garden does not change the world, it changes
the people who are going to change the world.
The city keeps expanding replacing its sources
of food, it calls for an urgent stand towards
introducing agriculture in our urban landscape.
URBAN FARMING
A City designed for children is designed for all.
Campamento development raises an opportunity
to create inclusive habitat with kids at its center.
It highlights the importance of intergenerational
exchange that goes missing with time.
URBAN CHILDHOOD

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Reference from Ecosistema Urbana
Reference from Ecosistema Urbana

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A series of activities and connections divert the
orientation of the neighbourhood away from the
highway to a newly generated spine that connects
the larger hilly land farms, agroecology institutions
and museum to the south east. The existing
structures are reatined and reused.
THE GREEN SPINE
1. Rainwater percolation tank situated at natural
contour colletion areas. It reactuvates the seasonal
stream in the North west slopes of the sites
connnecting to Casa de Campo
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2. The open space is retained with terraced land
farms that fall first in the order of urban farming
interventions with upto 30 percent grow scale.
3. Old military buildings which were abandoned
could be reused for an agroecology center for the
city promoting urban farming practices and
connecting Campamento to the rest of the Madrid
city in an inter dependent manner.
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4. The highway is intersected with a gentle street
with ratio upto 1:30, connecting the two
neighbourhoods seperated by this entity.
It becomes a viewing point to the northern slopes.
5. Existing horse sheds and training grounds are
opened to public by retention and
introduction of cultural and exhition center with
a larger green open space designed to connect
the various neighbourhoods aligned to the spine
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6. Introduction of a museum that reintroduces
Campamento from the neglected south of the
city to the city map. Its a connection to the
sports facilities area that already exists on site.

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Placement of Metro Stations and Bus Networks
connecting 2 seperate directions to the city lines,
at every 200m walking distance
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Neighbourhood amenities and commerce line the streets
as the eyes to them, contributing to a layer of safety and
intergenerational exchange points.
EVERYDAY COMMERCE
A child friendly neighbourhood revolves around these
places of everyday living becoming the core of the
neighbourhood and decentralised . These become centers
of exchange and dialogue for adaptation and growth.
INSTITUTIONAL USE
A pedestrain and child friendly neighbourhood is a
resultant of matrix of utilities and services within 5, 10
and 15 minute radiuses that overlap at junctions.
WALKING RADIUS

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Introduction of city level interventions like a
museum becomes a part of the neighbourhood
to activate along with the local interventions.
NEIGHBOURHOOD LEVEL
INSTITUTIONS
The hierarchy of open spaces from the central
green spine, to the building level courtyards
contribute to intimacy of layers of living .
NEIGHBOURHOOD LEVEL
LAND USE
The green corridor connecting to the site level
urban farming axis, becomes a spine that
penetrates the nrighbourhood.
The GREEN
SPINE
Seperation of pedestrian streets and vehicular
is a primary basis to neighbourhood plan.
The vehicular axis streets are at every 400m.
NEIGHBOURHOOD LEVEL
MOBILITY

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1. Rainwater percolation areas
2. Urban Play Yard
3. Community Center and Library
4. Primary School as Community Heart
5. Nature Play
6. Police Station and Fire Station
7. Communal Toy Box
8. Summer Showers
9. Intergenerational Play
10. Market place with rooftop court
11. Intergenrational Play
12. Playful Courtyards
13. Performance Area in Park
14. Outdoor seating for Cafeteria
15. Shops and Cafes
16. Water Recycling Fountain
CORE
OF THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD
RISK TAKING OPPORTUNITIES
Childhood is defined by drawing
opportunities of risk taking and
risk evaluation for coherent
growth of an individual.
TACTILE
Urban surroundings are
missing the textures and elements
of nature that help nurture.
PLAYABILITY
Areas that promote
intergenerational play
ACTIVE MOBILITY
Allocated slow movements
areas for safer commute
for all ages

