Riya's Riyaaz

Last year, in April, we began discussing research ideas and alternatives for our thesis dissertation with Prasad. Individually we listed our interests and as a class through discussions and arguments the ideas were sharpened. The process to be followed over the next 6 months was categorical and simple. Needless to say executing it was a complex and exhaustive task. Over the summer we would work on the What, Why, Where and How of our research topic. Notes of the various ideas discussed in class Architecture of Watching - The inquiry towards my research stemmed from a personal experience. We know that watching is a common act. We probably do not pay heed to this subject. Although it did intrigue me, to find whether architectural built form is connected to the subject. How does watching affect human behavior and architecture promote such watching conditions? Following is an excerpt from my research book - "When a person steps out of their house, their movement is seen b...

Dad was keen on not laying around the house in the Diwali vacation last year. He spent months (some midnight's too), planning the trip to Tamil Nadu, 2018. We had 5 destinations on our list; starting from the bottom i.e. Kanyakumari and traversing along the coast, we would halt at Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Pondicherry up to Chennai. We chose train journey over an air ticket to witness the stories of the beautiful greenery of South India. We were not disappointed. Every now and then I would leave my seat to stand near the train door to breathe the fresh air and try to absorb the myriad of colors nature had to offer. The train was an hour late which made us get down at every station to check if we reached (since small town railways stations lack name plates). We were unprepared for the destination, surprisingly it did not have a physical platform at all! It had a small cabin with its name; Nagercoil Town', facing the road ahead rather than the station. Kanyakumari was half hour...