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Block level interventions with three main policies. Solar energy
usage due to sufficient sun exposure at minimum 30 percent of
roof areas. Compost pits to be placed on the roof tops to tackle
odour issues and urban farms at neighbourhood scale on ground
at the roof.
CIRCULAR
ECONOMY
CULTURAL AND
HERITAGE SPACES
can become assets for inclusive and
playful city life when combined with
sensitive conservation.
NEIGHBOURHOOD
MAPPING
led by children, provides deeper
insights into an area’s issues and
opportunities.
INTERGENERATIONAL
SPACES
can become community hubs that
increase interaction between the
young and the old.
PEDESTRIAN
PRIORITY
removes and calms traffic to create
a safe environment for everyday
street play and socialising.
WILD SPACES
are flexible and adaptable areas that
reactivate vacant or underused plots
and bring nature back into the
community.
PLAY STREETS
temporarily closed to through traffic
allow communities to use the space
while reducing air pollution and traffic
danger.
TRAFFIC MEASURES
such as colourful crossings or shared
spaces redefine use and driver
awareness of pedestrians and street
activities.
COMMUNITY GARDENS
for intergenerational activities,
socialising, skill development and
outdoor physical activity.
BLOCK
LEVEL STRATEGIES
Minimum 30 percent
of roof surface with
solar setup can
contribute for upto
38 percent energy
needs
The grey water
recycling ponds
create awarenes
about use of water
in public spaces and
divert to agricultural
use
Reference from ARUP - Cities Alive: Designing for urban childhoods

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The container are filled with tricycle, roller skates,
go-karts,skateboards, craft materials and the like.
Using their membershipcard free for all children,
they can rent out a toy and use it within the square.
COMMUNAL
TOY BOX
Emphasis on space for more active types of play is often
what comes to mind when we talk about play spaces.
But in high-density residential areas, communal areas
for creative and passive play can provide a much needed.
amenty for children and parents to come together.
MAKER SPACE
Providing space directly outside the home gives
parents the ability to easily supervise children while
going about their daily errands and housework
It also means that children can easily transition
between home and outdoors and meet young
PLAYABLE
STREETS
In order to create the perception that this is a
space that belongs to children, the designers have
incorporated playful objects that are scattered
along the laneway. These include rocks and logs for
climbing, a hammock for relaxing in and a cubby
.made out of willow branches for children to hide in
PLAYFUL
COURTYARD
Reference from ARUP - Cities Alive: Designing for urban childhoods Reference from ARUP - Cities Alive: Designing for urban childhoods

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Construction and Technology
Frosilo in Antarctica, McMurdo Base Station
Subject Lead : Ignacio Fernandez Solla, Diego Garcia German, David Castro & Archie Campbell
Masters of Collective Housing, 2022
Team : Teresita Campino, Suzane Kteich, Gaurav Chordia, Anastasia Lizardou
The ‘Frosilo’ is a housing designed by
MVRDV in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The project is an example of historical
retention and resemblence with the silos along
the stream are to be reused for housing . The
design team evolves a system of
structure that partially depends and enhances
the existing silo shell using the inner volume as
introvert courtyard for its residents.
The exercise focussed on imagining this
building to move to a colder climate that
Denmark . Our team located it at the
Mcmurdo station in Antarctica which plans to
expand housing for the researchers at its base.
The suitable site is slected with orientation and
physical similarities in its positioning.
A detailed study of building in these
vulnerable location and research resulted in
design level modifications and structural
implications suitable for the climate.
03
‘FROSILO’ under construction in Copenhagen, Denmark - designed by MVRDV

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ETFE Roof 2 layers
Roof Envelope and
Insulation underlay
Steel Structure as
an outer shell
Outer Insulated wall
panels precast
Vertical Circulation
and cutoff lobby
Traingular steel
columns at base
Existing Building
with inner circulation
and extrovert houses
Introvert plan with
minimum exterior
openings.
Reducing the height
for capacity and wind
impact
Merging of volumes
with junctional refuge
and energy saving.
MODIFICATION OF FORM

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GROUND FLOOR 1ST FROOR
GROUND FLOOR PLAN UPPER FLOOR PLAN
Refuge

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LONGITUDINAL SECTION
HEATING AND VENTILATION
WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE
ELECTRICITY AND DATA COMMUNICATION

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INSULATED WALL SECTIONS PREFABRICATED

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McMurdo station, Antarctica
The raised structure for snow resitance and parking
for commute and conventional trucks

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“Our basic argument is that there isn’t any such thing
as a building.
A building properly conceived is several layers of longevity
of built components.”
Frank Duffy
Ordinariness and Life
Mediterranian Sprawl Housing in Kila
Case of Split, Croatia
Workshop Lead : Hrvoje Njiric
Workshop Assistant : Esperanza Campana
Master in Collective Housing, 2022
Team : Jorge Sanchez, Gaurav Chordia, Ishan Goyal, Sebestian Worm
The city of split kept expanding between A1
highway and the coast of croatia. These
informal settlements portray a regular
pattern of materials, typologies and land
ownership.
The workshop focusses on understanding
of values that persist in these self designed
and self built housing typologies with
expectations to expand in the near future. A
common skyline of sloping roof houses re-
spond to the humidity and scope of further
expansion when needed.
Our proposal is questions the norms of land
ownership and dealing, where a piece of
land is not merely a fenced piece, but a wall
abutted property that provides and
regulates effecient growth of houses
starting at these walls.
04

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Observations of the surrounding,
imply the need for immediate
reaction to affordability, priority and
stability. The structural members are left
unfinished at the top, to allow possibility
of expansion and division in the future.
The wall is brought to the
3rd dimension as a core.
The design propsal limits itself to
provison of basic infrastrcture and
service cores, for one to build
ahead. Its an expression to change
financial transactions of lands only, to
lands with provisions of basic services and
designed development control measures.
The walls running perpendicular to the site contour
negotiating the levels and respecting the immediate
surrounding volumetrically and in material synthesis

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Existing Situation Foundations and Fixtures Wall Infrastructure
Levelling Roof Structure Beams Joists
Plinth Prefab Staircase Wet areas
Basic Unit Garden and Periphery Possible extension
View from the lower street
The walls act as infrastructure
to support for the homes
forming the streetscape
The infrastructure provision
allows alternating garden and
built spaces in combination.
Gardens and open spaces in each house

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Is demolition a wise answer ?
Exploring the potential reuse of obsolete industrial facilities
turned into a mixed-use and dwelling structures to foster good
conditions of life
Housing and Reuse
A solution for Good Conditions for Life
Case of Zurich SBB Workshops
Workshop Lead : Anne Lacaton
Workshop Assistant : Diego Garcia Setien
Master in Collective Housing, 2022
Team : Juanita Gomez, Gaurav Chordia, Fransisco Heredia, Nancy Mandhan
The SBB company owns a number of sheds
and train repair yards which have been
vacated over the period of time. The trains
form an important part of the history of the
country.
The workshop aims at addressing the values
of negotation with existing built
infrastructure. Buildings can be repaired
and reused with focus on value addition and
resource management.
To build is not always the answer.
Our design proposal is a result of
readings of works by Yona Friedmann where
we discuss parallel life planes connecting to
the ground at minor nodes.
It is an attempt to add value to the property
retaining its legacy and touching it gently.
05

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Transitions
A home is a place one dwells, where one tends to find himself and his
comfort for living. It is important to design a smooth transition from the busy city
surroundings to one’s home creating opportunities of
conversations, social structure and resource sharing. Hierarchy of open and
shaded spaces help to achieve physical and mental comfort on the way home.
Private and Shared Open Spaces
Sun and wind are the best resources in space formation and are available in an
indiscriminatory manner. Private Open spaces allow meeting the desires of a
garden as a part of the house where one reflects and retire.
Shared open spaces play an equally important role in strengthening one’s social
existence through negotiations, shared activities and celebrations.
Appropriation and Adaptation
Freedom of Space - Our homes must allow the user to program one’s space as per
their living, allow flexibility of modifications and adaptation to changing times.
The unit must guide the user to plan for themselves in a comfortable way.
Allowance of larger spaces makes it more efficient in terms of adaptation to one’s
mood and times.
Climate and Metabolism
Responding to the climatic situation is an instinct, but it gets compromised with
various factors in the process. Housing like any other building should respond to
the ‘Specific Context’ of the site considering its location and immediate
surroundings.Metabolism - a holistic approach towards including choices made
with respect to materials, makers, impact, sourcing, logistics and embodied
energy at the design stage.
Home, Housing and the City
At given moment in time, one inhabits a home, the housing in union and the city.
The housing development should find itself as a part of the city in exchange.
We must responsibly design the nodes of intersection to make them meet. The
building should understand the existing fabric and respond
respectfully.
Possibilities of Expansion and Transformation
One makes a relation with the house they live in, and they are forced to move out
when their needs require more space to occupy them. The design of houses can
allow guided expansions, to avoid disturbance to the immediate surroundings
and structure. With changing patterns of living and evolution of typologies, the
building should allow change of use with least possible damage in the process.
Beyond a building
‘Housing’ is not just physical, but an impact to one’s emotional and mental growth
too. The design focusses ahead of just functional as a catalyst effect.
Manifesto / Qualities of Housing

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The arrangement allows
maximum south sun exposure
to all units at levels.
Retaining the existing roof
structures with punctures for
vertical connection cores.
The ground terrain of railyard
is retained with its volume
intact. Its opened for public
activities and landscape.
An architect does not create a city, only an accumulation of objects. It is the
inhabitant who ‘invents’ the city; an uninhabited city, even if new, is only a ‘ruin’.
Yona Friedman
The design intervenes with a parallel plane that raises
itself above the existing structure penetrating it at the
least minimum. The raised development respects the
lighting conditions below still allowing flexibility of
development patterns and incrementality ahead.
The SBB railways shed is proposed for public related
activities along with offices and commerce. The high
volume spaces with roof lighting creates an introvert
escape to the housing raised above it .The material
palette composes of Timber walls and steel frames.

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The housing units are configured
in the structural space frame grid
around a central courtyard formation
allowing punctures below as wells.
Volumetrically taller units are placed
towards the north to avoid shading
and allow maximum sun exposure
throughout the day.
Use of mass timber walls to create partitions
in existing strcture of Reinforced Concrete
Access corridors as common gathering spaces as a winter garden
Protected
Area
with Garden
Below
The vertical transition cores puncture the
existing structure of roof gently
Ground Floor garden under the existing shed with skylights

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“the pre-existing has value if you take the time and effort to look at it carefully.
In fact, it’s a question of observation, of approaching a place with fresh eyes,
attention and precision…to understand the values and the lacks,
and to see how we can change the situation while keeping
all the values of what is already there.”
Anne Lacaton

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Domestic Fragements
Understanding living through verbs and objects
Workshop Lead : Elli Mosayebi
Workshop Assistant : Alvaro Martin Fidalgo
Masters of Collective Housing, 2022
Team : Carolina Basilis, Paloma Allende, Gaurav Chordia
Can we conceive of dwelling spaces beyond
neutal functional program?
What is the relationship between activities,
functions and space?
Can we imagine dwellings whose qualities
are not derived primarily from the
satisfaction of function, but from a decision
of an abstraction in space.
This workshop focusses on how different
human activities can inform and initiate
design. It takes the many themes of the
interior, fundamental architectural elements
and climate as its context.
Assigned Verbs and Activities :
Bathing and Blowdrying,
Spatial Element : Curtain,
Climate type : Trophical Monsoon
Steady and pleasant temperatures. Cool and
dry winds in winter, hot and dry winds in the
summer with torrential rains.
06
bathing
blow drying
curtains

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MINIATURE : THE TROPICAL SHOWER
Water is a sensation of comfort mentally and
physically in the tropical monsoon climate.
It flows through the building forming the
curtains of water sheets collecting in the ground
with an intimate and spiritual retreat

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1
b
d
a
c
1
1
2
1. RCC channel with ferrocrete layered a
d.
Rattan rope nets for relaxation in hot and
c.
Green curtains at the open ends that allo
hot and dry air, and also sheild from the
b.
Concrete channels on the roof with vault
direct rainwater to the collection areas a
a.
Water collection zone that directs the roo
water curtain to the collection ponds bel
2. One brick thick walls with grooved po
3. Brick vault with at underlay
1. lime Stone underlay below brick oori
2. RCC beam and arch end
3. chicken mesh and lime plastered layer
4. Soil pit and drainage through rice husk
2
1
b
a
c
1
1
4
1. RCC channel with ferrocrete layered and tile mosaic
d.
Rattan rope nets for relaxation in hot and humid weathers
c.
Green curtains at the open ends that allow humidify the
hot and dry air, and also sheild from the afternoon glare
b.
Concrete channels on the roof with vaults, collect and
direct rainwater to the collection areas as a water curtain
a.
Water collection zone that directs the roof water as a
water curtain to the collection ponds below the building
details
2. One brick thick walls with grooved pointings
3. Brick vault with at underlay
3
2
1
1
b
a
c
1
1
4
2
3
1. RCC channel with ferrocrete layered and tile mosaic
d.
Rattan rope nets for relaxation in hot and humid weathers
c.
Green curtains at the open ends that allow humidify the
hot and dry air, and also sheild from the afternoon glare
b.
Concrete channels on the roof with vaults, collect and
direct rainwater to the collection areas as a water curtain
a.
Water collection zone that directs the roof water as a
water curtain to the collection ponds below the building
details
2. One brick thick walls with grooved pointings
3. Brick vault with at underlay
1. lime Stone underlay below brick ooring
2. RCC beam and arch end
3. chicken mesh and lime plastered layer over brick vault
4. Soil pit and drainage through rice husk lling in oor
3
2
1
WIND TUNNEL
The humidity is addressed with stretched
proportions of spaces forming wind tunnels to
blow dry and retain level of comfort
1. RCC channel with ferrocrete and mosaic layer
2. One brick thick walls with grooved pointings
3. Brick vault with flat underlay
1. Limestone underlay below brick flooring
2. RCC beam and arch end detail
3. Lime plaster with chicken mesh
4. Soil pit and drainage through
compressed rice husk floor filling.
2. Concrete channels on the roof with
vaults that collect and direct
rainwater to the collection below.
1. Water collection zone that directs the
roof water as a water curtain to the
collection ponds below the building.
3. Green curtains at open ends that
allow humidification in dry summers.
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Hybrid Domesticity
Case of UPM North Block Conversion
Workshop Lead : Atxu - Canovas - Murari
Masters of Collective Housing, 2022
Team : Gaurav Chordia, Joaquin ipince, Androniki Petrou, Juanita Gomez
Every act of architecture is also an act of
urban planning. The scaffold house is
committed to the densification of existing
fabric with change in use.
It is from their extreme lightness, the speed
and ease of assembly and the possibility to
modify, that it becomes the skeleton of the
intervention done in the existing RCC shell.
The ground is cleared as a stilt to connect
the courtyard to the proposed garden to
the north. The parking is taken away from
the empty plot so as to connect the UPM
university block and proposed housing for
the students, with the city.
The spine Ramp goes across as a street
which is a characteristic element
connecting to the memory of Madrid.
The outer skin of the North block remains
intact reatining its position inclusive in the
large campus of built blocks.
07
Reinforcing an opportunity to explore variations
and adapt to changing needs with time.
SKIN AND BONES

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NORTH BLOCK
STRUCTURAL FRAME
POSSIBLE CONNECTION
OPENING UP AT GROUND LEVEL
STREETS IN THE CITY
PLAZAS

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A place to live and study together cannot be
merely a building, but a reflection of the life in
the city of Madrid. The ramp meanders through
the building structural frame connecting various
public squares and plazas that instigate
interaction and activities together.
SPINE OF INTERACTION
The inner RCC frame is further added with steel
scaffolding like mobile structure that allow
fixing and moving of individual units.
These units can be precast as panels that are
assembled at levels needed.
The ramp is a connector through these layers.
MATRIX

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The existing building is realised as a frame and shell structure such
that the inner volume is subdivided into layers of living and working.
CONNECTING THE DOTS
The ground is released for public use, connecting the reduntant
parking plot as a part of landscape to be used during the summer months.
CONNECTING THE PLANES

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The ramp is a stitching factor passing through the matrix of column
and beams, with housing units accesed through them at levels.
The four storey volume is introduced with a scaffolding mobile
structure to introduce units that change as per seasons sitautionally.

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Possible unit configurations and customisation The layers are precast panels that can be chosen and replaced.

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WORKING + LIVING
structures today
Case of El Poblenou, Barcelona
Workshop Lead : Andrea Deplazes
Workshop Assistant : Nuria Muruais
Masters of Collective Housing, 2022
Team : Gaurav Chordia, Bettina Kagelmacher, Androniki Petrou
Analysis process (understanding the
problem,discovering potentials)
Clarification process
(formulate content, omit thesuperfluous)
First approaches.
Synthesis process
(bringing living + working „under
one architectural roof“)
Radicalisation process (formulate and
sharpen thearchitectural idea of the project)
The 100m2 unit.Repetition unit.
Accesibility, natural lighting and structure.
El Poblenou. Casestudy
Analysis of existing blocks.
Best plot location for eachapproach.
Development of urban proposal.
08
A change in verbal arrangement of two words
WORKING + LIVING
lead to variable approaches that define living
DIALECTIC MOTTOS

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Section through a residential unit with the
staircase as a pivotal major.
The stairwell acts as an evolution of planar
wall that divides spaces of work and to live.
Its is a branching system designed to connect
activities at mid landing levels.
Plan through the residentail
units with a straight flight
staircase as the pivotal axis
Working and Living Parallel to each other
Section and Plans of units with changing widths and areas as per one’s need
Objects as definition

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PLAN OF THE PROTOTYPE
Scale 1.100
Androniki Petrou | Bettina Kagelmacher |Gaurav Chordia
Androniki Petrou | Bettina Kagelmacher |Gaurav Chordia
SECTION OF THE PROTOTYPE
Scale 1.100
PLAN OF THE PROTOTYPE
Scale 1.100
Androniki Petrou | Bettina Kagelmacher |Gaurav Chordia
Androniki Petrou | Bettina Kagelmacher |Gaurav Chordia
SECTION OF THE PROTOTYPE
Scale 1.100
Androniki Petrou | Bettina Kagelmacher |Gaurav Chordia
Straight flight staircase as the spine connecting them at various levels
Section cutting through the
overlooking corridor
Section cutting through
the working balcony
Lower floor plan Upper floor plan
Seperate working and living spaces connected through vertical volume

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Androniki Petrou | Bettina Kagelmacher |Gaurav Chordia
Proposed block in El Poblenou , Barcelona with inviting corners Open Space Layout
Section explaining periphery building heights with respect to the surrounding
with centrally placed building with taller heights for heirarchy and occupancy.
Vertical cores Free Flowing Ground

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LA CORRALA FUTURA
Synthesis and Evolution of the Corridor Housing Archetype
Case of Lavapies, Madrid
Workshop Lead : Alison Brooks
Workshop Assistant : Alejandro de Miguel Solano
Masters of Collective Housing, 2022
Team : Alexandre de Rungs, Gaurav Chordia, Felipe Santamaria
THE HISTORY OF COLLECTIVE HOUSING IS
ALSO THE HISTORY OF THE CITY
To reconceive urban housing as a place for
production, creativity and work, a necessary and
resurgent cultural condition.
The community developed garden has an essence
of collective growth, this project aims at
embracing it and catalyze it.
The nieghbourhood of Lavapies is dense and
diverse in the nationality of its residents.
This site is an existing community garden
made by the poeple.
It is an example of determination, values
and the qualities of growing together.
The workshop intended to intervene on this
site proposing housing for artists.
It focussed on exploring ways of
intervention in these sensitive sites,which
could become a developer’s asset.
Our proposal is an expression to retain the
garden in its original form and intervening
along the shared dead walls, making the
buildings a backdrop to the garden.
09

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A-A
TRANSVERSAL
A-A
TRANSVERSAL
B-B
LONGITUDINAL
B-B
LONGITUDINAL
T Y P I C A L F L O O R P L A N 1 : 250
Corrala Archetype
The building takes a secondary
position embracing the community
developed garden. The balconies
overlook the life growing in there,
making it a part of everyday living.
Contextual Response
Opening up to light and wind Garden as Connector
Corridor connections Wooden balloon frame outer
G R O U N D F L O O R P L A N
U P P E R F L O O R P L A N

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Mass timber frame grid that allow flexible combinations
The design intervention dwells in
the existing fabric encompassing the
community garden and open space
making it accesible from streets on
both ends.
View from South Street, Lavapies
View from North Street, Lavapies

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150mm CLT and
concrete exterior slab
25 x 4 MS Flats in handrail
150 x 100 wooden
support frame @ 1500 c/c
500 x 400 x 1000 Granite
Columns
300mm Glulam Beam
750mm CLT + 750mm
concrete slab
Insulated solid facade
panel
14.40
1.20
0.30
0.30
12.00
12.00
12.00
12.00
300mm CLT column
1 %
1 %
2 %
Glass doors in aluminum
sections / wood clad
insulated wall
waterproofing Roof slab
Steel connection to
balcony - Braquets to
suspend facade panels
500 x 400 x 1000 Granite
Columns
300mm Glulam Beam
25 x 4 MS Flats in handrail
150 x 100 wooden
support frame @ 1500 c/c
Steel connection
150mm CLT and
concrete exterior slab
300mm CLT column
Insulated solid facade
panel
750mm CLT + 750mm
concrete slab
Glass doors in aluminum
sections / wood clad
insulated wall
Steel connection to
balcony - Brackets to
suspend facade panels
waterproofing Roof slab
The ground floor galleries in Granite with
a wooden baloon frame balcony structure
that envelopes the garden gently
The corridors share an essence of the
threshold meeting spaces like the
traditional Corrala Archetype
View from the Artist Galleries
View from Apartments

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{ beyond the classroom }

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: batch 2022
Several nationalities with a shared intent

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“To take photographs,” wrote Henri Cartier-Bresson,
“is to hold one’s breath when all faculties converge in
the face of fleeing reality. It is putting one’s head, one’s
eyes and one’s heart on the same axis.
It is a way of shouting, of freeing oneself, not of proving
or asserting one’s originality. It is a way of life.”
These words of the renowned French photographer
define photography as an ongoing meditative
relationship to the world. For Cartier-Bresson,
photography is not merely a profession but a liberating
engagement with life, the camera not just a machine
for recording images but “an instrument of intuition
and spontaneity”
Taking photographs and practising meditation might
seem at first glance to be unrelated activities. For while
photography looks outwards at the visual world through
the medium of a camera, meditation focuses inwards on
unmediated experience.
And whereas photography is concerned with producing
images of reality, meditation is about seeing reality as it
is. Yet in taking photographs and practising meditation
over the past three years, I find the two activities have
converged to the point where I no longer think of them
as different.
As practices, both meditation and photography demand
commitment, discipline and technical skill. Possession of
these qualities does not, however, guarantee that
meditation will lead to great wisdom any more than
photography will culminate in great art.
culture }
{ lens

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Both photography and meditation require
an ability to focus steadily on what is
happening in order to see more clearly.
To see in this way involves “shifting” to a
frame of mind in which the habitual view of
a familiar and self-evident world is replaced
by a sense of the unprecedented
configuration of each moment.
Whether you are paying mindful attention
to the breath as you sit in meditation or
whether you are composing an image in
a viewfinder, you find yourself hovering
before a fleeting, tantalizing reality.
My photographs, taken over many years,
reflect various stages in this journey.
They also mirror the engagement with the
process of meditation. For both paths have
served to deepen one’s understanding of
the fleeting, poignant and utterly
contingent nature of things.
madrid }

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gaurav.chordia.2022@gmail.com